# My house mate is neglecting his fish!



## Paper (Dec 20, 2008)

Well, my house mate bought two ordinary goldfish, against the terms our land lord laid out. One orange and one white. Don't ask me what species! Three months later, and the orange one looks exactly the same, and the white one looks smaller.

I'm a bit concerned about them in general. They are in a tank, approximately 30 cm by 3cm by 30cm. He keeps them nicely in the kitchen, next to the toaster, the kettle and the hob. Sometimes on the hob. To my and one other house mate's distaste, he keeps the kitchen, and everywhere else, in a complete and utter pig sty. Imagine, food down the walls, no clean plates, cutlery or anything, food left out going mouldy everywhere. The blinds haven't been raised in a month.

Of course, I make as much effort as possible to stay away from the kitchen and in my room. There are grease splatters around the edge of the fish tank, so I am willing to bet a nice load of that is in there.

Long story short, I think he is badly neglecting these fish. I am sure that he is failing to feed them appropriately. The water is starting to turn some what cloudy, and I am sure he uses chlorinated water from the tap.

To add to this, the white fish seems to be turning transparent. It's gills look blood shot red on the inside and it looks as though it is struggling to breathe and I can see pinkness on what appears to be a bone through its skin. It is quite small compared to the orange fish and so I put more food into the tank, but it doesn't seem to be eating.

My flat mate has gone on holiday, and the rest of us leave on Sunday, but I'm not sure how he expects them to survive without four weeks of food. 

After having a look at a list of illnesses, I believe it might have Goldfish Fish Tuberculosis. I don't know what to do. Firstly, I worry about a potentially deadly disease being in a food environment. Secondly, I feel horribly sorry for these fish. I know that they can't be enjoying their life. Thirdly, Every time I approach my flat mate and suggest he isn't looking after them well in the kindest of ways, he goes mad and accuses me of questioning his competence in looking after things.

I severely hope he decides not to have children. I feel hopeless, what can I do? How do I clean this fish tank? If this fish has TB, should I avoid handling it altogether and just leave them to die?

Our kitchen area and just outside is so messy, that when the other day I picked up a bin bag, a rat dropped out. I wasn't sure whether to scream hysterically, throw up or cry.

EDIT: And I just opened the door to put rubbish out, and I heard rats squeaking. In answer to the above, I cried.


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## Katie&Cody (Dec 4, 2008)

Paper said:


> Well, my house mate bought two ordinary goldfish, against the terms our land lord laid out. One orange and one white. Don't ask me what species! Three months later, and the orange one looks exactly the same, and the white one looks smaller.
> 
> I'm a bit concerned about them in general. They are in a tank, approximately 30 cm by 3cm by 30cm. He keeps them nicely in the kitchen, next to the toaster, the kettle and the hob. Sometimes on the hob. To my and one other house mate's distaste, he keeps the kitchen, and everywhere else, in a complete and utter pig sty. Imagine, food down the walls, no clean plates, cutlery or anything, food left out going mouldy everywhere. The blinds haven't been raised in a month.
> 
> ...


My OH used to have this problem, he did the same as you avoided comunal areas but this isn't far and espicially not the way he is treating the fish....

It might sound mean but i would contact your landlady, he should be out on his ass, with regard to the fish if it was me, i would clean their tank (if he isn't there) use thin gloves if you feel at all worried about catching anything, i dont think you can but am not 100% sure, and get a tub of cheap food.

As to the four weeks?? I think he may come back to find them dead...unfortunetly other than give them a good clean before you go and some food i dont think there is much else you can do, if you take them/rehome them you may get into trouble as they aren't yours. I know your probably dont feel like you should clean them out but it'd be a shame to let them suffer...

Defo contact your landlady!!He should be ashamed of himself - and all i can say is if he does have kids thank god it takes 2 to make a baby so it wont be just him caring for them.


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## bimbam (Dec 19, 2008)

If you feel you could clean the tank then I would do it or at least do a partial water change which would make the fish feel a whole lot better. 

You could get a feeding block from your local pet shop (shouldn't cost very much at all) which you can drop in and leave - though I am not sure it would last a month. Your flatmate is totally irresponsible and an idiot - why couldn't he have the fish in his room anyway rather than the kitchen?


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## Paper (Dec 20, 2008)

In fairness to my house mate, he suffers from schizophrenia, and tends to hallucinate events that never happened. Perhaps he thought he had fed them. We had a blazing row over the mess. Later on, I came back to discover that whilst I was out, "I" had made up with him and everything was ok. Suffice to say, the house never got tidied!

It's really just a depressing situation. But I guess, what was I expecting living with someone insane. I apologise for venting my anger out here. I'm sure no one needed to know anything that didn't relate to the fish. I don't think I have to tell my land lord. I am sure that after rats chased potential viewers and our neighbours we can expect a threatening letter from them and maybe even the council.

I feel terrible for these fish. I fed them again, and the white one is perhaps starting to look a little better. In addition, I opened the blinds today, I'll leave them half open. I will research on how to preform this partial water exchange, and pop up the road to see if I can get a couple of these block things.


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## bimbam (Dec 19, 2008)

You don't need to apologise at all. At the end of the day you are concerned about the conditions of two little living things. 

When we used to do a water change on our tropical fish we used to fill a bucket of water, put some stuff in it (can't remember the name of it but I am sure someone will be able to tell you - possibly something like Aquasafe) and leave to stand for 24 hours. We would then siphon off about a third of the water from the tank and then add the clean water. The fish used to really perk up! However I am not sure you would need to stand it for long if at all for cold water fish. Hopefully someone a bit more clued up than me can tell you!


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

I would take them to a pond somewhere(ask someone who has one)and put them in and tell your flatmate they died


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

yes, give them to someone who will look after them and tell him they died
get your landlord round asap and report him for this mess... any landlord finding flat in that state- especially rats!! would at the least demand he tidies, possibly throw him out

good luck, and don;t apologise for sticking up for the fish!


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## jilly40 (Oct 22, 2008)

my sons house has riseing damp n mice the landlady told the students that moved out b4 them 2 keep quiet eek x


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## Hennish (Aug 10, 2008)

Poor fish! If you clean out the tank, don't clean out all the water at once, because they adapt to their water! Fish can survive for quite a long time without food, but obviously he is neglecting his fish! Hopefully something has improved their life since your first post? (And yours!?)


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## Paper (Dec 20, 2008)

Suffice to say, the fish survived three and half weeks of no food. They're looking a little smaller, but none the less he cleaned out their tank and obviously fed them. I fed them some extra.

Before I left, I set the thermostat to only come on if the temperature dropped below 15 degrees, just to stop pipes from freezing and ice entering the house. I wonder if this was harmful to the fish or whether it was beneficial? Could it be that lowering the temperature slows down their internal processes?

The fish need a bigger tank really, a gold fish bowl is not merely enough room for a creature that can survive for up to 60 years. I wish I could confine my house mate to a small room for a week, being fed only one meal every two days, but allowing him all the water he wishes. Oh yes, and I forgot to mention, his water would have traces of excrement, urine and pig fat mixed in it.

He's soon learn what it feels like to be one of his fish!


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

God, what a horrible situation for you - you housemate sounds like a nightmare. 

I reckon those fishies are doing incredibly well surviving in that tank. From your measurements it only holds about 3 litres of water, which for fish that should have at least 40 litres each to swim in, goes beyond cruelty in my opinion 

Is the white fish looking any healthier? From what you described I think its more likely that it has ammonia poisoning than tb, which will have been caused by swimming in dirty water in a too-small tank, that I'm guessing isn't cleaned out often enough and probably wasn't cycled to begin with. 

Have you thought about taking the route suggested earlier? That you give the fish to someone who will look after them properly and tell your housmate that they died? I understand that doing that may well cause more rows, but at least the fishies would stand a chance of surviving into old age, which just ain't gonna happen if they stay where they are!


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

I'd agree with the suggestion of taking the fish away to someone who can do right by them and just saying they died. Sounds like they haven't got much longer to live if they don't get moved soon.

I do have a problem with what you said in an earlier post though. I appreciate you were frustrated and angry but to call someone with schizophrenia insane is not fair and could be highly offensive to a lot of people. He's ill. He needs medical treatment. He has a neurological disorder. He's not insane. Mental health disorders are just as valid as disorders of any other part of the body. Please try to be a little less insensitive. Terms like "insane" are totally inappropriate and very unenlightened.


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## Kilt_monster (Jan 24, 2009)

I'll be honest - in the first instance I'm inclined to say you could quite happily clean things up and save these fish since you seem down to earth and competant. However I can totally understand you won't really want anything to do with them!!!!

As for low temperature I've heard gold fish slow down a bit in low temperature but until their blood freezes they are fine.

And shizophrenia - I can understand why you think what you do about it, it's pretty much the way all of joe public react - presume they are completely insane and beyond all reason etc. This is just an internal fear born of misunderstanding.

However in this guys case, I would SERIOUSLY consider calling a nearby hospital and having him diagnosed or if necessary taken in under the Mental Instability act, because if he is actively hallucinating like that that is quite a serious case that needs to be treated.

I would just like to add that so my knowledge there is no formal medical definition of 'insane.


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Maybe not, but "insane" is a derogatory term. There's no need for it.


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## Paper (Dec 20, 2008)

He has been diagnosed and for a while he was sectioned. However he seemed to have got to a point of certainly stability and they allowed him to reintegrate with society. He refuses medication because of the side effects.

I appreciate that my use of the word insane could cause offence, but I was not implying that all schizophrenic people are insane, just that his behaviour is insane, whether he has a mental illness or not.

Put yourself into my shoes. On top of all the normal stresses of being a student, you now have no way of storing cold food because either it ends up on the floor, the walls or in someone else's belly (and then possibly back on the walls). The kitchen and bathroom are so dirty that the bubonic plague is growing off of the sides of surfaces, and your continuously ill with the disease due to the conditions. Your house mate refuses to pay the bills, degrades your homosexual orientation, degrades your nationality, and then asserts that you don't relax enough, whilst at the same time complaining about conversations you never had. Your a diagnosed depressive trying cope with anxiety, OCD and panic attacks whilst still trying to function normally in society so that your doctor doesn't have you sectioned for cutting up your arm.

You were doing quite well with your mental health problems, and you give this guy a chance because your not perfect either. Until this guy comes along and makes you feel so low you actually considered killing yourself several times (but of course, didn't tell anyone for fear of being juged/sectioned).

I admit, worrying about whether someone will be offended by the word "insane" is some where down the bottom of my to do list. Let alone the fish


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

Perhaps you should consider bringing his condition to the attention of the local health board/health authorities/whatever service you have in your area.

I appreciate you are upset. I didn't realise you yourself were suffering from such issues. My heart goes out to you, I know all too well the feelings you are having. I don't want to upset you further. I am definitely concerned for you and your housemate though. He sounds like he needs a lot of help and perhaps another stay in hospital. It sounds from what you say like he doesn't have a clue what he's saying or doing.

If you need any support or want to chat, send me a PM.


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## mckitty (Jan 11, 2009)

youve got far too much to deal with, your far more patient than i could ever be, im assuming he is just your flat mate and you are not in a relationship with him ?

you seem to be taking him on as a responsibility aswell as your studies, the house and the fish, where is his family to make sure he is taking his medication, if he has side effects then he should be discussing this with his doctor and amending his prescription

i hope your life becomes alot less stressful soon

x


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## Paper (Dec 20, 2008)

Sorry about that outburst, I didn't want to come here to share my entire life problems, but to help some little fish. Although I kind of did espouse all of my problems here, sorry. I realise this is past the mandate of the forum, and is kinda depressing for a lovely pet forum  

I am glad to see he is taking much better care of the fish this semester. Generally he seems to be feeling better, the kitchen is a little tidier (I actually cooked!) They are still in a small container though, but it's an improvement. I'll try to work out a way to get the fish. I'm hoping he won't want them at the end.

What would I report him for? Seeing things and being negligent about house/gold fish keeping aren't things that get you sectioned in the UK. Unfortunately homophobia and xenophobia aren't considered mental illnesses either.

And finally, no I am certainly not in a relationship with him, lol!

Thank you for your supports, it is much appreciated


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

Hi i think for your own mental health and wellbeing you need to seriously consider moving on!! lifes stressfull enough without having to live where you areat the end of the day you have to put yourself first.


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## StolenkissGerbils (Aug 8, 2008)

No I didn't mean report him for misbehaviour to get him punished! I meant advise some healthcare people that he isn't taking his meds and is having delusions so that he can be given the proper care. That doesn't necessarily mean sectioning him but outpatient care might benefit him, or he may voluntarily agree that a spell in hospital would help. The homophobia and xenophobia aren't nice but they're probably just symptoms of whatever's going wrong in his mind. He might not have a clue what he says sometimes. Though unfortunately plenty of people don't have the same excuse for their own similar prejudices! 

Don't worry about being upset, we all have our bad days. I meant what I said about if you ever wanted anyone to talk to.


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