In another post i said that i was getting a betta.And my dad told my cousins, and now they want fish too.I know i should be happy for them but they don't know fish care and when i try to tell them about fish care they mock me... They think i'm overreacting. I made them come to this site earlier but he got off in 1 second. Does anyone know how to let them know how to care for fish?

Oh dear, that is a tough one. I know how you feel though, I have a friend who mocks me for keeping just one fancy goldy all alone in a 10 gallon tank.

All I can say is this - my best friend won a betta at the board walk 2 years ago, at first she had him in a teeny little bowl with nothing in it. Then she upgraded to a bigger bowl with a plant and then to a gallon tank with two plants b/c she was so happy with him and wanted him to have more room to swim. She came to these conclusions all on her own. Maybe your cousin will follow the same thought pattern... or maybe you will just have to go with him to the pet store and force him to buy all the right things.....

Thanks i'll ask later if i'm going with him. I'm sure he's just gonna want it for like a week before he gets bored...Maybe i can take it when he's over with it.

Even better - you can adopt the little guy after your cousin gets bored with it.

You never know though, maybe knowing that this fish is totally dependant on him will change your cousin's opinion.

I hope...

Yep, "adopt" him when he gets bored with it.

I would print out a betta care sheet from PetCo.com and have them read it. and if they dont want to tell the adults they shouldnt be aloud to "murder" a poor animal becuase of lack of knowledge! (and use scary words like murder and tourcher, it gets the point across! In my opinion.... but I dont know for your family reacts)

Well they got a 10 gallon tank instead...With 12 common goldfish! They seem ok will they make it?

omg

oh dear thats not good

Is there anything i can do to help them?

EDIT: It doesn't look really crowded but i know you're not suppose to put so much because of the ammonia and stunt growth and etc.

You can A) drag them kicking and screaming to kokos, or do nothing, and as each fish dies, takes that oportunity to explain why fishy died, and ask the family why they enjoy watching fish die....tad harsh that may be.

Or leave caresheets randomly aroudnd their house, in their mailbox, on pillows, etc. Should help get the point across.

Um i think they'll end up in the trash after a quick look.

There is not much you can do then.

I agree with chrishower................
every time a fish dies tell them it's because they are not caring for them properly. Over crowding, water parameters, etc.

no, they will end up dying in a sestpool or ammounia and sewage.. but some people just dont care.... nice lesson to teach kids, if its cheap, you can murder it

i agree. nobody likes to see animals die (unless they're really messed up). once one or two start dying, you may be very surprised how quickly your cousin wants to hear what you have to say.

10 commons, wouldn't that be a 100 gallon aq to talk them into? hope they see the light soon. i feel bad for those fishies tho, as i'm sure everyone does.

oh geez i feel so bad for them...maybe when i get my 10 gallon tank(he and his sister wanted one cuz i wanted one) i can get something for them? They have hood lighting and a whisper filter.Anything i can add to that?Will cycle help?

I would flat out tell them that they are grossly abusing those fish and find some sort of way to avoid them until they fix the situation, tell them every time you see them how disgusted you are.

I know it sounds harsh but sometimes being mean is the only way to help out the poor defensless critters. I went through a problem with a similar basis with my sister and her kids. They had this kitten that they started out with in the house. The kitten pooped in the house twice, only because they put the litter box in the basement and with my sister its out of sight out of mind so the box had about two months worth of cat poo in it. After the pooing in the house they threw the poor thing outside, it was the middle of winter. After awile they stopped feeding it, (they didn't feed it enough to begin with). I flat out told my sister, in front of her kids that I will not visit or speak to them and that they were not welcome guests when they visited my house until they fixed the situation with the cat. This really made my mom mad because I was living with my mom at the time and I was telling my sister to stay out of my moms house.

It was harsh and hard to do but it worked, but then agian I have very little respect for my sister so it wasn't too hard. I guess it would be hard if you and your cousins are on good terms.

gulp.

OMG.. i thought id misread that when i read 12 commons, i thought you'd said 2 and accidently typed a 1 there...
Balashark, more like 200 gal aq to talk em into!

I recieved a 10gal tank with ten commons from my neighbor a few years ago.But I found kokos site and got tubs and put them in those.

Here's a update... Three (or was it four) fish died so far including one today. Every single one of them have signs of illness from fungus, ich, to blooding fins. They have not grown at all. And today i convinced them to change their water for the first time. They havn't changed it in like two months! I can't believe these fish are still alive! You could imagine all that poo floating around! It was disgusting! Their parents should take a look at my fish tank and learn what "clean" means.

That's such a shame