Friday Poll Results: What should we call our two new fish?

judith · ‎10-06-2011

First of all I’d like to say Happy Friday everybody and aren’t we all glad that its almost the weekend?

As giffgaff’s official fish keeper I was very keen to find out this week’s poll results.

I am very pleasantly surprised by the amount of votes – wowsers I never knew we had so many keen fish followers.

I hope that you are enjoying the live streaming of the endless giff and gaff entertainment.

Who needs TV when you can watch them swim around the fish tank looking for things to nibble on? I just can’t get enough and I’m even thinking of relocating my desk (my request is still pending with my boss).

But as much as I adore them I have to say goldfish produce a lot of waste and are quite messy pets. That is the reason why we got our two new fish. If you didn’t know they are corydoras and they are very small but surprisingly fast. Apparently they eat algae and from observation all the fish poo too, so they were the perfect investment!

The moment you’ve all been waiting for is here and I can announce the winner:

And therefore our two new fish are called Floater and Torpedo!!

Lemon and Lime did just as well as the winners and I'm thinking we should get two canaries and basically turn the gaff into an animal sanctuary.

The winning names make me giggle, and they fit the corydoras very well. The smaller one swims around the tank like a Torpedo and the bigger one just likes to Float(er) around the plants lol.

Next Poll: How do you feel about 3D in films and TV?

Here at the office the educators have been heavily discussing how good we think 3D is and we all have a very different opinion.

So who better to help us decide than the giffgaffers!

akisoft · ‎27-06-2011

Corys and Goldfish can go perfectly fine together, they're even part of the recommended tankmate list for most places I've checked. They do perfectly fine in the same temperature range. There are many types of Corys, try to remember that.

johnlaurence6 · ‎27-06-2011

Good point akisoft. But it is also true there are many types of goldfish. Some thrive at temperatures over 75 degrees but most do not.

I am not aware of any corys that thrive below 70 degrees fahrenheit, so the temperature of the water could be crucial to the survival of all the fish.

Do we know which species of cory and goldfish we have? And what temperature range do you have in mind?

It seems to me that if we dont know the species then the range is limited to 72 degrees to 75 degrees fahreheit. Any hotter and the gold fish may not survive. Any colder and the corys stop feeding.

P.S I have an honours degree in zoology :-)

djrestricted · ‎01-07-2011

Yes there are many types of corydoras. It is a latin name given to that species of catfish. I worked at 'The Aquatic Habitat' for 5 years. Not once did we, or ever would advise customers to put ant type of cory in with a goldfish. What temp is your tank? Ph level? And what type of substrate do you have? No catfish will eat much algae. Try putting your lights on a timer switch, no more than 10hrs of light a day. Keep the tank away from direct sunlight. Feed the fish every 2 or 3 days instead of everyday. Use a gravel cleaner and do a 10% water change every week. Top up with tap water that has been left to stand for 24hrs to take out chlorine. Avoid chemicals where possible. Get a decent water test kit and check ph, nitrite and nitrate levels. What is the name of the shop you bought the corys from? Intrigued to see if they have an ornamental fish diploma as I do from sparsholt college, hampshire.

johnlaurence6 · ‎02-07-2011

Quote: by judith

"The winning names make me giggle, and they fit the corydoras very well. The smaller one swims around the tank like a Torpedo and the bigger one just likes to Float(er) around the plants lol."

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This could be personality traits of the 2 corydoras but, rather worryingly, it could be a natural response of 2 different cory species to being unhappy with the water temperature. Fish being cold blooded species will adapt their behavioral patterns according to the ambient temperature of the water and their own systemic ability to deal with temperature fluctuations. Lets hope its not too cold for them. If the water temperature is raised we could end up with 2 Torpedos :-)

judith · ‎12-07-2011

Hi all, thanks again for your concerns about our little pets.

We went back to the acquatics centre yesterday with the pictures of our fish and they have reassured us that the corys we have are ok to live with the goldfish. They said most are tropical but there are some (like ours) that live with goldfish perfectly fine in cold water tanks.

However they said if we are concerned about them not being happy we can always bring them in and swap them over...

pinkcalculator · ‎12-07-2011

I did say to get gerbils lol