In message , Geezer From The Freezer
writes
Sophie

A couple of things, and I hope you aren't too shocked about these:


1) You are massively overstocked.

this certainly seems to be the consensus!
I bought a gravel vac today, I was surprised at how simple, effective
and cheap it was. I'll be getting a bigger tank as soon as possible. In
my defence all I can say is that I was ill-advised at the shop and the
fish are small. The longest is a bit under two inches (the comet. at
least I think it must be a comet, (s)he's standard goldfish shape but
with very long fins. pretty.)

I did honestly believe the surface area to inch of fish equation - the
other one I read gave an inch of fish per gallon of water - good job I
didn't go with that one!

I do realise snails aren't necessarily a good thing, but I'd understood
the trumpet snails which live under the gravel are more useful than
harmful in small numbers.

So far I seem to have got things comprehensively wrong. gah. (and I
don't think the ryukin is a ryukin, having looked them up I think he's a
veiltail (aka man-yu, apparently).

My consolation at the moment is that the original fish look to be
healthy, as well as shinier and a little bigger (under the circs,
possibly not a good thing) than when I first got them.

I'm very grateful for all the help I've got here - it's been fantastic.
--
sophie
on a learning curve.