u/Jane_TGS

I have pretty large tanks and tubs for my goldfish, but I have this tiny tank that happened to be my first ever aquarium. I'd kind of like to use it for something, but it's far too small for most fish and even pretty small to stock with snails/shrimp. So, I figured I'd ask for opinions on what I could put in it!

I've always considered 10 gallons to be the minimum for bettas, so I'm guessing that isn't an option.

Is there anything living that I could put in? My plan would be to plant it.. If I can't put anything in there then I'll probably convert it into a terrarium, or get rid of it. Figured I'd ask incase there's any suggestions I haven't thought of!

My big girl, Pearl (shubunkin, 8 years old) has started to become lethargic and her gills look to be deepening in a shade of red and her tail is rather pink with the blood vessels looking very visible.

Water is good, ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate isn't too high. She eats well, her daughter who she lives with is okay. Pearl is not as active as normal, has been on and off clamping her dorsal fin and breathing just a little heavily.

I'm super stressed about this because I love her so much, and I just recently lost one of my newer babies (housed in quarantine but I hate to say it's possible I could've messed up and cross contaminated). The new fish died suddenly and upon analysis had a few red marks on its body, especially around the gills. Super stressed that this could be parasitic or disease. I have a fluke and worms medication, I have put some salt in the water already, I have methylene blue, I have an all round disease medication that is supposed to treat for fungal, bacterial, parasitic infections. I can't mix that one with other meds though so I'm not sure which medication to prioritise. If she worsens I'm definitely taking her to the exotics vet, I really don't want to lose her and I hate to think I could've caused this by being careless with my newer fish.

I'm in the UK and can't access any antibiotic treatments without prescription, so these meds I have are as far as I know the best I have available.

For anyone who remembers my recent post, this is nothing to do with Pudge and Ponyo who are in a hospital tank, there has been zero cross contamination there.

Hi all! So recently I posted regarding a fish I took home from an aquatics store who had a huge chunk of skin taken out of her back and most of her dorsal fin gone (common goldfish). I also went back and got the other who had a similar but less severe injury so I can get a hospital tank set up for them. Obviously these fish shouldn't have been sold with their condition, but the store had no plans in treating them and I had a bad feeling about leaving them in a relatively crowded tank with the risk of infection. So, I was just glad to be able to take them home and give them some TLC. I named them Ponyo and Pudge, Pudge is the one with the worse injury.

So I started treatment yesterday, I dabbed methylene blue onto the wounds (both star patients!) And I have some aquarium salts coming today that I can dose the hospital tank with. Today however, Pudge looks a little worse. She is very active, huge appetite, but her wound looks to be covering over with a foggy white that I am suspecting is fungal. Also, not sure if this is purely stress, but her face has a couple of dark spots. There are also darker edged to her wound but from my internet searches this seems to be healing tissue. I can't get a good photo as they're in a tub, essentially an indoor pond rather than a clear glass aquarium, and the photos that are birds eye view don't show it well enough. I may still try again to get a clear photo later. Going on this description though, should I dab more mblue onto the wound or dose the water, or wait for the salt? I haven't treated an injury like this before so forgive me if I sound uneducated!

In terms of medications, I have Api stress coat +, methylene blue, and melafix. Can try and get something else if needed! Thank you for any and all help

Not planning on getting any new additions right now, not until I've upgraded my tanks, might even wait until I upgrade my 70 gallon, and then put them in the next size up.... but. I only just heard that these beauties can cohouse with goldies?? I keep shubunkins and commons, both fast swimming fish that shouldn't be easily outcompeted for food etc. Does anyone have experience they can share of keeping these guys together?

Also, is it true they're social, or is that more other species of loaches? I was thinking of getting just 2 due to their size, but could maybe house three if necessary. I always like to do my research well in advance for new species, so feel free to info dump if you want!

My first goldfish, Pearl, lives in a 70 gallon. She is 8 years old and for most of her life she had 60-70l (I think that's around 15 gallons?) as my parents wouldn't let me upgrade it. As soon as I moved out I went out and bought her the biggest tank I could fit in my kitchen! So she's loving the space. I want her to have more space in the not too distant future.

She lives with her daughter Shimmer, at the moment, Shimmer is just a bit smaller than her and around 4 years old I believe. Right now the tank seems to offer plenty of space, but as I say, I want to upgrade.

I've recently bought 4 very little babies, 2 inches and under in size. I have them in a 145l sort of indoor pond. How long will this be adequate for? And once they're big enough to cohouse with Pearl and Shim, what sort of size am I looking at to accommodate all 6? I may move Shimmer with a friend into a second tank when the time comes to move them around into upgrades. If needed I will consider a large pond outside. There was a tank I fell in love with that was about 7-8 foot long, I would genuinely consider getting that when I move house next year. I don't recall the litres, it may have been 800-1000l.

Also, I did look this up to find answers but I'm really bad at finding the right info and the answers I found seemed wrong. How long roughly until the babies reach 5-6 inches in size? Do they grow slowly?

Would appreciate insight from those more knowledgeable about goldies than I.

I love my fish and want to become a better goldfish keeper. Will get whatever upgrades they need, but hoping to wait until I move again next year if possible.

Kind of haunted by the events of today, it just went from bad to worse and I'm wondering if I did the right thing. It all happened fast, within about 6 minutes I imagine.

So, in the city center and there's street pigeons. I notice one who is visibly unwell, tail down, hunched, fluffed up, eyes half shut, wings drooped. It's a hot day so I'm evaluating it in my head, could it be heat stroke, should I take him to a vet (no rehabbers local), would I do more harm than good if its not as severe as it looks... I was weighing it all up. I can't walk by, I just feel guilty. Everyone walks by him. It's loud and busy. He nearly gets hit by a cyclist as he walks away slowly. I watch from a little distance.

A child no older than ten starts to chase him. Seeing that this bird isn't flying away, just hopping along slowly... he proceeds to kick at him and try to hit him. The bird gets more stressed. I and my partner rush over and try to stop the child, I ask him to leave the pigeon alone and my partner tries to block him. The kid totally blanks us like we don't exist. He tries to get around my partner to kick the pigeon again, the pigeon has now collapsed flat on the ground in the sun, wings out and breathing through its mouth. I know now that this is a very ill bird that absolutely cannot stay here, let alone the kid's violence. I step in immediately and pick the pigeon up and walk away.

I know how to handle birds, I have held pigeons before, I hold him gently having tucked his wings in, he was so weak. I lightly cover his head with my hand to allow him to hide and try to calm him down, while I walk straight for the shade and the quiet by some trees. I watch him closely, his eyes, nares and mouth are clean, he doesn't seem to be in respiratory distress, but he is going into shock. I reach the shade and ask my partner to call for a lift to the nearest vets. I monitor the sweet pigeon, and watch his eyes close fully. He died in my hands while my partner made the call.

He just faded so quickly. I assume the stress caused a heart attack, whatever was wrong with him just made him too weak to hold on, I assume. I think the heat was certainly a factor, his crop seemed empty and he seemed uninjured to my eye but obviously that doesn't rule it out.

But I somehow feel guilty. I keep reliving it in my head and wondering if I made things worse for him. I think it is irrational. I had to share the story and get it off my chest. I'm so heartbroken that people stood by doing nothing, that parents let their kid do that, that I couldn't do something to save him and ease his suffering. I've never had an animal die in my hands like that, I just felt awful. But I just couldn't leave him in the heat, next to loud music speakers and being harassed. Did I do the right thing? Was there something else I could have done?

My partner (atheist) always remarked that he found it strange for Christians to wear crosses, as its how Jesus suffered and was killed, so why fashion it? I'm not totally sure how I feel about it, I 100% get his view, especially as he doesn't believe in it being a plan or in the resurrection. But here's my dilemma...

I used to wear a cross necklace when I was a conservative Christian, I really liked it. I no longer actually believe that him dying was a literal sacrifice or that he rose from the dead (on the fence about that, please don't come for me) but I still view myself as a Christian now (after much dilemma about my beliefs).

I kind of would like to have a cross necklace again, it would be an outward display of my faith (which I'm not heavy on, I don't go around telling people about my views, but it would be nice if they assumed it about me, you know?). It would also be a daily reminder to pray. I sort of miss the little rituals and habits I used to have.

Is it weird to wear one, either because I hate he was crucified, and simply because it's a symbol of his torture? I know it might be a weird question, so bear with me. I'd just love to hear your views, why do you or don't you wear them?

I like being a part of this sub, and I've spent a few days reading posts and want to say something about it.

Firstly thank you moderators, for doing your best to remove hateful comments, I've seen very disheartening comments and posts pop up and be swiftly removed. So genuinely, thank you.

I have seen beautiful representatives of Jesus who come into conversations from an angle of love, patience, and earnest sympathy. People who maybe don't know how they feel about a specific topic, and instead of making a harsh judgement, they come into the space clothed in humility, which we all should do. I've seen people take "homophobic", "transphobic" even "racist" as insults meant to hurt and attack them. We need to look outside of ourselves, and see the struggles that our brothers and sisters endure, the way that society treats them, the way that we treat them. I don't view "homophobic" as an insult, personally. I strongly believe that we all wrestle with deep rooted prejudice, ignorance and even hatred of our fellow men and women. Why? Because we are raised in a world that had taught us to be divided against eachother. Part of being here and being Christ like, is looking within, constantly, so that we can find our flaws and grow from them. We all have to be honest with ourselves or we cannot grow as people or as disciples.

We are humans, we do not and cannot know everything, but where we are ignorant, we should try to learn so that we can be more accepting and more christ like. We may have disagreement in theology, but we need to be mindful of how we speak to one another. That trans person that you are talking about behind their back, saying "well I think they're a distraction/temptation/confusion planted by the enemy to lead you astray" is a human being deserving of respect, not just of your manners, but you should be treating them like you would treat Christ himself. Acting as if a stranger is some kind of trap... way to self centre your way through life.

That gay person that you tell you love but you want them to be saved so they must repress who they are? That is a child made in gods image who you have just cut with your sugar coated words. I don't care what your personal beliefs are, that is between you and God. But what I know for sure and something that should be reflected in every theology and every church, is genuine deep rooted christ like love.

Love keeps no record of wrong. Love is patient and love is kind.

So instead of measuring someone's sin and trying to fix them because you think they need fixing, just love them, pray for their wellbeing, not for them to change the ways you think they should. Because at the end of the day, if you are genuinely loving someone as Jesus loves, if you are praying for them to be safe and well, then any change that happens is going to be by their will and by God's will alone. Not by you being nosey in their lives and making them feel shame. (Which will only further push them away from the church).

And to those people in this sub who feel unwelcome, unseen, or blatantly attacked/shamed, please consider staying if you are able to. Don't stay if you feel unsafe or if it hurts your mental health too much, but consider being that light that other people like you need here. You have every right to be here and to hold space here. We need people like you in order to change the church from the inside out. We need you to hold space and be that light for others. If anyone is hateful, they should be the ones to leave.

I hope this is some food for thought for everyone.

Blessings

I believe that I understand there is a great variety of beliefs and varying levels of spirituality within quakerism- but person to person, what do you believe?

What are your views on Jesus?

On the Holy spirit?

On the Bible?

Or just God in general?

I am really interested to learn more, because I just don't quite fit anywhere and I crave fellowship and a sense of belonging.

My beliefs:

I believe Jesus was truly inspired, probably just a man, but I love him and his teachings. Though I'm sure much of his deeds were exaggerated, maybe a few words twisted or imagined in the writings. I don't believe in the virgin birth or the resurrection.

Thus, I believe in the Holy spirit, I believe in God the father and I believe that the Holy spirit is his counterpart, mother God. I believe she is a living spirit who dwells within all of creation, and we have shut her out so we have to look within ourselves to find her again. She's wise, a teacher.

I believe the bible is a tool for faith but not inerrant, I believe so much of it is designed to scare people and is far from God. And I really dislike what Paul did to Jesus' teachings, though not all of it was truly him, we suspect.

I have very odd beliefs, would I be able to be a quaker with them?

I've heard a lot about deconstructing. And I deconstructed years ago, dismantled everything. I ended up agnostic for the longest time and now I want to reconstruct my faith and I don't know how.

I don't know if I believe in God anymore, I don't know how to believe again, I don't know how to worship in a healthy way, I don't know how to place all of my beliefs or find any fellowship.

Here are a few that will get me called a heretic:

I don't believe in the trinity, I believe in more of a unity between God the Father and the Holy spirit, who I believe is feminine, something equivalent to mother in a spiritual sense.

Jesus, I believe was extraordinary, I love his teachings, I believe in him obviously but I don't believe he is a deity, not anymore than we are.

I don't believe in most of the OT and NT, I believe there are errors and human impulses, maybe some is inspired and I do appreciate so many of the stories, but not historically speaking.

I don't believe in the resurrection. I don't think it's impossible, but I reserve judgement there a bit and would lean towards probably not.

I know, some will say it isn't possible for me to be a Christian and believe these things, in most views it is heresy. I have searched far and wide for anything close to what I align with, and honestly Christianity is still the closest thing. And that is where my roots are.

Does anyone have any suggestions on rebuilding faith, any suggestions for podcasts, teachers or youtubers that I can go check out for my journey, or literally any words of wisdom? I don't care about finding an echo chamber, I want to hear varying perspectives, I just want the inspiration and the food for thought.

I feel so lost, I'm so close to having my beliefs aligned and yet I feel so far away from having actual faith and devotions and solid belief in a higher power. It feels impossible to get that kind of faith back, every time I decide to try I just drift further away. It's like being at sea and the rip tide just keeps going no matter how hard I swim. I have a lot of mental health and physical health issues right now and I want to have faith again, I think I need to.

My big girl (40kg) absolutely detests baths. If it's not a river or ocean, she hates water on her. I and my partner had to both hold her while trying to wash her and groom her, and we managed but it was way too stressful for her. We took breaks, I gave her many treats every time she willingly got in the shower, I tried to calm her down but it was quite hard on her despite my absolute best efforts to make it a good experience. It had to happen, she was super grubby, but what can we do next time to help her?

Please can we have some tips, especially if there's any groomers here!

Hi all, I really need to ramble a bit and ask for some insight/advice!

So I'm dogsitting my future doggo/childhood dog (it's complicated). I am planning on taking her on in the near future once some things have been worked out, but my parents are on holiday so I'm also looking after her right now. I want to use this 6 weeks as an opportunity to get some training down as well as a trial run to make sure I'm confident in keeping her.

So here's her behavioural history: she's the most unbothered dog on the planet in a lot of ways, absolutely in love with every person she meets as well. Although she can pull for cats/squirrels so we are prioritising impulse training.

In other ways she has issues, she went for my other childhood dog many years ago when she was young, it was pretty bad so they have never been together since and we take caution with other dogs because she's kind of unpredictable with them. The reason of the aggression? Perhaps some form of resource guarding or same sex aggression, we don't know, but both are common for the breed.

Our impulse training has extended to other dogs, although she's not hugely bothered for the most part, if a dog is a little bit reactive or pulls towards her she can stare and end up pulling but she has also always refocused on me when told to, so not obsessive. She's a big dog, and I am currently sourcing a well fitted custom muzzle to begin her muzzle training, that way we can walk in more areas with dogs and continue our training as safely as possible. Shes 40kg and I'm not the strongest so it is important we get this training down and take precautions so everyone stays safe, including her. But yeah, it's been going well and I've not been too concerned honestly.

Then last night... we had gotten back from our walk and stood in the driveway before going in. There's a bit of a hedge so we only noticed at the last moment that a guy walked past with his dogs. She took immediate interest, normal for her, especially considering they surprised her. The other two dogs saw her and immediately went crazy barking and pulling towards her. She lunged, hackles up, body stiff, and it took all my strength to plant my feet and keep her there. The dogs went out of sight, further up the road, but she continued to stare at the bottom of the driveway, very very tense. I told her for maybe the second or third time to leave it, and she finally broke away from it and came back to me to hold eye contact. I instantly rewarded her in that moment but looking back I'm not sure if I reinforced the reactivity or did the right thing since she did technically break her attention away, even if they were already gone.

This has sort of reassured me that I can hold onto her when she goes full pull. But it also really broke my confidence that I have been building with her- if she had pulled harder and gotten loose, I know she would've gone for them and that's so scary - and exactly why I'm getting her a muzzle.

I guess I'm sort of looking for advice on what I can do better next time, and how I can approach our walk today to rebuild our confidence. She is so not a bad dog, and I've known her basically all her life. I grew up with big dogs, I'm no stranger to them. My first dog was very anxious reactive to all dogs and I trained her, with enough exposure to other dogs and positive reinforcement she overcame her fear. But I'm also nervous with this girlie, with her strength and more severe issues, becoming fully my responsibility.

It's been going so well over all, so well with leaving cats and small animals, and most dogs. Any advice? (Including on muzzle training if possible!)