Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

My roommate has a fish tank in the living room. All the lights go off at night except for the fish tank light. I don't think it's good for it to be on 24/7 because I know it messes with fish's circadian rhythms. They won't ever have a set time to sleep. I know this causes stress in fish- it just can't be good. The only problem is that my roommate recently lost a close family member, and the fish tank is a kind of remembrance thing. She doesn't want anyone to touch the fish tank, which is fine- it's her tank, not mine. I mentioned that she might want to turn the light off at night, and she said that her family left the fish tank light on all the time, and they were fine. I dunno, guys..... Am I just overreacting? I know a lot about keeping fish healthy and this just really bugs me. Should I just let it go? What would you do?

1) Tell your roommate in no uncertain terms that she is killing her fish.
2) Cite numerous sketchy geocities sites proving your point.
3) Burst into tears and threaten to call ASPCA and PETA on her if she doesn't turn out the light.
4) Ask her if being responsible for the deaths of these fishes is something she wants on her mind for the rest of eternity.
5) Tell her you're going to report her to the HCO if she doesn't respect her fishes' circadian rhythms.

Sometimes I wish I had an extra account on this board called Troll.

Giovanni Schwartz wrote:
Sometimes I wish I had an extra account on this board called Troll.

Me too. I'd have so much more fun.

I wouldn't worry about it. Her fish are going to be more physically stressed and it will shorten their lifespan, but they don't really have the higher neural capacity to feel emotional stress the way we do. If she won't listen to you, honestly, fish get sold to irresponsible 8-year-olds all the time, they could be a lot worse off than they are.

Maybe bring it up again in a couple of weeks when she's less stressed out herself.

Life is much better now.

As a side note, let me share this regarding fish with you:

Welcome, troll! Let's have a party!

TheHaters wrote:Welcome, troll! Let's have a party!

I was just missing you!

<3<3<3
TheHaters, will you be my Valentine?
<3<3<3

troll, you know I "hate" you like a friend, right?

Giovanni Schwartz wrote:1) Tell your roommate in no uncertain terms that she is killing her fish.
2) Cite numerous sketchy geocities sites proving your point.
3) Burst into tears and threaten to call ASPCA and PETA on her if she doesn't turn out the light.
4) Ask her if being responsible for the deaths of these fishes is something she wants on her mind for the rest of eternity.
5) Tell her you're going to report her to the HCO if she doesn't respect her fishes' circadian rhythms.

Sometimes I wish I had an extra account on this board called Troll.

I'm not an animal activist. I just know a lot about fish tanks from personal experience. At home we have a 55 gallon fish tank. Over the years we've had Oscars, African Cichlids, some tropical fish, and now huge Gold Fish. When I was in high school my dad let me be in charge of the whole cleaning process, and for me that was a very big thing. I guess it's just my pride in my fish tank know-how that's making me so bugged about this.

Zedability wrote:I wouldn't worry about it. Her fish are going to be more physically stressed and it will shorten their lifespan, but they don't really have the higher neural capacity to feel emotional stress the way we do. If she won't listen to you, honestly, fish get sold to irresponsible 8-year-olds all the time, they could be a lot worse off than they are.

Maybe bring it up again in a couple of weeks when she's less stressed out herself.

Thanks, Zed. You're right.

aww my little brother is way into fish tanks. He has a tank with some coolie loaches and... I think some other loaches. They're cute.

But the ends justify the means, right? (Cue "Into the Woods" flashbacks)

TheHaters wrote:troll, you know I "hate" you like a friend, right?

I thought we had something special.

Whistler wrote:aww my little brother is way into fish tanks. He has a tank with some coolie loaches and... I think some other loaches. They're cute.

Whistler, why do have to be so nice to me?

troll wrote:

TheHaters wrote:troll, you know I "hate" you like a friend, right?

I thought we had something special.

I guess I'll consider making you my nemesis.

Am I missing something? I thought no pets were allowed . . .

All apartment complexes technically ban pets.

Last semester, the girls next door had a big fish tank and management didn't care.

Management also didn't care when our heater refused to raise our apartment above 50 degrees for the entire month of November, so I guess the whole "management not caring" thing cuts both ways.

I know that a friend of mine had rabbits in Miller Apartments. Boy oh boy were they adorbs before they died. Management looked the other way.

TheHaters wrote:

troll wrote:

TheHaters wrote:troll, you know I "hate" you like a friend, right?

I thought we had something special.

I guess I'll consider making you my nemesis.

<3s