Moor fish

[brokly]

We recently bought two black moor fish. The guy in the shop said we would only need to change the water in their bowl about once a month, with occasional partial water changes more frequently. However their water gets very cloudy (and smelly) within about 4 days. Are we doing anything wrong?

[honkytonkman]

It's possible that you could be overfeeding them. I once was asked to feed a friend's goldfish while the family was on their hols. By the end of the week, the water was cloudy and smelly and the poor fish were coming to the surface for air. To my shame I didn't know how/when to feed them - I was giving them a good sprinkle of food every day. Apparently that was too much :( I was horrified that as a passionate animal love I'd been killing them with kindness. Please speak to an expert in fish and not the spotty oik in the pet shop, to get some good, sound advice.

[simms]

Is it just me or is it gratutiously offensive to refer to a shop asst as a spotty oik - or do you actually know the guy, honkytonkman?

[Bethanne]

I have always had Black Moor fish and they are, indeed, a joy to have in the home. However, I find that the two that I always keep do better if their home is a 20 gallon, short tank. This gives the fish a larger swim area while filtering the water on a cinsistant basis. Also, only feed them small amounts throughout the day.