Hey all,

I am a relative newbie to fish keeping so your advice will be heeded.

My girlfriend is 8 months pregnant, and I have always lived near the ocean, so naturally I decided to give our baby's room a fish/ocean theme!

To that end, I bought a 3 gallon aquarium kit at petcetera which included:

• Tank
• Light
• under gravel air-powered filter
• plastic 'rock'
• fake plant

I also bought gravel, water conditioner/dechlorinator, Cycle (bacteria), and one of those siphon things.

I set it all up, then a couple days later I got a goldfish that I named Odin (may he rest in peace). Unfortunately, he only lasted 2 days. I did a bit more research and discovered that I should leave the tank to cycle for at least a week.

I changed the water (about 50%) because of the now-dead fish, waited a week and purchased Oedipus, and now he is gone with the same symptoms as Odin.

When I got Oedipus, I had the water tested at Pets Unlimited, and everything was good with a pH of 6.6, and no ammonia, nitrates, or nitrites.

The symptoms displayed by the fish:

• holding dorsal fin close to body
• lying on the bottom of the tank

I feel very guilty for causing the death of 2 fishes. Please help me give another fish a long, happy life!

-Cam