blow bubbles for fish?

Factual Questions
1

there is a fish in our office and he needs his water changed. i don’t really know how to go about doing that (don’t you have to put some drops in the water?), but the little guy needs some air.

so, can i just put a straw in the water and blow bubbles? i think we only have coffee stirers. he’s at the top of the bowl, and doesn’t look very happy.

thanks.

2

You can get inexpensive aquarium bubblers at a local pet supply shop. Blowing through a straw probably won’t dissolve enough oxygen in the water, unless you sit there doing it all day.

3

Actually, if you take like a wire whisk from your kitchen and froth up the water a bit with it, you’ll circulate quite a bit of air into the water. I saw this on Bill Nye a long time ago. He rocked, I miss him.

4

What you need to do is give the poor guy a partial water change as well.You should drain out about 3/4 of the water,leaving some dirty water which has helpful bacteria in it.If you tap water has chlorine,you need to add a few drops of a water conditioner (buy at the pet shop) or you can leave the water out overnight to let the chlorine evaporate out of the water.Add it back to the fish bowl and your guy should be a happy camper again.You should do a partial water change every week or so or your fish will have a lack of oxygen and slowly be poisoned by his own pee (amonia poisoning)As long as you do a water change every week he will be fine without an air stone.If he’s just in a bowl,I think an air stone will be too turbulent for him.

5

thanks yuki and sonicsink, that’s what i needed. i’m stuck here in the office and can’t get to a pet store, and someone else will be here to care for him/her tomorrow morning. just couldn’t stand watching an unhappy fish and wanted to do something to help. i think i can use a few coffee stirers as a wisk.

bill nye is gone?!?! i love that show :frowning: like that other mr. science guy, but better.

6

You don’t HAVE to put any drops in the water when you change it either. It’s best, but another alternative is to boil it and let it stand over night. That’ll get rid of most of the ickys in it.