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Robyn's AquaBabies Poll Page 2002
Last Updated: 7/2/10
These are the poll results for 2002
KEY:
1. When did you purchase your first AquaBaby?
2. Which species were in your AquaBaby (if you know)?
3. Where did you buy your AquaBaby?
4. At the time of purchasing your AquaBaby, would you consider yourself a novice,
intermediate, or advanced aquarist?
5. Why did you decide to buy the AquaBaby?
6. Did any of them die? If so, how long after purchase?
7. Did you upgrade to larger aquariums after this experience or give up fish-keeping all
together?
8. Would you buy another AquaBaby?
9. In general, would you say that you were satisfied or dissatisfied with your purchase?
The following is a list of the poll results of AquaBaby owners from 2002.
Reply #27 from anonymous on 1/9/02:
1. About January, 2001.
2. Two cubes with danios, snails, and dwarf frogs.
3. Target.
4. "I knew NOTHING about fish".
5. "I thought they were really cute and since I wanted to learn about fish, I bought them."
6. "The fish died about 8 months after. They were in the cube for 6 months and died 2 months
after putting them in a larger aquarium".
7. "I upgraded to a 20 gallon tank, then to a 55 gallon tank".
8. "YES!"
9. "I was VERY happy with my purchase."
Note from Robyn: If the AquaBabies home was so wonderful, why did you buy larger tanks for
the animals and no longer use the cubes?! The animals in the AquaBabies are great; their home
is not. This anonymous person was happy about having the animals. As for the fish dying in a
larger tank. If you were in prison and so poorly cared for that you were ill and then you were put
in a mansion and soon died, would we say the mansion killed you? While it might factor in
(problems with new tank mates, high ammonia/nitrite levels, and other problems that
inexperienced aquarists encounter), the time in prison certainly was a factor as well.
Reply #28 from Dan on 1/24/02:
1. December, 2001.
2. One male betta and a snail.
3. Florida Mall, Orlando, Fl.
4. "...novice to intermediate for freshwater."
5. "It was a birthday present from a friend..."
6. Betta alive; "...snail was dead when I got it...."
7. "I had plans on purchasing a 5-10 gallon tank to set up in my room before I got the AquaBaby,
and I plan to move him in as soon as I can afford to set that up and make it a small community
tank...."
8. "I was thinking about it...but after reading some of this negative press, I'm going to do some
research first."
9. "Very satisfied, although I am concerned about the small size of the tank. It's not even half a
gallon, I would venture. Using the 1 inch to 1 gallon rule, that's WAY too small...."
Reply #29 from Craig on 2/22/02:
1. December, 2000.
2. Black neon.
3. Target.
4. Intermediate.
5. Gift for office.
6. None have died.
7. Already had a 20 gallon tank at home.
8. Yes.
9. Satisfied.
Reply #30 from Andrew on 3/8/02:
1. December, 2001.
2. 4 zebra danios.
3. Zellers.
4. Novice.
5. "It had a nice mini-look about it. Small, compact, and a great add to my desk at work."
6. One danio died a month after purchase.
7. "I will take them home tonight after reading your website. Put them in my (unused)
aquarium...."
8. "Of course not."
9. "I liked the look of living things on my desktop. Plants are nice, but kinda boring. I like the
zebra danios they just zing through the undersurface of the water. They take away the boredom
of the day. They make me laugh."
Note from Robyn: I too have considered having a small aquarium at work (as in 2 to 3 gallons,
not the tiny AquaBabies cubes). But, I could never do it to the animals. What happens when I
take a day off (I only get a day at a time) and something happens, the power goes off, the
cleaning
person decides to do something (one time they took money from the company safe), the
temperature plummets, there is a chemical spill, etc.? My work is so dirty (dust and chemicals
flying around, cigarette smoke, autoclave smells (If you have not smelled that, you do not know
what you are missing!), etc.) that I have to leave my coat in the car so I certainly could not bring
any animals into the situation. But, I do have some nice ants crawling around! My boss calls me
"Fishy."
Reply #31 from Maria on 3/22/02:
1. December, 2001.
2. Two of them, each with one snail, one African dwarf frog, and one plant.
3. COSCO price club.
4. Novice.
5. It was a gift.
6. One cube's occupants (all of them) died at the end of 1/02 after a water change. The other
cube's all died the end of 2/02 without any water changes.
7. "Give-up all together."
8. "No, for sure."
9. "Dissatisfied, my daughter was heartbroken after."
Note from Robyn: African dwarf frogs are a VERY poor choice of animal for something like an
AquaBaby cube. They can live off of special foods (not provided with the AquaBaby) and do
well on frozen worms but to really do well, they need live worms. Since feeding mine live
worms,
they have doubled in size in just a few weeks. My page on them is here.
Reply #32 from Tom on 4/4/02:
1. July, 2001.
2. Four unknown fish.
3. Target.
4. Intermediate.
5. He liked the size.
6. "One aggressive fish killed the other three within about 6 months...."
7. "Same aquarium, same one fish left...."
8. "Yes...."
9. "Very satisfied with the size, price, convenience, and enjoyment of our AquaBabies."
Note from Robyn: I can certainly believe one can get enjoyment from the animals in the
AquaBabies while they are alive. As for the size, it's too small. The price is way too high ($20
for two $1 fish usually). There is no convenience as it's impossible to maintain properly. It's
convenient (for the person, not the animals) if you ignore it.
Reply #33 from Claire on 5/28/02:
1. April 8, 2002.
2. Two minnows..
3. Earls Court Ideal Homeshow in London.
4. Novice.
5. "It looked an easy way to own a pet and I thought it would be rewarding to watch."
6. "They did well for a month, wehn I did my first clean out of the tank, next day one fish was
dead. The second fish lasted 2 weeks after that."
7. "I bought a 60 litre tropical aquarium which has given me great pleasure and interest. The
only good thing about AquaBabies was that it showed me to do it properly and the rewards will
be greater."
8. "Absolutely not. I am a great animal lover and in hindsight I can't believe that I could've
thought it was a good idea. I found it very stressful and upsetting."
9. "Dissatisfied. I care less about the money grabbers who got my (pound symbol)20, I was
stupid for giving it to them, but care completely for the distress I put the fish through."
Reply #34 from Mike on 5/30/02:
1. Early May 2002.
2. "One orange tailed guppy (I think) and one spotted guppy (or is it a danio?). Not really sure.
One DOA snail. 1-2 plants."
3. Not sure (gift).
4. "Intermediate knowledge but no practical experience."
5. It was a gift.
6. One snail (note that at this time, he had only had the fish for 3 weeks).
7. "After reading about the scandal, I think I might 'save' the fish by getting a tank. I found
out I do enjoy watching the fish a fair bit."
8. "No...."
9. "Moreso satisfied but my eyes have been opened. I said above that I considered myself
knowledgeable about fish. I was a little gullible about AquaBabies claims though...." (After this
he asked me a number of questions about their claims.)
Reply #35 from Unknown on 6/23/02:
1. December 2001.
2. Two African dwarf frogs and a mystery snail.
3. Target.
4. Intermediate.
5. It was a gift.
6. The snail died after a month.
7. Put the frogs into a gallon tank and may get a 10 gallon tank.
8. "Yes I would. I'm actually going to buy some more frogs and fish to put them into a bigger
tank."
9. "I'm very very satisifed. I think the fish and frogs that are dying in people's care are the ones
that don't use spring water or don't put conditioner in the water (careless people), and I think
people should (not) buy AquaBabies unless they put them into a bigger tank."
Note from Robyn: For this respondent, I repaired a lot of the spelling and grammar as to what I
thought the word was supposed to be. They had few periods, commas, etc. and words were
missing.
Reply #36 from Jen on 6/28/02:
1. April 2000.
2. A dwarf African frog and a snail.
3. Target.
4. Intermediate.
5. Replacement for a dead betta.
6. The frog is still alive.
7. No other aquariums.
8. Yes.
9. "I am very satisfied. He is very active and sings to me a lot. He's also tripled in size, his body
alone is almost two inches...." (Note from Robyn: I wonder what she's feeding him?
Aquarists who keep these frogs in regular aquariums can barely keep them alive without live
foods and special care so two years in a tiny cube seems almost impossible to me. If the frog is
singing, it's male.)
Reply #37 from Shell on 7/6/02:
1. Received June 2001.
2. Guppies.
3. It was a gift.
4. Intermediate to advanced.
5. It was a gift.
6. "One died the day I got it, the others were touch and go for a while and are getting a bit
'seasoned' in their age and are starting to wear down. The time they spent in their habitat
must've done them a lot of harm, or they were simple 'genetically screwed' to begin with,
because the guppies produced horribly deformed offspring that rarely lived beyond a week. I
hated isolating them, but it became an issue of cruelty to their numerous offspring. One of their
fry lived to maturity, and is a very small hermaphrodite."
7. "I very quickly put them in to a 3 gal, my quarantine set-up (which in total cost less than the
price of an AquaBaby...though a ten gallon can be set up for the same price.)."
8. "Never."
9. "It's one of the most inhuman let alone inhumane things I've seen. The only upside I can
possibly see is that an attempt has been made to provide a nitrogen cycle. Even though it's
horribly undersized. Obviously a knockoff off those 'shrimp in a ball' (ecosphere) things taken
too far, with too little space, for far too much retail cash."
Reply #38 from Mark on 7/25/02:
1. April 2001.
2. Two white cloud mountain minnows.
3. Gift from koisk in mall in the UK.
4. Novice.
5. It was a gift.
6. "1 died today 25th July 2002 :-(( I believe probably because they normally live on the mantle
piece but had been moved into more direct sun whilst some work was carried out, it's been a
warm sunny day." Note from Robyn: Remember that small bodies of water like the AquaBabies
are more prone to temperature fluctuations than aquariums, and animals can die from extreme
heat or cold depending on the season and situation.
7. No upgrade.
8. "Hmmm not sure after reading various articles about them, and some of my own
evidence."
9. "Very satisfied, comments I would make is that the tank needed cleaning more often than was
hinted at by the AquaBabies leaflet. The fish always looked brighter after they had been
'cleaned.'"
Reply #39 from Anne on 7/29/02:
1. Summer 2000.
2. White cloud mountain minnows.
3. Gift.
4. Intermediate.
5. It was a gift.
6. "Yes, the snails died as did one fish. The remainder looked sickly pressing against the wall
with little room to swim."
7. "I got a bigger tank and I added some more fish and they have lived over two years and are
doing very well."
8. "Never."
9. "Highly dissatisfied. The aquababy tank is not healthful and does not give the fish enough
room to swim. It's a ridiculous thing designed for people who know little about fish and think
it is 'cute' to have a tiny tank. It is bad for the fish."
Reply #40 from Caralyn on 7/31/02:
1. About April 2002.
2. Two white cloud mountain minnows.
3. Manchester, England at a stall.
4. Novice.
5. "I saw them on holiday and really liked them."
6. "Not yet."
7. "Not yet."
8. "Yes I think so."
9. "Satisfied so far."
Reply #41 from Angela on 8/3/02:
1. June 1999.
2. African dwarf frog.
3. Target.
4. Novice.
5. "I had been looking to get a small aquarium for my office at the time so when I saw the
Aquababy aquarium, I thought I would give it a try. The frog was so cute."
6. "My frog just died a couple of days ago. : ( I am VERY sad because I've had him for so many
years. I believe he died because his time was up and over the years, he had actually grown. I've
seen him shed his skin on several occasions."
7. "No, I kept him in his little cube all these years although on several occasions, I would put
him in a really large bowl so that he could swim around freely."
8. "I don't know. I feel that I was really lucky with this particular frog so I'm afraid that if I
get a replacement, it might die within a short period of time."
9. "I was actually very satisfied with my purchase. The upkeep was easy and not very time
consuming at all. All I did was feed it once a day (the pellets), change out the water every month
(made sure to use drinking water or filtered water) and that was it."
Note from Robyn: Angela was very lucky. My three African
dwarf
frogs do not want to eat frog pellets. They are spoiled and only eat live or frozen worms,
shrimp, or insect larvae.
Reply #42 from Dawn on 8/10/02:
1. February 2002.
2. "Don't know."
3. Target.
4. Novice.
5. "I thought they looked cute, so my mom offered to purchase them for me."
6. "The tank came with 5 fish. One died after 3.5 months, one died 2 weeks later, and one just
died last night. Oh, and the snail died, too, after about 4 months."
7. "I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do."
8. "No."
9. "Very dissatisfied, and I feel stupid for buying fish on a whim from Target."
Reply #43 from Judi on 8/21/02:
1. 1999.
2. Don't know.
3. "Unsure."
4. Novice.
5. Gift.
6. "One of the three died after 2 years."
7. "We have kept the same setup."
8. "I would definitely buy this again - it has been easy and fun."
9. "We are very satisfied - as long as the snail stays alive and the plants are trimmed, it seems
to be fine."
Reply #44 from Elaine on 9/15/02:
1. December 8, 1999.
2. "Zebra danios, and one Gold Danio."
3. Target.
4. Novice.
5. "I decided to buy it, because it looked so nice."
6. "Two of them died a month or two later, then I moved the Gold Danio to a 5 gallon
tank."
7. "I upgraded to a larger aquarium."
8. "No, Never."
9. "I was very dissatisfied."
Reply #45 from Jessi on 10/24/02:
1. October 19, 2002.
2. "Not sure, they had a really shiny blue stripe on their side." (Blue danios maybe).
3. The Bay in Kingsway Garden Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
4. Novice.
5. "Easy maintenance, they promised the world...."
6. "All four died 4 days later. Could be from the disease they had when they were sold to us,
called Ich, or could be because the toxic water wasn't allowing them enough oxygen to live."
7. "I will be upgrading, doing it right....""
8. "Never, and I'm going back to the Bay, to get them to pull the A.B.'s off the shelves so no
one else will waste time, money and effort with these fish death traps."
9. "Very unhappy, and angry. I have already voiced my opinions and/or threats to the
AquaBabies web site."
Reply #46 from Theresa on 10/28/02:
1. March 2002.
2. Two small frogs.
3. Target.
4. Novice.
5. "Desk pal."
6. "Both died within 3 days."
7. "I exchanged them for a larger frog which was among many dead or dying fish, frogs and
crabs
at Target...."
8. "I would, knowing I would take care of it properly. I would not buy one for a child."
9. "Originally I was dissatisfied. It was horrible to come back to work from being gone just over
night to one dead baby frog and the next day the other frog was dead. Fortunately the larger
frog I exchanged them for has been with me ever since, he/she seems very happy, especially
when I feed him/her the frog treats."
Go to the main AquaBabies page.
Go to the AquaBabies poll page.
Go to the AquaBabies master index.
