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Fish live in a totally different environment than we do. We create an artificial environment for them to live in. If we're too cold in the house, we can readily imagine that the dog is also too cold. If we have insufficient oxygen, then the dog may well have insufficient oxygen. If our air is filled with toxins, then of course the dog's air is filled with toxins.

We have little or no direct concept of what the environment is like for the fish, and, without studying it, we don't inherently know what their environment ought to be. Superficially, fish live in water, so it's easy to assume that we can toss them into any body of water and it's fine. But of course that's not true. And the details vary amongst different fish.

EDIT: I think also, people tend to view fish as decorations. Or more to the point, aquariums with fish are decorations. You have to maintain them similar to how you have to water houseplants. The fact that they are animals and not plants might be seen as a minor detail.

We don't personify fish or otherwise form emotional attachments. That's essentially the entire difference in the horror-less deaths of fish vs horror-filled deaths of dogs.

(It was likely the quick temperature change that killed them.)

Yeah, exactly. We think of them as merely "decoration" not living creatures. That's why when I saw them die due to a mistake it really affected me. Sure I knew those fish in the living room that were swimming around were live animals but until they were prematurely killed it didn't completely kick in. Then it made me question societal perception. People get fish and kill fish probably just as much as they get fish and keep them alive...

I think it was also the fact that I noticed they were dead before she did. If she just said "oh crap the fish are dead" to me I wouldn't have the same reaction.

>full water change

That's most likely the reason. You should have a filter and a bio-filter. You never change them both at the same time. The bio-filter harbors bacteria which neutralizes the fish urine. Yes, it will not seem 'clean' but it doesn't matter. Anyway, you should change out the water a bit at a time. Imagine that the water is water in a glass. If you let it evaporate halfway, and add more water, then eventually that water will get cloudy as the concentration of minerals increases. Minerals don't evaporate, so that water gets more and more concentrated minerals. You have to remove about 10% of the water a week and replace it, to keep the water normal. You could also use distilled water, which I've had success in starting a new tank, but if you do clean out a tank, don't clean the bio filter and you need to let the new water sit for about 24 hours to let the chlorine dissipate.

>Change in chlorine?

Uh, there shouldn't be any chlorine in a fish tank. You and your roommate should probably look up fish care in google or something. The first link is to ASPCA and they do have good advice. I had an aquarium for several years, and if you don't know what you are doing, mollies or perhaps a plecostomus is a good choice. The pleco can survive pretty nasty water. However, they can grow pretty large and they would need a huge tank. They live about 10 years or more, so it's a big commitment. On the plus side, they will clean the sides of the tank.

>You never change them both at the same time. The bio-filter harbors bacteria which neutralizes the fish urine. Yes, it will not seem 'clean' but it doesn't matter. Anyway, you should change out the water a bit at a time

That's how someone else explained it to me as well. When I say "Change in chlorine" I meant "she started again with tap water so there was addition of chlorine." and "I don't think she considered the chlorine." We had super chlorinated tap water in that city.

>You and your roommate should probably look up fish care

She was my roommate more than a decade ago and I don't know her anymore but yea, of course she should have known better because she was keeping fish. They were also just fish from a carnival/fair so she didn't exactly PLAN on keeping fish. She also went to the store and added a bottom feeder to the goldfish. Which was part of the point. Many (most?) people don't know what the hell they are doing when they start/maintain a fish tank. This is common.

I had absolutely, and I mean absolutely, nothing to do with the fish tank. I wouldn't touch it, it was hers. She was keeping the fish not me. She had the fish before we met. I also had no idea whatsoever she was changing the fish tank water or that you weren't supposed to do that. I wasn't her babysitter. I wasn't (an am not) responsible for her mistakes.

I am not going to look up fish care on google because there is no way I'd ever keep a fish tank. I was simply speaking of my experience with a former roommate's mistakes, I don't need a lecture on fish care.

I think she just neglected the tank for so long she felt starting over with fresh water would be easier not knowing the consequences. The fish lived for years before this incident.

"Many (most?) people don't know what the hell they are doing when they start"

Its as bad as parenting, although the stakes aren't as high and its often more carefully planned.

Tropical fish are cool, I've kept some on and off since the 80s.

I will say from my wild youth that they are a good hangover pet. When you're too "blah" in the morning to do anything, you can at least watch the fish.

I have had the same pleco for about 9 years although it strangely seems to have stopped growing around 5 inches or so. And I had an oscar for many years and only I fed it and through extensive experimentation involving cardboard boxes and other test subjects I came to the conclusion that it identified me coming to feed it by gait analysis not visually, which I thought was interesting. Or maybe my experiment was faulty, I donno.

Gotta be careful with fish, even just trace contamination from some herbicides and detergents can kill them. That might have gotten those fish.

Actually, they're sensitive to many of the same things.

It's just easier to get those things out of whack. We can't change the acid content of the air animals are always in contact with, nor can we significantly change the chemical composition of that air.

An ill-maintained fish tank will do those things - doesn't meant that a fish is more sensitive than a dog, only that the environment of the fish is much more sensitive than the environment of a dog.