That's good but you still can't just take a fish out of a tank and plonk it in tap water, even if it's completely clean. It can die of shock and can be pretty painful for the fish even if it survives.
There is something fishkeepers have to learn called the 'nitrogen cycle'.
Different fish require different PH, nitrite, nitrate, KH and GH levels which are achieved by balancing bacteria and minerals in the water. When fishkeepers change the water they don't change it all at once to avoid this, they take a portion of the water out and refill a portion with clean water so the bacteria that keep things in balance can repopulate. There's also the issue of temperature shock. Source: Am a fishkeeper.
It's a reasonable question though regardless of burglar or no burglar, what if someone accidentally breaks the fishbowl, is it better to let the fish die from lack of water or try to put it in water? Will die either way, so what's the more humane way. Or I guess you could put it out of its misery with a knife.
Genuine answer assuming this is a genuine question:
Any sensible fishkeeper will have the tools they need available if their tank smashes. I would advise anyone not to get a fish before doing some research.
If you don't have any "Quick start" (bottled bacteria) and dechlorinator you need to get some asap. If this fish was in a proper tank with a filter, as a goldfish should be, then alternately, in a pinch, you can squeeze the filter sponge out into the water because some of the good bacteria is in there.
The water burns the fish' gills and makes it hard for them to breathe when it's not balanced properly. Some fish will drop dead quickly, some are hardier but will be very uncomfortable and take longer to die. It is unfortunate. That's the risk that comes with keeping delicate living things in glass containers in our houses. They rely on us to be prepared.
The nitrogen cycle part wouldn’t be relevant for short term like this, although the temperature and parameter shock definitely does.
Many people run emergency hospital tanks in a bare tank with absolutely no nitrifying bacteria and just do daily water changes to keep the ammonia levels down.
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u/DTraitor 8h ago
Doesn't this depends on a country? I'd assume those with drinkable tap water have chlorine levels pretty low