Think Fish Keepers Daily News. [2016-2019]

It's a fine old plan!

My only concern would be going to an independent fish shop, miles away, and finding something incredible there, with no sensible way of getting it home!

There are 4 (probably more) ways to respond in this situation:-
1) "That is an amazing fish, but there is no way I can get it home safely from here. I guess that's just fate" - feels a bit sad for a while, then possibly gets home and realises that the amazing fish wouldn't work well with the fish already in the tank/doesn't have a tank suitable for the fish, and is comforted by the thought that the impulse purchase could have harmed the fish and left the fishkeeper in an emergency situation of trying to create a suitable environment for a new fish at short notice.

2) "That is an amazing fish, but there is no way I can get it home safely from here right now" -
feels interested in finding out more, takes pic of fish with label containing latin name, goes home and researches the requirements of the fish. Spends a couple of weeks on the research, decides they they can't keep the fish in a current community/can't buy a new tank/can't keep the fish correctly...(remaining actions follow those of option 1)

3) "That is an amazing fish, but there is no way I can get it home safely from here right now" -
feels interested in finding out more, takes pic of fish with label containing latin name, goes home and researches the requirements of the fish. Spends a couple of weeks on the research, decides they they can set up a suitable environment. Goes to LFS with information and asks if they can order it. Or decides to order the fish online for delivery.


4) "That is an amazing fish, but there is no way I can get it home safely from here right now" -
feels interested in finding out more, takes pic of fish with label containing latin name, goes home and researches the requirements of the fish. Spends a couple of weeks on the research, decides they they can set up a suitable environment, and that they do want the fish. Several weeks/months are spent doing further research and setting up a suitable environment prior to a long trip back to the store, with a fishy travel kit (battery operated air pump with some mature filter media in a small amount of tank water, polybox large enough to contain the fish in a bag, and anything else that could help). Travels back to the shop, gets the fish, returns home with everyone doing well, acclimatises new fish to new set up, everyone lives happily ever after.

Hope that helps - the general message is "don't buy fish from a distant store you've never visited before on the spur of the moment, as it results in the sort of chaos that we can all do without". 

A public aquarium and visiting a fish shop, sounds like a great day @fcmf

I'm sorry to hear that. Even though it is expected, it is always sad to lose a fish.

They can go from seeming to cope to at death's door in less than a day.
One of my rice fish (a female) developed a very swollen abdomen though with no pine coning, so I left her alone. Like your tetra she had trouble swimming (with her body vertical, tail upwards) but fed quite happily and bred - with rice fish the eggs hang from the vent till they get knocked off so it's obvious when they spawn. Then one day she was suddenly floating upside down at the surface so I decided the time had come to put her down.

Sorry to hear the sad news about your tetra.

Sorry to hear this fcmf

Tank in a bit of a sorry state. Now with the gang's numbers depleting, and possibly having gained a sense of life/death, the 9 are looking a bit sorry for themselves and have been gathered together in one quarter of the tank all afternoon and evening, as though wondering who's next. Not helped by the demise of the live plants either! Definitely time for some new life to be breathed into the aquarium...

When I worked in the hospital lab back in the 1970s there was a notice on the wall.
"If all else fails, read the manual"
 



Hmmm, come to think of it, that hospital was in Cambridge. Is not reading manuals a Cambridge problem 

A red nerite snail was ordered, and two turned up, to my pleasant surprise - one middle-sized one with a couple of scrapes on her shell and a perfectly formed tiny one with rich colouring. I've placed each on the anubias, in the hope that they might tackle it. The former is definitely female as she's left two white, thread-like strips on the leaf; if my year-old orange snail actually decides to wake up today for more than just a few minutes, he might be in for a surprise when he wanders around and discovers them!

Glad to hear that your rasbora have been returned to the main tank. Congratulations on returning your little one to full health. 

I've accidentally flooded the spare room. The axolotl that had a cut on his leg was in the spare tank for treatment. I returned him to the main tank last night, and turned off the filters & chiller, thinking I'd empty the tank today. Just went into the room, the hose coming out of the chiller unit had fallen out of the tank and leaked approximately 50L onto the carpet. Oops. 

On the bright side, it's 31C here today, so it shouldn't take long to dry out.

It is quite humid here, but I've used towels to mop up the worst of the spill, so I might have to put a fan in the room tomorrow to help.