Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: george on September 18, 2013, 08:12:53 PM
-
well i got some wood for my tank just wanna know if its ok for the tank i think it is though, its been in a bucket for about 6 days now but i only poured hot water on it the first day i got it and left it in the water turning it over as a bit sticks out so i stick each end thats not been in water for a bit like a day or so, today i emptied the water out and put 2 kettle waters over it in the bucket now i stopped as i had to do something so i am not going to put more kettle boils over it so its filled up again,
when is it ok to put in my tank? also when i first got it there was what looked like something white which a spider must of wrapped up so i tried getting it out with a knife but i only ended up digging it into the wood to were i cant see it but as ya can see above its been in water now for ages,
also the wood seems to have some holes in it that go deep into the wood now i am worried incase any of the fish/plecs get stuck in it and cant get out but will it still be ok putting the wood in? i have taken some pictures of the wood i will post them below
can snails cause harm to the tank if they die? as i have loads of assassins now and i may crush some tiny ones when i clean my tank
i actually got some fish on sunday havent got fish in awhile due to money etc did ask for 5 harlequins to add to my current 4 but only got 2 and only was charged for 2 i didnt know this until i got home so obviously the person mis heard me ha,
i took a note of some fish if i could have in my tank so if anyone can answer them then that will be great
buenos alres tetra
barbs ( all kind i liked a few types ) i remember seeing that they nip but just wanna ask again
red eye tetra
black phantom
siamese flying fox
maccullochs rainbow fish
glow light danios
red eye tetra
golden wonder panchax ( if i remember correctly it said these cant be kept with small fish so is that the likes of neons etc ? )
what i have in my tank is
2 bn plecs
6 harlequins
4 shrimp ( but never see 4 out at a time but i did buy 4 )
about 12 glo light tetra
about 7 neons
about 6/7 rummie noses
4 bolivian rams
when i say about its because i dont always count them and its also hard to count because of the plants and because they dont just stay still
-
couldnt post 2 pics at a time so heres the other one mainly focusing on the holes in the wood
-
The usual advice is to soak wood until the worst of the brown colour has come out of it. What is the water like in the bucket after it's been soaking - how brown is it?
Wood can turn the tank water brown but the fish won't mind that. It is us humans who don't like a funny coloured tank. If you put your new wood in the tank and it does turn the water brown, water changes will slowly get rid of it, or you could put carbon in your filter. If the water goes very brown you would need to change the carbon every few days as carbon gets full quickly.
Some wood is worse than others though. I have a piece of wood that was sold as mangrove root. The woman in the shop said that kind didn't need soaking, and she was right. There's never been any brown from it.
The holes - are they big enough for your bristlenoses to get stuck in? If they are, you could try using silicone sealant (aquarium stuff, or DIY sealant that says it is safe for aquariums - if it doesn't say on the tube it is not safe). But you'd have to let the wood get completely dry first and wait 48 hours for the sealant to set before getting it wet again. Or plug it with a bit of filter wool, though that might look a bit funny.
Squashed baby assassins shouldn't cause much harm. I probably squash loads of those tiny flat snails when I move anything in my tank. If the shells get broken and any fish or other snails can get to them, they quite likely just get eaten.
Your tank is 160 litres isn't it? If I've remembered right you do have room for more fish.
If you choose barbs, get some that don't nip too much. Look at something like cherry barbs or 5 band barbs. A lot of barbs grow big and wouldn't look right with your tetras; some like coolish water, and some like tiger barbs would nip your other fish.
Red eye tetra - a bit bigger than your other tetras, and can be a bit nippy
Black phantoms - should be OK. Mainly nip fish with long fins like guppies
Flying fox - one of those should be OK, but shops often label these fish wrong. There are two or three fish that look almost the same and shops mix them up. Some of the others can be aggressive so you need to look up how to tell the difference.
Maccullochs rainbows - I'd never heard of those so I had to look them up. They sound like they should be OK - if you can find them. Have you seen any in shops? If you can't find any, these rainbowfish (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/dwarf-rainbowfish.html) would go nicely instead.
Glowlight danios - fine, so long as you mean these (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/glowlight-danio.html) and not glofish. Glofish are genetically modified and they aren't allowed in the country (though that won't stop some shops)
Golden wonder - nice as they are, I don't think I'd risk those with the fish already in the tank.
-
like apple juice for a polite way to describe ha, the smaller bn plec could get down the hole maybe yes, looks like i am gonna have to buy another piece of wood if i dont buy the silicone, just all the messing around, the mcculloch rainbow fish i saw in the MA i go to, think i will leave the fish that nip altogether as they could nip my rams as they are the ones with the longest fins, i some apistos in MA too but dont want them because my rams have been settled on the bottom of the tank for ages now they still chase eachother and lip lock sometimes but i dont want apisto's to come in and unsettle them or the rams to unsettle the apisto's which is a shame as they have some nice yellow ones in MA, will look at the rainbow fish you suggested see if i like them, if they get rainbow fish how many can i get? is there a link for me to check how close i am to fully stocked tank or would you know already? will re measure my tank again tomorrow to be sure and right it down incase i need it for in the future,
how about gouramis aswell as another option? think i am going to MA the weekend
-
'Apple juice' isn't too bad, some wood makes the water like black tea. If you don't mine water like apple juice you can put it in when you want, if not soak it a bit more.
Apistogrammas - in most types the yellow ones are mature females, though stressed females are greyish and they are often stressed in shops. There are some species that have yellow males - cockatoo cichlids come in a gold form and it can be hard to tell the males from the females if the males are too young for their long fins to have grown yet. And there is a yellow form of agassizzi apistos as well. These are colours that have been made by selective breeding like all the fancy colours of guppies.
With the fish you have, gouramis would be OK. Honeys, dwarfs, pearls and 3-spots would fit, although pearls and 3-spots are bigger than the other two and would take up more of your stocking allowance. 3-spots have a few different colours - gold, opaline and the greyish one with spots down the side are the ones you are most likely to see. Honeys can be kept as a male/female pair or 1 male and 2 or 3 females. All the others should have 1 male and at least 2 females as the males can pester one female to death. And only one male in a tank unless there are a lot of plants. Dwarf gouramis often have dwarf gourami disease when you buy them, though it doesn't show straight away. Dwarfs quite often die after a couple of months.
I have honey gouramis so I'm biased ;D.
Thinkfish does have a community creator like the old site but it is harder to find as there is no link at the top of the page.
In the menu at the top of the page you'll see 'fish profiles'. Click on that and you'll get a page with a list of types of fish across the top. Hover over one type and click on any fish from the drop down menu. Right down at the bottom of the page, under the description of the fish, is the community creator. All you have to do is fill in your tank details in the boxes, then look for the fish you want and click 'add this fish to my tank'. To save your tank you have to register separately from the forum - and signing out of the community creator doesn't sign you out of the forum.
-
so if its gouramis i get i guess its the honey ones i am getting lol hopefully they have them in if i choose to get them, so 1 male and 2 females is ok? or should i get 3 females? if i was to get 1 male and 2 females suppose not getting the extra female to make 3 could save me on an extra smaller fish i guess so i may just get 1 male 2 female, how can i get what the sexes are? will check on the internet tomorrow aswell for myself, i think i am going to HA tomorrow( later on in the day ) so will get the gouramis then if i choose them, i wanna get 2 more harlequins aswell so they add up to 8 but this isnt highly needed they can stay as shoal of 6, i guess rainbows and gouramis cant go together or i cant have both? so tomorrow i will decide what fish i want as its nearly 4am and i cant be bothered looking now, ye i dont like the sound of the dwarf ones just like the neon disease i dont think i will get more neons, the gouarmis you named were they the only ones there is or the only ones i can have ? just incase theres others in MA, mainly ones like honeys as the other ones will be bigger than the honeys,
so 1 male gourami/rainbow fish and 2 female gourami/rainbow fish and 2 harlequins be ok to get tomorrow? just to re mention i got 2 harlequins on sunday but adding another 2 harlequins isnt a must
-
i ended up seeing what fish i wanted and i like the look of the rainbow fish really, the ones you suggest look nicer, but do they have to be dwarf ones? and if they dont have to be dwarfs can it be any type of rainbow fish? or if it has to be dwarf can it be any type of dwarf? also is has to be 1 male and 2/3 females yes?
and this was one of the siamese flying fox i THINK that i saw in MA http://thinkfish.dancrack.com/fishimages/2103_siamese_flying_fox.jpg
-
Honey gouramis -
Come in 3 colours - red, yellow and the original colour (male goldy tan and females beige. These are the type in the pics in the fish profile on here). The red and yellow ones have been made by selectively breeding the original ones. I got my yellow ones from MA, and I've seen original coloured ones there too. The yellow ones at my MA - males tend to have a more orange tail than the females. And some females have a darker stripe from nose to tail down their sides. Choose the one with the brightest orange tail for a male, and ones with stripes for females. You can't be sure if the plain yellow ones without stripes are male or female. Original colour - in the shop tank the males can look drab. For a male look for yellow in the top fin and a bit of black in the bottom fin if they all look a bit dark gray rather than goldy tan. The females will be the pale ones with the stripe down the side. Red ones are more difficult, you have to go by the fin shape which isn't very reliable. Males tend to have longer pointier fins and females tend to have shorter rounded fins.
Honey gouramis are one of the few species that are OK with 1 male 1 female. I've had 1m 2f trios in the past and I've had problems with the females fighting each other. I would get either 1m 1f or 1m 3f.
I think the gouramis would be OK with dwarf rainbowfish. Most of the other rainbowfish you see in shops get quite big, at least 4 inches (10cm). That is quite big to mix with the samller fish you have, though as rainbowfish have narrow throats they should be able to eat your other fish. And they would take up a chink of your stocking allowance. It depends which you prefer, lots of small fish or a few big fish.
Siamese flying fox. There are a lot of fish that look the same. Their common names and latin names get all mixed up depending where you look. So I'm going to give you some links for the pics.
flying fox (http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-kalopterus/) can be aggressive to other fish and doesn't eat as much algae as the others
siamese algae eater (http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/crossocheilus-langei/) is not as aggressive but it is a shoaling fish so you'd need a group
another one (http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/crossocheilus-atrilimes/) that is not agressive but needs to be in a shoal
This website doesn't have a fish called the siamese flying fox. To be honest, every website is saying something different. I've got my self all mixed up looking at them all. I know some are aggressive and some aren't. Some are shoaling and some aren't. But they all seem to use different names for the same fish. It is so confusing, if I was looking at them I'd give up!!!!
-
thanks, i ended up getting 2 yellow honey gouramis they are small though as they as only young, in 1 tank there seemed to be a pair one with a faint black stripe going across the body of the gourami and another one without one but a bright orange tail but they all seem to have bright orange ones anyway they were in a tank with a dead fish well it was more or less dead it was swimming upside down and had its fins eat a bit i asked will it be ok still having the fish from there and the person said yes so i trusted them but once the 2 gouarmis were in the fish the both seemed to have the black stripe going across there body so i asked him to take one out and get another from the tank next to it, but now in the tank i cant seem them fully as they near near the bottom of the tank right at the back and it seems like it doesnt have the black stripe now ? i am gonna go back down now and check to see if they are out from behind and see if i can see the black stripe on one of them
i also saw a weird looking fish today looked like a seal lol it was a dog face puffer fish marine fish never saw one before
also over the road from MA theres a show called neptune and they had the rainbows you posted there but didnt know if i could get them with gouramis on the same day and wasnt sure how many i could get, if i get them in the future which i might do how many can i get and how many males and females please?
i also got some sealant for the holes in my bogwood so i just need to stick some small wood on top of the holes to cover them or what else would you suggest to cover them ? as the holes are quite deep so i cant fill them all up with sealant
thanks again
-
With honey gouramis the stripe is darker when the fish is stressed. I have found that if a fish has a stripe in the shop but doesn't when it is in your tank it is still a female, just one that is happier. Not all females have stripes, but when choosing them in shops you can't be sure if those are males or females which is why I said to get one with a stripe as then you'd know for sure.
I'm not really sure about the rainbowfish, so I'd go for half males and half females. Get six to eight. Males have redder fins, females have yellower fins.
The bogwood hole - you don't neeed to completely seal the holes, just make the opening too small for your smallest fish to get suck in. If any holes are too big for anything to get stuck, leave them open.
-
thanks, i ended up getting some pebbles today the wood is drying so will use the sealant on the pebbles to cover the holes hopefully doesnt look stupid, my mum got back from france before and shes going to sefton meadows but i got 2 gouramis as you know few days ago and i got 2 harelquins last week aswell, so if i have enough money i may get the rainbows if that is allowed because i dont want my tank messing up, would 6 to 8 be enough room for the rainbows? they go to 6 cm its says, 8 would be too many wouldnt it? on this link you posted about the rainbows http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/fish/dwarf-rainbowfish.html i take it the back 3 are males and the others are females ? the 3 at the back have read fins and the others seem to have the orange you said also,
i am due my water change on monday i was supposed to do it wednesday but wanted to start doing it every monday instead so will be doing it tomorrow if i do get the fish am i best to wait till the tuesday? as i dont want the fish getting stressed straight away while in the tank, do the gouramis always stay at the back of the tank? they have been mostly all over the back and at the side of the tank, and i can see a faint black on 1 now and then so i guess i have a male and female which is good to know,
thanks again
-
have some concerns
firstly i noticed my glo lights having white tips on all fins and the tail fin theres white on tips of it, and about 2 or so have not majorly rugged anal fins but they do looked a bit rugged and torn a small bit, so i am not sure if this is anything to worry about? i did try taking a picture but its hard taking pictures of the fish as they arnt still for long
secondly one of my neons has a white eye or silver eye why is this? on one side its normal black the other is what i just described i took a picture to show i will post below, i noticed one seemed to have a white dot on its eye my plec has it and most of the rummys do aswell what is this? or is it natural? i will google it in a sec
only just noticed you can add 6 attachments lol so i can keep everything in one topic anyway my next question is my plants, i have loads of roots growing and its blocking some ways for the fish to get past is it ok to cut all the roots off to shorting them? mainly cut the whole of the roots off but will i keep my plants? will post pictures below, one picture will be one close up of one plant to give you an idea and i have a few of them so took a full view tank picture its the plants with the big leaves on
if the fin thing is a problem and i need meds will my shrimp die?
i guess getting fish tomorrow could be a certain no now i guess if the above does sound like disease
last question my gourami is laying at the bottom of the tank i can just about see it its not on its side or anything its just on the gravel i guess its just getting used to the tank still ? it is the female as you can see the black stripe faintly, the other gourami is understand one of the plants leaves away from the female
-
tank doesnt look the best my plants just seem thrown in which is right to be honest as i have to take everything out and put my new wood in and i wanna move things around and make it look it a bit better so will be doing this tomorrow after water change and mainly wanna take everything out so i can right down the numbers of the fish i have so i always know for sure how many fish i have, as i am not sure how many glo lights and neons i have but the rest i do know
-
also when i was going to do tank i noticed i sister had a bath waiting so i had my tea and got too late, i have used the sealant to cover the hole with a pebble is it ok for the wood to go in tomorrow? or leave it tomorrow and put it in on wednesday?
also with me not doing the water change today, i want to take all plants and decor out and put my new wood in and make the tank nicer by putting in the plants etc a different way so instead of doing my water change tomorrow now would i be best doing the water change when i take plants and decor out of the tank and put the new wood in and just do it all in one day? or wont it stress the fish if i do the water change tomorrow then the next day take everything out and put everything back in with new wood?
thanks again
-
Hi George, busy busy day yesterday (didn't even get time to turn my laptop on) so your questions are mounting up!
The wood - you have to wait 48 hours for the silicone to cure before it is safe to put it in the tank. So if you did it Monday don't put it in the tank till at least the same time of day Wednesday.
Water change - do it before getting new fish. As you said, better not to stress new fish by doing a water change just after you get them. But it is better (in my tanks anyway) to do a water change when rearranging as even with sand I do get some muck off the bottom into the water. One thing you could do is a plain water change before getting the fish and leave the rearrange till next week when the fish will have settled in a bit.
Rainbow fish - Seriously Fish reckons a tank at least 60cm wide x 30cm front to back and min 55 litres, so they should be OK in your tank. If you are worried about using too much stocking allowance, get six. And yes, in that photo the red finned ones at the front would be males and the yellow finned ones at the back are females. But remember that in shop tanks the fish are not very happy so they are not as colourful as the photos, or as colourful as they'll be when they have settled in your tank.
I've looked at your tank in the community creator. I've put that it is 160 litres and has an external filter, and thfish are 2 bristlenoses, 8 harlequins, 12 glowlights, 7 neons, 7 rummies, 4 bolivian rams, 2 honey gouramis. Have I got those right? Then I added 6 rainbowfish. All that lot come to the tank being three quarters full. I left out the shrimp because they make hardly any extra.
I don't like going right up to totally stocked with the CC, I like to stop before it's that full, so I wouldn't get many more fish than that.
BUT........
You say some of your tetras have white on the ends of their tails and others have ragged tails. Don't get new fish till that's sorted out. It could be that they've been nipping each other, tetras decide which one is top fish by fighting and nipping. Scars in fins look light white spots inside the fin. Whitespot looks on top of the fin not inside, that's the way to tell which it is. But finrot can also have white edges where the damage is (or red or black edges).
For a day or two, watch the fish. See if the ragginess gets worse or starts to get better. If it gets worse, it's finrot. One way to treat finrot is lots of extra water changes to make sure the tank water is sparkly clean. If that still doesn't help, the best med I've found is eSHa 2000, though not many shops stock eSHa meds.
-
Thanks the glo lights have always had white on there fins is that not natural ? But one as stand out white fins also I noticed on 2 neons the tiny small fin near the back of its body is white too and I don't think it's natural for them to have any white fins or white tipped fins is it ? I am actually on my way to maidenhead aquatics now with my mum and that but I won't get any fish
-
Some fish do have whitish tips to their fins, it is most common in males. And my green neons do have white in the tiny fin on their backs (it's called an adipose fin, not all fish have them). it worried me at first but they didn't die or get sick so I've realised it's just the way they are.
But you also said some fish ad ragged tails. Those are the ones to watch and see if it gets better or worse. When my male honey gourami want to breed, he chases the female and nips the end of her tail. That gets to look quite ragged but grows back in a few days. See if your fish regrow the tails before getting more fish.
-
thanks only just logged on, the anal fins seem the same they dont seem to have got worse, would it not be ick or finrot no? the gouarmis seem to be going all over the tank now i guess they are getting settled more in tank, shall i move around the stuff in my tank sunday do ya think and put the wood in? its been out and just on the table shall i pour hot water over it just incase anything is on it thats been in the kitchen to be safe? also the pebble didnt stay solid on wood so gave up on that i will just get another thin pebble or slate if i can and stick it in the hole like i did with the other one but saying that i am thinkikng of putting sealant at the sides of the pebble just to be extra strong so it doesnt go inside wood or move etc
-
If the tails are the same it's not finrot - they would have got a lot worse if it was. It's probably they've been chasing each other. Doing a couple more water changes than usual will help keep the water nice and clean. It's like with us, if we get a cut on our hands it usually heals up by itself. But if you go messing digging the garden or something, the cut can get infected. That's the only risk with nipped fins, an infection could get in if the water isn't kept clean.
I'd give the wood another soak. Yes, silicone doesn't stick to some things but I've never tried it on wood so I didn't know if it would or not. If you can push a thin pebble good and hard into the hole that would make it too small for a fish to get into.
-
thanks ye i just need one more pebble to go in the hole gonna see if i can go down to a local petshop and get one now, if i can is it ok to take everything out the tank and change things around putting the wood in tomorrow ?
-
just looking at the fish before, neons, rummies, glo lights a few of them all seem to have white on the adipose fin the very small one before the tails on the top of its back but not all have it, even some some of the fish that have white on all fins like glo lights for example some of them have nothing wrong with the fins they seem fine but have the white on all fins even one of the glo lights the white is very bright like stands out,
the rummies are shoaling at the back of the fin and because of their white shiney skin its like they have a white outline all down there back but when they come close ya cant see it so its just their skin,
the harlequins have no white or anything they all seem fine,
the neons one has a lump which is the same colour red on the back end of its body just before the start of the caudal fin/ tail fin this one has always looked like its had something wrong as its right gill is weird its like its grown into the body or its just a short gill because you can see its flesh by the gill i am crap at explaining things sorry, this also doesnt have a complete black eye its like silver or white faintly i can tell this as the other eye is complete black, but this isnt the one i mentioned a few days ago with having a 1 white eye what could this problem be? i feel like i wanna take all neons out the tank and put the down as i dont like to have fish who have there own name disease but still think its cruel but dont want them ruining all of the tank but shall i just keep them in the tank until they just natural die or die with disease :/ ?
i dont even think saying the fish have ragged tails is right as that could come across as if theres loads of slits in the fins and its not like that its only the anal fins on some of the fish that have a piece missing and as you said this could be nipping, only thing is with the rummies as i never really see them nipping, to be honest i only ever see my tank when i am going the toilet or getting a drink etc, i dont sit downstairs much but now and then i do look at it even that sounds like i am not interested in the tank lol but as i said its hard to explain or to get your point across on the internet,
i will take a video clip later if its good quality to see if i can get the fish in as its too hard to take pictures, i also have ocd etc so obviously i think most things are a problem etc which is annoying
edit i will take the video clip when its dark as the quality may be better and this is the link i got all the fin names from http://www.thedivingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/fish_fins.jpg
-
My green neons have white adipose fins, I was worried when I first saw it but they've been fine. With neon tetra disease I think only neons can catch it. The time to put them down is if one of them shows the symptoms, put down that one fish. Look for the fish losing colour, problems swimming, lumps on the body and if it really gets hold bent spines.
Slits in the tails and other fins sounds like damage rather than infection. Bits missing - if the edges are rounded and smooth, that is more like a bit. Uneven edges is finrot.
Yes you can rearrange your tank tomorrow.
-
thanks any pics of your tank? so put the fish down with the lump on ?
-
With neons, it's usually better to be safe than sorry. I was talking with the manager of a shop once and he puts down every neon that looks iffy to protect the rest of the tank.
As for my tanks, look here (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,286.0.html) and also my bettas over the years (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,289.0.html). My betta does have a new tank though, a very slightly bigger one, but I haven't taken any photos yet. And I haven't got any photos of the 50 litre, just the fish in it.
-
unsure about putting this wood in after all, after being in soak this white stuff is on/inside the wood, yet more money gone to waste it looks like so i need to find another piece now grrrrr
shall i put the other neon down aswell that has something up with its eye?
-
i have 2 of them snails you have, also them endlers look nice, are they live bearers like guppies? do they get infected easy? nice pics
-
The white looks like a bit of mould which is quite common on wood. I would soak it a bit then when it's good and wet scrub it and see if it comes off. It should be OK to use in the tank even with the white.
If you have another neon that is looking iffy, I would put that one down too. NTD will spread to the rest of the neons if an infected fish is left in the tank.
-
when i first got the wood there was a white ball inside one of the cracks looked like what a spider wrapped up, i tried getting it out only to push it inside the hole, so was worried incase it was something dodgey so didnt wanna put it in my tank and guess what i did today went and bought 2 more pieces of wood lol now i read this to find it may actually be ok to put it in the tank, oh well i guess more wood may make the tank look good i hope or i just keep one for whenever i need it in future i dunno, the 2 new pieces are in soak now, so will do what you say with the other one tomorrow now
on the new pieces of wood i got today even though its in soak you can still see pale patches on it, as in its not all very dark when wet which i thought would happen? why is that? only reason i worry is because this place i got the wood from is not a tidy place the fish in there are poor quality and i will never buy from there they should never be able to sell fish but just sell pet toys food etc
also i have not too the neons out yet as i have been out all day so will do tomorrow hopefully its not too late
-
Just pour boiling water over the wood a few times while it is soaking. that should kill anything iffy. But don't put it in a pan and boil it as that damages the fibres in the wood and it'll fall apart a lot quicker. I have bits of wood with different shades in. One piece has a reddish patch while the rest of it is brown.
-
Thanks just put one neon down 2 others have one white dot on them one has it on his body the other has it on its tails and when the one with the white dot in its body comes toward you ya can see it so could it be ick or white spot ? Thing is I need to get ready to go out so have no time getting the fish out I am afraid I will put all neons down as I won't risk my tank getting ruined but won't be able to do this until tonight after I come back in just hope it doesn't go to the other fish
-
i ended up having enough time yesterday before i got picked up by my mate and put all neons down, poured out the water from both buckets that my 2 pieces of wood were in and filled up with hot water again and the water doesnt seem that tanned as much as the first when would be the right time to put the wood in ? also there seems to be some white lines on it not sure what it would be? maybe mould ? shall i just try rubbing it off? also when the wood is in the water you can see white on the wood in some gaps maybe that is mould too so i will just have to try rub it off?
thanks again i need to ask questions which may seem obvious or stupid but would rather ask just to be sure
-
A toothbrush is useful for things like this. You can use an old one if you have any if you scrub while still soaking. It's things in the tank you need a new brush for, or you'll get bits if old toothpaste in the water. But as you are soaking it'll come out in the soak water.
[I got into the habit of saving old toothbrushes when my children were young. One of them would step in every bit of dog dirt on the path. Disinfectant and an old toothbrush were great for cleaning his shoes. I still save them you never know when they'll come in handy]
-
Thanks so can the wood go in any time now ? I don't have a toothbrush what else could I use ?
-
Do you have any sort of scrubbing brush, wire brush, something like that? Anything you could use to scour the wood into the crevices?
-
i can look if not i will have to buy a cheap tooth brush, will it matter if i cant get it all off? or cant get into the cracks to get it off?
also 1 of my rams has white marks on its both front fins, its the one that seems to be getting chased by the others lately, 2 are most of the time together looking to lay eggs while the other on the other side chases it too so it has to go in the middle of the tank at the back, and looks dark grey and orange underneath
-
I use a cheap toothbrush for cleaning things in the tank. It should be OK if there is still a bit of white stuff deep in the crevices.
Do the white marks look inside the fins or on the surface? If the fins have been damaged, eg being bitten by another fish, that will show as white marks inside the fin. These usually clear up.
Looking dark is what bolivian rams do when they are stressed.
Do you know what sex they all are? Presumably the 2 that are together all the time are a male and female, but what about the one getting picked on and the one at the other side of the tank? Even if those two are a male and female it doesn't mean they'd get on. Bolivians can be very picky about mates, some males and females just don't like each other. If it carries on, you would need to rehome the one getting picked on. Maybe even the other single one too as the pair may pick on that one if the middle one has gone. I know my tank is smaller than yours (less room for more than one territory) but I had problems with four bolivians and had to rehome a male and female, keeping just the one mated pair. The males attacked each other as soon as I put the females in the tank, then once two had paired up they both attacked the other female.
-
no i am not sure what the other 2 sex they are i will look up on the net again to find out how to tell between male and female,
looks like i will have to take the 2 singles ones to MA and get a credit note or swap them for apisto or cockatoo or whatever its called which would be the best ones to get? and i guess one female 1 male? suppose i will have to look up about how to tell whats male and female with them too or i can just keep the rams and get other fish i dont know,
the rams even nip or give warning nips to the gouramis when they get close to the rams and i dont know why that is? they seem aggressive fish, if i was to get the similar size fish as the rams ( apistos, cockatoo ) would the rams still warn them away or chase them away? or would the other fish chase the rams away ? if either one will its prob best to just keep the one pair of rams in my tank and but nothing similar to them in the tank,
you can never seem to enjoy fish keeping much theres always a problem even the rummies have started to get white dots on their dorsal fins now so this is obviously now a disease in the tank but what disease can it be? ick, white spot or fin rot?
the marks on the rams pectoral fins are in the middle of the fins and at the moment its not a bright white colour it may just be scars but with it being in the middle of the fins how can it be a bite mark/scar ?
i hope i have not caused anything as i bite my dry skin on my fingers and sometimes have red marks afterwards so hopefully its not be thats caused the problems with the fins
just to make it more understandable about the rams 2 are together 1 shakes at the other so they wanna lay eggs so i guess these will be the pair for good now yes? so for example the pair are on the left hand side one of the single rams is on the right side and the one that doesnt seem to be liked by any of the others has the middle but at the back, if the darkish ram gets close to the pair on the left or the single on the right either pair of single ram will confront the darkish ram or sometimes mainly 1 of the pair dart at the darkish ram, but these have been in the tank for a long time now possibly a year i dont know and they have all been along the front together a good few times in the past so why would it suddenly change? and i guess the pair right now are the same pair that have laid eggs twice before and like i said they seem to be wanting to lay eggs but they have been looking to lay eggs for a few weeks now i think and nothing has happened yet,
if the problem isnt the wood its the fish if its not the fish its something else can never just fully enjoy your tank , i do everything right i do nothing wrong so not sure why there is problems oh well i dunno, what ever you think could be the cause for the fish fins to be white and now other fins on the fish have white dots could you suggest a medicine another problem what about the shrimp ? they die if you put meds in dont they?
thanks again
-
looking up about the white tips on my fish, firstly the glow lights this person said this
I did some research of my own as I was not yet convinced it is fin rot. I just feed them live worm which could explain this that I found on a fish directory site. "Glowlight tetra - Hemigrammus erythrozonus: This gorgeous looking fish is a very pale, almost transparent, lemon colour with the internal organs clearly visible as a bright silver. A glowing gold/red line runs fron the eye to the tail and there is a red mark at the base of the dorsal and tail fins. When the fish are in peak condition, the tips of the fins develope a small white patch." If the fin starts to rip then I will be medicating.
someone then said this and posted pictures If you Google image "Glowlight Tetra", you will find that's it's normal for them to have white/silver tipped fins And it's also normal for some to not
some pictures i found on google the white on the fins look like what the ones mine have, and the tiny white fin at the top of its back before the start of the tail they all seem to have that on the pics just like mine, but the white dots obviously doesnt mean something and with my rummies anal fins a little ragged on the corner of the anal fins could mean its something too, saying that the glo lights fins ( some ) have a ragged anal fin on the corner, could it be a bacterial infection maybe?
-
if there is another forum you could suggest i use mainly a uk one or one with alot of uk people on i could ask for help on there aswell just incase i may ask too many questions or post alot of problems/concerns
-
so the female has longer fins that the male, and the female has a bigger mouth and the female has a chin but the male doesnt, thats what i just read so will go and check now
so the female is on the left and the male is on the right
-
It's the other way round. Looking at your pic, the male is on the left in front of the wood, the female on the right. The way most people use is in a male the anal fin (the one just in front of the tail on the underneath) is long enough to reach past the start of the tail fin but with females it only just reaches to the start of the tail fin. The ram on the left also looks like the edges of the tail trail longer than the rest of the tail fin and the back edge of the fin on its back look pointy.
My old pair are in the pics. These were taken about half an hour before they laid eggs so the female's breeding tube is much bigger than normal. You can see the red on the male's tail sticks out past the middle of the tail, but in the female they are the same as the rest of the tail. The fins under the gills go to a long point in the male but they are rounded in the female. The fin in front of the tail goes past where the body ends and the tail find starts in the male but in the female that fin stops where the body stops. The male's head also has a bit of a bump over his eyes but the femae's is a lot smoother.
Hmmm..... just trying to work out why the photos won't magnify. Hold on a minute.
-
well obviously i believe you so the person who said otherwise must be wrong
click this link sue this is were i saw the info, i got it from the google search but its someone saying whats male and female and as you explain is wrong obviously http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=237629
i am gonna take a picture of the 2 pair in a sec as i still cant think which is which but will look at the anal fin aswell, so the top fin on its back near the back end of the ram if its higher and pointy than the front its male too? and if the tail of the ram has longer extension its a male yes?,
i guess you missed the above stuff i mentioned too about the other fish? or you just have not got to that stage yet? if its too much or i ask to much could you suggest another forum to use aswell as this please as i dont wanna be askin too much if its a problem sorry
-
#Invalid YouTube Link include https#
this is the clip i took yesterday dunno why its on its side i couldnt rotate it on youtube options
-
I'll try again with my photos. I know which is which because they spawned within minutes of taking the photos, and that's why the female's spawning tube is so much bigger than normal.
-
showing you pictures and clips of the rams and also one clip shows ya exactly what i mean about how 1 of the singles gets chased by the others
i believe this one is a male this is one of the single ones
(http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/george_2007_efc/IMG_1133_zps7bebc59b.jpg)
this is the one that gets chased by the others but i am not sure if its male or female i think it may be female as the anal fin doesnt go back the tail so i guess i am right? or am i not?
(http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/george_2007_efc/IMG_1132_zps879546cc.jpg)
now these are the pair FEMALE
(http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/george_2007_efc/IMG_1134_zps2d473f60.jpg)
MALE
(http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/george_2007_efc/IMG_1136_zpse8cedc84.jpg)
now here are the clips of the rams
#Invalid YouTube Link include https#
#Invalid YouTube Link include https#
-
And back to the other stuff. I was in the middle of typing before when my husband got home so I had to leave it and go and cook dinner.
The pics of the white on those tetras looks normal. There is variation in colour in fish the same as with humans. As long as your fish's white fin tips look like those there is nothing to worry about.
The white spots - if it looks like the fish have had salt shaken over them it's whitespot. Bacterial infections look like greyish white patches. Fungus often has white strings coming out of white patches.
I have had a pair of apistos and a pair of bolivians in my tank at the same time, but your bolivians sound a bit more territorial than mine were.
Cockatoo apistos - mature males are easy as they have very long rays at the front of the fin on their backs. Females are a bit trickier because this type of apisto has males that pretend to be females to avoid being attacked by the dominant male (called sleeper males). I kept what I thought was 1m 2f from the eggs that hatched last year. Two of them went bright yellow when they were excited (when I fed them ;D ) which is typical female but one turned out to be a male - he suddenly grew the long fin rays and changed colour.
The other common apistos are agassizis. They are easier to tell the sexes except for the fire red colour. Again the males have long rays in the fin on the back though not as big as cockatoo males. And yellow bodied ones should be females. Agassizis don't have the reputation for sleeper males.
Yes, those pics do look like what you label them as. The first one has what looks like a male's breeding tube. The second one is a bit more difficult to say but I think I can see a female breeding tube. The third oned definitely has a female breeding tube. I can't see a breeding tube on the last one but its fins look male.
Do your rams have a stone or something flat to lay their eggs on? Mine always chose a flat rock.
-
yes you can see the pebble on the last 2 pictures they are above it lol, i also have another one on the other side of the tank
the white dots on the rummies are so small so the fins are so small its hard to tell if its like salt but they are only on the dorsal fin so far thing is they werent there days ago so its got to be something, what would you think it is ? pointless trying to take a picture as it will be too hard lol
if you think its white spot or something the i could get meds tomorrow if theres a good one you suggest in MA i will get it if not i will have to order it i am going MA tomorrow to take the 2 rams back and keep the pair, i just hope the pair dont turn on eachother if so i will get rid of them aswell, had probs with the rams before the last one on the picks was the first ram i ever got aswell as another one but i had to give that to my mums fella and it ended up dying or had something up with it so had to put it down this was years ago so hard to remember but i know he was aggressive and always has been so i ended up getting 2 more rams aswell as taking my mums fellas one which was getting bullied so now i have 4, but looks like i have to go back to 2 now, i just hope the pair will stay ok if not i will get rid of them aswell and get apistos or kribs i dunno hopefully the rams will be ok because i like them i also like the kribs and apistos but i have had the rams from day one or one of the 3 so would be crap to get rid of them all
just another thing is it ok to give the fish cucumber is its not been open but past its sell by date? i forgot all about it in the fridge
-
Just took my 2 rams back got a credit note, the dummies do look like grain of salt on the dorsal fun and one glow light has a dot now on its anal fin I think, i am in the cafe now so gonna get white spot med I think but you still think the white on the rummys anal fins not another problem no ?
-
You have shrimps and snails don't you?
I found that King British Original Formula WS3 (not their whitespot control) used at half dose did not kill my amano shrimp. When I got whitespot from not quarantining new fish I couldn't catch the shrimp so I has no choice but add the med with them there. I had to use half dose because I have loaches and the shrimps survived that amount. They did hide while the med was in but they came back out after it was removed.
Snails are a different matter, but they are much easier to catch than shrimps. You'll need to remove them. Put them in a tub of dechlorinated water somewhere warmish (the same temp as the tank if possible) and change the water every day. Make sure the tub has a lid with air holes in it or they'll climb out.
Edit because I forgot - before you put the snails back you'll need to remove all the med. Do a big water change once the treatment has finished then put some carbon in your filter, wait a couple of days and put a new batch in, then again a couple of days after that. Three batches of carbon should get rid of the med.
I got a credit note when I rehomed my two rams then the shop closed 2 weeks later before I had chance to spend it :(
-
Outside the shop now not sure what you mean when you say not their white spot control ? Is it white spot mess I need ? The One you suggested in your post then ?
-
Sorry george, been sorting out the freezer not on my computer.
What I meant was that King British make 2 whitespot meds but I've only used one of them. I know that one doesn't kill amano shrimps at half dose but I don't know about the other one, or any different brand. They may kill amanos I don't know because I haven't used them. One King British med is called original formula ws3, the other is called whitespot control. It's the orig form ws3 that I have used.
-
ok thanks, the shop didnt have it so gonna order it later from ebay or amazon, will post a picture first to see if its the right one, i got the carbon aswell 2 big bags i got, didnt know how many i had to put in after i have treated the tank, do i use all the bottle up yes when i get it? also what ml am i gonna need ?
i got a toothbrush today so is it ok put wood in the tank tomorrow ? the wood has been sitting in the same water now for nearly a week i think do i need to empty and put 1 kettle worth of hot water over eachone once or is it to just go straight in once i have scrubbed the white stuff off? i will try and get in the cracks with a knife aswell if needs must,
tank seems empty a little bit with the neons and rams gone now bit sad about the rams as that was there home for a long time and now there in some small little tank with the other rams good thing is they arnt alone and they are with there other rams and hopefully both go to seperate good new homes
just another thing i was thinking about the possibility of getting a Red Tail Black Shark or Ruby Shark ? as i think thats all MA stock i think but if not what other shark possibilitys could i get besides the bala shark because they go quite big i think? obviously wont be getting fish until the disease in tank has gone,
i may see if my mums fella can have my shrimps while the meds are in or could they go in my sisters tank which is cold water?
i also got a £11 credit note to use when i need to aswell which i got for my rams which was good as i thought they wouldnt give me the full price i paid for the rams
edited
http://www.amazon.co.uk/King-British-Original-White-Spot/dp/B008OGKAS4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380998527&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=King+British+Original+Formula+WS3
thats the right one isnt it, i know it is but just posting to be sure anyway, i am also getting 3 50ml bottles, as i am not sure if one 50ml will do or what do you think?
-
I only got half price for my rams!
this (http://www.kingbritish.co.uk/products/aquarium/medicine/original-formula-ws3) is th one I used, but if you can catch all your shrimps and put them somewhere out of the tank (like your mums fella's tank) you can use any whitespot med. It's just that I already had that one in the cupboard and I just couldn't catch the shrimps so they had to take their chance. I was very surprised when they didn't die.Iif you do get that one, you add 1ml for every 90 litres water. You add it every 48 hours while there are spots on the fish and also 48 hours after the spots have gone. Raise the temp to nealry 30 deg during treatment as it makes the bugs lifecycle go faster. It does say that some cases of whitespot need to be treated for up to 2 weeks. It is quite concentrated so a small bottle goes a long way.
I don't know very much about sharks, either the red tailed black shark or the rainbow shark (which has all red fins not just the tail) I know a lot of people say not to get anything with shark in the name because the get nasty as they get older.
If the wood doesn't colur the soaking water too badly, put it in whenever yuo want to rearrange your tank.
-
my mums fella would take the shrimp but only if the shrimp wouldnt carry any whitespot from my tank into his? so if do put them in his tank and they wouldnt give his tank white spot shall i still get the white spot med you mentioned if not which is the best white spot med ? i may give the wood another soaking for a day or 2 then put it in the tank, does it still have to be filled with boiling water wont it crack the wood if its done too much or will it be fine?
thanks
edit my local fish shop i think had interpet stuff so it might have the interpet anti white spot med, is that a good one? if so that saves me waiting days for the king british one to come if i was to order it instead i could possibly see if i can get a lift to get the interpet anti white spot one tomorrow
edit again did some searching and the interpet anti white spot seems to have good things about it so may get that if the shrimp can go to my mums fellas tank if the shrimp wont carry over the disease to his tank
-
The interpet med is fine, I just don't know if it will kill your shrimps.
There is a risk of passing whitespot to your mum's fella's tank. The shrimps themselves won't be infected; it's down to the way this bug lives. The first stage is on the fish where it eats the fish's body. You can see it as the spot because it has a coating over it which stops the med getting at it. In this stage there is no risk of infection. The second stage is where it falls off and sits inside its coating on the bottom of the tank, the decor etc and multplies. Again the med can't get at it but there is a risk of you getting some of these cysts when you catch the shrimp especially if they are hard to catch and you have to chase them. The last stage is where the cysts break open and the tiny bugs swim off looking for a fish to infect. This is the stage it can be killed, but you could also catch some along with the shrimp. You can only see the stage where it's on the fish but there will be some in the other stages in your tank as well.
I don't know what to say for the best. You need to get some med in there asap. But if you put the shrimps in another tank you could infect that one. I don't know if the shrimps would survive in a tub of water that has a daily water change - I know snails will as I've done it. The only other choice is to leave the shrimps there and use the interpet med and risk the shrimp dying. Maybe catch the shrimps, put them in some tank temp dechlorinated water, leave them an hour, get rid of the water and put them in some more dechor water. Do this in two or three lots of clean water and hopefull that will wash away any stage 2 or 3 bugs then give them to your mum's fella. Though I'm not sure how the shrimps would cope. But if you leave them in the tank, that could be worse.
-
Thinly may be best to put the shrimp down there and I am only gonna catch the big snails and leave the others Honda try get the mess today
-
Can't m to notice the white dots on rummys fin the big one on its back can't think what it's called now but I think I can see one dot in one of there heads but sometimes their skin shines and looks like they have white on them also the anal fun on one rummy has got worse could it be just fin rot ? But I definitely did see white fits on the big fins on it's back on some rummys Also on one rummie there's decolouration on the tail the black has faded
-
This one rummy who's tail is faded from what should be black and white when another rummy goes over to it it gets nipped and this is the one who's anal fin has got worse and has more ters in it it also straightens all of its fins and and swims diagonal not swimming fast it's like it leans diagonal
-
Also I can see dots on one of the rummys pelvicfins sort for not keep all messages I one whole
One I am on phone and just updating everything as I notice it
-
try the med with the shrimps but be on the lookout in case they die then you can remove them straight away.
-
so you still think its the white spot that is causing this? even with the one of the rummys fins getting worse with rips in it and the black on its tail fading? didnt get the med as i wasnt sure if you still would think it was white spot whatever the answer is tomorrow i will be gettin the med then
-
No sorry. If they don't look like they are sprinkled in salt, don't use the whitespot med. If their fins are looking ragged you need a finrot med. The best two are eSHa 2000 and Myxazin by waterlife. But I don't think MA stocks those brands - or at least my local one doesn't.
-
Ok thanks just confusing as there does sem to be some dots on the fin but could just be fin rot will Phone up my local fs and see if they have any of the meds in you suggested if not am I best just gettin any fine it one like Interpet or any fin rot med or just order one online ? Only thing about ordering online is it could take days
-
That's the problem with on-line. Even if they post straight away it could take days in the post.
Any brand of finrot med should be OK, it's just that I prefer those two.
-
Thanks looks like tomorrow now
-
They had myxazine do got that don't think my tank is 200 litres but got 2 bottles just incase but I am not sure how to treat the tank I read instructions but still not sure any help please ? Doing my water change today so will do that first u will also measure tank so can find out how many litres it hold exactly? It also says use half does if I have sensitive species so I can keep snails in the tank too yes ? Thanks
-
Length is 39 height is 19 and width is 17
used the tank volume and the tank holds 206 litres
so i added up my length height and width inches which is 75 inches so then i found out what 75 inches is cm is and its 190 cm so i had to divide that by 1000 according to the medicine and it gives me 19 so i guess its 19ml? but i now have to half that because of snails and shrimp right? but is dividing by 1000 too much or ok?
-
By sensitive species they mean species of fish not snails. Fish that don't have scales like loaches, or fish like black ghost knife fish. Snails are sensitive to just about everything. I've killed a few snails by accident over the years.
I don't have a bottle of myxazin in the cupboard, I've just looked. I know it was almost empty last time I finished with it so I must have thrown the last bit away. But I have found an old thread of mine here (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=79.0)
The measurements - is the height the height of the glass or from the top of the gravel to the top of the water? And you'll need to subtract about 20 litres to allow for the decor and plants. So it does leave you with about 180 litres of water. You will need 12 ml for each dose, and add a 12 ml dose very day for 5 days.
-
thanks sue, no it was from the bottom of the glass, so shall i just put 10ml in then ? if not i will just put the 12ml in i need to start getting it in asap really, i also have nothing to put the snails in so theres nothin i can do if they shrimp die i wont get anymore as there will always be a time to put meds in a tank, and if the snails die i may get more but not loads and next time have some prepared for them i hate putting fish down etc but if it needs to be done to save all of my tank and fish then theres no choice, could do with killing the very tiny snails anyway as they will just over run my tank
-
Yes use 10 ml. Do you have atub you could put the snails in for the length of treatment? You would need to do daily water changes, but they wouldn't be too hard with just a tub. You'd need a lid with air holes or they'd climb out.
-
i can use like a plastic clear lunch box or something, how much water? half way? i will try and put holdes in the lid before putting the water and them in i will just get my 2 brown and black zebra stripe nails and 2 of my assassins and leaves the others and tiny ones in there as i could do with getting rid of them anyway i will go do this now
-
my harlequin has one white tiny dot on its tail now the all had nothing but now 1 has, maybe its just a parasite? i just hope it is fin rot and the met gets rid of all this
i opened my cupboard under my tank and theres was a full bottle of interpet fin rot med LOL but this 1 i got today you said is better anyway so ....
i also saw my clear tonic medicine for the tank which i used awhile back it says use once a month and i think i will start doing that again because it keeps parasites and diseases at an acceptable level it says so would that be ok after the fin rot med is finished ?
-
why would some of the rummys turn on there side slighty not completely lay on there side but like tilt to the side a bit and spread all fins out like twitch? this was before i put the med in
now with the med in atleast 2 glow lights had acted like they are twitching as if they are trying to get something off their body and one of them darting around for a second or 2
-
A lunchbox is fine. I use old ice cream tubs for all sorts of things in the kitchen - if you family buys ice cream in tubs, keep the next empty one for you fish. The lids are easy to make holes in. And things like yogurt pots. I like those pots that individual cheesecakes come in, they are stronger than yogurt pots and a useful size.
Are the glowlights rubbing their bodies on things as well as twitching? That is usually a sign of parasiets on the skin such as whitespot.
Try the myxazin. If the fish do look like they are starting whitespot, stop using it, wait 24 hours then add a whitespot med.
-
well today not really looked at the tank but have put the medicine in, but my harlequins who were fine 1 of them had a tiny white dot on there tail which was on tuesday and today it was gone, so will that mean the medicine is working?
before i got the medicine the rummy with the worst anal fin would tilt itself and would spread all fins out, it also did it when the medicine in what would cause the fish to do that? also yes when the medicine went in for the first day on tuesday the glow light would dart around few a few seconds and try rub itsself against one of my plant pots and would like twitch if thats the right way to describe, will have a better look at the tank tomorrow, see if theres any dots etc,
the rams awhile back have also rubbed themselves against things now and then, once everythin has cleared up i am gonna start using that tonic once a month as it says its to keep diseases and parasites etc at an acceptable level and i think that should be good for the tank shouldnt it ?
would it be ok to use a medicine for white spot/parasites after this med i am using? just to be sure theres nothing in the tank and if anything is forming for it to kill it while its early? then after that get new fish etc?
-
All medications in the water affect the fish as well. It's just that they affect the disease more and kill it. It's the same with some human meds - ever know anyone who has had chemotherapy for example? Fish meds aren't that bad but the fish aren't happy about it being in their water. Reactions to the med are common when you first add it until they get used to it.
Unless the fish show obvious white spots by the time the myxazin is finished, don't add it. It'll keep in the cupboard. And if they do have spots, do a big water change with a good gravel clean then wait 24 hours before adding the whitespot med. The gravel clean gets rid of a lot of the bug cysts in the gravel so there are less of them to release baby bugs into the water.
-
just switched tank light on which i do around this time every day, i think it is white spot theres a white dot on the rummys dorsal fin thats the rummy with the worst fins, on another rummy theres 2 smaller dots on the dorsal fin/back of the rummy and one on the anal fin, i guess it is white spot, but would white spot make the fins look like fin rot? with the way they are looking scruffy? the 2 rummys i described with white spot are also doing the tilting thing,
absolute joke this, this is what i hate about keeping fish, anyway what would be the best white spot med to get? mainly ones you think will be stocked in a local fish shop or a local MA ? i know one is likely to be interpet white spot but is there better ones than that or is it good?
the water change, i usually do 3 buckets so how many buckets do i need to take out ? also i think today will be the day i scrub my wood and pure boiling water over the wood and take all plants and decor out and put the new wood in and place the plants and decor back in the tank, what was i can get to all gravel and clean it,
when i do my water changes i use a gravel cleaner and i see tiny white things moving around with the stones in the pump as its getting rid of the dirt from the gravel but i thought that was just little loose parts that have come off the stones and it could quite well be that but it also could be the disease too? also if i look very close at the tank in the water i can see tiny white things moving now i thought it would be bubbles but could it be parasites ?
thanks
-
scrubbed wood and put 1 boiling kettle over each wood so just ready now to take everything out the tank and clean gravel and put my new wood in
i have not put any medicine in today as it looks like white spot, and i put it in yesterday about 3/4pm and now its past 4pm now so thats been so its been 24 hours now, but i wont be sure which med to get so looks like i wont be able to get the medicine until tomorrow now
just waiting to know how many buckets to take out of the tank and put back in then i will do it
-
You won't see the whitespot cysts on the bottom of the tank without a microscope, the white bits you can see are probably white dust.
The interpet med is fine. Follow whatever the instructions say to the letter. There must be some med in the water when every last cyst splits open. Do a water change to get rid of some myxazin, then wait 24 hours before adding a whitespot med. These meds can react and do harm to the fish. Waterlife's website says myxazin degrades in 24 hours that's why you have to wait that long. Change something like a third of the water, I'm not sure how many buckets that would be. If you get a tape and measure about a third of the way down from the water surface to the top of the gravel and empty out water to that mark it'll be about right.
It could be there is something bothering the rummies. If fish are not happy they are more prone to disease. It could be they are fighting amongst themselves causing the raggy fins.
Haven't you put more fish in the tank recently? How are they looking? Whenever I've had whitespot it's been just after adding new fish.
-
yes 2 harlequins which were fine but the other day 1 of the new harlequins had a white dot on its tail and the next day it was gone, but that could of just been white spot/parasite attacking that fish but it has now gone, probably onto the rummys again, and the gouarmis everything seems seem with them, but the rummys tails have gotten worse from when i first noticed them well one of the rummys fins have got worse anyway,
the tails are even losing colour the black on the tail fin has faded loads on some of them, even my rams look a bit pale, isnt it possible to have more than 1 disease at a time?
i think 6 buckets will be about a third i think but will check as i get up to the 6th taken out, i did used to do 6 normally but was told thats too much i think that was by you a long time ago lol so i ended up just doing 3
-
tank done wood in things moved around, just wanna know anyones advice whether its ok for the fish as they like hiding spots, there was 2 plants i didnt put in as i felt it was over crowded and would hide my wood and decor, if there is plants that have a long stem and open up high i would get them but other than that i wont be getting plants the same style as i already have in the tank now, the 2 plants i left out i felt were hiding my decor and wood not completely but i wanna be able to actually see my fish and decor in the tank but will look at investing in other plants like i explained above in the future maybe,
i will be also getting my white spot med tomorrow, after my tank was done moving stuff around etc one of the rams was rubbing on the gravel :-\
anyway first picture was what my tank looked like before tonight and obviously the 2nd picture will be what my tank looks like now
-
It is fine to move things round or take old things out and put new things in. The fish will find somewhere to go. The important thing is having something. So long as there is somehwere to run and hide if a predator shows up, they'll be happy. They don't know there's no predator in your tank.
Moving things round is common with some fish when you put new fish in. It destroys the old territorial boundaries and makes them set up new ones including the new fish.
-
thanks, just got some white spot med i asked which was the best and they said protozin by waterlife so got that, it says what fish i cant have in the tank which i dont have and that i cant have snails or shrimp in tank now i have taken 4 snails out and have them in a tub as you know but the shrimp could die i guess so instead of me catching the shrimp which will take ages and stressing the fish out and moving my newly wood and decor in tank i think i will just take them out when they die, i dont think i will get any more shrimp as it will always be a problem when i put in meds in future and i will be starting to put that general tonic med in after all this med has cleared up in a week or so but will ask first when its ok to start that, now i know what ml to put in which is still 10 but if 10 is gonna kill the shrimp shall i just put the full dose required in? on the fin rot bottle i dont think it mentions what fish isnt allowed in tank while this medicine is in and doesnt say anything about snails and shrimps but i may be wrong, so shall i keep it at 10 or if thats gonna kill the fish then shall i put the full dose in for the fish but what is the full dose please?
thanks
edit - this says allowed atleast 48 hours to elapse when changing treatment and do not use within 4 days of using myxazin ???
oh another thing i noticed was one of the glow lights have redness at the start of its pectoral fin what is this ?
-
I just looked at my bottle or protozin (there's only a bit left) and it does say about the 4 days. The leaflet which says 24 hours is quite old so they must have changed the formula on one of the a bit. It looks like you'll have to wait a bit before adding the protozin.
Keep an eye on that glowlight. Red at the base of the fin could be septicaemia. If it gets no worse, that's fine.
-
omg things just dont get better, how do i tell if its gets worse? does it grow onto the body or something? i havent put med in since wednesday so i need to use the medicine on monday ?
not had any look at all from this tank that i bought of a chinese man i bought it for £150 with cabinet 4 parrots common plec and some big eyed shark, i need a new tank that is actually brand new i think and not been used by someone before, but that will have to wait as i need other things to buy, sighhhhh
thanks
-
If you put the mxyazin last on Wed, you can add the protozin on Sunday.
It may be nothing with the glowlight, if it is septicaemia, the red will get bigger.
-
ok thanks, its quite hard to notice any white dots on the fish now but obviously there is parasites there so obviously this white spot and fungus med will get rid of them, thing theres one on the side of the rummy and now one of the rams pectoral fin,
it looks like the male ram the most aggressive one is now trying to bully the other ram these 2 were actually the pair, hopefully it wont be as bad as the other bullying that happened to the other rams i had to get rid of, he is the very first ram i ever got with another with it and he has bullied most of the rams i have had i will either take both back or take him back and get another male ram if i can, which will be a real shame i dont wanna take him out of his home which he has been for years now, but he better start behaving lol, could take them both back if anything bad happens and get apistos or the other kinds possibly, see how things go,
when i add the meds tomorrow what ml do i need to put in please?
thanks
-
Not really any help, but your tanks looks loads better from the second picture.... :D
-
As for the med - I think we worked out you had about 180 litres of water didn't we? My bottle of Protozin has a chart that goes up to 4ml for 60 litres so you'd need 12ml for 180 litres. And you'd add that amount on Sunday (day 1) Monday (day 2) Tuesday (day3) and Friday (day 6) My bottle says to add the dose on days 1, 2, 3 and 6 and the day you start is always day 1.
I think my bottle should be thrown away. It expired in Dec 2012!
-
Not really any help, but your tanks looks loads better from the second picture.... :D
tar
-
As for the med - I think we worked out you had about 180 litres of water didn't we? My bottle of Protozin has a chart that goes up to 4ml for 60 litres so you'd need 12ml for 180 litres. And you'd add that amount on Sunday (day 1) Monday (day 2) Tuesday (day3) and Friday (day 6) My bottle says to add the dose on days 1, 2, 3 and 6 and the day you start is always day 1.
I think my bottle should be thrown away. It expired in Dec 2012!
oh didnt really look at the bottle much just a quick glance as i had to wait a few days but will look more closely tomorrow/later but how come you have to miss 2 days out ?
-
As for the med - I think we worked out you had about 180 litres of water didn't we? My bottle of Protozin has a chart that goes up to 4ml for 60 litres so you'd need 12ml for 180 litres. And you'd add that amount on Sunday (day 1) Monday (day 2) Tuesday (day3) and Friday (day 6) My bottle says to add the dose on days 1, 2, 3 and 6 and the day you start is always day 1.
I think my bottle should be thrown away. It expired in Dec 2012!
oh didnt really look at the bottle much just a quick glance as i had to wait a few days but will look more closely tomorrow/later but how come you have to miss 2 days out ?
Its to do with the cycle of the parasite
-
Thanks, looks like I need to take one or both rams back as my very first one who has always been aggressive is now bullying the other ram now, these were actually a pair dunno whether to swap him for another male or take the 2 back and get similar kind of fish to them but saying that I don't think I would like to not have rams in my tank because I have had them for a long time now
-
You need to wait until you are sure there is no whitespot in your tank as you could pass it to the shop's tanks.
It could be that the male is getting fed up with the female for not laying eggs - I think you said they were hanging out together but not spawning? Though bolivian rams are still cichlids; it could be his way of getting the female full of eggs. With a lot of cichlids it's the male chasing the female which causes her ovaries to fill with eggs. You will have to wait before it is possible to rehome any fish, see if their behaviour changes in the next few days.
-
ok thanks
-
I only put 6ml in my tank yesterday Only just noticed and remembered because I put 2 6mls in Sunday and now today dunno why I forgot am I best addin them up or just leavin it ? Saying that I put 2 cap dulls just slightly over the 6ml mark so that should of made up an extra ml maybe
-
Have you added today's dose (Tues is day 3) yet? If you have, just leave it at that (if you've already put in just 6ml today, add another 6 now). But if you haven't done today's dose yet, just add today's 12ml. Don't add any extra for yesterday or you'll add too much today.
How have the shrimp coped so far?
-
I put 12 ml in today which is right isn't it ? Just yesterday I forgot and just put in 6ml, I need to wait till Friday now but what then happens after Friday and so on ? Well the shrimp seem ok for now atleast one looks a bit brown even one of my rummys look yellow
-
12 ml today is right. And yes the next dose is Friday. Then wait and see if the spots come back. Occassionally they do. It happened to me once. If they do, start another course adding 12ml on day 1, day 2, day 3 and day 6 like this time.
Some meds colour the water and make the fish look a bit funny coloured. I wouldn't worry about it.
-
Thanks could be the wood in tank too, there is still white spot on fish but I guess it's early days but I thought the medicine might of done something by now as these are new spots and one is bigger than the others I saw
-
As has been said, its a cycle that has to be completed. Its not an instant fix.
Keep using the meds and do the water changes as required and hover your tank.
-
The bug was probably on the fish just before you started the protozin. The way the bug affects the fish is a 'baby' one is free swimming, it finds a fish and burrows into its skin then makes a coating round itself. It is only visible once the coating gets quite big. It is usually attached to fish for a couple of days at least before they become big enough to see. The ones on the fish now can't be killed by the med because the coating protects it. You have to wait till the spots have fallen off and the bug has finished multiplying within its coating on the tank floor. That takes a few days as well. Then when the coating splits and 'baby' bugs come out, the med will do its work.
Since you have spots on the fish now, I would add an extra dose. The day 6 dose is Friday, add another dose on day 9 (Monday next week). Maybe do a water change and gravel clean just before you add the dose on Monday.
Just a thought - have you turned your heater up a bit? The bug goes through from the spots on the fish to the free swimming baby stage a bit faster if you get the water a few degrees higher. Only to 28 or 29 deg, nothing too high.
-
i always had it set at the very lowest ( 70 something ) basically turnt off as it didnt need to be on, but with it getting told i have turnt it up to about 78 or something i think, but that never gives the exact temperature to what its set as, there still seems to be dots on some rummies and one still has the most faded tail ( the black is not fully black ) and it stops and it acts like its being electrocuted is the best way to explain it, so maybe this is because its trying to get the bug off or something i dunno? friday was the last day not put any in today ( saturday ) is it ok to start another weeks med ? but if so what about water change its gonna be 2 weeks i havent done one come tuesday
went to my auntys thursday as her son passed 2 weeks ago and he was home in the coffin it was the last night he would be there so was down there with all family and slept in living room on seperate couches with cousin by coffin and had funeral next day so this is the only time i have logged on
thanks again
-
I'm sorry to hear about the death of your aunty's son. It's always a difficult time for everyone in the family.
Heaters are well known for not making the water the same temp as the number on the dial. That's why it is safer to use a thermometer to set the dial to whatever number it needs to be to get the right temp on the thermometer.
Fridyt was the 6th day of the course wasn't it? Do a water change today (Sunday) or Monday whichever is best for yuo then start another course on Monday. You will add the med on day 1 (mon) day 2 (tues) day 3 (wed) and day 6 (sat)
-
thanks sue, did try and message the day after but i still wasnt able to message but only just logged on now, been treating tank with meds started on tuesday after water change so, tue wed thurs i treated tank now i am gonna put in todays ( sun ) in a sec, so seeing as this is the last day do you think the white spot will be dead ?
-
It should be. You've done 2 courses of treatment, when I've had whitespot in the past that has ususally done it. Do your next water change when it is time and look at the fish every day for a couple of weeks just to be on the safe side.
-
ok thanks :)
-
When does the carbon need to go in and how does it go in because in my fluval 405 I have white cylinders in 2 pockets which is media isn't it ? And in the other pockets I have sponges there won't be enough room to put the carbon bags in with the other stuff and I bought 2 bags so will I need one or 2 bags in ?
-
The carbon goes in a couple of days after the last dose of med.
Where to put it though.....
Yes the cyclinders are biological media, they'll have lots of bacteria on them.
Is there no way you could squeeze a bag in? Do you have any spare filters or does anyone you know have a spare one you could borrow for a few days? Even a small internal would be fine, just fill it with a bag of carbon.
-
i can try and squeeze one in, will try tomorrow, was looking at the fish today and one of the rams pectoral fins have a white dot on it, now i think this could be the same ram if not the one i took back to MA had a white dot on the pectoral fin but not sure, if its a white dot its got to be a parasite/white spot STILL hasnt it? >:(, also one of the harelquins has a patch on its back where its black, its not white its just like a greyish colour which is noticeable on the black colour on its back wonder what that could be? something inside it or somethin? or scratched it against something? hard to explain its only on 1 side and only on the 1 harelquin
the joys of fish keeping >:(
-
If the white spot has been in exactly the same place for a while, it won't be whitespot. That would have fallen off by now and even if the fish got reinfected it is not likely for the new one to be in exactly the same place.
The harlequin - not sure. One of my ember tetras has black markings on its body but as they've been there a while and the fish behaves like all the other embers, I've stopped worrying. It could just be the way the colours on that fish have grown.
-
ok thanks hopefully things wont get better, putting the carbon in my tank later when i get back and will look at the fish again see if things are ok
-
what could the white dot be ? looking again at it does look like a small grain of salt or maybe its just something on top of the fin not inside it, is it possible white spot to still be in the tank after all the medicine that has been in ?
i hope it is the same ram that had this white dot on its fin and not one of the ones i took back
-
Watch the spot for a few days. If it is whitespot it will fall off.
But I've also had fish with just one white spot (as opposed to whitespot, all one word, the illness) and I came to the conclusion it was the fish equivalent of a scab and the fish must have caught itself on something or got bitten by another fish. That too will go, the way scabs fall off us once the skin has healed under it.
But it might also be a scar in which case it might fade over time but not just disappear.
If it does vanish, keep an eye out for other fish getting spots but the chances are they won't with all the med you have added.
-
sorry i will have to put the carbon in tomorrow, fed up of life and my thoughts feelings with this anxiety and ocd just gonna go lay down
-
Oh...George :( I do so hope you feel a bit better and a little more positive after your rest.
It seems to me (after a quick read through your posts) that you have done everything you could for your little fishy friends...sometimes it is just time for them. We never know (unless really obvious babies) how old the stock are that we buy or what they might be incubating.
I'm sure everything will settle down soon and your tank and it's residents will provide you with the calm and relaxation that they normally do.
Take care...
-
thanks, so am i best not puttin my carbon in now or not? gonna do my water change should of done it yesterday
-
someone is getting a bath so gonna have to wait for an hour
-
Do the water change first, then put the carbon in. The water change will remove a good chunk of the med so there'll be less for the carbon to get rid of.
-
looked here too late, only just looked now will put the carbon in tomorrow now, thanks again everyone
-
Hope you're feeling in better health George. Sounds like you have had a rough time. ..
-
thanks, too long still do
anyway back to fish just looked at tank and noticed one rummie tilting to the side and spreading all its fins like its been electrocuted and its tail where its black has faded a bit and noticed another 1 doing this too but the tail isnt faded , what is this? i will check on internet to for info
edit checked online could be ich but also read that it could be the rummys showing off or something?
-
Fish spreading their fins out is usually showing off, either a male showing another male he's boss, or a male trying to get a female interested in him. My endlers do this when there are females, they also curl there bodies sideways and sort of jerk themselves in the water. Is your rummy doing that as well as spreading its fins?
And fish can change their colour according to their mood. They've not done it for a couple of years, but when I first got them my black and white chain loaches would turn pale grey and white when they were sizing each other up.
Because of the spreading fins, I think your rummy is just showing off. When they are sick fish usually clamp their fins. It could be your rummies growing up and this one has decided to challenge for 'top fish'.
-
My Black phantoms do it all the time, its playfull and a way of sorting out who is (as Sue says) Boss... :D
-
oh ok thanks both, ye it just acts like its been struck by lightening lol and there fins spread and move etc, when i had the light out yesterday because i only turn it on around 3pm the glo lights seemed to be tilting slightly and sometimes bouncing off each other but guess thats just what they do like above with the rummies but differently, i know and have saw my harelquins bouncing off eachother so they could be doing the same thing ( the glo lights )
on 1 of my rummies though just past its chin it has a lump then a bigger lump next to it and i know or heard something called something i cant remember but if ya look at the fish straight on it looks like a porcupine think it was sue who told me this ages ago but the fish doesnt look like that and its got the most red on its body out of all of them so its not pale and its the biggest rummie out of them, i do put in small sinking pellets mainly for the rams but the others each it i was thinking could it be that thats made the lumps or not ? its only 1 or maybe 2 rummies that have 1 lump but only slight ( when i say think i look at my tank then come up here and explain sometimes i forget after looking )
2 of my honey gouramis which i have only just noticed are now starting to rub against eachother sort or like what the rams used to do so i guess they may mate soon, but 1 thing on my male gouramis he has black by his anal fin and black marks around the bottle of his eyes, now because i said this i just checked google an i see that this is natural but just wanted to put it here too about my gouramis, does yours have black marks on it sue?
-
That porcupine thing is dropsy. When a fish has that the kindest thing is to put it to sleep.
My green neons get lumpy stomachs when they stuff themselves with food. Is the lumpiness there all the time or just after they've been fed? If it's gone by the next time you feed, it's probably just them stuffing themselves.
Honey gouramis. Are the two swimming in tight cirlces nose to tail? That is more two fish sizing each other up. Or are the two curling their bodies round each other, usually just under a bubble nest? That's mating.
I've had honey gouramis for about 10 years (not the same ones that long!) and the way they mate is the male builds a bubble nest (though I did have one that didn't bother). Then he swims in front ot the female with his nose pointing upwards. At first she'll ingore him, then start to follow him before swimming off. Gradually she'll go nearer and nearer the bubble nest until after 3 or 4 days of this they eventually spawn. They wrap their bodies round each other, and the male tilts the fremale on her back. She releases eggs and he fertilises them. They are both in a sort of stupor after this, the male usually comes out of it first and he dashes round collecting the eggs in his mouth before they sink, and spits them into the bubble nest. By this time the female has come round and if she gets too near, he'll chase her off, rearrange the eggs then go looking for her and they spawn again. Once he decides there enough eggs, he'll not let the female anywhere near his nest, and he'll chase all other fish away. He'll look as though he's going to harm any fish that get near but he usually just chases he doesn't make contact with the other fish. Within a day or two, the other fish will eat all the eggs. When he's chasing one fish, another will sneak in and grab some eggs.
Males get black starting under their mouths and going along the bottom of the body towards the tail. Depending on his colour there might be a lot of black or only a bit. Wild coloured males - that's the colour in the pic in the fish profile - gets a lot of black while the yellow ones only get a few blotches.
Just noticed that the menu at the top of the forum is missing, probably due to the owner trying to get rid of those spam posters. The profiles are still there if you go to just www.thinkfish.co.uk rather than the forum
-
I thought the forum was looking different. Ha I hadn't been online for a while and was excited to see so many new posts until I realised it was all spam!
-
It was awful over Friday night/Saturday. It was so bad it was hard to spot the genuine posts!
I have my profile set to notify me of any new posts and I was getting emails every few minutes while doing some family history research. I kept reporting them as they cropped up. First a lot of posts in Russian, then posts selling prescription drugs, then the porn posts, including some with photos. Then on Saturday afternoon I had an email from the site owner after I reported one, and he said he was going to close the forum till he could sort it out. He really objected to the porn spam. I presume the missing menu bar is all part of that sorting out. We can still get to the rest of the site by typing just www.thinkfish.co.uk into the address bar.
-
thanks sue only just read tank light if off now will check tomorrow thanks again :) hope your fish are doing well and everyone elses
-
hi i am thinking of putting in my anti fungus and rin rot med in tank mainly for my rummies fins, where the fins are see through some of the fins are frosted is a way i can describe it, but its not the wool effect of actual fin rot but i am thinking if this will clear the frosted look on the fins?
-
Finrot doesn't always have that wool effect. It can look as though the fin is just disappearing and getting smaller and smaller. It could be that looking see through is another symptom. From what you describe, fungus and finrot would be the med to try.
-
sorry for the long reply sue, fish fins are see through yes but on the rummies on some of the fins it looks like its frosted, only way i can describe it better is like a steamed up window kind of effect, so i need to use meds yes? just to be sure?
also i had 6 harelquins but i only have 5 now, the smallest one to me looked a different colour to the others and looked slightly white but i thought it was just the shine from the top of the lights in the tank, it was hard to describe but yesterday i noticed 5 so i think its been eaten by now as i cant see it and cant see the bone either, just hope its nothing bad, just wondering why its been eaten i know fish will eat eachother if they are sick but still ....
-
Fish will eat another fish if it is so sick it just lies there or if it is dead. In the wild they can't afford to miss such a feast and instinct tells them to do the same in our tanks. I realised one of my new microdevarios had died as soon as I saw a whole load of cherry shrimp clustered around something - they were eating the body.
Are the rummies fins getting smaller as though something has been nibbling at the edges? That is a classic sign of finrot. If the fins are just frosted but they are still all there I would be inclined to wait before treating.
-
just seem the same, thanks sue
-
did some research first but to be sure i posted a pic, even my sister said shes saw the gourami spitting bubble out its mouth
(http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/george_2007_efc/bubblenest_zps1a68490a.jpg) (http://s173.photobucket.com/user/george_2007_efc/media/bubblenest_zps1a68490a.jpg.html)
also posted before about lumps on the bottom of the fish ( glo lights ) but the rummies have it now too and the glo lights dont have it i think it may be the sinking pellets i put in thats making them like that ? looks like 1 has 2 lumps on the bottom of it too
am i best putting some peas in the tank ? if so how many again? 4? i know i have to squash them out the skin and mash them up etc
thanks again
-
Nice photo of a bubble nest :D Last time you mentioned gouramis, they were honeys - is the bubble nest from honey gouramis? When they spawn, the male is one of the gentlest types of gourami, but the male will still chase the female.
I really don't know about the lumps on the fish. I know it is a symptom of neon tetra disease but you don't have neons so it's not that. It can be food, I managed to feed my fish too much bloodworm a couple of nights ago and their bellies looked awful, and swollen and mis-shaped. I would say one pea for each shoal, so you have a shoal of glowlights and rummies, that's 2 peas; then the gouramis add another pea. If you still have the bolivian rams, one peas for every two of them. Same for bristlenoses.
If I've remembered all your fish right, try 6 peas. If there are any bits of pea left on the bottom after an hour, suck them out with your siphon tube. You only need to take out just enough water to get all the pea out, it shouldn't take much so it won't take as long as a water change :D
-
ok thanks, i did have neons at one time, yes i have my bolivians, i also have a shoal of 5 harlequins, will see if i have any frozen peas in the freezer if not will have to wait till i get some
my mum read on google somewhere i have to take the female out? cant do that though as there is nowhere to put it so was quite glad you didnt mention that
so what is the bubble nest exactly? is there eggs in this bubble nest now? how long till the hatch etc? do i need a breeding net ? thanks
-
It's when you have the gouramis in a tank of their own that you have to take the female out if you want to get the eggs to hatch and raise the fry. In a community tank there is no point taking her out as the other fish will eat the eggs before they can hatch. The male will try to chase them away but there will be just too many fish for him to chase off - while he's chasing one fish, another will sneak in.
Gouramis come from water that is a bit stagnant. That's why they evolved to have a labyrinth organ, stagnant water doesn't have as much oxygen as nice clean water so they had to be able to use air to get enough oxygen. The labyrinth organ is a system of hollow bones in the head, they gulp air into this organ then they can get oxygen from it. Even though our tanks have lots of oxygen in the water they can't not gulp air and if you put them in a bag of water and don't leave an air space in the bag, they can actually drown!
Because of the stagnant water, the eggs have to develop near the surface so they get plenty of oxygen too. So males blow bubbles which they coat with something to make them sticky and they clump together. He is the one that makes the bubble nest, then when they spawn they wrap round each other, she lays the eggs and he fertilises them. They are both in a stupor for a few seconds, then he comes out of it first and dashes round sucking the eggs into his mouth and spitting them into the bubbles. They do this several times till the male decides there are enough eggs. Then he'll chase the female away and any other fish that comes near. It is his job to guard the eggs and to catch any that fall out and put them back in the bubbles. If they are in a breeding tank, you take the female out as soon as they've finished laying eggs as breeding tanks are usually small and he might kill or injure her if there isn't enough room for her to get away from the male.
After a few days the eggs hatch but the fry can't swim at first. They hang from the nest with their tails sticking down, and the male makes sure they don't fall out. After a few more days, the fry start to swim and leave the bubble nest, and if they have managed to make it this far they'll get eaten pretty quickly. If they are in a breeding tank, once the fry start to swim you have to take the male out too or he will probably eat them himself.
You have to look very carefully at the bubble nest to see the eggs. The bubbles are see though and the eggs are white-ish and not see though in between the bubbles. They are quite hard to see, I usually have to get a magnifying glass to see them properly. The eggs hatch in 2 or 3 days, and it's a week after the eggs were laid before the fry start swimming. They are very tiny, there is a pic in post 5 here (http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,320.msg3402.html#msg3402). By the time I found the fry, they were able to swim and the bubble nest had gone. They'd all been eaten by the next day.
Some people have managed to use a breeding net. They put a piece of glass or plastic under the bubbles and carefully slide the bubbles and eggs onto it, then slide them off in the net. There are some problems with this. The eggs and newly hatched fry can fall out of the bubbles but a net is too small to put the male in as well, so there is nothing to put the eggs and fry back. And I have found that gouramis are very good at sucking eggs and fry through net, so any that fall to the bottom will be sucked though and eaten.
Then there's the problem with getting them to grow. I have never managed to keep fry alive more than a couple for weeks. They don't have a labyrinth organ at first, it has to grow and while it's growing the fry have to be kept warm and with very moist air on top of the water. Any colder air getting in will kill the fry, and it is very difficult to feed the fish and do water changes without letting cold air in to the top of the breeding net.
-
thanks so much sue, late here so will give this another read tomorrow when not half asleep, but its good to reread it because of all the knowledge
-
Going to ma now sue is it ok to get rainbow fish ?
-
If so how many can I get ? And say I can get about 4 rainbow can I get another shoal of somethin else too ? Somethin similar to rummies etc
-
I've lost track of what you have in there :-[
Have you put your tank and fish in the Community Creator? How much stocking does it say you have?
If you want me to enter it all, can you give me a list of your fish (types and numbers) the volume of your tank and the length.
Rainbowfish should be 6+. You may or may not be able to get any other fish as well as them, it depends on what the CC says.
-
Am out havin food near am sorry just phoned sister to message tank it's 39 inches length 17 inches from glass to gravel and 17 width is 17 inches too I have 2 bn plecs 2 rams 8 rummies 5 harlequins 10-12 glo lights 2 honey gouramis 4 shrimp and also have snails thanks , is it ok to have one Siamese fighter also what about 2 red line torpedo barbs ? These are just suggestions first also so the rainbows need to be dwarf or just normal ? Thanks
-
Might just get the 6 dwarf rainbows think you said it was ok last time
-
The fish you have gives your stocking level at 42%.
Red line torpedo barbs aka denisons barbs - I think they might need a bigger tank. Unfortunately, I can't access Seriously Fish as there seems to be a problem with the site. I'll check again later tonight see if they're back.
If you got 6 dwarf rainbowfish, that would push you up to 52%. But remember that most of us stop at 75 to 80%, we don't stock right up to 100% as the CC is a bit on the over generous side.
-
Thanks sue I asked for 6 dwarf rainbow fish but got 5 so they owe me a dish sighhhh
-
How exciting, George...new fishies :fishy1: :fishy1: :fishy1: :fishy1: :fishy1:
When they are settled in, post some pics, please. Dwarf rainbows were on my original fish list, but I wandered from my shopping list ::). However, I plan to get them for my future tank...which hopefully, will be soon.
-
the fish look really nice, 2 arnt as colourful as the others but it said on the info card in MA that the colour improves with age so i guess they are younger than the other colourful ones and they also seem smaller, but as always i cant enjoy my tank i just noticed on one of the rummie fins theres a white dot on it and a small rip this wasnt there last time i posted about the rummies, but like i said in the past the fins seem like frosted on them they arnt all see through, so can this be fin rot ? or white spot? i will get meds asap and as soon as i know which one to get, also i have black sponge in my pockets in my fluval 405 and when i was in MA yesterday there was black carbon sponge so now am i am wondering if the black sponge in my pockets of the filter could be carbon and all the meds i have used in the past has never even worked !!! unbelievable..... but i know i have a bag of carbon in my tank which i put in about a month or 2 ago after i stopped treatment,
to be sure i am gona have to take the black sponges out and get blue or any colour NON carbon so i know for sure i dont have anything carbon in my tank when doing treatment, but can this spike my tank if i take the MAYBE black carbon sponges and put in fresh new NON carbon sponges to fill my pockets in my filter?
you should get them resa they are really nice i havent stopped saying to my mum etc how nice they are the shop owes me one anyway for paying for 6 but only getting 5 but if i can i will get more i will wait and see first what the CC/sue says when the time comes and yes i will post some pics either in a minute or tomorrow maybe tomorrow though
-
Black sponges aren't necessarily carbon sponges - carbon is usually in little pellets, and I've just been reading up about the Fluval 405 and it does say the carbon media included with the pump are carbon pellets, not a carbon sponge. The black of the sponge can be 'code' for the size of the pores, and blue sponge has different sized pores. The piccies and the pore size that I wanted to post are on the Seriously Fish web-site, which seems to be down at the moment. So, if I were you, I'd leave the black sponge in, take any carbon pellets out and just keep an eye on your fish. What you don't want to do is medicate un-necessarily as this will cause them more stress and make them more susceptable to any illness.
There's always something about a fish that 'could be' wrong but, just like humans, they're all different.
Monitor your water conditions and do your weekly partial water changes, and let your tank and the inhabitants mature into their own rhythm.
Patience you must!
-
Like Colin says, some black sponges don't have carbon, but others do. The built in filter that comes in Juwel tanks does have carbon in the black sponge, but the back sponge that came with the Elite Mini filter doesn't have carbon. I've had both filters, the instructions with the Juwel one said the back sponge had carbon, and I emailed Hagen about the Elite sponge - they said it was just a plain sponge.
What did the packet that the black sponge was in say?
One white spot on one fish doesn't mean the tank has whitespot. Lots of spots on several fish does.
The split fin - does it look like someone has snipped it with a pair of scissors or is it raggedy edged? Splits often occur if a couple of fish have had a scrap. With shoaling fish, scraps are common as this is the way they decide which is the boss fish of the group. If it is just a split with nice straight edges running from the edge of the fin towards the body, it is more likely to be injury not disease.
Dwarf rainbowfish are on my list to get too. In the shop, fish are often not very colourful. They are young and stressed. Once they've been in your tank a couple of weeks they relax and get more colour, and they grow up too.
-
thanks all, the sponges i have had for years so not sure what it said on the packets, it could quite well not be carbon but because its been so long and i was newer to the fish keeping back then i may not of known what carbon was etc
the rummie's fin isnt a straight cut slit kind of mark its a bit thicker than just a slit which seems rugged a bit i think
to fully stock my tank whenever this is because i have to start saving a bit of money for something else i am owed 1 dwarf rainbow fish, but was thinking of getting more if i can to make them all a big shoal ( currently have 5 ) how many more could i get to fully stock my tank, the only others i wanted were the glolight danios but didnt see any there the other day, i dont need any plecs as i already have 2 bn's i have shrimp and snails so dont need more of them either
-
will post a pic of the fish tonight when its more darker as thats when its best to take pictures i think
-
If the sponge has been in the filter for a long time, even if it does have carbon in it, that'll be full up by now. There is a slight change that any med you put in the tank could push off whatever is on any carbon now and stick in its place, but it is a small chance. If you need to medicate, leave the black sponge in the filter.
-
Aha! Seriously fish is back on-line. I said I'd check about the red line torpedo barbs.
I thought they were a bit too big/too active for your tank - SF reckons they need a minimum length tank of 120cm (47 inches)
About the rainbowfish, it says at least 6 to 8 of them.
-
Seriously Fishy is indeed back up and running..... so as not-quite-promised.....
...here's a picture of blue filter sponge (30ppi. Pores per inch):
(http://www.seriouslyfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG001-350x262.jpg)
...and here's a picture of black filter sponge (40ppi):
(http://www.seriouslyfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/IMG002-350x262.jpg)
I can't imagine how glad everybody is that I posted these pictures...... you can all sleep soundly tonight now! ::)
-
Nice sponges, Colin.....perhaps we should call you Bob from now on?? :-\
-
Aaaah, the beauty of using your own photos, they don't disappear when seriously fish goes off-line again ;D ;D ;D
-
Nice sponges, Colin.....perhaps we should call you Bob from now on?? :-\
To make up for my raspberry......
(http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/spongebob-kiss.gif)
-
thanks, just about to get a shower, so will take a few pics of the fish now before i get in and post them when i get out, any ideas on me filling my stock fully sue? like how many more rainbows could i get or how many more types or fish can i get ? thanks
-
ended up taking them before shower
-
lovely healthy looking fish :)
-
[/quote]
To make up for my raspberry......
(http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/spongebob-kiss.gif)
[/quote]
Is that a self portrait ???
-
Lovely fish, George. the tank is looking good too :)
-
Thanks both
-
may be going to MA tomorrow sue, i will get my owed dwarf rainbow will it be ok to get another 6 plus my owed fish which will be 7 and a siamese fighter and is my tank fully stocked then?
-
More rainbows yes, siamese fighter no. You have some gouramis in the tank, don't you? It is not a good idea to have a fighter in the same tank as any type of gourami. They are closely related and it usually ends up with them fighting.
-
More rainbows yes, siamese fighter no. You have some gouramis in the tank, don't you? It is not a good idea to have a fighter in the same tank as any type of gourami. They are closely related and it usually ends up with them fighting.
ok thanks again sue as always, just wondering what other fish i can get to complete my tank? do like glolight danio tetra but just wondering what other bigger fish i could get but nothing like rams as i dont want them fighting with others for territory
-
can i have any shark?
siamese flying fox maybe?
black ghost knife fish?
crabs?
any barbs that dont nip?
just looked at some others on the site,
congo tetra?
Colombian Red Fin?
Bleeding Heart Tetra?
-
added more options in above post
-
Crabs - no. A lot are marine (sea water), a lot like some land to crawl onto. And the general rule is fins + claws = bad. A lot of large crustaceans such as crabs, crayfish and big shrimps will catch fish, or attempt to resulting in damaged fish.
Black ghosts need big tanks, at least 300 litres. They can grow to 20 inches (50cm)
Flying fox - there are 2 similar fish, the flying fox and the false flying fox (aka siamese algae eater NOT chinese algae eater). The FF can be aggressive but the SAE is fine. Both these fish have a stripe down their body. In the SAE the edges are zigzagy and the FF is smooth. Check what they look like in the shop because shops often label things wrong.
Barbs - cherry barbs, 5 band barbs (though the 5 bands are black and orange like your harlies)
Congo tetras need a 4 foot tank
Columbian and bleeding heart tetras should be OK, will fit in your tank and supposed to be peaceful.
Emperor tetra? Seriously fish reckons it is one of the best tetras for a community tank.
I am having the same problem, choosing fish to go in my new tank now that I have spare space. I have some very tiny fish that only grow to inch and most centrepiece fish would swallow them whole :(
-
thanks sue, is there any pictures of the 2 types of flying foxes so i know for sure which one to get ? and so i know what you mean by zigzagy? going to MA today so might just pick up more rainbow fish and a fox if i can then have a look at the barbs you suggested and the bleeding heart and columbian tetras to see which ones i will get in the future obviously i cant have them all i just need to pick 1 out of the 3 types of fish you say are fine ha
i had emperors awhile back and took them back as soon as i put them in fish were bit and one emperor was half eaten too so i had probs as soon as i put them in
-
when you say about the flying fox and false one do you mean where the black line goes to the start of the tail fin is just smooth thats the false fox? and where the black line carrys on past the tip of the tail is the real fox?
-
This is the flying fox (http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/search/flying+fox)
The siamese algae eater is a bit more tricky as there are several fish that are sold under this name. Seriously fish reckons this (http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/crossocheilus-atrilimes) is the one you are most likely to find in a shop.
Both those links have pictures.
If you look closely, the black stripe on the flying fox has edges that are almost straight; the stripe goes into the tail fin; the other fins have black in them. This is the one that can be aggressive.
The one they call the siamese algae eater - the edges of the black stripe look like the edge of a saw blade; the stripe goes into the tail fin; the other fins are see though with no black. This is the one that is more peaceful.
-
On my phone near am havin somethin to eat so the top one is the peaceful one ? Where the black line carrys in into the tail and the false fox it just stops completely at the start of the tail find ? Could I have a shark of any kind at all ?
-
On seriously fish, the black line goes into the tail with both. The difference is that the aggressive one has black on all its fins and the peaceful one only has the black stripe in its tail fin, there is no black in any other fin.
Black fins = aggressive, no black in fins = peaceful
Sharks like bala sharks, no they get way too big.
Rainbow shark - black body, all fins red, also albino version which is white body with all red fins - needs a tank 120cm long and can be aggressive
Red tailed black shark - black body and only the tail is red, other fins black - again 120cm long tank, this is more aggressive than the last one.
-
Ok thanks sue just put fish in tank after climatising them the woman said its a sae and my tank lights are off for an hour or two which says on the bag not to turn them on until a certain time after puttin new fish in so will look again then
-
fish has no black on its bottom fins
-
is it ok to have 1 SAE or ok to have 2? just wondering
-
They are actually shoaling fish but can be kept in pairs. Wait a few days though as some fish lose their colour when stressed like when being bought, and you need to make sure it doesn't suddenly get black on its fins. If it gets black on any of its fins, except for the body stripe going into the tail fin, keep it alone.
-
thanks again sue, when are you getting rainbows?
-
When I can persuade my husband to drive me somewhere that sells them :-\ I don't drive.
-
I like tea colored water, and so do my dwarf cichlids :isay:
-
hi all, starting to run out of seachem prime water conditioner and its very expensive now like £100 for a 500ml when it only used to be £20 or so few years back ( yes my bottle has lasted that long )
so i am looking for alternatives can i have some advice on this please http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tetra-Aqua-Safe-Water-Conditioner/dp/B002SQER4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396282681&sr=8-1&keywords=seachem+prime
also when i was looking at things last night for my tanks health i saw this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tetra-Balance-Water-Change-Conditioner/dp/B0034YOE74/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1396282985&sr=8-8&keywords=tetra+aquasafe
it says you can do 1 water change every 6 months which i doubt i would wanna only do 1 in 6 months but maybe once every month or so? i also want my water to be sparkling clear which is anyway but just to give it that extra cleaness whats your advice on that?
also i once got advised to use this http://www.amazon.co.uk/100ml-interpet-liquisil-general-tonic/dp/B002I6OFR8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396283140&sr=8-1&keywords=interpet++tonic
once by a person in MA and was thinking of using it again as its supposed to keep your tank healthy and less likely to have any disease or things in the water to harm fish
i also want something to help the filter aswell as when i clean it i want extra help for me and the tank to keep it in even more top condition i just want the best for my fish so wanna stock up on some things that would help
any advice would be great or even other recommended things instead of the ones i have posted thanks again
-
Tetra Aqua-safe is what I've been using..... and it's fine.
The other stuff I've never used.
If you want crystal clear water then look at the stages of mechanical filtration you have in your filter. You'll need a layer of fine white 'filter-floss' as the final stage to trap the smallest particals.
If you want the best for your fish then use aqua-safe, do a partial water change every week, clean the glass inside and out and don't put any chemicals in that you don't need.
-
what is or what do i need for mechanical filtration mate? and what or where can i get filter floss?
is the tetra aqua safe easy to measure for my buckets? or how much do you put in your buckets seeing as you use it?
yes i do a water change every week 3 out 3 back in if i miss it like half way through the week i take 5 out and 5 in
can you recommend me some plant food to mate?
also is it ok to start using the tetra aqua straight away when i get it even though it will have seachem prime in it because thats all i have ever used
-
does the tetra aqua get rid of ammonia and nitrate and nitrite like seachem does? or do all water medicines do that anyway
-
Seachem Prime detoxifies ammonia and nitrite but the effect is only temporary. A lot of other dechlorinators also detoxify ammonia - it will say on the bottle or in the description on-line - but Prime is the only one that claims to detoxify nitrite. The thing is, they don't say how it does that and they don't publish what's in Prime so no-one knows if it really does work.
You can swap over any time. The ingredient that removes chlorine is the same one in all dechlorinators, and some people even just buy the actual chemical and make their own dechlorinator.
I use API tap water conditioner (http://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?sectionid=1&catid=19&subcatid=0&id=655) as I have chlorine in my tapwater not chloramine. The dose is 1 drop in 3.8 litres. My bucket holds 7.5 litres of water so I add 2 drops per bucket (can't lift anything heavier).
I know that tetra easy balance says you only need to do water changes every six months but I would still do weekly ones. Water changes do more than remove nitrate. Fish and plants excrete other things besides ammonia and both fish and plants use up trace minerals in the water so water changes remove all the other things the fish make and top up the minerals.
You can buy rolls of filter wool, also called filter floss, at most fish shops especially the ones that sell things for ponds. It's a bit like pillow stuffing only in flat sheets. You just cut it up to the right shape to fit in the filter and put it on top of the media last in the water flow. It catches particles smaller than sponges etc can.
-
... seachem prime water conditioner and its very expensive now like £100 for a 500ml when it only used to be £20 or so few years back ( yes my bottle has lasted that long )
I don't know where you have been shopping, but Prime is nowhere near these sorts of prices. Like here (£17.42) (http://www.aquacadabra.co.uk/Seachem-Prime-500ml.html), or here (£17.45) (http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/seachem-prime-concentrated-conditioner-500ml-p-5835.html), or here (£16.99) (http://www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/seachem-prime-500ml.html) (I spent nearly three minutes on google finding these)
The RRP is, apparently £20 or so, and it lasts for ages
-
thanks sue which one shall i get then do you think? the one you use or the tetra one? or if the tetra one is less money i may get that i dunno, so i put the wool in the same pockets as the white cylinders ? and what are these particles exactly? what do they do?
-
... seachem prime water conditioner and its very expensive now like £100 for a 500ml when it only used to be £20 or so few years back ( yes my bottle has lasted that long )
I don't know where you have been shopping, but Prime is nowhere near these sorts of prices. Like here (£17.42) (http://www.aquacadabra.co.uk/Seachem-Prime-500ml.html), or here (£17.45) (http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/seachem-prime-concentrated-conditioner-500ml-p-5835.html), or here (£16.99) (http://www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/seachem-prime-500ml.html) (I spent nearly three minutes on google finding these)
The RRP is, apparently £20 or so, and it lasts for ages
amazon
-
Then go somewhere else.
-
Then go somewhere else.
or i can just ask for alternatives or use what other people use
-
i think i will get the one you use sue as its much cheaper
-
I get mine off ebay when I can't get to the only shop in the area that sells it - it is a fair drive away. It cost about £5 or 6 for a bottle big enough to treat 7000 litres of new water.
The reason for the price on amazon is probably because the seller doesn't actually have any. That is a common trick on ebay, put the price so high no-one will buy it while it's out of stock and when they get some in they lower the price again, it saves having to relist.
And the reason the amazon seller doesn't have any is that Seachem have banned anyone selling it on amazon or ebay as they charge too low prices. You can still get it from real shops and proper on line shops like the ones Steve linked to.
-
Not allowing sales on EBay or Amazon sounds like retail price maintenance - prohibited under UKJ law since 1964, also prohibited under EU law which takes precedence.
Water conditioner is the only thing I add to my tanks. Having bought used tanks off EBay, I've also been given part-used bottles of all sorts of stuff, for none of which can I see a real need. If I had soft water, maybe I would have to add something, but otherwise I reckon the less stuff you put in your tank the better, and the cheaper.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
-
It may be against the law but that's what happened a couple of years ago. People all over the country were very annoyed as ebay & amazon sold it cheaper than anywhere else.
Since Seachem is an American company and all their products are imported to the UK, did they find a way to circumvent EU/UK law?
-
sue, i am unsure what to buy as i read somewhere both the api and the tetra safe dont get rid of ammonia, i always thought i needed that atleast in a water dechlor, what am i best doing?
-
any more info on this floss aswell please? what are the particles and what do they do? and does the floss go in the same pockets as the white cylinders?
-
In America they mainly use chloramine in tapwater to kill bugs. This is a chlorine and an ammonia joined together. All dechlorinators split chloramine back to chlorine and ammonia then remove the chlorine but they leave the ammonia part still in the water. So they add another ingredient to the dechlorinator which detoxifies ammonia for up to 24 hours. During this 24 hours the filter bacteria eat the ammonia so that by the time the detoxification wears off, all the ammonia has gone. Since a lot of dechlorinators are made in the US, they contain the detoxifier for the American market.
In the UK we mainly have chlorine in tapwater not chloramine, though some water companies are starting to use it. With chlorine, the dechlorinator removes that but there is no ammonia to detoxify so if your water company uses chlorine you don't need that second ingredient. My water company uses chlorine which is why I use a dechlorinator that doesn't detoxify ammonia as I don't need it.
A lot of dechlorinators also contain aloe vera, and the one I use doesn't - I don't want aloe vera in my tanks, just a personal preference.
So if you have chlorine in your tapwater you can use dechlorinators that do contain the ammonia detoxifier or you can use one that doesn't. If you have chloramine, you need one that does detoxify ammonia. Your water company's website might say what they use or you could always ring/email them to find out.
You often get very fine particles in your tank which make the water look a bit misty. These are so small that they go right through a sponge. Filter wool is fine enough to catch most of these tiny particles. This (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AQUARIUM-POND-FILTER-MEDIA-WOOL-FLOSS-ROLL-12-15mm-1mtr-to-10mtr-rolls-/191079515917?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&var=&hash=item2c7d3a070d) kind of thing. You cut it up to the size that fits your filter then lay a piece on top of the media in the last basket with an external. It isn't very thick so it doesn't take much room. Filter wool is not a very good home for bacteria, it clogs quickly if you have messy fish and it goes into holes and shapeless after a couple of washes. Because it doesn't hold many bacteria it is safe to change it frequently.
-
thanks sue, just another thing been downstairs watching the footie with the parrot out and was looking at the fish and i can notice white on the tips of my rainbows mouth a few have it and some dont so i guess this is mouth fungus or something is there a good bacteria medicine to use ?
-
looks exactly like that, ( the white on mouths )
-
Some of mine also look a bit white on the tip of the lips - I got mine 9 days ago. I'm not intending to treat them unless I know for sure it's mouth rot. Adding too many meds is not good for the overall health of the fish, one reason I don't use that general tonic.
The photos - are they your fish? The dwarf rainbow in the first pic looks more as though it has caught its mouth on something and pulled a scale loose. I wouldn't treat that fish unless it got much worse. The boseman rainbow in the second pic looks very sorry for itself. It has body fungus as well as on the mouth. That fish does need treating but for the white on its body not its mouth, though it's hard to tell from the pic wehther it is infected with fungus or columnaris.
-
hi sue only just come online, not the fish are taken from google images but the fish mouths on them pics i was pointing out as similar to mine, even my mums fella said it has the same thing on its mouth like you described it as something caught but looks like a little spot on its mouth
i hope it is nothing shall i just wait and see and keep looking at them? also one of my dwarfs have been half eatne and i dont know why because they all shoaled together never showed signs of anything wrong with it swimming wise etc they all look active yet when i did my water change it noticed it was all white and half eaten and i doubt it just get attacked for the sake of it so this is a bit worrying, some of my glo lights have worn down fins the ones on top of the back but i took it as this could be play fighting or whatever as you say fish do have fish fights etc
so am i best just keeping a look on the fish then or what do you think i should do? also if i missed your answer about the water dechlor sorry but the one you mentioned and the tetra safe one doesnt it get rid of ammonia? just incase my tap water does have it or if its in my tank water from fish food waste or fish waste then the one you have API or the other one i posted about tetra safe wont get rid of it will it ? but maybe its ok seeing as you dont use one to get rid of ammonia i shouldnt need to then i guess?
thanks again sue and if you tell me i cant get certain fish then i wont i always listen lol, them fish were off google images and i remember you saying i could only have dwarf rainbows :D, my tank wouldnt be how it was if it wasnt for you MAINLY but also the others that help me too thanks
-
i have a 405 fluval external i have i think it has 4 pockets 2 have media in it and the others are filled with sponges, i havent changed the media or sponges since day one i just squeeze and clean them with tank water when i am cleaning the filter, am i best replacing everything brand new? especially the sponges shall i take them out and fill it up with the wool your suggest instead?
if i was to do this will my tank spike or anything?
-
Don't change your sponges unless they are falling apart. A layer of filter wool should fit on top of the media in the top basket, it is only a few mm thick.
Have you tested your tap water for ammonia? If there is none in it you don't need a dechlorinator that detoxifies ammonia, though most brands do contain a detoxifier. Any ammonia made from decaying food or fish waste will be made slowly and continually so the filter should cope with it. But you shouldn't really have any uneaten food, you should only be feeding just what the fish can eat ;)
I don't know what to suggest about the fish that's half eaten. It could have been sickly when you got it and healthy fish will pick at a sick one. In the wild, predators are attracted by sick fish as they are easier to catch. The other fish don't want a predator hanging round so they kill the sick one themselves before a predator notices it.
If that fish is in a bad way, you might want to think about putting it down.
-
the fish was dead just half eaten, my mum just shouted me and said theirs a dead harelquin here and so i took it out looked at it had no marks on it and wasnt eaten it just had a split in its tail fin, i also can notice very well that 1 of the other harlequins as a big chunk bite on its tail fin too, swimming fine though, just wondering what is biting who
not tested water for ammonia yet will do though
-
Can you write down all the kinds of fish you have then we can look for the most likely biting suspect.
Though the rainbow, all fish will eat dead fish so the damage could have been done after it died.
-
bn plecs
harelquins
rummie noses
dwarf rainbow fish
honey gouramis
bolivian rams
siamese algea eater
glo lights
-
None of those are known biters. Maybe they are just squabbling amongst themselves. Just keep an close eye on them see if any more damage happens.
-
ok thanks sue
-
from that recent incident the whole of the harlequins tail fin has gone but its still swimming fine, one of the others is getting a white line across the middle of its tail fin and the tip of the fin on the back is white, just dont know if this is a disease or not its the same as the rummies and glo lights
-
I think I'd be inclined to treat for finrot now. If you can get them, either Waterlife's myxazin or eSHa 2000 are best. If you can't get them, whatever finrot med you can get is better than doing nothing.