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Post by madonplants on Jul 6, 2008 15:43:00 GMT 1
My lad used to keep cold water fish...and had a sealed globe with shrimp in (a present from Barbados) that was lovely.... but his OH kept everything when she chucked him out... That wasn't fair, was it?  |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 6, 2008 15:53:59 GMT 1
My lad used to keep cold water fish...and had a sealed globe with shrimp in (a present from Barbados) that was lovely.... but his OH kept everything when she chucked him out... That wasn't fair, was it? ah...but he's still better off away from the situation. In fact I think they'll BOTH be happier in the long run...he can buy more fish when he has his own place...and the shrimps were a present from HER Mother so I don't think he wants them (I would tho ;D) sorry to usurp the thread Ali! |
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Post by debidoos on Jul 6, 2008 17:23:55 GMT 1
Hi Keith Yes I had thought of going back to the shop but I was so embarressed about loosing the fish in the first place it took me all my courage to tell all of you....  as far as I could tell all the fish were fine in the tank. I can't remember which Gourami it was will check and get back to you. Going to bed now myself sleep well. x Don't be embarrassed, Ali, I've done it before. The embarrassing thing was the bit beforehand. We lost a sailfin 'plec a few days after getting it, but we found it so late in the morning before we went to work, that we decided to put the body into a seperate tank, that had no fish in it. I phoned the shop when I got to work, who suggested I put the body in the freezer, wrapped up in clingfilm. No one was at home except for Jennifer's parents, so guess what we had to do??  Yep, her mum had to take the dead fish and wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the freezer!! We took it to the shop, who couldn't find anything wrong with it or our water, so they swapped it for another one, which is still doing well. I was going to ask about the nitrite, but thought the shop would have done that at the same time as check your pH, unless of course you only asked them to check the pH. Did you add some of that beneficial bacteria, at the same time as adding the new fish, like I suggested? Don't be embarrassed about losing fish, we've all done it! I did it with my first Redtail. We were moving house (never!!) and as we had a few weeks of having the new house (it was rented) before we moved, I decided to buy a spare 4ft tank to go into the new place, with one of my seeded filters running in it. We would use this as a community tank, afterwards, but unfortunately we broke it moving back out. When we moved, the catfish went in with no problems and stayed in it for about 6 weeks. When we got the proper tank up and running, I transfered the fish over. Now, all parameters were the same, as mostly I had used water from the other tank, gradually, to seed the proper one. I had checked temperature, pH, hardness, nitrate levels all all were the same. There was no ammonia or nitrite in either tank. Within a few weeks it was dead, what went wrong?  I had a chat with the man at the shop and he said I had done everything OK and the only thing he could think of, was that the 'quarantine tank' was kept behind the settee, so wasn't used to disturbance from people walking past. It had to go there, as the house was only a stop gap until our new house was built, and we were quite cramped. I had even bought a koi tube to do the transfer from one tank to the other, even though there was only about a 4ft gap between the two tanks. It still upsets me, as in my eyes and the experts, I had done everything right, so what did happen? Any photos of the new fish??  I agree, there is no reason to feel embarassed about losing fish! Have a read on the tropical fish thread what happened to me last year! And I'm meant to know what I'm doing! We have loses at work that are un-explained. we get them in from the supplier and the following morning we'd have had loses. you could ask when they have their deliveries of new fish in, so then you'll know how long they have had them in their tanks for. If they've only had them in that day, it might pay to wait a day or two before you buy any as it gives them a chance to settle down before being moved again. |
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Post by alicat on Jul 7, 2008 0:23:29 GMT 1
Thats a good point Debbie - thank you - I had wondered if I had done something wrong bringing them home.  But I followed all the rules, straight home, leave in the bag for 15/20 mins to acclimatise in the water then release them. Little bit of food to make them feel happy.  I will do my best to remember to ask for next time - if there is a next time. - Keith I did forget adding some antibacterial whatsit but my tapsafe has something in it that does the same job. I've got a five in one test kit (Tetra test 5 ) the same as the pet shop, all the levels were well within the green. - Debbie is this what you use in your pet shop and if not what do you use.? - I checked the levels again today and they are all fine, well within the green anyway. Keith I haven't been back to the shop yet to findout which Gourami he is but will try and do it tomorrow, will also broach the subject of the lost fish. Sorry to hear about your fish.  As for photo's I have so many sitting in the computer waiting, I will do my best to post some asap. Thanks again for all your help. A.xx
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Post by alicat on Jul 7, 2008 0:39:36 GMT 1
That wasn't fair, was it? ah...but he's still better off away from the situation. In fact I think they'll BOTH be happier in the long run...he can buy more fish when he has his own place...and the shrimps were a present from HER Mother so I don't think he wants them (I would tho ;D) sorry to usurp the thread Ali! Cheery - it's fine I just hope that one day your son finds his feet again and enjoys life, then finds a new woman to love. Long, long time ago now, but I was in a similar situation, and my parents were at there wits end they stood by me though and Life is good now. And it will be for your son and you in time. xx  |
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Post by debidoos on Jul 7, 2008 9:18:25 GMT 1
I'm not a believer in the 5 in 1 test strips as they've given me incorrect readings in the past that have caused me to lose a whole batch of baby Angelfish, about 75 or so. We use Nutrifin test kits at work, www.hagen.com/uk/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=124&PROD_ID=01078250030101 and I also use them at home too. you put a sample of water into a test tube then you add some specific reagents to test the water. you then check the colour against a chart. they cost about £7.50 per test kit, but you get about 75 tests out of each one. NitrIte and Ph are the most important, but ammonia and nitrAte are also useful. If you do get these test kits get the LOW RANGE Ph kit as your water measures within these parameters, si it is more accurate. The broad range test only measures in 0.5 intervals so you never know exactly what your Ph is. Ph works on a Logarhythmic scale, therefore ph 6.0 is 10 times more acidic than ph 7.0. It seems a small change to us but is very big for the fish. At work we recommend not changing more than 0.5 ph in one day, as bigger changes can cause shock. |
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Post by madonplants on Jul 7, 2008 10:39:03 GMT 1
I'm not a believer in the 5 in 1 test strips as they've given me incorrect readings in the past that have caused me to lose a whole batch of baby Angelfish, about 75 or so. We use Nutrifin test kits at work, www.hagen.com/uk/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=124&PROD_ID=01078250030101 and I also use them at home too. you put a sample of water into a test tube then you add some specific reagents to test the water. you then check the colour against a chart. they cost about £7.50 per test kit, but you get about 75 tests out of each one. NitrIte and Ph are the most important, but ammonia and nitrAte are also useful. If you do get these test kits get the LOW RANGE Ph kit as your water measures within these parameters, si it is more accurate. The broad range test only measures in 0.5 intervals so you never know exactly what your Ph is. Ph works on a Logarhythmic scale, therefore ph 6.0 is 10 times more acidic than ph 7.0. It seems a small change to us but is very big for the fish. At work we recommend not changing more than 0.5 ph in one day, as bigger changes can cause shock. I use atm, Dry Tab test kits, but only for Nitrate and Ammonia, as they are 'supposed' to last longer. Like Debi has said, hers does 75 tests and this is a lot for someone at home, especially when they lose there accuracy after about six months. Who does 75 tests in six months manufacturers, get your act together!! Because of this, I have a portable pH meter for pH levels, though it's a bit more fiddly, as you have to keep the meter buffered with buffer solutions. That was fine while Jennifer worked in a lab, but have to buy them now!! I've never used the test strips, so can't comment, though can't believe they are very accurate. When you transfered the fish over, how did you do it? Hope that is not a daft question, but a lot of people say, bring the bag water up to temperature in about 30 minutes and then allow fish to swim out. If the bag water has a different make up to your tank water, this could cause problems. I don't mean in pH only, but nitrite, nitrate, ammonia and hardness of water. That fish or fishes has been excreting in that water, so it might contain ammonia/nitrite. I alway think it weird when you read in some book, have the shop keeper feed the fish, so you know it is feeding before you buy it!! Yes, OK if you go back the following day to pick it up, but not straight after!! Temperature should be equalised in less than 5 minutes, not the 30 minutes mentioned. Then tip some water from the bag into the tank and then you need to add water from the tank to the bag. Do this about 3 times over about 10-20 minutes and things should be OK. If you know all this, forget I mentioned it!! When Jennifer called me up to help her bring her suitcase down I hit send, God knows why! That water in the bag, if it is high in organics, it will lower the pH, so even if your tank water is the same as the shop's, that bag water might not be!! |
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Post by madonplants on Jul 11, 2008 0:02:57 GMT 1
How are the fish doing, Ali?
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Post by debbiem on Jul 11, 2008 10:10:33 GMT 1
Ali, sorry I've just caught up with your thread. I hate to say this but I suspect Bruce jumped out of the tank at some point, as I lost a Danio like that. I couldn't see it in the tank and found the dried remains behind the tank ages afterwards! When I kept fish I had loads of fatalities for all sorts of reasons, and some that went missing too. I think you have to have a few losses and diasters to become an experienced fishkeeper and I had plenty! Ranging from the wrong water quality, to too high a nitrite level, to filter problems, keeping the wrong fish together, keeping too many fish at once to name but a few!I think the place to ask for advice is indeed on here as there seem to be several people in the know who'll all pitch in to help. Sexing Danios - a really good book to buy on fishkeeping is the Baensch Aquarium Atlas - it gives you all kind of info and details of the requirements for all kinds of fish, it was my fishy Bible.  This is what it says on sexing them, ditto what Keith said about the shape;' sexually mature females are fuller bodied and larger with more subdued colours. On the male one can find a golden-yellow background with fine red lines between wider blue longitudinal lines. On the female the background is silvery white.' I read somewhere about Tiger Barbs that it's best to keep several together as if you only have a few they will nip each other, whereas if you have a number of them they will have so much choice about who to nip next they won't get round to nipping anyone!  Tetras are hardy little fish, very pretty and a lot are suitable for the smaller tank. I remember having some X-Ray Tetra that were tough as old boots and very pretty. According to the Baensch Atlas the minimum tank size for them is 20". |
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Post by debidoos on Jul 11, 2008 16:25:47 GMT 1
Tigers I've found that a minimum of 4 works, but the more the better, but I think you need at least a 3 foot tank for them, they need the space to get away from one another.
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Post by alicat on Jul 28, 2008 2:03:48 GMT 1
How are the fish doing, Ali? Hi Keith I wish I could say all is fine but I lost my Gourami today. - He had a fungus growing on his mouth which became noticeable within a few hours after there morning feed. I phoned the pet shop for advice, as at the time I wasn't sure if it was fungus or white spot. They advised to wait till the next day to see if any more spots appeared, they didn't so i got some fungus medicine, I also did a small water change to try and help things. - It's at times like this I wish I could call on someone to look at the fish in-situ, without moving them and causing more stress. The other fish seem fine and I will be keeping a close eye on them, and I will not be buying anymore fish in the immediate future as we are going on holiday in 2 weeks time. Thank you all, for your input on my thread and I know I still have to reply to some messages but in the mean time How do you care for your Fish while your on holiday. I'm going away for two weeks and I've got someone coming in to feed the cats, rabbit and fish of course. - I know you can buy an automatic feeder but they are a bit expensive. so what other suggestions do you have. All suggestions gratefully received. A.x |
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Post by 4pygmies on Jul 28, 2008 8:32:46 GMT 1
Have a good holiday Ali! Do you know this thread facinates me - I have never kept fish, well only goldfish and they have always died.... I never realised quite how technical and complex it was.....you all sound like scientists to me... |
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Post by alicat on Jul 29, 2008 0:26:21 GMT 1
Have a good holiday Ali! Do you know this thread facinates me - I have never kept fish, well only goldfish and they have always died.... I never realised quite how technical and complex it was.....you all sound like scientists to me... Thanks 4P - the whole family can't wait to dip there toes correction dive into the sea. ;D Nor me, it is a very steep learning curve for me at the moment and not one that I am enjoying fully yet. I'm sure I will get there though I forgot to ask last night has anyone used the feeding blocks and how do you rate them. |
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Post by alicat on Jul 29, 2008 0:36:06 GMT 1
Guppies breed like rabbits btw Best to have far more females than males, a 1:1 ratio is not good as the poor female would be hounded to death. Did you know that guppies give birth to live young? IMO opinion it's best to buy fish from a pet shop that have not just been delivered, the stress of traveling to the shop, then being caught and bagged, transported then put into a new tank within the space of a few days can just be too much for some fish. A more robust live bearer (as they are called) are Platys. Take a look at these google images Thanks The witch - As my tank is so small I only bought 2 male Guppies to begin with, I also don't think I could cope with looking after lots of babies just yet. You know that Platy looks very much like my Goldie (Gouarmi ) that I lost yesterday I wonder if the pet shop/or myself got the name wrong. : I never did ask what type he was was. : |
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Post by madonplants on Jul 29, 2008 0:49:32 GMT 1
How are the fish doing, Ali? Hi Keith I wish I could say all is fine but I lost my Gourami today. - He had a fungus growing on his mouth which became noticeable within a few hours after there morning feed. I phoned the pet shop for advice, as at the time I wasn't sure if it was fungus or white spot. They advised to wait till the next day to see if any more spots appeared, they didn't so i got some fungus medicine, I also did a small water change to try and help things. - It's at times like this I wish I could call on someone to look at the fish in-situ, without moving them and causing more stress. The other fish seem fine and I will be keeping a close eye on them, and I will not be buying anymore fish in the immediate future as we are going on holiday in 2 weeks time. Thank you all, for your input on my thread and I know I still have to reply to some messages but in the mean time How do you care for your Fish while your on holiday. I'm going away for two weeks and I've got someone coming in to feed the cats, rabbit and fish of course. - I know you can buy an automatic feeder but they are a bit expensive. so what other suggestions do you have. All suggestions gratefully received. A.x Sorry about that Ali, did you find out what gourami it was? Might I suggest, having some Myxazin on standby, but I am surprised the pet shop said wait, as mouth fungus is easy to cure, if caught quickly. If it goes on for some time, the bacteria causing it, gets into the internal organs and only A/B will work then. Don't overuse it either, obviously. The friend coming in, do they know about feeding fish, as some people who don't may overfeed them and that is the last thing you want? Well fed (do not read over fed, here!) fish, will survive 2 weeks without food, especially if there is some live plant and algae in the tank already. It actually does them good, as it sort of cleans up the tank of waste. You can get holiday blocks, which slowly dissolve to release food particles over a period of about a week. These would be useful if the friend, isn't experienced in fishkeeping. Get the friend to check the tank as well for any problems and the phone number of the pet shop, should be given to them just in case. Is the light on a timer? Enjoy your holiday, btw!! ;D |
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Post by alicat on Jul 29, 2008 1:11:00 GMT 1
Ali, sorry I've just caught up with your thread. I hate to say this but I suspect Bruce jumped out of the tank at some point, as I lost a Danio like that. I couldn't see it in the tank and found the dried remains behind the tank ages afterwards! When I kept fish I had loads of fatalities for all sorts of reasons, and some that went missing too. I think you have to have a few losses and diasters to become an experienced fishkeeper and I had plenty! Ranging from the wrong water quality, to too high a nitrite level, to filter problems, keeping the wrong fish together, keeping too many fish at once to name but a few!I think the place to ask for advice is indeed on here as there seem to be several people in the know who'll all pitch in to help. Sexing Danios - a really good book to buy on fishkeeping is the Baensch Aquarium Atlas - it gives you all kind of info and details of the requirements for all kinds of fish, it was my fishy Bible. This is what it says on sexing them, ditto what Keith said about the shape;' sexually mature females are fuller bodied and larger with more subdued colours. On the male one can find a golden-yellow background with fine red lines between wider blue longitudinal lines. On the female the background is silvery white.' I read somewhere about Tiger Barbs that it's best to keep several together as if you only have a few they will nip each other, whereas if you have a number of them they will have so much choice about who to nip next they won't get round to nipping anyone! Tetras are hardy little fish, very pretty and a lot are suitable for the smaller tank. I remember having some X-Ray Tetra that were tough as old boots and very pretty. According to the Baensch Atlas the minimum tank size for them is 20". Thanks Debbie I really don't think that the first fish jumped out because it is a totally sealed unit, unless of course someone left the lid open. : As for sexing the Danio's the 2 stripes I have left, i'm pretty sure they are male and the leopard is a female. Going by your descriptions anyway. - Do Zebra and Leopard Danio's mix at all (if you know what I mean.) Talking of nipping I do wonder if I have got something wrong as all of my fish seem to take it in turns to nip each other. : I have been very vigilant not to over feed them but i'm wondering if I am feeding them enough. I feed them once in the morning and again in the evening a little bit at a time over a five minute period. Which is a mix of Flakes and Blood worms. The Flakes take a dive to the bottom very quickly due to the top feed water filter, but most of the time the fish seem to enjoy diving down to catch them. - it's great to watch. but have I got something wrong. |
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Post by madonplants on Jul 29, 2008 1:39:08 GMT 1
Ali, sorry I've just caught up with your thread. I hate to say this but I suspect Bruce jumped out of the tank at some point, as I lost a Danio like that. I couldn't see it in the tank and found the dried remains behind the tank ages afterwards! When I kept fish I had loads of fatalities for all sorts of reasons, and some that went missing too. I think you have to have a few losses and diasters to become an experienced fishkeeper and I had plenty! Ranging from the wrong water quality, to too high a nitrite level, to filter problems, keeping the wrong fish together, keeping too many fish at once to name but a few!I think the place to ask for advice is indeed on here as there seem to be several people in the know who'll all pitch in to help. Sexing Danios - a really good book to buy on fishkeeping is the Baensch Aquarium Atlas - it gives you all kind of info and details of the requirements for all kinds of fish, it was my fishy Bible. This is what it says on sexing them, ditto what Keith said about the shape;' sexually mature females are fuller bodied and larger with more subdued colours. On the male one can find a golden-yellow background with fine red lines between wider blue longitudinal lines. On the female the background is silvery white.' I read somewhere about Tiger Barbs that it's best to keep several together as if you only have a few they will nip each other, whereas if you have a number of them they will have so much choice about who to nip next they won't get round to nipping anyone! Tetras are hardy little fish, very pretty and a lot are suitable for the smaller tank. I remember having some X-Ray Tetra that were tough as old boots and very pretty. According to the Baensch Atlas the minimum tank size for them is 20". Thanks Debbie I really don't think that the first fish jumped out because it is a totally sealed unit, unless of course someone left the lid open. : As for sexing the Danio's the 2 stripes I have left, i'm pretty sure they are male and the leopard is a female. Going by your descriptions anyway. - Do Zebra and Leopard Danio's mix at all (if you know what I mean.) Talking of nipping I do wonder if I have got something wrong as all of my fish seem to take it in turns to nip each other. : I have been very vigilant not to over feed them but i'm wondering if I am feeding them enough. I feed them once in the morning and again in the evening a little bit at a time over a five minute period. Which is a mix of Flakes and Blood worms. The Flakes take a dive to the bottom very quickly due to the top feed water filter, but most of the time the fish seem to enjoy diving down to catch them. - it's great to watch. but have I got something wrong. I do know what you mean and yes they can interbreed. The fin nipping, may just be them sorting things out between themselves as to a sort of hierarchy. Adding a few more, after your holiday, may help resolve things, but really as long as no injuries are occurring, I wouldn't worry too much. This is where a bigger tank would help, more territories can be made within the confines of the volume of water that is there. Sorry for mentioning that again! The trouble with fish feeding is, they will eat and eat whatever is put in front of them and excrete what they don't need, which puts pressure on the filter bacteria. I've seen catfish, that looked ill or egg bound, but were actually, just fat!! This is where I would love to be there and see how much you are feeding and maybe guide you 'if' you are giving too much or not. You can't kill a fish by underfeeding (yes, by no feeding, you can over time) but you can kill fish by overfeeding, especially in a relatively new set up, like yours. Don't worry too much with these teething problems you are having, every tropical fish keeper has had them with their first tank and if they say otherwise, they are either qualified, lucky or lieing!! Just found this, not sure whether it helps or not. www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Diseases1.htm If you are replying, sorry I'm off to bed. Nite Ali You'll appear now, I bet!! ;D |
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Post by alicat on Jul 29, 2008 1:47:25 GMT 1
Hi Keith I wish I could say all is fine but I lost my Gourami today. - He had a fungus growing on his mouth which became noticeable within a few hours after there morning feed. I phoned the pet shop for advice, as at the time I wasn't sure if it was fungus or white spot. They advised to wait till the next day to see if any more spots appeared, they didn't so i got some fungus medicine, I also did a small water change to try and help things. - It's at times like this I wish I could call on someone to look at the fish in-situ, without moving them and causing more stress. The other fish seem fine and I will be keeping a close eye on them, and I will not be buying anymore fish in the immediate future as we are going on holiday in 2 weeks time. Thank you all, for your input on my thread and I know I still have to reply to some messages but in the mean time How do you care for your Fish while your on holiday. I'm going away for two weeks and I've got someone coming in to feed the cats, rabbit and fish of course. - I know you can buy an automatic feeder but they are a bit expensive. so what other suggestions do you have. All suggestions gratefully received. A.x Sorry about that Ali, did you find out what gourami it was? Might I suggest, having some Myxazin on standby, but I am surprised the pet shop said wait, as mouth fungus is easy to cure, if caught quickly. If it goes on for some time, the bacteria causing it, gets into the internal organs and only A/B will work then. Don't overuse it either, obviously. The friend coming in, do they know about feeding fish, as some people who don't may overfeed them and that is the last thing you want? Well fed (do not read over fed, here!) fish, will survive 2 weeks without food, especially if there is some live plant and algae in the tank already. It actually does them good, as it sort of cleans up the tank of waste. You can get holiday blocks, which slowly dissolve to release food particles over a period of about a week. These would be useful if the friend, isn't experienced in fishkeeping. Get the friend to check the tank as well for any problems and the phone number of the pet shop, should be given to them just in case. Is the light on a timer? Enjoy your holiday, btw!! ;D Sorry Keith I thought I was on my own.  No, I never got round to it unfortunately, as I said above I did wonder from The witch's pictures that it might have been a platy As for the mouth Fungus he said wait as I was not entirely sure if it was white spot or fugues - it started off as just a White spot on his lower lip. But by the next day had developed more (become bigger) and no more spots had appeared on the rest of the body. I did ask if there was a medicine that covered both white spot and fungus and he said no. Tbh. I couldn't find anything in my books either. I haven't come across Myaxzin even in the aquarium books borrowed from the Library, will get some the next time I buy some more fish - If I do that is. No I don't think my friend has any experience in fish but then again neither do I. - Not Tropical anyway. So many people that I talk to and what I read either on the net or in books have different ways of doing everything it's hard to figure out what's right. Like I said before it's a big learning curve, but I will get there in the end especially with help from all of you. |
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Post by alicat on Jul 29, 2008 1:53:08 GMT 1
Hear I am right on Q Thanks Keith Sleep well - can I reply tomorrow if the kids let me.  Thank you for all your help and encouragement - I was going to give up fish keeping. |
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Post by debbiem on Jul 29, 2008 9:37:37 GMT 1
That's a good point Keith raised, about whether the light will be on a timer or not? Unless you can instruct your friend to turn it on and off every morning and evening - are they coming twice a day? I've used the feeding blocks and they are fine - and ditto everyone, fish can survive for quite a while without food, and it can even benefit the tank as they'll be scratching around hunting for every morsel and therfore give the tank a spring clean. But I found the blocks perfectly fine. |
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Post by madonplants on Jul 29, 2008 15:47:27 GMT 1
Hear I am right on Q Thanks Keith Sleep well - can I reply tomorrow if the kids let me. Thank you for all your help and encouragement - I was going to give up fish keeping. Don't you dare, alright? We all have teething problems like I said, so you are no different. The trouble with White Spot is, it's a parasite, so you need an anti parasite remedy, whereas the Mouth Fungus is caused by a bacteria, which needs a Bacterial remedy, or if really bad, antibiotics. There are products like Paragon, that do both, but generally they are not as specific to the problem, so may not cure the ailment, as compared to the right remedy. I don't want to confuse, but my 'First Aid Kit' I have, is salt, Myxazin and Sterazin, though I do have an anti ammonia remedy as such, though never used it. I haven't used any of these for years, mainly because I have got the water right, which helps keep the fish right. It's a bit like organic gardening, if you get the soil right, the plant grows well and so can shrug off the odd disease or aphid infestation. If you are worried about ever getting White Spot, have some Protozin on standby, rather than the Sterazin, which in my situation is more specific to problems I might get with my Catfish. The Protozin does Fungus as well, but not 'Mouth' Fungus, which are different ailments. Are you keeping up with me here? ;D If you can't get any of these medications, either order online or chose something similar. I have always used and trusted these, so won't use any other. They came well recommended, by someone who knew what they were talking about. Anyway, enough of this or you really will give up fishkeeping!! Hope I haven't confused you here!  If I have, sorry! |
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Post by madonplants on Sept 14, 2008 23:09:42 GMT 1
How are the fish doing, Ali?
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Post by alicat on Sept 24, 2008 20:42:21 GMT 1
Hi Keith - Sorry I never got round to replying to your post '29 July' - it was the run up to our holiday, but I did read it and looked up all the first aid that you mentioned. Found nothing locally until today - Protozin. - had to check I had got the right name first before I bought it. The Fish are fine and survived our time away, I didn't worry about the light as the tank is fairly near the window and gets quiet a lot of natural light. - The shop also told me too much light can cause alot of algea. :undecided at the time. Since reduceing the light the algea has been kept to a minimum. The friend that looked after them was given instructions to only feed them once a day every other day, taking note of what you said but also not wanting to totally starve them. (Also tried a holiday block for the first week) All in all I think it worked because I still had all the fish and the tank still looked fairly clear. Of course the first thing I did on our return was to check all the levels in the tank, - everything was fine. - phew. I know I said I was thinking of packing it all in, and too be honest if I had come home to find more fish dead then I think I probably would have done. But ..... If you have to make a visit to the pet shop how do you resist looking at the fish - your like a kid in a sweety shop.  I saw some lovely fish called "Silver Dollar Fish" part of the Tetra family. - Sadly they will grow too big for my tank now but 'R' and I are thinking of getting a bigger one next year.  So instead I brought home 6 Neon Tetra fish, I have always loved these and they look great in the tank. |
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Post by madonplants on Sept 24, 2008 21:56:24 GMT 1
Glad everything is OK and all fish are accounted for. If you do have problems with algae and you want a 'fish' to deal with it, might I suggest a few of these. They don't grow very big, unlike normal 'plecs and they will love your green stuff. Light can cause algae obviously, but I know giving the tank a siesta from light during the middle of the day, is quite useful. So 4/5 hours on, then 2/3 off then 4/5 hours on, is what I am getting at. That is where a timer is useful. I remember a next door neighbour nearly called the police once, when he saw light on in our house, while away, until they realised it was the fish tank. It's a good thief deterrent as well, makes the house look lived in, while away! Most aquatic plants like good light to do well, except for plants like amazon sword and java fern. The latter comes attached to bogwood. I'm glad you got some neons, they are perfect for your tank. |
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Post by alicat on Oct 2, 2008 0:55:49 GMT 1
Glad everything is OK and all fish are accounted for. If you do have problems with algae and you want a 'fish' to deal with it, might I suggest a few of these. They don't grow very big, unlike normal 'plecs and they will love your green stuff. Light can cause algae obviously, but I know giving the tank a siesta from light during the middle of the day, is quite useful. So 4/5 hours on, then 2/3 off then 4/5 hours on, is what I am getting at. That is where a timer is useful. I remember a next door neighbour nearly called the police once, when he saw light on in our house, while away, until they realised it was the fish tank. It's a good thief deterrent as well, makes the house look lived in, while away! Most aquatic plants like good light to do well, except for plants like amazon sword and java fern. The latter comes attached to bogwood. I'm glad you got some neons, they are perfect for your tank. I'm pleased too that all fish were accounted for when we got back from our holidays. although I had my doubts of course. I like those plecs that you have suggested but have 2 questions ? 1. The PH of the water seems a bit low - my water is more 6.5 - 7.5 do you think that will be alright. 2. They prefer to be in a group of at least 6, - Does that mean 6 of there own kind or with 6 different fish in a tank ? - Which ever way I look at it and the size of my tank, I can only add a couple more fish. I really would love a bottom feeder though. |
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Yep, her mum had to take the dead fish and wrap it in clingfilm and put it in the freezer!! We took it to the shop, who couldn't find anything wrong with it or our water, so they swapped it for another one, which is still doing well. 
I had a chat with the man at the shop and he said I had done everything OK and the only thing he could think of, was that the 'quarantine tank' was kept behind the settee, so wasn't used to disturbance from people walking past. It had to go there, as the house was only a stop gap until our new house was built, and we were quite cramped. I had even bought a 
But I followed all the rules, straight home, leave in the bag for 15/20 mins to acclimatise in the water then release them. Little bit of food to make them feel happy. 
If I have, sorry!