Petfish.net Message Board Archive No. 13 Part 1

Go To Archives Index

From: CT 7/17/00
Subject: One more thing...

I have a 25g with a sponge filter and an Eclipse II that pumps out about 200GPH. Harleys seem to prefer this flow rate while neons do better in a tank with a mild current from a UGF and a small HOB. As far as I can tell my other fish are indifferent.
At any rate, if you're looking to keep smallish tetras such as neons you probably won't want to go with the 330 that pumps 330GPH!
CT

From: D-Boe 7/17/00
Subject: dirty wood i want to add to tank

i wanted to add a piece of wood (drift wood or root i dont know what it is) that has been in with my iguana. he out grew it so i was going to put it in my tank. could i do this? how would i clean this? thanks for your help hopefully.

From: dave 7/17/00
Subject: dwarf gouramies

I am thinking about buying a pair of dwarf gouramies for my 20 gallon tank.I have four platties and two black mollies already,and have salt in the water(1 tsp per five gallons).Will the salt affect the gouramies?

From: Kick 7/17/00
Subject: Re: dwarf gouramies

Nope. You should be fine. Go for it!! Kick

From: Rose 7/17/00
Subject: Conflicting Tank Mate info

Here's the deal. I have the 2 tiger barbs, 2 green tiger barbs, 2 Pictus catfish, 1 male swordtail. I want to get at some point(my tank can't cycle forever I hope) clown loaches, gourami's (the large version), bala sharks, more barbs and some other fishes. My LFS says that I can put gouramis in with the barbs. My problem is that every one else says no don't do it. They have nice fins to nip. Then the LFS says that the large or the giant gouramis are aggressive and they will hold their own against the barbs. But every thing else says they are peacefull fish. I'm confused on this. As far as the nice fins to nip. I'm not sure the barbs I have will nip his fins. I have a swordtail (antonio) in the tank with the barbs and he's the little brother to them. He has a real nice fin to nip at. I have a dwarf gourami that I have half thought about putting in with the barbs to see what they would do to him. I don't want to hurt him by doing that. Anyway HELP!!!!!!
Here's the other thing. My Pictus cat's do they or do they not have scales. Conflicting answers from both of my LFS and LPS. Nobody can make up their mind and I don't know of anywhere to look for this kind of info. Any ideas let me know. Thanks for all your help. Rose

From: Jennifer 7/17/00
Subject: Re: Conflicting Tank Mate info

It can be so frustrating when you are getting conflicting info. I am by no means an expert, but I can tell you that I do have tiger barbs in a tank with gouramis. However, I have more tiger barbs, since they are mostly only aggressive toward each other if kept in larger schools. Also, I introduced my gouramis to the tank BEFORE the barbs, so they had already established dominance. I would not be surprised if you encountered some difficulty between your gouramis and your barbs since you have so few barbs and will add the gouramis second. Good luck!!

From: Kick 7/17/00
Subject: Re: Conflicting Tank Mate info

Try it. Pick out the fish you want, take them home. If they fight, take back to the LPS. You will hear very conflicting remarks on gouramis. I personally think it all depends on the species. Most gouramis I have seen are peaceful and don't bother anyone. However, they do stand their ground when someone picks on them. I think you would be okay to have the gouramis, but not every fish is the same, and you May get one that has a little devil in him. I have kept gouramis (don't have any at the moment) and mine got along fine with all the others in my tank. I do not, however, have barbs. I kept gold barbs at one point, and they never bothered anyone. It just all depends, that's why I say try it and see what happens. If it does not work out, you can go from there.
Pictus catfish are scaleless. Kick

From: Terry 7/16/00
Subject: Dalmation Mollie trying to eat tankmate alive

I brought two dalmation mollies home from the lfs today. While they were in the plastic bag, one mollie kept chasing and picking on the other one. When I got home I acclamted them slowly to my tank water (floated the bag in the tank and slowly added small amounts of my tank water until they were swimming in at least 50% water from my tank. When I netted them into the tank, one Mollie seemed fine and the other one sank like a stone,did a few of 180 degree turns against the gravel and then stayed at the bottom, not swimming. The agressive Mollie started chasing the lethargic one, nipping at him unmercifully and forcing him to swim away. The lethargic one shakes or waddles when he does swim and looks a liitle bloated, but not much. He is now hiding at the back of the tank on the bottom in a place where the agressor isn't bothering him (and I'll have a hard time getting him out, too). My question is: what should I treat the tank with so the other fish doesn't get sick and I don't have to rip the tank down and start over (for the third time). The tank is a divided 10 gallon. My betta who is currently in a bowl being treated for fin rot will live on the opposite side of the tank. water temp is 76 degrees, PH is 7.0, ammonia 0, nitrites and nitrates 0. Tank has been up two days, since I tore it down and started over after the mysterious death of its only occupant. By the way, do mollies require a heater? I purchased one today but have to return it since the water level in my tank cannot be above the water line on this heater unless I fill the tank to the brim. If I need a heater, I will try to find one with a lower water line. The temp in the tank has been fairly constant lately, but will drop in the fall with the colder weather. I am going to treat the sick fish with maracyn two. Should I treat the tank/fish with this or with something else? Thanks.

From: Terry 7/17/00
Subject: Sick Molly died last night - should I treat survivor?

The sick one died not long after I posted. The remaining Molly is still swimming this morning, but not as active as when he had someone to chase. Should I put any medication in the tank to ward off disease or just leave it alone. Is there any chance the sick fish could have had parasites since it did those few weird turns against the gravel and tank sides? After it did that (when it first went into the water) it didn't do that again, butthen again it didn't last too long, either. By the way, the water was conditioned using Amquel and Novaqua along with the amount of aquarium salt specified on the box. Terry

From: CT 7/17/00
Subject: Re: Sick Molly died last night - should I treat survivor?

Since the tank has only been up 2 days you won't see any ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Any water quality issues you would have at this point would be related to temperature and pH. This brings us to why your fish are being stressed right from the start:
I believe the float and drip method of acclimation is very stressful to fish. This method is a long-standing common practice that just doesn't work as it should, IMHO. Better to find an LFS that matches your water parameters (hardness, pH) and use a method that's more like drip & net. Set the fish bag in a bucket on the floor and drip tank water into the bag (I started using something similar to a turkey baster -- but some spare airline tubing should work). If you had a long drive from the LFS and the fish is stressing put in a few drops of NovAqua & AmQuel. I rarely take more than five to seven minutes to get the fish out of the bag and into the tank. Since I started doing this method I haven't lost any new arrivals and they will even take food within 15 minutes.
Get your tank temp stable before you add any more fish. The new arrival may have died because of the stress of acclimation and the different water parameters of the new tank. I would not medicate.
CT

From: Michelle 7/16/00
Subject: Sailfin Molly Bully

I have 2 large male Sailfin Mollies which I purchased at the same time and one of them is a right bully. He chases the other one constantly. Poor Molly is looking quite stressed. I am worried, could it die from being chased all the time? Should I return my bully to the shop?

From: Brad 7/16/00
Subject: Re: Sailfin Molly Bully

I had the same problem with my two male sailfins...I bought them a couple of females (couldn't find female sailfins, but got marbles instead) and they all settled right down. At least, the bully was a lot less aggressive than he was before. He was still quite clearly in charge. :-) Anyway, the ones being chased never showed any signs of stress or injury from the attention.

From: Lynda 7/16/00
Subject: Molly fry and dead guppies

Well, we now have 10 baby Mollies! We have had several things happen over the last week. We bought a male and female guppy and male molly after the last male molly died a couple of weeks ago (female guppy died within 24 hours), bought another female and another male guppy to keep the lone male guppy company (again, female died within 24 hours). The male guppies and male and female mollies were doing fine until I noticed that the newest male guppy looked like he was developing fin rot. We started treating right away with Merc., but he died within 2 days. The other adults look fine and all the molly fry on the other side of the tank look healthy and active. The medicine isn't going to hurt them, is it? We did a 20% water change last night and the water tests look good.
The unfortunate thing is that I didn't see the notice about Petsmart until after we'd bought the last fish. We've taken the last 2 back to them after they died and won't be buying fish from them anymore, but do you think they brought in some bacteria or something?
Also, how long does it take for molly fry to mature enough to open up the entire tank again. We've been talking about getting a 20 gallon to cope with what will be 13 fish. We have a 10 gallon now. Any suggestions or ideas on any of these concerns would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

From: Samantha 7/16/00
Subject: Re: Molly fry and dead guppies

Most guppies you buy from retailers arn't healthy, along with the other readily available easily bred fish. I suggest you watch the mollies over the next few weeks, since the guppies could have brought a disease in the tank. I do suggest you get a 20 gallon tank, keep the 10 gallon for a fry tank/quarintene tank. This way you'll have a place to put fry and quarintene new fish all in one. Good Luck!!!!

From: CT 7/17/00
Subject: Think twice about a QT & fry combo tank

The idea of a QT tank is to have a separate tank & equipment for assuring a safe transition from LFS to Home tank. Have you ever seen a hospital maternity ward double as an infectious disease ward? :)
A QT & Hospital tank combo sounds more reasonable. After all, both will house fish that are sick or presumed as potentially sick.
CT

From: Lynda 7/18/00
Subject: Thanks CT! Now I need more help.

That does sound more reasonable. Our last guppy died yesterday. Now the female is acting funny. She's swimming up and down very quickly and occasionally banging into things, even the gravel. Do you think I have a parasite? What's the best treatment and is it going to help or hurt the fry? I'm getting tired of losing fish. My water tests still say things are fine there, so I guess it has to be something else.
Thanks.

From: CT 7/18/00
Subject: Where shall I begin?

I guess I'll start with the fish that's in trouble at the moment. Make sure you have a stable environment with regard to water temp, etc, and are providing the proper requirements for the fish. I would not medicate the tank or add any new fish at this time. At the most I would add 1 teaspoon of aquarium salt for each gallon of water. You may see more casualties before all is said and done (sorry!).
Are you new to fish keeping? The keys to success in most things -- including fish keeping -- are tied to educating yourself.
Have you had a chance to read the fish FAQ? You can find it at:
http://faq.thekrib.com/
I recommend focusing on the sections about good and bad beginning fish, the nitrogen cycle and how to find a good LFS.
The petfish.net site has very good content for fish keepers as does Aquatics Unlimited:
http://www.bestfish.com/articles.html
The beginner section is excellent.
The Fish FAQ and Aquatics Unlimited articles have such good information that I have downloaded them completely to my HandSpring PDA and take them with me everywhere! Especially when I go to the LFS.
You may also want to go to the library or bookstore and pick up some books on fish keeping. I strongly recommend a book called "The complete idiot's guide to setting up a freshwater aquarium", by Mike Wickham. This book is regrettably out of print so you may need to hunt around for it.
Hope that helps!
CT

From: Lynda 7/17/00
Subject: Thanks Samantha, great idea!

We'll probably get the new tank this week so we'll have some time to get it ready. Thanks, again.

From: Dee 7/16/00
Subject: curling fin

Does anyone know what would make my bettas dorsal fin curl up on the tip of it?

From: kitty fish 7/17/00
Subject: Re: curling fin

wear and tear, regrowth of the fin, its natural, the fish should be fine.
kitty fish

From: Katlyn 7/16/00
Subject: Parasite update :-)

I put the parasite guard in yesterday. The white patch looks better already! They are still scratching though. How quickly does this stuff work? I plan on doing a 20 to 25 percent water change tomorrow and I was thinking of another treatment. Your opinions are welcome. Thanks for all of your help everyone.

From: Kick 7/17/00
Subject: Re: Parasite update :-)

Glad to hear the situation is better. Use the medication however the directions say and you should be fine. Kick

From: fatfish 7/16/00
Subject: Advice on a new tank

I just bought a new tank last week. Its a 40 gallon tank with an eclipse filtration system. The question I have is how should I go about putting my fish into the new tank? Currently I have 5 tiger barbs, 3 gourmais, and 1 pleco in a 20 gallon tank. How long should I wait before I put fish into the tank? I've heard anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks. Should I put all the fish in at once or is it better to add a few every week? Thanks for the help.

From: Michelle 7/16/00
Subject: Re: Advice on a new tank

It would help greatly if you could add all your established water from your old tank into the new tank.

From: CT 7/16/00
Subject: Adding fish to a new tank

This topic is covered in depth in the beginners section of the fish FAQ:
http://faq.thekrib.com/
By and large as soon as the tank is stable with regard to temp, etc -- you should be able to add your first fish to begin the cycle. I've found this timeframe to be about 24hrs. You will have a much easier time cycling if you can add plants, gravel or decorations from an established tank.
CT

From: Ahmeh 7/15/00
Subject: Betta Fish Vase

Thank you so very much for the articles on the Betta Fish Vases! I just invested in one and had
difficulty believing the idea that the fish did not have to be fed. I also questioned the use of
distilled water that was suggested in the directions to care for the fish. I am so thankful to have
found this website! I would have felt so guilty not feeding the fish and finding out later that it
had actually starved to death! Now I am armed with the knowledge from this site and will share
the information with others! Happy fish tending to all!

From: Barb 7/16/00
Subject: Re: Betta Fish Vase

Share the info with others who have a betta in a vase ! n/m

From: The Fish Lady 7/16/00
Subject: Re: Betta Fish Vase

Glad that you have the correct information now!

From: amber 7/15/00
Subject: Marble Cory

What is the scientific name for Marble Corys?

From: CT 7/15/00
Subject: You tell us...

Common names can sometimes fail to properly ID fish. Go to:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/ilibrary/index.htm
Let us know which one you have.
CT

From: Linda 7/15/00
Subject: Platy fry

I have a single Platy,the other one died months ago. I recently notice 2 fry in the tank. How long could she be expecting? Could Tetras or sharks crossbreed? I obviously am a novice at breeding. Thanks

From: amber 7/15/00
Subject: Re: Platy fry

Female platys can hold sperm in their system for up to months after a male is gone. Just like snakes. And livebearers & egglayers cannot crossbreed! heheheh

From: Linda 7/17/00
Subject: Re: Platy fry

Thanks

From: kitty fish 7/15/00
Subject: question; puffer behavior...

hey all... i have 2 puffers in a 20 gallon, a 1.5 inch figure-8 and a 2.5 inch congo spotted. ive had the congo spotted in the tank for 6 months, its a pretty tame, peaceful fish, never bothered the mollies i kept with it (the mollies have a new home now). last month i added the teeny little figure-8 and hes established himself as the dominant one (at least, he thinks he is, and the congo spotted doesnt try to convince him otherwise). only on days when i skip a feeding does the congo spotted rise up and chase the fig-8, and when he chases him, he really gets it :P no biting, just riding his tail :) the congo spotted could easily kill the fig-8 im sure, but im also sure he wont ;) anyhow, this morning, the fig-8 was hovering near the congo spotted and was quickly inhaling water into and releasing water from his gut. sort of like he was beginning to puff, but expelling the water immidiately. the congo spotted was not impressed and went about his business :P anyone know what the fig-8 was trying to say?
also... my congo spotted is a fat puffer... compared to the fig-8, for some reason, i cannot get him fat. i feed them lots of crushed snails, worms, baby crawdads. the congo spotted gets most, but the fig-8 gets his fair share, i know. hes fat for a few hours after eating, but always takes on the slimmer look in the end... is this normal for this species of puffer? perhaps they are of a different sex? i dont think parasites are the cause, hes a healthy, sassy puffer :) any help is appreciated, thanks all.
kitty fish

From: Tipperpoo 7/15/00
Subject: Mysterious fish death

My cory catfish is dead. I have no idea what has happened. I only noticed one thing about him, last night he was swimming at the surface somewhat like a fancy goldfish swims. I have never seen him swim at the surface like that. Usually he stays to the bottom or the glass sides of the tank. He hasn't had any loss of appetite, he didn't have any change of color while he was alive, and he had no other visible problems. His body now looks pale around the tail area, dark around his head, his beautiful fins are shredded, he has one little red dot on the side of his body, and I can see red through the partially transparent part of his body. I have no clue what has happened to him. It may have been something that the platys that died gave to him. Does anybody know what this could be, and what can I do to protect my three other fish?? This was very sudden. And I am scared for my three danios that still seem healthy.

From: Tipperpoo 7/15/00
Subject: Re: Mysterious fish death

The fish also seems to have lost weight although it had enough food. And its mouth seems really red inside (its mouth is open). I don't have room or money for a hospital tank and I only have a one gallon fry tank occupied by about 10 fry.

From: CT 7/15/00
Subject: Sounds like a water quality problem

What are your water parameters?
CT

From: Tipperpoo 7/15/00
Subject: Re: Sounds like a water quality problem

I don't know what you are talking about. I don't do tests but I never introduce fish more than a couple in one week. I didn't add any other fish tothe tank after the platys but I did do a water change. My water looks perfectly clear right now. And I am definitely not going to add any more fish until I am sure the tank is fine. I guess I could take a water sample into the lps to have it checked.

From: CT 7/15/00
Subject: Bad news...

If you don't test your water then you don't know its quality.
Best of luck!
CT

From: Kick 7/16/00
Subject: Re: Bad news...

Tipper, you really need to invest in a test kit for your tank. The ammonia needs to be checked if you cannot afford to get any other tests. I really don't have a clear idea on what could be happening to the fish. It kind of sounds like swim bladder if he is staying up top, but usually with it, they swim all different directions and even upside down. But you said something about fins not looking good, etc. so this could also be some type of bateria in your tank. Kick

From: kitty fish 7/15/00
Subject: Re: Mysterious fish death

sounds like an internal parasite. there are medicated foods for internal parasites, buy one brand and feed only that food for 10-14 days. i would recommend the food method over medicating the tank, but its all up to you. good luck.
kitty fish

From: tee 7/15/00
Subject: beta fish vase

i have noticed bubbles at the top of the vase. what does this mean? is the fish not getting enough air or what? please give reasons. thanks tee

From: The Fish Lady 7/15/00
Subject: Re: beta fish vase

That is the bettas bubble nest they blow one when they are ready to spawn.

From: Tipperpoo 7/15/00
Subject: Re: beta fish vase

Male bettas make bubble nests. It's completely normal. They make these nests and when they mate with a female the take the fertalized eggs and put them into the nest. Your male will make the nests without having mated or been near of a female. It is just something the males do. Don't worry.

 
Next