Petfish.net Message Board Archive No. 43

Go To The Archives Index

From: Becky 1/23/02
Subject: African Clawed Frog
does anyone know (or own) anything about these? better yet, does anyone know of any good website? thanx.

From: Karen 1/24/02
Subject: Re: African Clawed Frog
We are talking about the big frogs right? They are so neat, I had one once and loved him. First night we had him I heard an odd noise from my sons room (his frog) and here it was this guy croaking. However, beware if you put any fish in with him. I had him with a goldfish that with his tail was a little longer than him but it did not matter. One gulp and he was gone, only his tail sticking out.

From: Becky 1/24/02
Subject: Re: African Clawed Frog
Yeah, the big ones!! aren't they awesome?! i've always had males (not planned) but i happen to have two now, one female and one male, and ya'know what? they both croak! i thought it was only the males and i was kinda worried 'cause now that i had one of each i might not get to hear it. (a dozen years ago, they used to sing me to sleep--now a favorite childhood memory). but low and behold, not only do they both croak but they seem to almost "talk" back and forth! i know about fish... i keep gourami with them and they all get alond great; sometimes they even play or rest with each other. i think the main thing is to get a fish to big for them to swallow and one that's too fast for it to catch if it comes to that. anyway, i'm rambling now; i tend to do that over the frogs :). anyway, thanks for responding.

From: Karen 1/24/02
Subject: Re: African Clawed Frog
Now I want one again after listening to your rambling. Hmmmm, I have an empty 15 gallon long,,,,,,

From: Becky 1/25/02
Subject: Re: African Clawed Frog
yeah, do it. they're awesome, a bit messy, but oh, just way too cool.

From: Steph 1/23/02
Subject: Re: African Clawed Frog
Becky, Try www.allaboutfrogs.org. Hope that helps! Steph

From: Steph 1/23/02
Subject: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
Hi all, I have a 3 gallon tank with bio-wheel that has been established for about 3 months (it has 2 African Dwarf Frogs in it). I am setting up a hexagon shaped 2 gallon aquarium with undergravel filter. I want to add a Betta to this new tank late next week. I know that I can add gravel from the old to the new which will help speed things up, question is how much? Should I take a gallon of the old water and add it to the new tank? How long will this new tank take to cycle with this new method? And lastly, the weather here is usually quite warm so do I need a heater in a small 2 gallon? Sorry for all of the questions but I really want this betta to do well and thrive. Thanks! Steph

From: Clint 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
Just adding my .02. Waiting 48 hours would be extremely good. The Betta should do great in a 2 gallon tank. He will in fact help the tank to cycle with little or no effect on him. Just change about 30% of the water a week (or more up to 50%, if you really like that kind of work). He will be among the lucky Bettas that actually get a real tank. I am not surprised that Bettas live in water down to 65F but I would never advise it. They really like the temp to be above 70. 80F is usually the trigger to get them to build a bubble nest. When a male is happy he will have a bubble nest. Clint

From: Miguel 1/24/02
Subject: Heating a 2-gal hex tank
I leave the light on to heat my hex tank. Just found out though my thermometer isn't accurate, so I'm not sure how hot it gets. But it can raise the temp 5-10 degrees, it seems.

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
Adding a handful or two of gravel will help. You have to either put a fish in after adding the gravel or drop in a little food til you have a fish to put in. The biobugs you are transfering need fish waste to survive. If you are anxious you could transfer some of the old tank water but I would use new water and wait 24 hours before adding the fish. As for a heater, I do not use one and my fish have done fine and live a long time. I live in Minnesota so warm is not the word I would use, about 65 in the house.

From: Gloria 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
Karen What kinds of fish do you keep at 65. I am in IL and keep my home 66 to 68...I worry that if my heater breaks they will freeze while I am gone during the day in the winter. I assume that for breeding you would keep a tank warmer. Thanks

From: Karen 1/24/02
Subject: Re: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
I keep goldfish, african cichlids (my sons) jewel cichlids, bumble bee gobies, glass shrimp, silver dollars, black tetras, bronze cories, pristella tetras, neon tetras, black neons and gold tetras, bettas. Oh a plecostamous and a large danio that will not go away. Oh, and a newt. Not all in one tank by the way. As for breeding, I no longer have that as a goal, getting rid of the babies was a bit of a problem. However come spring time a few still like to suprise me with babies or eggs. We have airconditioning but it stays up around 78. Some fo the tetras and the jewels have spawned in the winter time at the cooler temps. Guess they have not read the books yet.

From: Steph 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
Karen, I was going to add some old gravel before putting him in, as far as the water I will wait 48 hours before adding new fish one way or the other. I just thought that some old water would also transfer some biobugs? Thanks for the help. Steph

From: Timboi 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
Steph, Apparently the biobugs only really exist on surfaces, but not in water. Tranferring gravel or filter media will pull some biobugs with it, but water probably will not. The only time you might want to use some water from an established tank is if you are moving a fish from that tank to a new one, so the water chemistry is not too different in the new tank 9copared to the tank it was taken from).

From: Steph 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Using established tank to cycle a new tank
Thanks for all the help guys. I will transfer over some old gravel with new water and wait the 2 days before adding a betta. I will add a littlle food in the new tank to keep the biobugs alive in the meantime. Clint, These bettas are such beautiful fish that I cannot understand why some people keep them in small jars or fight them. From what I've read here they seem to have a cute personality as well. Having 2 tanks may mean a little more work but seeing both the frogs and the bettas secure and thriving in their environment is worth it. Thanks again for the help! Steph

From: Stephen 1/24/02
Subject: Betta's Cute Personalities
I was just reading your post and thought I would share this story - I had a betta in a 2 gal. Hex-a-fun tank in my university residence room (we we're supposed to have fish, so I had to keep it small). I decided that I needed some filtration and got one of those Small World filters and hooked the air pump through that. Now this left the undergravel plate pipe open with no airstone or air hose to block it. I bought a lovely blue-red betta and had him in there for no more than a day, when I came home and found him missing! Gasp! Now I've had fish jump out of tanks before (couldn't take living with me, I guess...) but this had the whole cover and canopy and everything so I knew he couldn't have jumped. I was getting frantic when suddenly, who should swim up the undergravel tube? My betta!! He thereafter made it a habit of swimming down the pipe and hanging out UNDER THE UNDERGRAVEL PLATE! I called it the 'Basement' of the tank, and he would hang out down there for hours. He was even quite adept at turing around totally while in the tube! He also excelled at getting himself out of tangles in the plant and with the filter (he actually managed to fit himself behind the filter where it suction-cupped to the wall of the tank..don't ask me how). My friends all got a kick out of this and I decided that after such feats of such daring escape that he could only have one name - HOUDINI! He passed away earlier this year, and I miss his antics dearly! He was my first betta, and I'll always be a fan of those marvelous little fish! Enjoy your betta! - Stephen

From: Steph 1/24/02
Subject: Re: Betta's Cute Personalities
Stephen, Sounds like you had quite a fish there.

From: FishMan85 1/23/02
Subject: Endler's livebearers size?
How big do they get and do they need to be kept like guppies with 1 male to several females?

From: Clint 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Endler's livebearers size?
Good timing I had noticed that I didn't put their size on the page. I have just updated the page. They get about 3/4 inch for the male and about 1 inch for the females. The males are pretty aggressive but their size makes them more of a nuisance to the female instead of a threat. I love these fish!

From: mike pickney 1/23/02
Subject: hard water deposits on tank and fixtures
Does anyone know a surefire way to get tough hard water deposits off of the tank, filters and fixtures? Need help please Thanks

From: Tara 1/23/02
Subject: Re: hard water deposits on tank and fixtures
I know that soaking vinegar in a sink, tub....etc. works for hard water stains on those surfaces. I would think that it would work on glass too. I usually use a 50-50 solution and let in sit for at least an hour then just take a sponge and wipe it off......retreat if the build up is bad enough. If you talking about an empty tank i don't think vinegar would hurt anything..but of course rinse it out well after...before you put fish in. If I'm wrong please someone correct me. Hope this helps.

From: Tara 1/23/02
Subject: Correction to above
i meant a 50% vinegar and 50% water solution....lol.....didn't want you mixing it with anything else.

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Correction to above
On the glass I carefully use a razor blade after softening with the vinegar water solution.

From: Attila 1/23/02
Subject: Clint and Fire ice
Not tring to be nosy, but how are your snails that you got from Katie? Thanks, Attila

From: fire ice 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Clint and Fire ice
actually, mine didn't make it because customs slowed them down by about 3 days, but Clint's did. I'm sure it wasn't because of the way Katie packed them or anything, she seemed to have done a really good job, they just took longewr than they were supposed to cuz of the border & stuff. PS: Thanks, Katie!

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Clint and Fire ice
thanks fire ice;) your quite welcome. attila clint posted a picture of one of the baby snails he recieved, on 1/16/02-but they have been archived, maybe you can go and see it:) he e-mailed me they arrived fine.

From: Clint 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Clint and Fire ice
Mine arrived in great shape. They are doing well in their own tank with a bachelor killifish. They are very active and growing fast. Also I remember telling someone that I thought the purple color was a reflection from a plant leaf, I was wrong, they are purple! Here's the picture again: Clint

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: When it rains it Pours, Betta with buldge...
Clint, OR anyone! I am hoping one of you has better news for me than I think...while feeding my fish(i held off yesterday in light of the oxygen accident) I looked in on them and the betta has a buldge behind his gills and it is looking pale and slightly yellow-I hadn't noticed it so i think it is pretty recent...I'd like to believe this is old age , bad cells, whatever...I remember something you said clint about treating it awhile back....also I read about the bacterial infection Tuberl(sp?-you knwo what i am getting at, right?) and hope this is not what's going on....don't want to have to kill sick fish and break down the aquarium...his is an older guy...Thanks please help katie

From: Clint 1/25/02
Subject: Re: When it rains it Pours, Betta with buldge...
I really don't have an answer right off. If I thought it might be contagious I would isolate him. And I would double his salt rate. Seems like I had a Betta quite a while back that had a similar "bump", but it was on his side. I think it gradually went away, but it had gradually got bigger first. But I really don't have an answer. If I come up with something I'll tell you. Keep us up to date on it. Clint

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: When it rains it Pours, Betta with buldge...
How old is he?

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: When it rains it Pours, Betta with buldge...
I would say two- he is eating fine, active-but it does look suspiciously like the bacterial disease- tuberl(sp) mentioned under bacterial diseases under this site...All the tetras look fine, and have recovered wonderfully from yesterdays mishap. What do you think? it is a very well shaped large area lump just behind his gills.:(

From: Kathleen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: When it rains it Pours, Betta with buldge...
It could be a tumor. I'll find out more for you...descriptions etc. and post again with some information.

From: katie 1/24/02
Subject: Re: When it rains it Pours, Betta with buldge...
Thanks Kathleen-I would appriceiate that very much. I am worried. my hero katie

From: Karen 1/24/02
Subject: Re: When it rains it Pours, Betta with buldge...
I tend to go with Kathleen, he is getting old and it could be a tumor. Be interesting to see what she finds out.

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: Sorry about posting twice, opps! N/M.
nm

From: Caity 1/23/02
Subject: Betta Fish Questions
I am getting betta fish tomorrow, (1-24-02). I would like to know ahead of time a little more about them, but I can't seem to find any websites with this information. If you know and websites or know any information, please e-mail me. Thank you for all your help.

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Betta Fish Questions
I can tell you what i know...this site has many articles that you will want to read also...Bettas are very simply kept. They can live in a bowl. However be nice and get a one , or two gallon bowl -privide him with a lush(fake will do) plant to swim around and rest in. Be creative. YOU CAN PROVIDE him with a small tank for about twenty dollars, maybe thirty for something in the five gallon range depending on how nice you want it. but it isn't necessary for the betta to be happy and healty. YOu will need to do water changes with CONDITIONED water on a regular basis(about 20% once a week) in a tank, or every couple of days in a bowl.(100%) I add a TEAspoon of aquarium salt to thier water, bettas are said to like it. It can help prevent certain infections or disease, helps heal wounds faster...I suggest you read up on it-so you will know more about why you are adding it or even if you want to-differing oppionions out there, About feeding- Bettas can be very picky eaters. I am lucky all mine eat betta bites, some bettas eat flakes, some eat different kinds of dried worms or brine shrimp-which should only be fed as a treat BEcause they can constipate a betta... When picking your betta out from the store- Look for a betta whos fins are nice, not ratty, dirty looking, or bloody, ripped, should be clear and perky,(although you might have to jostle the cup to see this;) jk They should be in clean water- and a strong recommendation-ask what they feed. ask to see them feed thier betta- if doesn't eat it may not be feeling good, which may indicate an unhealtlty betta. Do i do this? No cause i am gonna buy the betta i want! hehe Basically i just want you to know if you are picking out a good betta. I hope you do some more reading cause i am leaving some info out- lets see-they like temp 75-78% but it isn't necessary (no heater in a bowl) only try to heat it with a heater in a five gallon tank or more- HTH If you have more specific questions let us know:) katie

From: Rita 1/23/02
Subject: Sick Fish~
After reading treatment for sick fish with mouth fungus, I added table salt to Jack's aquarium, and he seems to be getting better. However, I don't know if I add more salt each day, or if I don't add any more. What do I do? Any help will be appreciated.

From: Peg Bashur 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Sick Fish~
My betta died. I have a lilly at the top in a plastic container and am using Spring Water. I've fed it the little pellets suggested and change the water once a week. What did I do to kill the fish, I am really upset,,,,,please help.

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Sick Fish~
Can't say exactly but here's what i see wrong with your set up... if you block the top of the container with a plant the betta can't breathe fresh air, it should have room for fresh air to enter, it should have about fifty percent of air above the water line if you are keeping a plant on the top-if the plant was unhealthy -it could have contaminated the water, poinsioning the fish, Water changes once a week were not adequate to be honest- it should have been done ever two days with conditoned TAP water. Spring water can be to pure. YOu were right to feed him the pellets:) Alot of people aren't told they are carnivores and need protien and not plant roots, Please read the articles on the main site of this board on bettas, all the information you need it there. When you feel you have learned how to take care of them-you should get another one, they are such a joy-and it's nice to resuce them from the cups good luck katie

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Sick Fish~
Yes, the two things I picked up on where the plant and spring water too. These are my suspisions.

From: MCA 1/23/02
Subject: Emperor 280 Filter Flow
Hope you can advise - have continued to find useful and trusted info on this message board! Have a 50 gal tank with a single Emperor 280 filter. Have never had this type of filter before but overall I am pleased with the performance. Still I have a question. I notice that a fast flow of water goes OVER the filter media (I am using the provided drop in fiber filter). This occurs even when the media is new, so it is not a clog problem. The details provided with the filter don't indicate anything on the "flow" pattern. I can guess that this is normal and that heavy material drops and gets caught in the filter media - ALL of the water goes through the bio-wheel, but there is a good deal of water that does not go through the fiber. Normal? Thanks for your throughts.

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Emperor 280 Filter Flow
As long as it eventually settles down and goes through the filter it should be ok. Could be the filter getting saturated before it works well.

From: MCA 1/24/02
Subject: Re: Emperor 280 Filter Flow
I dropped a line to www.marineland.com who makes the Emperor/Penguin line as well. The tank has been functioning a month (Christmas tank) & has never gotten that "crystal clear" water look. I suppose I will be disappointed to learn that unfiltered overflow is normal. Will be sure to post back the reply from marineland so I don't give the filter a bad rap. Thanks for your thoughts on this.

From: Mark 1/25/02
Subject: Re: Emperor 280 Filter Flow
Marineland got back to me! The story: I took out the blue fiber filters - both of them - and discovered that having two of the fiber filters in the two slots creates such a backup of water that the pads are over filled. By my estimation this has been going on for at least two weeks. I noticed a deterioration in water conditions and charted a buildup in nitrites which was clearly stressing the fish. Now I know, the overflow was dumping more deteriorating material back into the tank. This is bound to happen to others for this reason; it was not a simple case of thinking "the more filters the better", infact I was trying to build up a bacterial colony in both filters so I could seed another tank and cut down on the cycle time with the second filter. I have communicated with several on forums who were very interested in my progress. I will make sure they are aware that this is not a good course of action. Of course putting the hard plastic filter in place did not cause an overflow, but the water level in the filter did rise a bit. IF/when they do another filter manual reprint, they should consider a clear warning - DO NOT PLACE TWO (2)FIBER FILTERS IN THE BOX AT THE SAMETIME.

From: Stephen 1/23/02
Subject: Male Guppies = African Lions?
I just recently had a drop of guppy fry, and they've been around for a few weeks in a breeder trap. They're big enough (about neon tetra size) that I'm considering releasing them into the community (sounds like parole doesn't it?) and I'm concerned that the new males may be killed by a male guppy named Skippy that is currently the only male guppy in the tank, and hence King of the Castle. These fry are the drop of a recently purchased female who was pregnant with another male's children (gasp!) when I bought her. I figure the female fry are pretty safe - they're potential mates for Skippy. My concern is that Skippy will see the new baby males (who are not his offspring) as potential rivals and attack and/or kill them, much in the same way a lion will kill the children of other males when he takes over the pride, to ensure that all offspring are his alone. Is this a possibility or concern? Partly why I ask is I have two tanks and I am considering keeping all the males in one and the females in another so as to try and control the prolific breeding, and select for who I want to breed, etc. Any thoughts to this VERY long post? :) Thanks!

From: Michelle 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Male Guppies = African Lions?
I haven't know Male guppies to be particularly territorial regarding other males. As far as seperating your girl guppy out, she can have at least 3 more broods based on the sperm she's stored from her last encounter. Your best bet is to keep them in community unless your are looking into breeding. We let our guppies breed in the community tank and we haven't had a problem being overrun with fry yet. If we ever are we can sell them to the lfs. If this is the case, you understand that the fry are being eaten by other guppies and in our case, ravenous mollies. The upside to this is that the fry that do survive are very smart and strong. Good luck. There are lots of good guppy sights out there to get more info.

From: Tara 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Male Guppies = African Lions?
The one thing I can tell you is that if the fry are small enough to fit in the adults mouth...you should count on them all eating the fry. I'm not sure about the territorial thing but i know guppies like to eat their young. Hope this helps.

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Male Guppies = African Lions?
Never known guppies to be territorial, I have a tank with several males and more females no problems. Mine were pregnant when I got them to (gasp) what are these guppies thinking? :-)

From: Michelle 1/23/02
Subject: Re: baby fish
I've never had mollies take more than a few hours to give birth. I have heard that mollies wont eat their own young but that's not true for my mollies. The last brood they had there were about 15 and only one survived. If you keep them in the same tank provide lots of plant cover. Especially for mollies, live plants. The baby mollies will eat off of the plants until they get bigger. There's really no way to figure out who is the mom and who is the dad, you should have noticed one of the females getting pretty chubby before she dropped. That is the easiest way to tell who was the mom. As far as who is the dad, it depends on how long you have had them. If you've had them less that 3 months, the dad may not evenbe a fish in your tank.

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Agreeing with Clint
It really is hard to keep a stable ph when you start messing around with it. 7.4 for a ph is really pretty good. Most fish will adapt to it.

From: Gloria 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Agreeing with Clint Thanks!!!!
Thanks to all 3 of you. I will leave the ph alone. I have Kribs.

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Explained
Some plants are sensitive to salt as are snails. Just wanted to throw that caution in.

From: Gloria 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Explained Thanks
Thanks again for your help. Think I will err on the side of caution and add 1/2 tsp per new water added to replace old water in my tank. I will not add if just filling for evaporation.

From: Attila 1/23/02
Subject: Hope you didn't loose them!!!!
Its probably too late but I still have a suggestion. When you put the water back into the tank after a water change you could try kinda shaking the bucket/jug a little while you are pouring it into the tank. You will see the bubbles go down with the water, like on a hang on the back filter. Really hope this helps, Attila BTW, doesnt cold water hold more oxygen, a person on here said warm water does? I might be wrong!

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Hope you didn't loose them!!!!
Cold water holds more oxygen, I think she was referring to when you put warm water in those little bubbles cling to everything for a little while.

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Hope you didn't loose them!!!!
Okay, everyone is still alive, but that doesn't make me feel relieved. I still worry about them being stressed...I will only feel better after a week, they are still breathing a little bit abnormably but nothing compared to yesterday! I am thinking of putting filter floss around the between the base of the tube and the piece it the tube fits on to make it not slip off as easy(as a quick fix) any ideas about this? I will probably do another small water change today-and let the water bubbles pluge into the tank. Thanks for all your advice. Betta didn't notice a damn thing while all this was going on! Geesh! kaite

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Two things
Unless you are doing water changes twice a week 5 platies in a 5 gallon is overcrowded. I suspect your ammonia/nitrites,nitrates might be high. Especially if this was a new tank and you put 5 in right away. 6.0 is a low ph but if slowly acclimated your platies should be ok. If you are adjusting your ph and not staying steady with it and it is up and down with water changes this could be stressing your fish. You might try adding adding crushed shells to your filter or mixed in with gravel, this will slowly help the ph, Problem is at water changes the ph will fluctuate.

From: FishMan85 1/23/02
Subject: You're overstocked!
5 platies in a 5 gallon is too much. I would only put in 3, 1 male and 2 females.

From: Mark 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Flake Food Question
Omega One is available on-line at many locations. Try http://www.petdiscounters.com/aquarium/foods/om_first.html Not an endorsement of this supplier, but it will get you started on finding Omega One.

From: Leslie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Flake Food Question
I'm in Florida. I'm going out scouting tomorrow for Omega One. Thanks!

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Omega One ingredients
whole salmon, halibut, black cod, whole herring, ,,,, then comes wheat flour, wheat gluten, fresh kelp, spirulina, soy flour, and a few more long words. The first five ingredients are supposed to be what there is most of in there. Supposed to be that way on all prepared foods for people and animals. Compare to what is in the tetra products.

From: fire ice 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Omega One ingredients
I haven't tried any Tetra products, but ZI feed my fish mainly flake food, and I don't really stick to any one brand. I just look at the protein content, which can give you a pretty good idea of how good the products are. Usually, if protein is 45% or more, it's a good product. For goldfish, 36% or more is good, they seem to need less protein. On the cans, they usually list 3 things: protein(p), fat(fa), fiber(fi), and moisture(m). Here's about what a good quality tropical flake product would say: p:46%, fa:5%, fi:2% m:8%. A product that's less good would be somethin like: p:37%, fa:2%, fi:8% m:12%. As you can tell, you want lots of protein and fat, and as little fiber and moisture as possible.

From: Leslie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Omega One ingredients
Thanks to Karen, fireice, and AJB. Lots of good info!

From: fire ice 1/23/02
Subject: Re: another question
maybe instead of risking breaking the bottle you could just put the airline tubing and airstone down the neck of the bottle. If it doesn't stay down, try attaching a fishing weight.

From: Kathleen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: betta food
Try some San Francisco Bay brand frozen bloodworms. Yum Yum!!! Keep plugging away on the Hikari Bio Gold pellets..they need them. I don't feed live foods because they can have parasites in them.

From: Kelli 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Mouth Fungus Update
Yep ... I'm now doing the salt thing too. My Neptune is good. He even started blowing somewhat of a bubble nest. He seems to like his new 2 1/2 gallon tank and with the gravel and fake plants, it's darling.

From: Nika 1/23/02
Subject: Re: betta observations:)
Hey! I'm glad someone else noticed that! I can hear my betta doing that too, with his little betta bites. Cool!

From: Anna M. 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Apple snails for free -come on you know you want them!
hi, i'd love some, i have some mysteries, some ghost shrimp and other stuff. i think the apples would be good company. i'm in NY, so let me know if they are still available. thanks a lot

From: katie 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Apple snails for free -come on you know you want them!
Sure-i am a procrastinator, and hopefully i could get a batch out friday-might be closer to next friday-If it takes over two days priority though i don't know if i would feel comfortable shipping them-it would probably be okay but i will have to go to the post office and see how long they think exactly it will take, and how much to ship it-anyway e-mail me(kteblkwel@hotmail.com) your address and how many and blah blah and i will let you know very soon about me shipping them, K?

From: Karen 1/23/02
Subject: Re: Another thought
You are right about the slime, and in the process they leave sores. Large bodied fish tend to be slower moving and easy targets. I imagine easier to see has something to do with it to.

From: Matthys 1/23/02
Subject: Oil layer ?
Some foods, Tetramin flake for one, sometimes release oils into the water which forms a layer on the surface which prevents gasses from exchanging. If this is the case, simply take a clean papertowel and lay it on the surface, remove the papertowel, along with the oil and chuck it away. I'm not saying this is the case. just that it might be, so check it out.

From: Robyn 1/25/02
Subject: Re: Multiplying Platys
Thanks for your responses. I have been away and unable to get to a computer for a week. I have not seen anymore new babies, just the 8-10 that we have already counted. I am trying to give some to friends, and then the rest will go the the Fish Store. Thanks again!