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From: Henry Di Cristofano 3/15/02
Subject: keeping otocinclus alive
I have tried repeatedly to keep one otocinclus in my 12 gal. tank. They live a month or so and then suddenly die. There is plenty of algae in the tank, and I also drop algae pellets in at night. The other fish seem fine. Any suggestions?

From: Rebecca 3/15/02
Subject: I can't find the New Forum for Betta People
Sorry! I know that I am computer illiterate, but I can only find archives. I am having problems with my bettas and would like find answers. Please help!

From: Doug 3/15/02
Subject: Re: I can't find the New Forum for Betta People
Go to the alternate message board. It is the second line under the bright blue banner above the message board you posted this on. Here is also a link http://petfish.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi

From: Rebecca 3/15/02
Subject: Thanks Found It!
Thank you!

From: jared 3/15/02
Subject: mollies
my mollie is acting kinda strange at first i thought it was dead but it isnt it is sitting on the bottom and wont come up for food and when it does it just sinks right down whats rong jared

From: cs 3/15/02
Subject: Headstander Vs. Geophagus
I introduced a fairly large headstander into my tank with a few other fish a few weeks ago. Two days ago, I found one of my three geophagus dead. Today, I found another. Both were eyeless. Is the headstander guilty? The other fish in the tank include a clown loach, a pleco, an upside down catfish, and a small black cichlid that's half the size of the geophagus. I should point out that both of the geophagus were very healthy. Thanks for any advice you may have.

From: K.S. 3/15/02
Subject: Male betta named Moe
Hi, i haven't owned fish for too long so i want to know if my betta's behavior is alright. I currently have him in a two gallon tank with a small cory. He will often hide amoungst the fake plants i have in there looking like he's trying to imatate the shape of the leaves by pointing his head upward. And then everyonce and a while he'll spaz out and dart all over. then he'll go back to chilling. I have a small disposable filter type thing that is hooked up to an air pump, so i know oxygen isn't a problem, plus bettas have a labyrinth. I change half of the water every weekend, and Moe doesn't look unhealthy and since i switched him to a tank he's looked healthier ( had him in a bowl ). I also have a 10 gallon tank which i had to remove him from, he was beating up my dwarf gourami. Thanks for the help, sorry for babbling! - K.S.

From: casey 3/15/02
Subject: Re: Male betta named Moe
sounds pretty normal, as long as he isn't spazzy out.. as long as he's eating and looks okay. some behave strange sometimes mine do. He's not scratching on the bottom is he?

From: casey 3/15/02
Subject: Re: Male betta named Moe
sounds pretty normal, as long as he isn't spazzy out.. as long as he's eating and looks okay. some behave strange sometimes mine do. He's not scratching on the bottom is he?

From: K.S. 3/15/02
Subject: Re: Male betta named Moe
I don't think he's scratching himself against the bottom, although he does sit there sometimes. I don't see any funny growths either. He also eats just fine.

From: casey 3/15/02
Subject: Re: Male betta named Moe
sounds fine

From: Sharon 3/15/02
Subject: heaters
Hope someone here can help with a question. I have been researching, and will be setting up a small salt water tank soon. But, as money is limiteted right now, all I can afford is a hang-on-the-back heater. Will this be alright for a while?? Sharon

From: Attila 3/15/02
Subject: Re: heaters
I think it will be fine as long as you unplug it while doing water changes.

From: KCBee 3/15/02
Subject: larvae and flys
I cannot get rid of these larvae in my tank. Tiny squiggly worms, and the adult flys look like tiny green fruitflys. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

From: Clint 3/15/02
Subject: Re: larvae and flys
I don't have any idea what these could be. Seems like the fish would eat the larvae though. If you do find out what hey are I would like to know also. Clint

From: Jser 3/14/02
Subject: pregnant guppy?
I got 2 female guppies. 1 of them has quite a big stomach so i put her n the other female 1 in a separate tank with only a male guppy. its been almost a month but there r no signs if babies. i was so fed up that i put them back into the community tank. now 1 of the female guppy is always staying at the top area, not moving. i wonder wat is wrong? i understand that guppies are the easiest to breed but wats wrong with mine??? help appreciated!

From: Michelle 3/15/02
Subject: Re: pregnant guppy?
Actually guppies are VERY easy to breed. Are there any signs that they are pregnant? It's easiest to tell from looking from above. Girl guppies are pretty streamlined fish and when they are pregnant their sides begin to bulge. It is also possible that is getting ready to drop if she is isolating herself but if that is the case she should be pretty big. Girl guppies are pretty much pregnant all the time so you wouldn't have to have her in the tank with boys if she has EVER been around boys. I would watch for the girl guppies being stressed about moving so much though. That could also be a problem. Good luck. Michelle

From: Lynanne 3/15/02
Subject: Re: pregnant guppy?
Guppies can take up to 40 days to have fry. Hanging around the top or bottom of the tank is usually a sign that she is going to have her fry very soon (usually within a day). If she continues this behaviour for more than a day or two, she may be large from dropsy.

From: liset 3/14/02
Subject: Pet Betta, Grimus @ work
I have a betta in a dual hexagon tank at work with out the dividing piece so that he may have room to move around. Not only am I concerned about whether he doesn't have enough room [it's gotta be atleast half a gallon or more (those one's for $8.49)], but my main concern is water temperature. I've heard that they shouldn't be exposed to direct sun light. But, I'm so concerned about water temperature that I decided to buy him a desk lamp that I keep over him, not too close so that the water stays warm. It works in terms of keeping the water comfortable, but am I hurting my precious Grimus? Please respond. Sincerely, New Betta Owner of Grimus, Samson and Galaeth

From: K.S. 3/15/02
Subject: Re: Pet Betta, Grimus @ work
Water temp shouldn't be a big deal, i originally had my betta in a bowl with a desklamp and he seemed to be alright. If it's a half a gallon i figure the water should be about room temperature so it depends on how you keep the room heated. For my tanks in my room i keep it kinda warm so my tanks stay about 74 degrees, and i don't need to use a heater. Just make sure to change the water at least once a week or it gets kinda gross cuz it's such a small amount of water. hope that helps! -K.S.

From: casey 3/15/02
Subject: Re: Pet Betta, Grimus @ work
I leave my lights on for about 8 hours a day on my tanks. As long as it's not shining right in his eyes but above the tank he should be okay. What about the temp. dropping at night though when you shut off the light? Temp. fluctuations (SP?) aren't good for bettas. Do you have 3 bettas?

From: Kaity 3/14/02
Subject: snail question
does any one know when a snail is sexually mature? Katy

From: Erin 3/15/02
Subject: Re: snail question
About the size of a quarter, or a little smaller. Probably takes around 4-5 months I would guess.

From: S.H.S. 3/14/02
Subject: Where are the Betta Fry?
It's been more than two days since my pair have spawned and there are still some eggs left in the nest. I've been woundering why it's taking so long for them to hatch. Anybody know what happened? Should I give up on this spawn and try again? Help!!!

From: Clint 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Where are the Betta Fry?
Look closely at the nest and see if you can spot some tiny tails sticking down. After bettas hatch they hang tail down from the nest for another day or 2. Clint

From: Tomato 3/14/02
Subject: Neons with other tetras..
you know how neon tetras swin in schools with eachother....if i were to get a different types of tetras like the jelly bean tetra, or the black neon tetra, or any other tetra about the same size as neons...would they school in one big group or would they form their own seperate groups with their own types?

From: Leslie 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Neons with other tetras..
If you don't get them all at once and get them group by group, they will probably just hang out in their own schools. That's what mine do.

From: Lori 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Neons with other tetras..
That is what we thought too, until.... we had to place our cardinal tetra's in with our parent's neons. They all schooled together, then when they did split up into different schools, it was still mixed groups. We thought it was bizarre, but now that they are separated, and our cardinals are back in our tank, they don't school with each other the way they used to. It is almost like they have personalities and clicks now. Hope that helps.

From: casey 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Neons with other tetras..
I have 3 different types of tetras and they all school together! So funny to watch them!

From: Joe 3/14/02
Subject: Question about plants
How much additional oxygent do live plants add to the water? I recently switched from having 4 live plants to 3 plastic plants. They were all growing fine and were healthy but my fish were nibbling on them and destroying the leaves. This in turn became a monthly process of replacing the live plants. I do have an air stone in the tank but I am concerned that the fish will miss the extra oxygen generated by the plants. Is this something I should be concerned with?

From: Eric 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Question about plants
How many fish do you have and what size tank? That's usually more important. Eric

From: Eric 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Question about plants
I really think you have to worry if there's an air stone. Decaying plant leaves probably use up more oxygen then the plants generate. And if you saw air bubbles on the live plants while they were in there, the water is saturated with oxygen already and the plants aren't adding any more oxygen. Eric

From: Joe 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Question about plants
The tank is a 30 gallon and I have 12 fish. I dont think I had air bubbles on the leaves but I dont know that for certain, I didnt pay that close attention to it. I do have one air stone in there now, also have one other I can add (dule pump) if necessay but I didnt know if the plants would make that much of a difference. Do you think I should add the second stone or should I be ok?

From: Clint 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Question about plants
Any oxygen supplied by the plants in the daytime would have been used up by the plants at night. So the net effect is close to zero. The one air stones will add plenty of oxygen and you have nothing to worr about. I can say with confidence that you could get by fine with no air stone as long as the water is circulating well. Clint

From: Joe 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Question about plants
Thank you for your help...

From: Mike 3/14/02
Subject: Little ones
It looks like 45 or 50 baby swordtails in my tank. They are several weeks old now if not a month but not 1 has died, X my fingers but I now don't know what to do with them. Any suggestions. I know that many can't live in a 30 gal. tank???

From: Clint 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Little ones
Summers coming and if you can hold off till nighttime lows are 65 and above swords will do wonderfully in a kiddie pools outside. But then they will really spawn and your problems about getting rid of fry will explode. Most petshops will take your excess fish, but don't expect very much income at all, they will want them very cheap. Your best bet is to offer them in on trade for some supplies. Nice going on the 100% survival rate. Clint
 

From: Leslie 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Little ones
That would be about double what could live in a 30G tank, if that's all you had in there. Try your lfs and see if they will take some to sell. Friends? Relatives? You could also go to the alternate message board here by clicking the link at the top part of the board's home page. There's a trading post forum there where you could offer some to people who would pay shipping depending on how far away they are from you. You'll probably want to wait a bit longer to let the fry get real strong and grow some first. Good luck...I've been there myself with mollies and guppies and have my first sword fry on the way!

From: Tara M. Morrison 3/13/02
Subject: WEIRD STUFF GROWING ALL OVER TANK!!!!
I AM TREATING A SICK OSCAR WITH MARACYN 2 AND HAVE BEEN FOR ABOUT 4 DAYS. I HAD TO TAKE THE FILTER OFF SO THE WATER WAS GETTING REAL CLOUDY. I NOTICED A SLIMY LOOKING SUBSTANCE ALL OVER THE GRAVEL IN MY TANK. LAST NIGHT I DID ABOUT A 50% WATER CHANGE TO TRY AND GET IT OUT OF THE TANK. TODAY IT HAS COME BACK AND WORSE. IT LOOKS LIKE FUZZ/SLIMY HAIRLIKE STUFF GROWING ALL OVER EVERYTHING JUST FLOWING IN THE WATER WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THE FILTER. IF YOU HAVE ANY CLUE AS TO WHAT THIS MIGHT BE PLEASE HELP!!

From: Melissak 3/14/02
Subject: Re: WEIRD STUFF GROWING ALL OVER TANK!!!!
It sounds like it's either an algae bloom or dead bacteria. Can you make out the color? Either way, it shouldn't be a major problem... How long have you had the tank?

From: Tara M. Morrison 3/14/02
Subject: Re: WEIRD STUFF GROWING ALL OVER TANK!!!!
MORE INFO: I HAVE HAD THE TANK SET UP FOR 9 MONTHS NOW. I HAVEN'T HAD THE PROBLEM BEFORE I STARTED TO TREAT THE OSCAR WITH MARACYN 2. THE COLOR IS MORE OF A TRANSLUCENT COLOR. I ONLY KEEP THE AQUARIUM LIGHT ON FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES A DAY, AND THE RAPID GROWTH OF THE STUFF ALL OVER THE TANK IN 24 HOURS MAKES ME THINK IT MAY NOT BE ALGAE. THANKS FOR HELPING!!!

From: casey 3/15/02
Subject: Re: WEIRD STUFF GROWING ALL OVER TANK!!!!
Do you add conditioner?

From: Tara M. Morrison 3/15/02
Subject: Re: WEIRD STUFF GROWING ALL OVER TANK!!!!
Are you talking about water treatment? I use Prime it is supposed to remove ammonia,chlorine,and chloramine. It also detoxifies nitrate and nitrite.

From: casey 3/15/02
Subject: Re: WEIRD STUFF GROWING ALL OVER TANK!!!!
I wondered about it reacting with the medication. Not familiar with prime ( although I have looked for it)conditioner and wondered if that could be it?

From: David 3/13/02
Subject: Male Betta with puffy eyes
This afternoon, I came home to my male betta (who is in a two-gallon jar) behaving a little odd (breathing heavy, running to the surface to get air and then returning to bottom). His eyelids also appear to be a little swolen. The stressful attitude of his is seeming to calm down, but I'm wondering, what do you guys reccomend for care when a betta has this kind of physical trait suddenly show up? Do you medicate him with something special? Thanks.

From: lydia 3/13/02
Subject: Re: Male Betta with puffy eyes
My betta also got that disease. and he still have yet to recover, his swelling has gone down but he is still not moving much. I used an internal bacteria and ulcer away liquid medication, brand name Ocean Free. Changed the water daily as the water was looking kind of slimy at the top. He is still eats well. but other than that, my betta is not getting any better. I was reading up on some books, they say that the pop-eyes could be due to water quality.

From: Leslie 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Male Betta with puffy eyes
Popeye is very often due to poor water quality. It can be easy or hard to treat. Since he's in such a small area, I'd do a complete water change, use de-chlor and salt (1 tsp per gallon). The only medication that I've ever had any luck with is Maracyn. Erythromycin sometimes works, too, but if the popeye is the result of parasites or tuberculosis, not much can be done. If it's bacterial, which I suspect it is, recovery can still be slow. Try the Maracyn or other appropriate antibiotics along with the water change and salt and keep your fingers crossed.

From: jacqui 3/13/02
Subject: vicious mollie??
Help! I've just put 2 dwarf blue gouramis into our community 50gal tank. The sail fin mollie in there immediately started chasing one of them and sticks to it like a shadow, I think it's biting it, or eating it's fins. I put the mollie into a floating isolation tank, and left him there overnight, not knowing what else to do, and hoping his jailterm would cure him, but as soon as I let him out, he was at it again! Now he's back in prison again, but i'm sure it's not good for him to be confined. Is this normal? How do you remonstrate with a fish??! I love my adorable gouramis, I do not want them to become floaties, do I have to take the mollie out permanently? I've just exdradited my deliquent little tiger barbs back to the fish shop, they were murdering the guppies, and chomping on everybody's fins. Could the mollie be a culprit as well? I do recall his wife was found dead with her fins chewed off some time ago, could he have done this wicked deed?

From: Clint 3/13/02
Subject: Mean ol Molly
I haven't ever heard of really mean molly. Maybe he is just psychotic. I would try putting a mirror up to his tank and see if he will be more interested in his own reflection. This is extremely wierd behavior for a molly. Clint

From: Lea 3/13/02
Subject: Re: Mean ol Molly
I am not sure how well it well help, but when you have territorial fish and add new ones some times it help to rearrange thier home it is worth a shot anyway. Then again maybe he is just psychotic like Clint said.

From: roby 3/14/02
Subject: Re: Mean ol Molly
i had a psychotic molly once. had to take it back to the shop after it killed 5 fish, some which were bigger than him(thought it was because i named him ninja). But i didn't know much about fish then. My friend had the same problem, but sh rearranged her tank and the problem was solved. Lea might be right,