radu

Hi Thanks for the info, but I thought that lighting was important esp the right amount in order to keep algae away, both the green and brown. What do you think? Also, what say in the future I want to keep plants in the tank, would you say one type of lighting is better than another? thanks

Hi Can anyone tell me which lighting is best for my Oranda goldfish tank, newly setup (4 foot tank). Have found a lighthood that is called a PL-120 48" and it Includes 2 x 36W Long Life White Lamps. So the bulbs in it are not the norm local petshop variety. Apparently, they are stronger giving deeper light penetration and have a longer life. Thanks

Hi Well I might be a newbie in appreciating the Oranda fish, and I have gained a lot of knowledge of late, but there is an oranda on auction on trademe at present and the guy that owns it claims to trim the hood on his orandas. I have never heard of this practice, it seems cruel and surely it would stress the fish out not to mention making the fish prone to infection and fungal probs. I would never do this to my orandas, but can people let me know what they think or shed any light on this practice?? Following, is a copy of his explanation of what he does. (It sounds barbaric to me!) I have a trimmer which I bought from sewing machine shop. If the hood, crown, cap or wen is growing out of proportion or unbalance growth or the fish cannot see anymore, I will catch it and start trimming one side first. Then put back the fish to the water not to stress it. After a minute catch again and trim the other side. No medication required, wen is avery soft tissue and not much blood too. Be sure your water quality is good before you do the trimming. The wound will cure fast.

Hi Oops sorry, I am located in Wellington, J'ville area. Thanks

Hi Went out today and spotted a larger tank, but because of the size of the two fishes, am thinking seriously about finding someone with a pond that could maybe take them on, so they could have a natural outside life. Any ideas who I could contact, who might be willing to take either one or two of them on.

Thanks for the above info, have repositioned the filter this morning, and have decided to sell these tanks and get one large rectangle tank instead where they can all live together. Must say it makes me a tad angry that pet shops don't tell you these things. I have learnt a lot but when I started out I was told these hexa tanks were fine for the size fish I have as they are all larger than the norm. Pet shops must make heaps of money from beginners that take fish keeping seriously and love their fish as I had bad experiences when I started as I was told nothing at all about seasoning a tank or the cycling of a tank. It was tempting to just give it all up and just accept fish keeping was not me.

The reason for using the melafix is because in case he had fungal probs, his gills seem bright but he is a lovely orange colour so nothing really unsual in my opinon. Have noticed that in the morning when I wake up they are all at the bottom obviously waking up and he is still parked up the top of the water, his head is at the top of the water with the rest of his body just hanging down, like he just "hangs". Rang a pet centre today and they could not help me either.

Hi Hoping someone could shed some light on the following: I have a large goldfish that seems to be spending a lot of time gasping at the top of the water, his top fin is down and he seems tired. I put aquarium salt in his tank and the water parameters are good. His mate seems okay, a tad slow but fine so I don't think what this fish has is catching. The other fish does not gulp at the surface of the water. He has no prescence of ick or fungus probalems so I am finding it hard to work out what this fish has. His appetite is fine. Have recently dosed the tank with melafix and the dosage finished a couple of days ago. I am quite worried about him, would hate to wake up one morning and he has died. Please help asap, if pos.

Hi Could someone please let me know if a goldfish can grow back scales, I have noticed that one of my goldfish seems to be missing a couple of them. The area where they should be seems pale so it doesn't seem really deep to form a wound but there definitely seem to be a couple missing. Should I do anything about this, I think this might have happend in transit. Thanks

oh yes by the way I have been under the impression that nitrates at 20 are fine as all I have read on nitrates for goldfish seem to say as long as the nitrates are under 40 thats good

what kind of algae eaters can I get for a goldfish tank? also, what kind of symptoms can my fish display from having this algae present in the tank. I did a 10 litre water change in the morning and tonight just because i noticed that my fish seem to be lethargic one is sitting at the bottom of the tank a lot looking kinda depressed. I put some aquarium salt in just in case they are feeling off colour. Should I do some more water changes tonight do you think?

Hi could someone please let me know if brown algae is okay. I have recently had some on my tank and have scraped it off with a glass magnetic cleaning thing for tanks. But it does seem to come back, Don't know if it helps to let you know that the nitrates in my tank are around 20 thks

oh well, don't regret it! I guess we spend our money on things we feel passionate about. I also won the other fish that the same people were selling at a fraction of the retail price.

Hiya Well I thought I just had to drop a line, I am the person that won the lovely creature.

Just wondering if I could use a sponge that I took out of one of the filters from my existing tank. I have kept it in a shallow amount of tank water for around a week though. Is that okay or maybe I can't use it as it has sat in the tank water in a plastic container for so long without being in the filter. Before that it would have been in my fishtank for around 8 weeks. I have checked it and it doesn't smell as if it has gone off at all. I just kept it in case I needed to put it back into my old tank filter.

can someone please let me know is it normal for a goldfish to sometimes sit on the bottom of the tank? one of my fish sometimes does this. He is otherwise healthy looking and swims around okay. But occasionally he does go to the bottom of the tank for a short period of time, and just sits.

also, does that mean I fill the new tank up with water and just let it stay without a filter the whole time until the new filter does its thing in the old tank?? does that not mean the water would become stale? (sorry new at this.)

Thanks for that - how long do I let the tank sit empty? ie. when could I put in the fish?? and do I do the water parameter tests during the setup without the fish in it? thks

hi See what you mean but I do recharge regularly and also it does say and so has the Lpetshop that I brought it from. That it can be always used as part of the filter. I used it when the nitrites were around 0.5 for around 10 days, and the ammonia was around 0.25 so I guess it was really around the end of the cycle as the tank had been in cycle mode for around 8 or 9 weeks.

Hiya Could someone please suggest the easiest way and quickest way to cycle my tank that I am going to get tomorrow. I already have a 90 litre tank and it is healthy and cycled. I will be getting another 90 litre tank tomorrow and want to put two of the fishes from my old tank into the new setup. What is the best way to make the second tank okay up and running esp. as I do not want my two fish to suffer if I can prevent it, (from the cycling process). I read that some gravel from the old tank could help, if so how much is suggested? Also, how much water, if any should I take from the old tank to put into the new?? Any help or suggestion would be great and appreciated! I have two products that seem to say they could be of assistance one is Cycle and the Other is Prime by Seachem. I also have used nitrazorb to assit the other tank in the past. thks

Hiya I also questioned this but if you look at the product it explains how it fits into the process, and it does not intefer with the process it. I suggest you take the opportunity to have a look at this product. I used it towards the end of my cycling of the tank but know that it is made for use in new setups and also some discus fish breeders swear by this product.

Hi I have found an amazing product called Nitrazorb, it is rather expensive like $40.00, but well worth it. I put it into a filter, found that the actual pouch it comes in is too big so I carefully lifted the stuff out of the pouch and placed it in a stocking. It helps and is made for new setups to assist in cycling a new tank and also elimintes any spikes. It eliminates nitrites, nitrates, does not affect the ph level and ammonia is also eliminated. What is also excellent about the product is that you can recharge it and use it over and over again. By just putting it in 250 mils of warm water and 4 tablspoons of aquarium salt. Instructions are all in the container. Anyway had to share this as I had untold probs with high ammonia and nitrites and this eliminated them within around 3 days plus of course I also did my water changes.

Hi I recently got a new oranda goldfish, he is a rather large fish and I am told by his previous owners that he ate like a horse. Since being with me for five days he does not seem interested in eating at all. Have given him the same kind of food he used to but he just swims past it like it does not exist. My water parameters were slightly out of sorts - Nitrites 0.25 but last night everything was perfect including ammonia 0, nitrites 0, PH 7.0 nitrates 10. I have four other fish living with him and the other one that I got from the same people also is not eating although I think this morning it did grap a small morsel. I have added aquarium salt to the tank for the sake of being a tonic plus, while the nitrites were high. Temp of tank is 23 degrees. I have three plants in the tank and a bubbler that aerates the tank. I have two filters, one is a smaller one that has nitra zorb in it and the other larger filter has one of the sponges in it and some more nitrazorb. I carefully put the nitrazorb stuff in stockings so that they could fit into my filters easily, as my filters are internal fluvals. Please let me know why you think that my oranda and his friend are not eating. Is this normal? and when should I really worry? The other three have not lost their appetities at all.