vapo

I guess it depends on what your priorities are. Fish or plants. I'm sure your fish would appreciate the live plants a great deal. Live plants are a lot softer than fake ones lessening the risk of damage to fish. They also get rid of a lot of nitrates, reducing the amount of water changes you need to do. To help stop your plant eating fish demolishing your plants, you can put in some fresh lettuce leaves every day or two. We just poke a steel handled teaspoon through the leaf to weight it down and the fish love it! They still eat a few leaves of the anubias' but it has reduced dramatically. Cheers, Vapo

We changed from having our 18,000K at 12hrs a day and 10,000K at 2-3hrs to 10,000K at 12hrs and 18,000K at 2hrs a day and this seemed to help a lot. Want to get some different temp lights as we have 3 fittings, but not enough $$$. I don't really know how this compares to your lights but perhaps you can try some different combos if all your other changes don't have the desired effect. Cheers, Vapo

Yep. I totally agree Caserole. It's those who buy the fish in these little containers and ignorance of officials that are enabling this treatment. I always say something to shop owners if I don't agree with how they have their fish etc. Mostly they just get this glazed "what-do-you-know?" look in their eye and dismiss it. If it were puppies or kittens, everyone would be up in arms about it. Just because you can't cuddle your fish doesn't they don't have feelings! Cheers, Vapo

Yeah, that's right. If they're cool at that pH, I wouldn't change anything. It was probably the bullying/stress that got ther little guy. Also they just are not a very hardy fish due to inbreeding etc. Cheers, Vapo

What are your parameters like? These are very sensitive fish. I am Shannons partner and we have 4 dwarfs with a suspected fungus. You could actually be harming him/her with all that medication. Our dwarfs came down with their infections when we had to medicate our community tank with Whitespot Cure due to clown loaches. The cure contains melachite green, acriflavin and quinine. I have no idea which of these ingredients don't agree with them, but I suspect it's not the quinine, most likely it's the melachite green, but couldn't say for sure. Two days ago, we put them in a 50 litre tank with a salt to water solution of about 1 tablespoon to 10 litres of water, then last night added two more tablespoons to our 50 litre tank taking it to 1 tablespoon to 7 litres. Today they look pretty good. One of our females had a 10mm gash-like wound in her side, which was red and swelled. Today the gash is white with a few less scales, but she looks a whole lot better! They have all shown marked improvement, so you could try a similar treatment, although if it is fungus, I would have thought the furan would take care of it. What exactly is in that by the way? Anyway, I would stop the melachite green and acriflavin treatments immediately, based on my experience with them. Good Luck, Vapo.

Don't kill it, unless he/she looks stressed and perhaps picked on. Why would you? I have one leg. People wrote me off (family members and friends included) when my accident cut me down in my prime - I was only 21. I am now more mobile than most people. Even if that fish doesn't grow it's tail back, it may be fine. Animals are wicked at adapting to adverse cicumstances. So as long as it is still eating and swimming around, there's no real need to top him. Cheers, Vapo

What about protecting them from stress? Ammonia burn? Going insane? It really is very cruel. I wouldn't lock a dog in his kennel 24/7, which is what this is akin to. I think all animals should have at least a small amount of space to flex their muscles/fins/wings. Even if they can survive in a puddle, I'm sure they wouldn't choose to do so. Cheers, Vapo

Our pH is 7.2-7.3. The recommended max pH on all of the sites I've read is about 7.5. Also, I read your post wrong - thought you had 2 flames and a blue and recommended 4 girls, when you probablyy only need 2-3. And I see that the neon is also called a flame, another correction. :oops: Mind you, they had "the flame or neon dwarf..." written under a pic of a blood-red, so who knows?? Just keep an eye on him, if he seems ok, don't change anything. But watch for lightish patches on him as these are usually the first signs of fungus. We had this happen to 4 of ours and just treated them with salt. Cleared them up straight away! Just be careful with your catfish, they may not appreciate the salt. IMO, 2 dwarfs is asking for trouble. They need to be able to share any bullying around. 1 could be fine as long as nobody else bullies him. Hope yours is! Keep us posted! Cheers, Vapo

Hi GeeTee. Sorry about your loss. I think your pic shows a Neon Dwarf not an A-Flame. Dwarfs are quite sensitive fish. They don't like even slightly-poor water quality. Also they don't like being bullied and will often go off their food if they aren't happy. We found this out when we first got them. The best solution for us was to get some females and put all the dwarfs in their own tank. It's recommended that there be twice as many females as males so the boys don't bully the girls to death. They are also very susceptible to fungal infections. They seem to like to be the biggest fish in their aquarium and they like a lot of floating plants. As soon as we put some riccia flutians in their tank, our powder blue built a bubble-nest and bred with a couple of females. What is your ammonia like? Do you have tests for it? Do you have many floating plants? Hiding places? Ours love bloodworms and algae. Good Luck with your remaining dwarfs. I'd recommend getting at least 4 females (they're quite browny/goldish and dull looking). And have some dither fish (small fish that school and take emphasis off from the dwarfs) in there, as long as they're not too fast and eat all the food first, as they seem to be slowish eaters. Cheers, Vapo.

Oh yeah, we have a wee 5 gallon as well. Forgot about it. Don't know how, it has our dwarf gourami fry in it! I bid on that light last time. Figured she'd missed the decimal point when she offered it to me for $2,500! Lost my leg when I was working for Firth, making concrete blocks. A big brick-transporter carrying 3 tonne of bricks snuck up on me (always wearing ear-muffs as machine was a noise hazard). Crushed my foot and almost ripped off the leg between it and a big concrete slab. Mega pain, foot hanging by a sliver of skin and muscle, hopped til I could be seen and yelled AAAARRRGGGHHH!!! whilst pointing at obvious injury. The boys came through as I lay gently on the ground (didn't want it full of concrete dust). Knew it was gone after the first look. After 1 1/2 hours of excruciating pain - 40min ambulance arrives, 20min more, chopper arrives, 20mg morphein does nothing, 5-10min strapping me in, 8min chopper ride, 15min in pre-op - at which time they decide a urinary catheter is needed, hurts more than the leg - finally they put me under (Had already asked friend for a quick tap to the jaw). The Dr tried to save it for 4hrs to no avail. Still, that was over 10yrs ago now. I'm mountain biking, playing indoor cricket and the odd game of touch now, so it's pretty cool. Cheers, Vapo

Aaaahh! I see. Electrocution all round!! I was acually thinking of cutting holes in the lid of the tank as it has nowhere for the light to go anyway. Was gonna put three holes just large enough to fit each bulb and some sort of hood/assembly to house the bar, but I know I'd end up getting shocked somehow! Always hurting meself! Did I mention, I've had my right lower leg amputated? Yep, always hurting meself... Yeah we have 1... 2... 3... 4... ...too many!! We're up to six tanks, a huge power bill and not enough lights! Feel free to bid against us, we'll only go to what we want to pay. Got an excellent deal on the 1m tank, stand and lid though! Just don't have anywhere to put it, and differences of opinion on what sort of set-up it will be. Looks like it's going to be asian-oriented though, as I don't have much say when it all comes down to it! Cheers, Vapo

Saw this http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction_detail.asp?id=33193599 and wanted to know if they would be ok for a 1m freshwater tank? Is a halogen bulb ok for freshwater fish/plants? Or is it a bit bright? If they're ok, I'm gonna bid on 'em (I'm jimbobsquarepan on Trademe). Any ideas? Cheers

Planaria is often caused by overfeeding. Perhaps you could not feed them for a couple of days, then go to less food. As for the fungus, we found on two occasions, that after a whitespot treatment due to an outbreak in our clownloaches, our gouramis (dwarf and three spot) seemed to get fungus and/or finrot. We used Melafix for this, but our dwarfs seem to be very susceptible to the fungus and didn't respond too well until we moved them to their own tank. Any chance of juggling your fish to give your dwarfs their own tank? BTW the whitespot cure we used has melachite green, acriflavin and quinine in it. Good Luck, Vapo

So if there are any super bacteria they will die in the bleach and have no possible way of spreading. Cheers vapo

I've been led to believe dropsy is a bacterial infection. If this is the case, wouldn't some sort of antibiotic work? This said, I've also been told that by the time they get to the "pinecone" stage, it's all over Rover. I know I shouldn't, but my Dr was always prescribing me antibiotics, and a lot of the time I just put them in the cupboard and never used them. I got better anyway and hence, ended up with a bunch of AB's (mostly amoxicyllin). If you or anyone you know has done the same, perhaps you could try them, in isolation of course, 'cos as it is a very broad spectrum AB, it will kill all the bacteria, good or bad. If she's gonna die anyway, perhaps you could try this and let us know the result. I'd dose at 0.5-1mg per litre of water and dose for at least ten days, otherwise you could end up with super-bugs. Also, if she dies anyway, throw some bleach into the water she was in (only if you used the AB's of course) P.S. don't tell my doc I suggested this!! :lol: Cheers, Vapo

Do they acually eat the tops, or do the tops end up floating around in your tank? 'Cos We've had a few plants topped and left to float. I just planted the tops into the gravel and they are still growing there now - two plants for the price of one, albeit a lot shorter! Our clown loaches ate $$$ in plants until we put lettuce leaves in for the pleco. They started eating it as well! Maybe your fish suffer from 'Tall Poppy Syndrome'? :lol: Cheers, Vapo

Well, the problem has been solved!! 100 points to all those who thought it was a peace lily!! Went to Mitre 10 Mega and they had peace lillies for sale. Took one look and recognised my plant immediately! It is now potted and sitting on my dining table. I also went to Animates (Lower Hutt) and told them the story. They gave us an anubias on the spot. Thanks to all who took time to check this out Cheers again, Vapo.

Are you treating her with anything at the moment? Some Melafix wouldn't hurt. At least until you find out exactly what is wrong. What are your water parameters? (from the tank she was originally in - looks as though you have her in quarantine/hospital tank?) Chlorine can also have a similar effect, although the gills often go brown inside.

Thought I'd dig up this old post as it is very interesting to see how we all think about subjects like this. IMO medications are very dangerous things to be messing with and unless you know ALL of the ingredients and ALL of their side-effects - including incorrect dosage leading to super-pests/bugs - then we shouldn't be bringing anything new into our country. The environment is very delicate and creating problems with medications we don't know EVERYTHING about, is just a little selfish. By that, I mean we may see benefits for a specific section of people/hobbyists, but there may be far worse ramifications for many others. Just look at rabbits - brought here for the hunting and fur-trade - just a pest now; stoats and ferrets - brought in to kill the rabbits - kill our native birds; deer - another hunting intro - destroy the forests; cats - brought in as pets, but left to breed and kill (sorry to all you sensible neutered/spayed-cat owners) - are the biggest predator of native birds in our country; the list goes on and on. I realise I have only mentioned animals, but they have been the biggest problems. There are also biological introductions such as the bird flu - brought in by mistake; but not so the calicivirus (RCD) - to kill rabbits - the following link talks about whether or not the virus may spread to humans http://www.nzine.co.nz/features/calicivirus3.html but what of other animals?; drenches and dips for sheep and cows have polluted and killed our waterways and continue to do so; introduced plants choke our waterways and native forests; gorse was brought in as a hedge-plant, it's probably the least problematic noxious weed we have (it's actually nitrogen-fixing and creates wonderful cover for the regrowth of native flora), but it is a high fire risk. Yes I have spieled another novel, but people don't seem to understand the amazing country we live in and the damage being done to it by the introduction of "quick-fixes" that haven't been properly researched. There's a reason it takes a long time to get new products here and it's not just bureacracy. We need to know exactly what will happen when some idiot gets a hold of the stuff (as WILL happen. People are ignorant.) The problem is invariably NOT the product, but the foolish use of it. How many people foget to take their antibiotics? I've got my hand up. We've all done it and it's dangerous to us all, in that taking a half dose will just create stronger, more immune bugs, that eventually kill. So WE are the problem. Let's not be too hasty to give US another weapon against ourselves and our planet. Cheers, Vapo.

Hi Chakuna. I read your first "lots" thread, but I'm still not quite sure. Do you only have the bala shark, glass catfish and the tetras now? What happened to your other fish? My wife wants to get some glass catfish. What do you feed them? Can you see the food inside them? We have some dwarf gourami fry and you can see the food inside them when they eat (you have to look really closely though, cos they're really tiny). Good Luck with your fish. Vapo.

We are fairly new at this also, but what helped us was to do a lot of water changes in the early stages - 20% every couple of days. What is your temp at? Is this the recommended temp for the fish you have? How long has it been at that temp? Was it warm/cold when you had your goldfish in there? Did you keep the heater on while it was empty of fish? All of these things - along with what the others have said - will help/hinder the growth and survival of any bacteria in the filter. This is because the good bacteria you want, need to be set up in the environment they will be permanently living in. It's a fairly steep learning curve at the beginning, I knew nothing 7 weeks ago! Persevere and you'll get there! Good Luck, Vapo.

If anyone wants to know the parameters we (Shannon and I) have in the tank they decided to breed in, they are at this thread http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?p=83442#83442 Cheers, Vapo

DOH!! :oops: Reverse under gravel jobby. Sorry didn't read caseroles post properly. Thought you meant back down the intake of the cannister filter!!

Advice given to us was, get twice as many females as males due to the fact that males will scrap or harass females to breed and the more fish, the more the bullying/harassing will be spread around. Most people want males as the females are dull browny/silvery coloured (generally). So there should be at least 3 males or just 1. Incidentally, we bought some dwarfs and they bred within a day of being together. Our parameters are/were as follows: A 2 foot tank (50l) with a shark AV 400(l/h) filter: pH-7.1, Temp-27.5C, lots of plants-riccia flutians, pennywort(both floaters), java moss(on a rock), some ambulia, water sprite, hygrophylla, a couple of unidentified others and some rocks to hide in. Oh yeah, and a 3" pleco, lol! Caryl: Do you know how to identify the types of females? As we have no idea. We have 3, 1 slightly pinkish/beige, 2 yellowish/beige. The non-beige colours are very faint. Any ideas? Cheers, Vapo.

Hope I don't sound dumb here, but how do you do that caserole?