WTM

Unfortunately George II is no longer with us....

Hi all Hopefully someone on the website can advise us on this, but our fighter "George II" seems to have slowly come down with a bit of a mystery illness. At the beginning of May he suffered from a case of pop-eye, which at the time we treated with Melafix and Furan. At the time this cleared up, but over the following week or two, a small lump appeared in front of the eye but above the mouth. Then suddenly a "wound" (not sure how to describe it) appeared on his other side above his fin, and on first appearances fungus appeared to be taking hold. At this point we extracted him and treated with Methylene blue in a hospital tank... which appeared to solve the white filament from the wound problem. At this point I decided it was either a tumour on his face or "mouth fungus" so we commenced treatment with furan 2 and tonic salt. And over the coming week he seemed to get slightly better. Since then he become lethargic, hanging at the top of the tank resting near the filter. He doesn't seem to be breathing uncomfortably, but his gill guard (the bit they flare) seems to be coming out slightly, and he just doesn't look the best. In the last two days he also seems to be developing a slight swim bladder problem. I'm doing 7 litre changes every two days on his hospital tank (which is set to 28-30'C), and during these changes I don't seem to be seeing much faecaes..(sp?) - constipation?? Anyway, I am at a complete loss, but after a month and 1/2 I'm now certain it's not a "fast acting" disease in any sense of the word... Hopefully tonight I will take and add some pictures, but until then any advice would be gratefully appreciated. ~Wade

Indeed, you look on the web and everyone mentions medications you just don't see LFS here.... That said, he looked better when I checked on him this morning (before heading to work).

Another person with taste (in terms of where to live)... Wade

Hi Over the weekend I noticed that our fighter has developed a slight case of popeye (cloudiness) in his right eye. I had completed a 25% water change on Thursday, and the Cory's have laid eggs in the same tank (it was while looking at these I noticed the popeye) so I don't think the problem is water conditions. I've treated with Melafix and Furan, is there anything else I should try? Cheers Wade

Well that is a definite vote for the "male" choice :lol: Does make me wonder why the other male (isolated) is interested in these two but not the female? However this does also decide another issue for me.... the 40lt is now officially the "bachelor pad" (one betta and three platties - all male) :lol: Thanks guys Wade

Okay... here's some pics of the platties in question... (not the best though I'm afraid :oops: ). It's hard to see what I mean about the anal fin, still looking to be a fin, not a gonopodium (sp?). [

To be honest we're not exactly sure.... They were found hiding in the java fern of a community tank late last year and they're about 1" long now. We let the male into the tank when we started to think the other 2 were males, but ummmm lets just say he had a "healthy" interest in the 2. But ironically none in the one that we are sure is female??? So confused... just don't want to end up with more baby platties.. Wade

He wishes..... He's currently isolated from the two in question, while the definite female is in the 2ft with her mum. :lol: So it's normal for females to carry their fins like that? I had assumed females keep the fins extended like the mum and little sister do. I might see if I can get a pic or two of the fish in question, and post that. Many thanks, any other thoughts or suggestions apreciated...

How long until you can confidently identify a platy's gender? Of our 4 young platties, I'm confident that one is a male - definite Gonopodium (sp?), and pretty sure another is a female - definite triangle anal fin. However with the other two I'm not sure, the problem is that their anal fins are being carried close to the bodies, like a gonopodium (sp?), but on close inspection still look to be fins? Any comments or advice would be appreciated. Wade

Fish + Turtles = Fed turtles Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow.... but it will probably happen. On a turtle forum I frequent this question get's asked a lot, and the above equation is always quoted.... but as always it does depend on the individual turtle.... Ironically, convicts are often quoted by the same sites as a good fish to put in with Turtles, their aggresiveness and breeding habits can allow them to "survive" in the tank. Just don't get attached to any of the fish.... W.

Caryl Don't worry, he'll be getting his own pond the moment we get our own house, at which point we'll also get him some lady friends... :lol: As for the salmon farm - what fish will you put in the nets? W.

That's one nice looking pond, the decking over the edge of the pond is going to be nice.. On a side note, I showed my turt, and you know I think he just went greener with envy.... Keep up the updates.... W

Depends on the size of the pond really. Turts produce a lot of waste, so in the long run it'll be worth having a decent filter and pump imho, the rule of thumb I've been told (and work to) is the filter should be rated for 2-3x the size of the pond (if the pond is really large this can obviously be reduced though).

Well subsequent to my last post we decided she must not have been pregnant as she appeared to drop and it was well over 3 weeks since we got her, so we returned her to the main tank. Anyway to cut a long story short on Monday we found a small baby platy swimming around our tank (periodically being chased by the larger Platties). He/she was hiding in the Java Fern... We've saved it and put it in a breeding trap, together with the mother (obviously seperated) in the hope she maybe had more to drop. So far there appears to be no more (am going to release mum back into the rest of the main tank tonight). The question I have though, is how big are fry when they're dropped? I'm just wondering if this baby was dropped recently (i.e. we have three weeks to go until the next drop) or whether it has just survived in the tank since mid last month (which I doubt). Also how big should a fry be before being released back into the main tank (occupied by 2 Platties, 1 Betta, and 2 Brz Cories)?

Have started to wonder that actually, she just looks so much bigger in the belly than the other Platy... In the long run whether she is or isn't it's okay by us... in the long run were wanting to try breeding, just hadn't planned to try so soon... :lol: Thing is that she has a definite dark spot near her vent... Wait and see I guess... :-? W.

Thanks guys, that's a lot of help... from looking at those pics I'd say she's still a bit off being ready... (she's not that big yet, but definitely bigger than the other Platy) Pegasus: The other fish are: 1 fighter, 1 other Platy (female), and 2 Bronze Cory. There's some java fern in the tank, but that's really all that could provide cover, the other plants would be no good for that... so I don't hold much hope for their chances in there.... hence the trap Of course she could just be a little "rotund" and I've got it all wrong.. :roll: :lol:

Hi all Well it appears one of our platties had a "gentleman friend" while awaiting purchase (about 2 weeks ago), and is looking a little rotund with a gravid spot forming. We'd like to actually like to try and save the fry and raise them (for experience). The question really is, when should the female go into a breeding trap? I have no experience with this, and I don't really want to leave her in the trap longer than I need to, but on the other hand..? At least we can time her after this lot, but at the moment we have no idea when she fell pregnant.. Any advice, or pictures, would be great? Thanks WTM

Well in fact I ended up leaving "Cyclops" in the QT tank until last night (a total of 13 days), when I returned him to the main tank. The remaining Cory was very quick to swm over, and the two then proceeded to patrol the entire tank twisting and turning over each other the entire time. Both were obviously happy to be no longer "alone". Since then they have pretty much been "attached' only seperating for short periods before sprinting back to each other. I was worried he'd have trouble back in the main tank, but so far it all seems okay... Any way thanks all for your advice

Indeed :lol: Actually it was at the front that I was worrying was too thin... but from the replies I've read it sounds okay.

Unfortunately I'd have to agree with Limegirl, If you can, at least get the Platy out into a QT/hospital tank...

Oh the plants are growing well, in fact in one case so well I'm having to prune almost weekly.. :lol:

Thanks... I think I'll leave him in there for a few more days (at least), better safe than sorry.

Thanks guys... We have live plants in the tank, so where they are it's at least 3-4cm deep, but at the front it's less than 1cm deep. So should I add more, or is okay as is?