Deb

Hi everyone. I have my community hat on again and have now taken the local hair salons fish under my wing as they were having huge problems... The story goes the tank they had 5 big goldfish in cracked over night and leaked out all the water - in the morning the girls came in and all fish lying on gravel with no water so they thought they were all dead. After a couple of hours they started cleaning up the carnage and VOILA two big goldfish were still alive!!! They got a new tank about 180 litres, filled it up with tap water (no ager) chucked in 7 big gold fish and also shouted them a new filter. I got a call about a month later to say fish weren't looking good. Fish were lifeless and hanging around the top of the tank gulping. I did water parameters and of course ammonia and nitrite were sky high. Explained the nitrogen cycle to them and the importance of water changes etc and also positioned the new filter to work correctly so it blew bubbles. Also noticed a large tape worm in the gravel so the vets gave the girls some worming treatment for their food over seven days. Today I got a call (3 weeks on) to say that 3 of the fish have black edges on their tails and fins, one has some red veins along the tail as well as the black tinges. Also the large black goldie has a badly shredded tail. Water parameters are good, PH 6.8, ammonia and nitrite 0 and nitrate 10. Please help with any suggestions of what this might be or whats caused it. They have some Furan 2 coming tomorrow and a pet shop suggested it could be blood poisoning?

Can someone help me please? I have just noticed one of my neons has one white eye - supposedly blind? A close inspection of the others shows another with small white dots in the centre of his pupils. Is he going the same way and is this unusual in fish? Is it merely a case of old age? Any comments would be much appreciated.

I agree with you totally Loopy but the 3 or four gentle hints posted by others and me went on deaf ears as far as I could see!! The fish was fine and that was that.

I just noticed a trademe sale on with someone trying to sell a Siamese Fighter being kept in a small bowl -more like an oversized wine glass!! No heater or filter of course. She said it had been in there for three months and that this was OK if it was kept indoors. Surley this can't be healthy for this poor fish? I did make a comment on the auction that it was tropical therefore needing heater and filter but ignorance seem to rule here. Or am I wrong?? :evil:

Hi Penejane! I don't seem to log in very often - hence the late reply!! I have found two very good fish shops in Dunedin ...The Pet Warehouse on cnr Manse & Stafford Streets (near The Warehouse & Speights Brewery) and the second very good shop is Pet Planet, 14 Bank St, North East Valley (opposite the gardens). In my experience both places have proved very helpful with heaps of knowledge in tropical fish. Hope this helps

How is your sick fighter going? Just wondering if he has improved or moved on!? Hopefully better.

Hi again! I now have five guppies in my tank (since Saturday) and the water has been changed by 30% everyweek because I can't seem to get clear looking water. It looks greenish/yellowish and I think it could be the bogwood? Any suggestions please? (It looks not too bad the day I change the water but 2 days later - yuck). Also the guppies (3 male & 2 female) are very persistently chasing around the big female. At first the big male was bullying the smaller male who I felt sorry for but now two of the older males hassle the female :evil: Is this just part of tank life? Will try and attach picture. ... no sorry don't know how to do that - please help!

Isn't that incredible the the parameters were OK with the tank in such a bad state of neglect!! You would have thought the toxic levels would be through the roof. Wonder why they were OK? By the way should I change the filter to a new sponge - it is also slimely and black - can't get into it to rinse it in the bucket of tank water so I just shook it around iinstead trying to clean it a bit.

Hi Caper - nice to hear from you! The tank was not looking so good while I was doing it and immediately after but I phoned them the next morning and the staff said it looked quite clear! I will continue doing weekly cleaning for a while (Wednesday) and hopefully will have a sparkly and happy fish tank. I do the goldfish at the Kindy too and they are thriving. By the way I did take some water for testing before I cleaned the tank and everything except the Nitrate came back fine - nitrate was 20. The gravel is completely fouled up with excrement and I also hope to better that with vacuuming. I have been surfing through topics here and find I pick up lots of interesting info. Great to have a supportive network like this eh? (No I didn't realise that in your country "eh" was popular too!!). By the way I now have 5 guppies swimming in my tank - wahoo!! Bye for now - Debs

Hi again Guys & Girls I have been noticing the goldfish tank at daycare and it is REALLY BAD!! Murky green water - don't know when it was last cleaned (months ago probably). Has a filter I think and I have offered to give it some TLC. It's 2foot by 1 foot with about 5 goldfish in it...hard to see them though. Can anyone suggest the best way to clean it up without scaring the bejesus out of the poor fish!! I read a 1/3 change in water, don't disturb the gravel and clean the filter in the first instance. then 1/3 water change for next 2 weeks. Comments most welcome. Deborah

New Zealand!! Getting a new camera this week so will test it out on the tank eh? Actually might wait until I get this fish do you think!! Water looks a bit yucky at the moment which I have been getting advice from in another section here. Cheers Deborah

Hello all you fantastic fishy people!! I am sooooo pleased to have found your site and the support is awesome! I have just bought an AR980 and planted out 10 or so small plants, have a piece of bogwood and 3 small red snails!! (A huge tank for 3 snails!!!!) Hopefully soon I will actually have fish - not sure where I'm going with that yet but like the idea of community tanks. Will start with a couple of guppies first though? Good to see some contacts in my area in previous threads. Cheers everyone Deborah

Thanks for the warm welcome Dolorosa! I am finding enormous support already! Please tell me what MTS stands for? Funny that you haven't got this kind of thing in your country eh! I am quite keen on this fish thing and can't wait to get some actually swimming in my tank! Cheers Deborah

This is probably a really silly question but.... if you are trying to copy nature with the lights on 10-12hrs a day, why should you also be blocking the real thing i.e. sun? It just seems a little ironic that on one hand you want the light but do everything to stop "big yellow"! Also with the two white lights ...should they be both on at once or alternately? Thanks Deb

Wow you are really know your stuff!! I have a Jager 150W heater on the way as it was recommended to be a good one. Do you think this will suffice. I wiil get some fish food and start feeding!! I've got no idea what fish to get - quite like the idea of a community tank though. My husband (whos an engineer) found the downfall of water too noisey so modified the chamber by putting a straw in it and it works brilliantly to quieten the water falling sound!! (He's always "fixing" things!). Your tank looks fantastic and I hope mine could be somewhat like that oneday!! It's handy to know someone with the same dimensions so I can run things past i.e. how much water changing do you do etc. I forgot to mention I have three little red snails in my tank. Thanks BlueandKim