mrshanepaul

A note: there are cheaper brands that are not 100% tea tree oil. The stuff they mix it with may not be all that healthy....

BTW: Nice tank for a beginner! The trade off is always that more filtration == more money and possibly noise. If you already have the filters, then it really is no problem.

Your fish are mining for valuable resources. Or perhaps they are drilling for oil. Or maybe they are just playing with your head?? Fish are like that...

I simply remove mine and add extra wool to the place where it went. Want awesome filtration that you don't have to replace??? Buy plants! PS: Make sure you bath them in snail rid first! Damn pet stores...

And of course Google knows all: Article on (plastic bottle!) fly traps use in Africa to help stop fly infections in humans: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/841786.stm Trap Design: http://www.lilbeginnings.com/links/info/misc/ Although it might be better to have the entrance in the bottom of the trap, since the flies will try to fly to the light (upwards) to get out. (apparently) Some of the fly catchers I have seen seem to use this method with wire mesh, but plastic bags work also... Here is a another idea for fly bait: 1/4 cup of. Vinegar 1/4 cup of. sugar Water Another suggested just the sugar and a piece of meat in it so it rots. In africa they use goat droppings and cow urine mixed together. The wonderful world of fly catching.

I think the last two suggestions are great. Especially the fly trap - I had wondered what the attractant was and where you can get it. If beer works, that would be brilliant!? No poisons and cheap. Better than robo-poisoner... I know farmers and so forth use large versions with the sticky liquid that dissolves the flies. I even remember seeing a story years ago on there being a bounty on green bottles etc. Any home-made projects on making one of these using softdrink bottles?? We use to make fish catchers out of them, why not fly catchers! There is a good poison you can get from mitre 10 apparently called fly rid or bug rid or something. You can spray or paint it on the house. I would suggest painting it in your fish room, spray it elsewhere.

Yeah, I did. She raises them from eggs in green water tanks that are just kept outside. Hilarious. The various creepies that live in the tank feed them. I have not registered because I have trouble just keeping up with this forum...

I know, but it was a little ambiguous (I thought) and needed to be addressed verbosely - especially since it is summer. I am 99.95% this was temperature related, as I am sure you are. PS: Off to double check the temp on my tank. I have two golden albinos and at $70 a pop I don't really want them belly up...literally.

I have read about floating Axies. This is mostly due to bacterial infection.Considering the temperature you quoted, and the fluctuations that would have happened at night, I find it hard to believe it would have been a pebble - but who can say for sure? 28 degrees was WAY too high (24 is absolute max, 18 is better) and needed to be addressed somehow. A fan blowing over the tank may have helped a little, but who can say. High temps stress them out AND promote bacterial growth - a deadly combination. Frequent water changes could have helped as well as salt baths, but it would have been easier just to reduce the temperature. It is even possible to massage them in emergency, but make sure you use well washed latex gloves! Too late now of course, and I am sorry for your loss. From: http://axolotl.org/faq.htm ========================= Often, some stress will lead to a small bacterial infection in the gut. This would lead to a gas build up, and the floating. It is possible that the axolotl swallowed a large amount of air into its digestive system too. Warm temperatures (over 20 °C / 68 °F) don't help. Anything over 25 °C / 77 °F is far too warm for axolotls - just in case you didn't know. As to how to solve the problem, axolotls find it stressful when they can't touch the bottom. I suggest you lower the water level so that the axolotl is touching the bottom, but still submerged. The fact that it can touch the bottom should help to relieve the stress and hence help it to recover. If you keep it at temperatures over 20 °C / 68 °F it will probably make it harder for the axolotl's gut to keep up with any bacterial activity, so try and keep it cooler. As long as it eats, that's a good sign. Sometimes it is possible to massage the animal's abdomen to help it pass the gas, but it's hard to do without hurting and/or stressing the animal. It's safer to do what I've suggested and let the animal pass the gas on its own.

heh, its actually worse than you think. CAE are most aggressive to similar species. You can't get much more similar than an SAE.

Aren't those the wrong way around?? This is a better picture of a SAE, showing the black line: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/sae2.jpg Similar for CAE: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/Gy ... ieri_1.jpg The colouring of the CAE is also different, but beware individual differences - no two fish are alike.

The CAEs and SAEs DO look the same. The BEST way to tell is the black line that runs down their body. One goes all the way to the end of the tail, the other stops at the base of the tail. If you read the article on the two types, you will see. Things like shades of colour can be all screwed up in the wrong light. Also, the fish store is very unlikely to have both, so what are you comparing it to at the time?? PS: BN catfish would be great if you have a med-large tank. For us who can't keep adult BN, SAE are the way to go....

They look like those energy savers you get for normal lighting??

Siamese are AWESOME. They have this funny way of flying about the tank like a humming bird. Don't be fooled into getting a golden/chinese algae eater/flying fox whatever. They look very similar. Horrible little beasty apparently. How to tell the difference?? Glad you asked... http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

I transferred some plants over to another tank and ended up with 40 of the little beggers because they had laid in the plants. Took a week of waiting patiently and scooping them out with a cup!? (I had no turkey baster or anything at that stage) They are annoying to breed, because of the eggs, but breed easily.