alanmin4304

In a few days have a look at the sides of the tank with a torch and you should see babies clinging. A couple of days later you will see them swiming near the surface and you will see how small they are. They are the rabbits of the fish world, but an active under rated fish.

I am advised that the easiest cure is Furan 2 from the pet shop. Follow the instructions you will need to treat more than once.

Buy some fish and place them in the tank

Sorry I put you wrong. saddleback is columnaris and should be treated with Furan 2 from the pet shop (same as mouth fungus)

It sounds like mouth fungus (columnaris). Blue green algae can be red and is also a bacteria.

I think blueandkim has it right. Calcium sulphate is gypsum which is almost insoluble and is added to the garden or compost heap. In acid, anaerobic conditions it will produce hydrogen sulphide but I think that very unlikely in this case

I have known Waterplantz on Trademe ( John Peters ) for many years and have bought many things off him including white clouds. He is very honest and reliable. They are called white clouds because they come from the rivers around the White Cloud mountains in China and therefore can live quite happily in very cold water. It is easier to transfer them from hot to cold than the other way around and they prefer cold to hot. I would't keep them over 25 deg C. Their colours are far more intense in cold water. They do not breed outside in Christchurch until about December. .

I have been keeping fish for over 40 years and have never used chemicals to cycle a tank. It is called the nitrogen cycle because it is a cycle N - NH3 - Nitrite - Nitrate and bacteria are also working to complete the cycle in the decay process. This will happen naturally if you remember it is a natural process and give it time for the balance to sort itself out and only make slow changes to the system so that it can re adjust. The bacteria multipy by binary fision about every 20 minutes and they will only multiply and stabilise at a concentration suited to the amount of food available. Plants are the best user of nitrate and it is removed when you propagate it and remove the plant from the tank. So in effect you are removing the fish urine by selling plants on Trademe. Have a good day.

Mouth fungus is a bacteria and needs to be treated with an antibiotic

What you are doing with cycling, as you say, is setting up the means to convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. The plants need and will utilize the nitrate, but they cannot utilize the others and they are toxic to fish. These compounds arise usually from the urea produced as a waste product from the fish. This conversion should take place almost imediately,and is carried out by bacteria. These bacteria need these compounds also so the whole system is a living thing. When you introduce more fish or use antibiotics it changes the balance and it takes a while for the equation to even up again.

I think saddle back is a different disease but I don't know a lot about it. columnaris is a bacterial disease which needs to be treated with antibiotics. It usually results in other opportunistic fungal or bacterial infections which must also be treated and are often the signs first noticed.

Your bronze cats (corydorus) are pretty hardy and in heavily poluted rivers etc they are the last to die. They grab air from the surface and can absorb it through the gut so can survive in conditions of low dissolved oxygen. Your neons need high oxygen levals. The cloudy water can be a bacterial bloom and may put a very heavy demand on the oxygen available. My tanks are heavily planted and this helps to stabilise the system (but only when they are established) You need to be patient and allow time for the tank to stabilize and then make changes slowly by introducing new fish slowly. Don't believe the pet shops, they are in the business of making money by selling you stuff. We have an untreated artesian water supply and I would hate to think how much beginners spend on products to treat the water from all the pet shops in town.

Any water supply which contains chlorine will contain chloramine as this is what you get when it reacts with the amines in protein

We used to catch them at night with a spotlight. You can see their eyes shining and they are drawn to the surface by the light

Most goldfish have parasites including skin and gill flukes. Salt will usually decrease the numbers to a more acceptable leval

Give the discus a massive feed of daphnia

Sorry, I missed your message. Opaque glass is OK, as is diformed glass. Cut the glue holding the base with a one sided razerblade and remove all the glue you can including a bit of the seal on the side near the bottom for about 20mm. Cut glass to size (use cutter on flat side and make sure glass is clean. make only one clean run with the cutter) Sand edges and run a bead around the edge of the base and place sides on top. Run sealing bead around base and up sides to old seal. Do not use chocolate bomb sticks and fill in 48 hours. Light fire with chocolate bomb sticks. Good luck.

I am in Christchurch also and use sand for growing plant. I get mine from the nursary next to the pet shop on the corner of Smith Street and Ferry Road. Get a kitchen seive and run it through. Wash the gravel carefully. Place the sand in the tank along with plant suppliment from pet shop next door and put washed gravel on top to keep silt down. Only siphon off excess mulm as it is food for plants. Plenty of light and away you go. Good luck.

The principle is the same as one in each tank and the same rules would apply. The only problem I would see is that a disease in one tank is a disease in all tanks.

If you have rinsed it all off and your only dealing with a little bit of residue you may be able to get something from the pet shop. You want something to neutralize chlorine and that will be what is used. See what is on the label. I use a paste of salt to sanitize tanks as it is a mild abrasive and washes away. I have just realised I have put you wrong. Sodium metabisulphate is what the home brewers use to sanitize their bottles, what you want is sodium thiosulphate. It may be available from the chemist.

The Council are required to carry out chemical analysis of the water they supply you and the people who would know best what treatment is carried out are the the people who do it ---The Council.

smells are chemicals detected by your nose. Check if there are chemicals in the product which may be harmful. Should be on the label.

Yes, thanks

Sodiun thiosulphate is the compound used commercially

I was looking for a heat bulb to keep some baby turtles warm--$50.00 in the pet shop and needed to buy Edison fitting. Went to electrical supplier and told them what I wanted and they said the only difference between an ordinary bulb and a red one is the colour of the glass. I said an ordinary would give too much light so he sold me a red one with a reflector (used in discos) for $7.00. works good. I also bought a 3ft flouro light, growlux and natural tube for the same price as a growlux tube in the pet shop.