peety

My fish have been sick for a while now, even had a post mortem done 2 months back, I thought they had come right but then disaster, back where I started. I have sacrificed one to the lab to try and get some more results back.... Its not that I'm not trying, I've been through 4 courses of meds so far !!!! Fish in question are discus (sigh)... it all came in on a non quarantined fish, yep my fault :oops: It looks like that mythical thing called discus plague. (I'll know soon hopefully hope many bugs i'm fighting but even the vet doesn't hold much chance of everything showing up because the labs don't work on fish) I'm not guessing entirely about the illnesses, only getting a feeling for what is working better than other treatments. I watch the fish every day, the vet doesn't. If I think anti-biotics are working then I want a bunch of em!! O well thanks for listening.... Back to the tank..... :-?

I started with a percola clown, cheap, hardy and expendable. He went through a lot when I started firing everything up. I cycled the tank for 3 weeks adding nutrafin cycle regularly. Regularly tested water.... Added fish and waited 2 weeks.... Then bought 2 kg live rock from Janssens (just to start loading tank) I added some ordinary mussels from foodtown because I heard they could bring up the loading faster (ooooops!!!!) Mussels died and blew nitrates through the roof Dumped all water and seived sand (didn't touch filter and all levels came back within a week) (phewwww) Went on holiday and collected rocks 8) Brought back about 6 - 7 kilo (if I'd known I would have gotten more because they are spreading corallines like mad and I can get 3-4 times that many in my tank) Bought light because algae started growing on all rocks due to no light Bought skimmer since water began to cloud due to light Bought tang to eat the algae (which is now all gone) Bought mushrooms and anenomes which are just the bomb!! I would never make a deep tank again. (I can only just reach the bottom and can't reach the back corners :oops: ) I really enjoyed the way it came together. No rush. And no one off expensive item. I wish I had an idea for the layout before I started because I keep changing it and its hard to build the reef structures with everything living in the tank, I keep dropping rocks on live anenomes and coral. Sorry no pics since no camera....Its still a work in progress and i'm using lighting eggcrate for the scaffolding so theres quite a lot of that showing. The best of luck with yours... just go slow... my mistake was to try and rush it peety

Built my own stand too not long ago .... still drilling and cutting holes.... o well....... Of mice and men...... hahaha (I admire ya starting on an entire tank... wow!!!) :-?

I've just started a marine (3 months ago) Its about 280 litres and 1/3 of that is sump. Tanks and sump were custom built and cost $300 but would have been cheaper if I'd stuck with a shallow tank (mine is 70cm deep). Skimmer cost $350 new, light is from a grow shop (metal halide 250 watt) $220. Apart from me making a few stupid mistakes at the start I now have a crystal clear tank with 3 fish and mushrooms and anenomes. I have collected live rock from the beach. Nitrates are about 2 ppm. The dearest things were the fish.... (only just, skimmer is close but is essential). Cheap, works, and I can't wait to get to the beach next for some more rock hunting...

I will definately be at the next local fish club meet, but still upset that even when I know what will cure my fish i.e. a hex treatment, or anti biotics, the vet can't give me meds due to his own ignorance. I just get replies like "i don't know anything about fish so can't sell you the meds you require" CRAP. I say my fish is sick he says "its swimming, lively aint it?' Bloody thing has both fins clamped and darting around like a maniac!! True, I don't understand golf either..... And yes I do get excited about my fish.....

I started with 3 now have about 6 or 7 (can't tell they move around a bit). I love em'. They clean up the tank and are problem free. If you in Ak you can have a couple of my kids if ya want......

I am getting really frustrated with 1) my fish getting sick and 2) no vet caring about 1).!!!! All vets suck!!! Its not a matter of whether they know how to fix the fish it also matters that they keep a $5 medication on their shelves. Anyone know of a vet in AK that can be Abreviated Obsenity Removed Moderator Or anyone want to buy a couple of dead fish ?? (I just want to get the meds that will fix my fish ... an ignorant vet means nothing but a $25 bottle of wine) tired peety

Try adding some live plants into your bucket... nothing expensive even a couple of non toxic weeds from the garden will do. I have a separate tank outside for growing up aquatic plants and have had to add goldfish to keep my mosquito numbers down !!!! :-? :-? peety

I had gill flukes so was doing some reading on worms... found this: "My Discus is wasting away: What should I do? Salt them, but remove plants first. If that does not help, then consider the possibility that flukes, Hexamita, or Cestodes are ravaging them. For flukes and Cestodes (worms) , the treatment will be the same: Praziquantel, trade name, Droncit, is available in a cat and dog form from the Vet in your neighborhood. You simply add 2-3 ppm to the tank you are deworming/defluking. As an aside, this will eliminate Flukes very handily. 2-3 parts per million is had by calculating the gallons in your system into Liters, then you figure out how many milligrams per liter you need. Let's do an example: 10 gallon system, let's say. 10 gallons x 3.785 equals 37 liters in that 10 gallon system. Let's shoot for 2 ppm. 2 ppm is the same thing as 2 mg/Liter. So we need 2 mg per liter, and there are 37 liters to treat. 2 x 37 is about 80 milligrams. Dog Droncit is 34 mg each. So we need 2 1/2 tabs to treat our 10 gallon tank. You only need to treat once, for worms. But you should treat again in a week for flukes." The American sites all praise prazi, and use it in pref to other meds. I called bayer and found Droncit is available thru vets but couldn't find any who stocked it (All vets here use Drontal which has other meds specific to cats or dogs ) . I used standard fluke tabs in the end but have ordered some Droncit (just in case). The cost is pretty high but apparently you can dose really highn with no ill effects and guaranteed results. (It dissolves the skin of the worm and it just melts inside the fish ) No vet I talked to had heard of this use but lots of sites in US recommend it, Discus, Koi ...even on US Fisheries site... (trout I think) peety

HI Merlin, Welcome.... wow thats a quick start, you must have some dedicated fishos helping ya... Just Wondering what brand heater it was... The last couple of Via Aqua's I have purchased have done the same slimy thing, yet the others have been fine... and definately no over feeding on my part (my tank is pretty well stocked and not much to feed a fry let alone go slimy) :-? I just thought it was a one off but ... :roll: Glad alls good now.... Jeez five tanks since November... :-? peety

Wow! 1600 litre !! You must work in a Japanese restaurant I'm expecting my new 200 litre marine today !! Yippee. New to the marine thing as well (I have a 500 tropical),(oh yeah, and 16'x6' outdoor koi/goldfish pond) So that'll cover all the bases I found a LFS just around the corner and had a chat and they were very happy to help. The basics are pretty much the same as tropical so if you've done that you're half way there (he says, having never even done it ...jeez) :roll: (If ya think failure ya get ....failure ) Anyways, I fill my sump today and start cycling so will only be a short step ahead if ya need a hand. I just have to wait a month before i go shopping for fish peety

Hi Clare, A word of warning... I started with an outdoor pond once, then moved a few fry indoors to protect them. Bought a plastic bowl, then glass tank to house them. A couple of plants later and another couple of species and the temp went up. Guppies, then plecos. Higher temps and the goldfish went back outside. Its a trap. Stop now! :-? Welcome and good luck peety

At one stage I used to attach my pumps and heaters to the same timer that regulated my lights. There didn't seem to be any probs even over winter where temps plunged quite a lot. The only reason I changed was when i read somewhere that the filter bacteria could crash, and started to think it wasn't worth the risk. I thought it might be good for my fish to have zero current while they slept. I have two filters running and two powerheads to push water around a 2 metre tank... really need a bit more but..... Can i go back to zero filtration/powerheads ??? Or do i assume fish get used to rivers running all night

In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king... your pleco is just biding his time peety

Just saw this thread... mad idea, but really appealing. You could imagine something like a mouse maze going on.... An easy way to fill the containers is to remove the air.... just attach one end of an air hose to the bottom of say a glass and the other end is above the water level. When you place the upturned glass in the water the air escapes... then remove hose.

Ooops left off my low kal :oops: In Auckland (and fixed my profile now...)

I've got a small tank for quarantine as well as my big one. Also got three 150 litre tanks on order and am building the stand for them at the moment. Discus are 3 Turqs, 2 Goldens, a red diamond, and a brown I've been reading all the posts and want to give the discus thingy a go and am a patient sort so have no great expectations short term.... love the support on this site and intend joining the local club (if they'll let me... :-? ) Thanx for the welcomes peet :lol:

Hi..... Love ya site and want to join in tha fun... I'm new to the fish thing ...relatively by some of ya... started with pond fish 3 years ago then tropical.... have 7 beautiful discus in 6 foot tank shared with guppies bristle nose, cories, neons and the like. Want to do the breeding thing so thats next on the agenda...fish that is....discus... so have been playing with brine shrimp... jeez Anyway ...hi peet 8)