sharn

i wonder how? cause most just seem to be bicarbonate of soda and some sort of plaster mix. any chemists on here?

normally slime coat looks like slimy clear stuff hanging off them or a greyish whitish patch of semi transparent 'wax' (it looks like a thin layer of wax on them IMO)

its good they work for peanuts and not cashews, cause darn theyre expensive :lol: ive managed to train my little sister to feed them all and ive made her do a water change under my supervision a few times so she knows what to do if i ever needed one done. so in short small siblings are also great slaves, mine works for chocolate most of the time hope all the fry do ok with you being out at uni a bit

isnt that why people have kids....? :lol:

how long has the tank been set up? while hes in his hospital bowl he will need frequent water changes, if not to remove toxins like ammonia etc to keep the water clean, fish always heal better in cleaner water. the furry stuff sounds like fungus, there a quite a few meds out there for that but you will want to make sure it is fungus before you treat (doing a google search will show you some pics). as for why hes on the bottom im not sure sorry, i hope someone can help you more

how long has the tank been set up? while hes in his hospital bowl he will need frequent water changes, if not to remove toxins like ammonia etc to keep the water clean, fish always heal better in cleaner water. the furry stuff sounds like fungus, there a quite a few meds out there for that but you will want to make sure it is fungus before you treat (doing a google search will show you some pics). as for why hes on the bottom im not sure sorry, i hope someone can help you more

we cant get that many species caper, but probably a better selection than some.

how is she today? i have no idea what this is but perhaps a broad spectrum antibioctic like furan 2 might be worth a shot?

i think oxy shells really dont do much except bubble a bit when they go in :lol: i read on the back of one pack it was made of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda pretty much) and that just makes your ph more stable/may increase it *shrugs* no chance you can buy a small airpump for like 10 bucks with a piece of hose (like 50c-$1) and an airstone (80c normally)? if your in no hurry tradme might have some bargains?

it says something about dormant bacteria but i dont beleive that. bio-spira is the only thing i know of that actually works (we cant get it in nz), it has to be refridgerated at all times as it contains live bacteria. it needs to be kept cold so they do stay dormant and dont wake up, wana eat (then starve and die as the bottle will have no food), die and pollute the water or multiply. IMO cycle just bottled gunk which the bacteria will use as food and wont speed up the cycle by very much. once the tank has finished the initial cycle it doesnt need anything added other than dechlorinator with a water change

awww, mr agassizi looks stunning ant- well done! he looks so much happier now hes got a girl and doesnt have to compete with my other male so when are those babies due to hatch?

amen to that david but i wont get started. if a store stocks pacu it instantly puts me off. ill be walking round thinking 'yeah, neat shop, they seem to know what theyre doing' then BAM baby pacu in a tank and i just think of those poor fishies that are going to grow massive but most likely die/get killed before they even live half their lives

heck yeah ronnie! that melon has such beautiful shape and a nice clean body

this is my new red melon ( ronnie), hes quite the photogenic one and hes out and about exploring the tank today so thought id snap a pic of him.

id get like 5 more glass cats, apparently they prefer to be in groups and a school of them looks quite neat. what about some bright gouramis or a fighter?

shipping is really safe with plants. you just chuck em in a fish bag, blow it up with air, tie the top as you would with fish and off it goes. for some reason it doesnt dry the plants out at all (ive had plants in bags for four days and they were still fine!), perhaps because the oxygen etc isnt flowing freely. also old chinese containers etc work well if you dont wana risk a bag popping

Wonderworld* and yes it is a great store, not hard to find, its on the road to go to paradise valley i beleive. they have everything from pretty salt water eels to clown knives, africans, goldfish, and some cool fancy cories. tropical blues in tirau is also good but is a smaller store

LOL, thats the 'devillish' one huh? i love both of them, white fish with a hint of red and blue always looks nice

wow meesheelly, you must have been REALLY bored!!! my mother decided one day she wanted me to move our pond around 30cm fowards because she had some new gardening idea and guess who had to dig the hole? it wouldnt have been so bad if the ground wasnt like concrete!

powerhead and hosing i beleive luke? and i see you have some of your new discus in the alpha tank aye?

metro will be your best bet now probably- if good quality, varied foods and super clean water isnt helping then it will be worth a shot trying metro. ive read accounts of fish on the brink of death coming back when metro has been used (for hex and HITH) so its good stuff. flagyl is metro, flagyl is what they call the 'human' version of the drug, not sure what its used for but its the same thing. have you rung yout vet? if the fish means a bit to ya it wouldnt hurt to take it down if your vet wants to see it (if hes well enough to travel), explain what it is, print out a few pages on HITH and metro usage and see if hell prescribe it then. because the fish isnt eating it will probably be necessary to do a water treatment, there should be a few articles on that around on the net. if you can get him in a warm tank, free of substrate with nice clean water, good foods and metro it should give him a good boost. good luck!

are you sure its just not one of those one in a hundred fish that have overly large sensory pits that look like the beginnings of HITH? if not what have you tried in the way of treatments?

some discus breeders in singapore etc are doing over 200% daily water changes (lucky guys have warm, unchlorinated water so its easy). as said above, if its close to the same temp and ph (i think .2 is classed as the 'acceptable' range) it wont be a problem at all, you'll probably see your fish perk up with the extra ones

also if you buy a small new one that hasnt got its adult spots it could grow up to be ugly pattern wise

salt is 1tbsp per 40L for plecos/clowns etc but still keep an eye on them, increase temp, do water changes etc etc. IMO salt is probably safer than meds for clowns but like FF said it does take longer, if your clown isnt heavily infested id go with salt and heat, but if it is i would try meds (half dose) but keep a close eye on em. i found out the other day why plecos etc are more senstive to salt id always wondered WHY they were more sensitive, apart from the general 'scaleless' thing