sharn

i have no idea on flow rates but i always look at how much it turns over, not the 'for aquariums up to bla bla' as thats just a guide for newbies. you have to take into account the fish and how messy they are etc. for a 250L with average fish and stocking i would go for a 1200lph. have to take into account most filters are rated before media therefore after a 1200lph probably does more around the 1000lph, i know some filters actually come with the ratings on them after the media is added but im not sure which brands. good luck picking your filter! the fluval and eheims are both good filters

i would be thinking egg bound too if the epsom salts and peas havent cleared a blockage. not much you can do about them though i dont think unsure if your able to sex black neons but would assume so, as long as shes not male i think egg bound is a good possibility :lol: i agree with caryl- keep up the treatments just incase, good luck

if its not giving lethal readings you could put a couple of fishies in there that could fit the worms in their mouths, i would think theyd love planaria?

what does he eat usually? garlic is often used to help fish get back to eating again, apparently they like the taste, perhaps if you put his food in some crushed up garlic for a while (roll it round so it gets garlicy) and offer him some. my oscar loves earthworms so perhaps that might be worth a shot trying to tempt him? oscars can go for a month or so without eating but it is a concern when they stop so its best to get them started again if possible. lets hope he improves and its not him getting weaker

phyrestaata- theyre deff L090. they max out at around 40cm but ive seen wild caughts much bigger (caught as adults). im told that a 2" growth a year is about average for these guys so its a long time till its gonna be a monster :lol: beautiful fish for sure, i was going to get one but im still undecided :lol: theyve got some adult pics on planetcatfish of them, they look quite similar from juvie to adult from the photos i saw

i recently read about this happening to a person on an oscar site i moderate, it seemed really wierd. it spun around the tank hitting stuff, would lie on the bottom breathing heavily and then do it again and then just died (all within a few mins i think) :-? it had been totally fine up till then, no signs of anything and i think the consensus was that he had some sort of internal failure or it was just going to be one of those things where you never know, poisoning was also mentioned but other fish would be feeling it if it was that i would think. i thought perhaps some sort of nerve damage etc as they are tough beasties and if they hit the tank hard enough they could knock themselves out or damage something internally. but seeing as your boy is still alive and keeps doing it i am unsure what it is heres the post to that anyway, it might be of some help- http://www.theoscarspot.com/smf/index.p ... 080.0.html good luck with him, i would do some water changes just to make sure its not water related. is he eating still?

hey phyrestaata- did you get the L090 with the white tail or the L090c? just wondering what patterns the plain L090 has on em as i was looking into them a while back but couldnt see much pattern on them? the L090c looks very much like a royal IMO. i just LOVE goldline royals- how big is yours and any pics?

*finishes sentance for damiana* a sandy bottom keepers best friend :lol:

yeah, depends on personality. most breeders will keep pairs alone or in very very large ponds when not breeding as they can just rip each other up. keeping two RD's in a tank that dont want to make babies often ends in disaster- along with any other fish bar plecos etc. though i have not kept them the common consensus amoung cichlid nuts all over the world is save yourself the hassle and dont attempt mixing unless breeding. it seems that they have no problems being by themselves alone and often prefer it, they will often extend their territory beyond the tank walls. i would assume they would only get together in the wild to breed anyway but im not sure on that one. heres a cool thread- RD's are second on the list 8) http://www.worldcichlids.com/yabbse/ind ... sults.html note- midas and RDs are cross bred and its very likely we have the cross breds, dont think we have pure ones of either in this country. it seems the 'red devils' here look alot more midas.

yeah, not many people think dedicating one tank to one fish is worth it (i dont get on well with those people lol). these fish have ten times more character than most but they do require special housing and your average keeper wants a happy tank, not a tank where a red devil kills everything in sight and if you leave the tank with grazes your having a good day :lol:

perhaps it got into an altercation at night time with a pleco/other fish? you would have noticed if youd whacked him one during changing your tank around and theyre nocturnal so it could be possible it happened then?

low carbonate hardness (kh). that is your buffering for your ph and if its not very high you can get big swings. get some bird grit (the stuff they eat), put it in a stocking (amount depends on tank size) and put it in or near your filter. this will slowly up your kh and in turn your ph a bit but it will make everything stable. baking soda also works but its pretty touchy (hard to get the exact increase you want) and works instantly. shell grit slowly works (i find a week or so and i see improvements) and you can moniter and remove or add bits as necessary without worrying about causing large changes. good luck

thats wierd i must say. ph down can harm fish if your kh isnt stable enough to keep it down and its very quick i beleive. peat is slower, but if you boil it and use the tea its quite quick and as long as you add it properly it probably won cause any problems due to it dropping. i know some apisto breeders in aussie that get it down with peat to 4.5 but *shugs* i dont know much bout apistos. peat also has natural stuff in it which apparently calms fish (or beneifts them in some way, im no scientist).

its a very dark gravel, hard to explain but candy has pics somewhere i beleive

id probably use that bright water gravel then. sand and plecos dont mix very well in my experience (with anything large that BN that is), they fluff it all up and if it gets into your filters impellors is can be nasty :lol: im going to get some malaysian trumpet snails for my sandy tank, apparently theyre going to be my little sand airators :lol:

stay away from ph down. use peat instead, much more natural and apparently apistos love it

depends where you go i spose. very uncommon in LFS here because theyre such nasty fish and need a tank to themselves so not sure of the prices- probably like jag prices? in welly i think there are more around but not sure if theyre in LFS or not. havent seen any in stores in auckland that ive been to

what does your discus' feces look like? has it been eating properly? i would do some water changes, if they dont look happy its best to get the meds out, add some carbon in a stocking to the tank also which will help get it out quicker, you may need to replace it daily though, i am unsure for med removal. clowns are very sensitive fish and are usually the first to show any problems with tanks so dont beat yourself up too much. i am unsure what effects they (they being whitespot) have in large amounts but its most likely the meds have put your fish off eating, meds are stressful and whitespot is oppertunistic- taking hold when your fishs immune system is down so you need to do a big check of all possible causes for that and try rectify it otherwise your fishies wont get better i know furan does a few external bugs and its very gentle (you can use twice normal dose on plecos) perhaps if this doesnt clear up with these meds it might be worth looking into once youve totally removed the others?

because i have the crappiest memory in the history of man kind im going to ask if you cycled it :lol:

dont mix the meds. also that 5% stuff is apparently more useless than more water :lol: i thought some fish a while back had flukes and bought some 5% formalin, i then got told this :lol: i am unsure where you could get stronger stuff from though

welcome! im a bit of a axie nut myself :lol: you are welcome to pop along to our (WBAS) next meeting, its being held in te puke this time. last saturday of the month at 3pm but pm me for more details if you wish- we can send you a copy of the newsletter to give you come more info.

apparently they can so if they do breed make sure you cull the eggs

it probably wouldnt hurt to do some extra water changes siphoning the bottom real well as thats where the cysts are falling. just make sure you redose the meds accordingly afterwards

i have sand in my slightly amazon themed tank. amazon substrates are pretty gunky i would imagine :lol: also depends on if your having bottom feeders, i find cories love sand alot more than they do gravel and its better for their barbells (as long as its not sharp sand), try and get gravel with nice edges if you have bottom feeders. sand doesnt get sucked up with water changes, the very fine silt does but you only have to hover above sand as the gunk cant get down lower so it makes maintenence a bit easier. of course you have to make sure it doesnt go anerobic as it compacts but thats easy enough to get rid of (i run a fork thru the sand once a week, staying away from plants and their roots)

what about a HOB? you can put em on nearly any tank and even though they have cartridges you can just rip them out and pack it to the brim with whatever you want. i find sponge filters dont do much mechanically unless they have a high turnover but HOBs are good for water polishing as they do move a bit around. HOBs can vary price, i have the aqua one ones and you can rip the cartridges out and shove whatever you want in there (which is what i did). online is cheaper too, my 900LPH one is around 90 in stores