sharn

sounds like it may be TB? its the bent spines that make me think this is what it could be as i read something about that back when i was researching it, perhaps its something to look into? good luck and sorry i couldnt be of more help

hit that guy up for some cash for the meds (theyre not normally too expensive but you can make out they are lol). theres a few methods for fungus, i think a meth blue/malachite green mix is used with good sucess but im not too up on that one. salt can also be used. theres a few products out there that are good for getting rid of fungus, best to treat in a hospital tank though as some can stain your tanks/ruin all your beneficial bacteria colonies. good luck!

ROFLAMO, ten points to you paul!!!

shes just trying to cover up her MTS :lol: and welcome along M, good to have ya here

alot of the larger cichlids like jags, oscars, RD's etc seem to prefer being alone (bar a possible breeding partner), its alot easier on other fish, they can have their own domain and will become more owner responsive. i provide toys for my oscar to play with even though he has tank mates. the above cant be kept in LL's tank sadly (i think its time to upgrade- whaddya reckon guys ) dont know much about peacocks but they are pretty so ryans suggestion might be worth looking into? also the dwarf cichlids, theyre an oscars personality in a smaller package :lol: like i said before, a bit more picky and only max out around 6cm or so but they are definatly cute little things who think they are top stuff :lol:

i would go 1tbsp per 40L, some people have dosed their tanks at the normal 1tbsp per 20L of salt with no ill effects but i always prefer to be a bit cautious and it is documented that they (scaleless fish) can be sensitive to salts and other meds. most people up their tanks to around 28C but because you have neons i would just up it to where you feel comfortable, its still going to speed the life cycle up good luck

aint nothing like a large cichlid swimming round your tank that thinks theyre king of the world :lol: they can be harder to mix with other fish but luckily theres alot out on the net about them and what does and doesnt work, obviously individual fish temperments do come into play

being a sucker for flowing things i like them :lol: they used to be real expensive in aussie (100 bucks a pop or something), year later they were only 5 bucks each not all that common here, wouldnt mind some just cause i like their long fins, make em look all magical or something

ive got a sev in with my O, theyre bossy to fish smaller than them, or lower in rank but otherwise i have found em pretty placid as far as cichlids go. i think they are quite angel fish like in personality, mine begs for food, but nothing like my O :lol: heres some pics http://images.google.co.nz/images?hl=en ... a=N&tab=wi they can reach 30cm but its more common for them to max out around 20-25, the height of that tank is probably a bit short though, my 18cm boy is around 12-15cm tall i would imagine and still has growing to do. you wouldnt be into cons at all? perhaps turning it into a dwarf cichlid tank (ultra personalities but a bit picker than the above fish) or a african tank?

bummer on that one alot of people think that once a fish has got it its pretty much as good as dead, apparently it seems the worms never leave, just decrease or something? its highly contagious so i wouldnt put anything in with them. good luck and i hope yours makes it, ive got a angel thats been in quarentine for about 3 months, still has the worms even with medicated food but im told hes doing well to have not died yet

no possibility you kept some of that water? you could put your friends head in a bucket for say... 10 minutes to see how he likes breathing water with alcohol in it... :lol: :evil:

good to hear the story ended well yip, discus are pretty hardy when it comes down to it, ronnie was telling me bout the power going out one time and the tanks dropping really low and they were fine! it seems most fish will survive 24-48 hours in a bag, i dont think its the temp that would be a problem, it would be ammonia that would kill them.

bummer it aint big enough for an O, theyre ultra cool fish (perhaps time to sell that 3 footer and replace with a 4 footer, 250-300L? lol) cons are pretty hardy, dont get both sexes though or youll end up with fry coming out your ears and no where for them to go :lol: they dont get too big also. angels are also ultra tough fish, not agro normally though, unless your a Neon :lol: what are the exact dimensions of the tank?

thats a good point about the temp drops in the wild, apparently when it rains in the amazon the temp can drop 5C or so in a couple of minutes!!!

i have a nightlight i have to leave on for my oscar, he bangs around the tank at night, scaring fish, himself and moving stuff around. i just dim it with a piece of sheeting. when i turn my room lights off i cant see him, just a shadow moving around the tank so its definatly dim enough for him to sleep but other fish to still 'see' him properly. i also use a lighting system. curtains open, half an hour later tank lights go on, at night room lights go on and tank lights go off, and about half an hour later i will turn my room light off. alot of fish will use those dimmer periods to do their stuff, alot of cichlids with fry will herd their babies to the right spot for the night when the lights start getting dimmer

i agree with ronnie, alot of angels have internal parasites (this is a topic alot of people argue about) that they are very good at hiding, if you want to keep the two together worm those angels. they are also boisterous feeders, and while discus can be too the angels just seem to have a bit more grunt. clowns are great but i have read about them upsetting discus at night due to their nocturnal habits. rummies are also good. mollies, guppies and DG i wouldnt suggest, i think they perfer cooler waters and wont last long in 28-31C (not sure bout the DG though). DG are also known to be good bug carriers. neons will perish in their higher heats and will become discus snacks. SAE can latch onto the discus harlequins and cardinals are another great choice for dithers. keep in mind discus need at least 40L per fish

a good trick my buddies mentioned another site (for their clowns in an oscar tank) is to get a piece of long tubing, pvc pipe etc and pop that into the water near the cats hiding holes then drop the food down thru that? that way other piggy fish cant get their food if you pop it in their hiding hole. plecos will eat leftovers but they shouldnt just be left to their own devices, the other fish get fed their special diets and plecos need the same attention. it will be a bit tricker with other vegie eaters in the tank but it shouldnt be too hard to work out a system to get them both fed

alan! yeah pacu arent really predatory, like all fish they will eat others that can fit in their mouths. a all tetra tank would be really cool if they all stuck to their own schools and didnt mix together, if they did mix you could colour co-ordinate them? *sharns back off to her mental corner now* :lol:

i would think so, they are like humans in the fact they need 'down time', i dont know if they actually 'sleep' but they definatly go into some sort of relaxed state in the dark, just my two cents hope that helps

im not sure lol, i have just read about quite a few species needing blacked out tanks and thought perhaps it applies to most of the family

and dont forget to black out those tanks!!!

it is possible that the parents of yours may hold the albino gene from crossbreeding back down the line? its not uncommon to get random throw backs if they can cross breed...

i have always heard they are often disease/parasite ridden and hide it well, sort of like angels can hide worms pretty good and will just die for no obvious reasons but i have never kept them myself. do you quarentine them first?

you dont feed them shrimp pellets do you? my first thoughts were the food or anerobic bacteria, that smells like sulfur *holds nose* when was the last time you cleaned the filter out? perhaps it was just so gunky it was stinking everything out and now it might clear up?

everything i have read about the strips of paper seem to be not that good, seems they are pretty inacurate :-? i only have a ph, kh & gh and nitrate kit that i use. i have ammonia too but i have never needed it cause i do alot of water changes. they are expensivish but i think 40 bucks it worth it for the happyness and healthyness of my fish. if your fish are playing up you look to the water first and i find it less stressful to be able to test and rectify any problem instead of waiting till the next morning for the LFS to open up. nitrite and ammonia kits will help to let you know when the cycle is finished but you probably wont use them after that unless you are having probs with sick fish and need to rule out the above two as a possible cause. you dont need kh and gh but i was having problems with my fish and after testing for it i found we have a very low kh and that makes the ph very unstable. it wouldnt hurt to get a base reading of your tap water done at the LFS just so you know what your working with and if it will be necessary to moniter this. ph is helpful if you are keeping some of the pickier species or are a ph nut and try to keep it to as natural as possible :lol: i use my nitrate kit to tell me when to do water changes.