sharn

I was told all CL's are wild caught and with the huge stress of shipment half way across the world its no wonder they get their fair share of issues. It can take quite a bit of work to get those skinny ones that get sent to shops up to a nice standard. I'm not up on clowns but my guess would probably be worms or some sort of flagellite like Hex.

No, you shouldnt be concerned at all. A nitrAte reading of 5ppm is good if thats where its usually sitting NitrAte is the last step in the cycle (ammonia turns into nitrite which turns into nitrate put simply) and it is removed mainly by water changes but plant can absorb a little also. It depends on what you are keeping as to what nirAte level your fish can handle and how much maintence is needed to keep it where you want it, discus keepers for example like to keep it as low as possible so have to do extra water changes but most community fish are happy with a reading below 40ppm (though they can often tolerate higher, its just not reccomended). In a normally stocked tank it shouldnt be getting excessively high on a weekly w/c schedule anyway. Hope this helps

As someone who left school early (left half way thru 5th, would be 7th now, wasnt my doing though) I can say work sucks. I dearly miss those holidays and the easy hours. Dont miss being poor though :lol: So far i havent used really anything i learnt in school but im not in the line of work to do so.

Are the little white things mainly in the gravel and on the glass? If so thats probably just planaria and they are usually from feeding a little too much :lol: Cut back on the feeding a bit and do a good gravel siphon and you should see them start to dissappear. Sorry i cant help with the danio, did it come on suddenly? Is it bloated? Eating normal?

Parrots are often all bark and no bite (thats because of their deformed mouths from being hybrids) so can get themselves into trouble very easily without any means of backing themselves up so i can understand why some people might suggest keeping parrots with non aggressive fish. Severums temperments can vary heaps so it depends on the individual fish.

I currently have an Oscar, Sev, Silver Dollars, a Hemi Syno and some sort of plec (hes maxed out at 30cm) in with my 25cm Senegalus. They all get along fine with the bichir spending his days zooming round the tank looking for something that smells nice to eat :lol: Never seen anyone go for anyone else but i *always* have to hand feed the bichir. I may be an exception to the rule however and my tank is a 460L so they all have sufficient room to do their own thing

L200 were on the list about two weeks ago, one fella bought the whole lot apparently.

Usually feeding at different places in the tank can help or being sneaky and popping it in when hes distracted with something else. Many people have ended up with crispy oscars on the floor from them jumping so definatly keep the lid on tight. My boy smashed his 6mm glass lids and now has 10mm glass plates to keep him in the water :lol:

1) Yes, but they are Saums, not true GTs i think. 2) Maybe, depends on the personalities 3) Usually not, they often live up to their name but every now and again you find people keeping them with other fish. Fantastic fish, they are stunning when adults!

Agreed. Discus are usually underestimated with their aggressiveness so keep an eye on them. My lot have done some good damage at times and the two males are constantly going at it- theyre more trouble than my oscar :lol:

$150 for a pair was a sweet deal! Usually young, productive pairs go for at least $250 depending on the strain which when you think about it isnt too bad for two fish, especially if theyre full grown.

Id probably guess around the 6 month mark if they have been raised properly and fed well. Some strains will show their colouring at that size (melons etc) but usually the turqs and spotteds fill in more as they mature. Do you know if you will be having a barebottom tank? If you do you have more room in the way of stocking because you can keep the tank alot cleaner than with stones/plants hiding all the gunk hence them usually growing better. Welcome to the world of extra water changes my friend :lol:

Mine used to be real gutsy feeders when they were younger but i have noticed they definatly take their time now that they are adults. Theres no show like a discus trying to impress its partner, hope you get to see that soon :lol:

Agreed Snookie- and its not a nice thing to have to attempt to pull out a large goldfish from an axolotls mouth who is obviously in great discomfort when his eyes are a bit bigger than his mouth :lol: Your tank will probably be going murky because it was completley cleaned, the cloudiness is a bacterial bloom while they try to get back to normal levels to process the waste being produced by the fishies and axies. It will go away by itself eventually once the tank is allowed to mature again. The dirtyness could depend on the foods being fed (frozen foods can be quite messy) and the bio load, which in your case is quite high for the tank size, you will probably want to upgrade to a 3 footer for the two axies once they get a little larger just so they have room to get out of each others faces (less nipped legs and gills then ) I have five axies in my four footer and have a small internal and that gets gunky pretty quick but i think in my case its purely to do with the small size of it.

Maybe constipation?

Got mine too. Thanks Caryl

So are discus. I cant successfully breed albino cories or bristlenose but my discus wont stop :lol:

Considering you will probably be lots of water changes you could add it straight away. The toxins wont have a chance to build up with the w/c's and the old filter media will have helped things along.

Hadnt done a water change or anything to the tank before hand? Oscars are the best sulkers and it doesnt take much to set them off at times- if i offer the others in the tank food he doesnt like he takes offence and pretends his worlds over in the back corner :lol:

Tank bred angels can still have their fair share of worms and stuff though. The main thing is people just dont want to risk it, discus can be wooses when it comes to getting sick and those angels could still be swimming round like nothings wrong. If you are sure your angels are healthy then there probably arent too many other issues. Ive read some people say angels are more aggressive but discus can most certanly be nasty fish when they want to be (its quite painful to be attacked by an adult male guarding his babies :lol: )!

Cant get many other parachromis that im aware of. I wanted some Red Mota's but couldnt find any, dont know if theyre even on the import list. Youve got your usual midas, oscars, JD's (there was some EBJD's on the list), a few rarer geos are floating around and so on...

Discus usually require more tank maintenence to thrive but it depends on how you are running the tank. However they are, IMO, much more rewarding to keep than angels- nothing like a big fat saucer or 5 swimming around your tank :lol:

Very nice, big, angry fish :lol:

Blood streaks are usually a bacterial infection or septicemia i think. Try googling for pictures and see if it looks similar

Probably a bit of both as most usually are