leeves

I will go give it a try. maybe if you put the mix in the fridge it might stop the fungus from growing in the bottle? :-?

sorry to dig up such an old post, Ive just read thru the whole thing and it all sounds interesting - I wanna try it. I have a garden center quite close to me so I might go up there and check out if they got all the ingredients I need. One small problem I have is that I dont understand all the chemical names off the linked website mentioned earlier in the thread, so if any one could post it here or send me the recipe in plain English that they have had success with Im sure it would be a great help to any one that might be interested in growing plants and/or fighting the algae scourge :roll: :lol:

Pies that cleaner (boxing) shrimp you mentioned sounds interesting could you please elaborate on the tale a little bit more...

hmmm Ive got some of that too... I think its got something to do with the amount of light the tank is recieveing as well as the water. When I had my smaller 100 litre tank going I found that once I actaully did proper weekly water changes and the plants grew out some more the amount of algae diminished. I guess now that Im using a five footer (tank) Im gonna have to get more plants to out compete the algae for light. I found that it was not so bad (the algae) after using rain water for a few weeks now. Must remember to get trace elements and epsom salts for plant food as was recommended somewhere else in the forum... :oops:

man! is it any wonder why the marine hobby is not very popular if you have to spend that much of a small fortune on all that equipment. Could you get some photos of the 1600ltr $55000.00. sounds unbeliveable... One day when I win lotto maybe I could consider it getting one...

thought I might give you all an update... turns out we cant get Tetracycline for fish at any lfs but only from a vet with a prescription... I was also told that it does not really work any way ... they suggested using Furan II but even this is hit and miss and an expensive gamble. Removing the diseased fish is the only sure fire way of containing it, was the general opinion. So I got rid of most of my platties (who in hind sight might or might not of had it) and one of my large Angels was stricken much to my dismay as it was my largest and most favourite. It had real bad swelling and then loss of swim bladder control until it was floating upside down gasping for breath on the surface. So I got my water tested ph was about 6.5, amonia nill or mininal but nitrites high enough to kill... I bought some Cycle (Nutrafin) and Waste Control (Hagen). I then did a 25 to 30 % water change then added both products. Water looked real clear and fish seemed happier (or maybe that was in my mind) and swelling seems to have gone down too. fingers crossed no more get stricken. Off my own topic here I know but I got no angel fry left they got to wriggling stage with about one quarter of eggs with fungus. Then one night all the wrigglers gone and the whole site cleaned of unhatched eggs all traces of a spawning had dissapeared. I guess someone came in the night and had a feast...

Hey Kerry O thought I might add my five cents for what its worth... Kriber had a good point about choosing the fish you want and then going form there. I would do this first too as you are starting from scratch. You mentioned a few schools of fish possibly (then again maybe not) you are thinking of tetras of some kind? Research the fish you want then plan accordingly. You also mention that you want heaps of rockwork? Generally this is the way people go for African Cichlids as alot of them are vegetarian and-or will uproot everything - Hey even my Angels like to rip and eat the new shoots out of some of my tender plants! Also there is the consideration of hiding all hardware again this comes down to cost and experience. If you have not had a lot of experience I would probably forgo the expensive fancy equipment and start with some thing like 1 submersible heater/thermostat (a decent one) and an external canister filter that will filter the tank x amount of times an hour, plus your lighting, thermometer strip (stick on kind) test kits and what have you. Hey you can get away with a lot with well positioned plants/driftwood and if you are going for tetras these are probably essential to make them feel comfortable, a dark substrate too. I would recommend the X-ray tetra (Ive found them to school well) the Black neon (they quite active) and the silver tip tetra (which seems to tightly school) just dont get them as any thing under 10 - 15 of each. I would resist the temptation of getting neons as I dont think they worth the hassle as Ive found that they have a high death fate and also a lot of genetic mutations I guess the whole exercise comes down to money, time and effort. Where abouts in Auckland are you? good luck...

yeah I have but the smallest spare tank I have is 100 litre so I think it would be impractical. Im a bit strapped for cash at the moment and my girlfriend would probably not approve of me spending more money on the fish as Ive been buying misc. items ever since I bought the five footer. Though saying that she probably would like to see little baby angels swimming around I think this spawning will be another learning experience for me and the fish. Im gonna wait till the week end to see which way I go but I will do another salt and melafix dosage. The dropsy/illness does not seem to be progressing so may be Ive given it something to think about.? hmmm...

I have not bought any tetracycline yet as Im gonna hold out till the weekend to see if I still need it. I did a water change today and might do another dose of salt before then... :roll: I know it sounds real cruel but if a few more platties drop off Im not gonna be too concerned. :oops: But how about this for a spanner in the works - a pair of my angels have now laid a large clutch off eggs on the filter outlet pipe! There could be between 50-100 eggs on there and they seem to be doing a good job of guarding them too. Its rather good as my previous experiences with another pair of older angels I have always resulted in them both eating the eggs straight away as soon as they were laid the male never fertilised them( I think the male could of been sterile) Great (sigh) now Im gonna have to do more research on how to raise them and feed the babies (if they live) and what not. I will have to start a new thread too. SO Im even more confused now ! Do I try and treat this illness my tank might be carrying or do I just keep it how it is and just cull the suspect fish (platties) as I said before if I lose these fish I wont mind - I would rather have baby angels that swollen platties... :-?

Right Im convinced I gotta try it . Any idea on the price...? Ive added the salt but I was wondering when to either add more or do a water change then add more or just leave it as it is, as it is due for the weekly water change. I dont think any have gotten worse yet, but the plattys that look suspect, well still look like that - suspect. They seem to be the most effected. Is it me or do these fish just seem disease prone? but thanks for the response so far people.

This Tetracycline is this a general antibiotic or is there a fish version?... most info I found was that it was used for human infections...?

I asked similar questions about babies tears a little while ago and got a great reply from Paul http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewto ... ight=#8303 though I must say I have been too busy at the mo http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=964 to use the info given and track it down.

Thanks for the tip Dambarwa I will have to investigate that one. After ringing around and seeing what was recommended I decided to attempt Brooklands tonic salt and Melafix ( This was recommended by a prominent pet/fish store in Auckland) I was a bit reluctant but I had to do it - I had to remove the filter carbon from the filter. With the hard bit over and done with I then administered the directed amount of salt which was like over half the 600g bag (dissolved in water and put in the tank over a two hour period) and the melafix. So no more dead fish yet so that is good I guess. Though saying that all the other fish I disposed of were not dead - but floating contagions... So I will observe and see what happens. I should do a large water change at some time, yes/no? oh one more thing I HATE O-RINGS!!!

Hi goldie I know what your saying about the tank cycling but I didnt have much choice as I took the tank and fish which was already setup so I tried to minimize stress as much as possible through through various means. But the thing is the damage is done or still is doing, and I have to contain it or somehow or stop it from spreading to others... they say that once the fish starts to bloat it is already too late for it and irreversible damage is done internally.It looks to me that a number of fish have swelling already does this mean they are all doomed? But hey I should have the test kits ! I will endeavor to obtain them - anyone recommend an accurate and reliable product....? I guess the thing is it could of been many possibilities and all admittedly MY FAULT FROM A LACK OF PROPER MAINTENANCE but hey Im still learning so mistakes are inevitable :oops: So where do I go from here... Im going to try the salt thing. I was thinking I would go to the supermarket and get a big bag of sea salt and dose the tank I have to do the whole tank as I dont have a separate tank to medicate them as this would be impractical as well too stressing on the whole any way. I hope this thread becomes useful for anyone who has this problem or wil will have in the future...

The Dreaded Dropsy... I have come to the assumption that my fish have Dropsy. Ive had to dispose of 3 fish now which I believe have all had it some way or form, here is what led me to belive that this was/is the case Most fish have a degree of stomach swelling or bloating, the first fish (mature x-ray tetra) I disposed of had the "pine cone" effect with extruding scales. The second fish (mature platty) I found floating on the water surface on its side, when I went to inspect it it swam away only to return to its side floating position somewhere else in the tank this also had bloating. The third (another xray) I found with an effected swim bladder swollen belly and a tiny bit of pine cone effect. Ive been doing some reading on the condition and it seems there is a lot of differing opinions but mostly all concluding with the rather disheartening fact that its fatal and incurable... Hopefully I have caught it early in the other fish (not all have symptoms) and I can treat them - a lot of suggestions for using sea or cooking salt and antibiotic foods. General opinion is that medications dont seem to help much ?... Has anyone encountered this problem before? I am under the general impression that it is stress related, I recently set up the tank, but hey there could be a multitude other reasons Tomorrow (today) Im gonna go buy some decent test kits ammonia,nitrites,nitrates medications and some decent salt. any help on this would be great