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Yeah, make sure you cover it with lots of gravel. I had problems with Daltons making my water a thick brown, took days to clear up but I put a lot in (10kg in a 200L tank hehe). I had covered it in gravel but two areas not quite covered and as soon as any water current hit them they picked up. If you do things a bit more reasonable, say 3mm of Daltons and 40mm of gravel, or just a few handfuls here and there, everything will be fine. I used too much Daltons, and not enough gravel. Some people use a mix of daltons aquatic and daltons propagating sand. I'm not sure how they got past the dirty water though?? But anyway with the drama all over, the good news is I wont need to add any JBL Balls for a few years to come 8) I've got a thick bedding of fertilised clay under my gravel now. Gravel you can get from lots of places, Mitre 10 or your local fish store for example, but make sure to check out your local landscape suppliers too.

Yep thats normal. Most cichlids have the ability to lighten or darken in the space of a couple of seconds depending on mood. They disappear when the fish is sleeping or stressed. A happy and setlled angelfish will have strong dark black markings. Sometimes it can take them a while to settle in to a new tank, or get used to goings on outside the aquarium, or get used to their tank mates.

Nice sword evil!! Mine was behaving normally until recently when I added Potassium to the tank, now I have about 10 flower buds (most out of the water) and about 6 or so new marble swords. Its spending all its energy reproducing so the main plant itself is 'bleh'. It was no where near 60cm, more like 15cm.

Alternatively, return the HOB filter and get something that fits

Formalin is for parasites isnt it? Furan2 is the only anti-bacterial product available without a prescription Pretty sure you've had an ammonia spike or similar (have you cleaned the filter recently, or used a product like Meth Blue?). With the cleaner water the fish should start to improve on their own. Changes in water conditions can leave fish very susceptible to bacterial infections or parasites etc Adding Aquarium Salt to the tank temporarily will be beneficial (half dose if you have loaches etc in there). I prefer using salt baths in buckets outside the aquarium, but am a tad nervous about giving out instructions on that because it's not a very accurate science.

haha awesome Most fun we have with our fish is the oscars. We rearrange the large rocks in their tank and move stuff around. They pack a fit and start digging holes, testing out new caves, trying to push slate rocks / boulders they dont like. Cracks me up. We also had a green severum (RIP) who hated heaters, he'd pull them off the side of the tank, bite them, wack them, and try to cover them in stones.

Are they still gasping at the surface? We're going to need a lot more details. Specifically what each fish looks like, any abnormalities, their behaviour etc

Yeah, the official recommendation is to rinse it in water taken from the fish tank (same temp, same pH etc). Using water thats too cold or too hot can kill the nitrifying bacteria causing an ammonia and (later) nitrite spike. I use the tap, but make sure its similar to the tank temp, we've got one of those hot/cold mixers. Anyway, if fresh water helped, that may be why, just an idea anywho.

greenbait fritters eh? :lol:

How much water did you change and how did you clean the filter? and was that before they started going to the top or after? Sorry for all the questions :oops: , just seeing if I can find the cause. Are they looking any better with the fresh water?

Congrats on the spawn 8) Adding snails to the tank will prevent uneaten food from building up. To get rid of algae, simply wipe it off the glass. To do a partial water change what you can do is use airline tubing, then put a net at the end of it, so if you do accidently catch a few babies you'll be able to return them to the tank quickly I flick the air tube around a few cm in each direction to scare the fry away, but often 1 or 2 are too curious :roll: Remember with young fry, when replacing the water to make sure its the same temp and to add the water slowly. I'm not sure if water changes on week old Gouramis are a good idea or not, the above advice is just what I use for cichlid fry.

Test your tap water too. I'm not sure if 2ppm is bad or not but your LFS should stock a product called PhosZorb, which will remove phosphates from the water, goes in the filter.

Yeah if it was over new years it'd have no affect now. What have you done with the tank (other than feeding) in the last week? No leftover food or anything in the tank maybe? Does your water have an odour? (It should smell like wet dirt or no odour). I'm just poking around for possibilities. Did the fish perk up at all after that water change?

How long have you had the tank setup? What have you done with your tank (except feeding) in the last week?

Do a large water change, approximately 50%. If they improve within a few minutes, then its water quality. Also make sure the surface of the water is being disturbed by a filter or similar enough to keep the water oxygenated. How long ago was the ammonia problem? What filtration are you using? How big is the tank? I can't say for sure what to do with your angel, personally I'd put him down or double-dose him with Furan2 and cross my fingers. Thats just what I'd do, not necessarily the right thing. If you decide to put him down the fastest way is to put him in a bag and wack him over a hard table , if you want to avoid the nightmares you can get clove oil at your local chemist, cost me $9 for a small bottle but you dont use much and its great for toothache too!

The 'K' rating (kelvins) is the colour temperature. 2700-3100K is normal indoor (yellow bulbs) 6500K-8000K is daylight (nice bright white) 10,000K is a very sharp white Over 10,000K and it gets a blue tinge. Not sure about all these "LifeGlo" and "PowerGlo" tubes though. I had to get one for my Jebo, apparently its 18,000K :roll: :roll: looks to be more like 7000K. I didn't find 10,000K tubes produced algae any worse than 6500K, and my plants seem to do equally well in anything 6500-10,000K

If its highly stocked, and you've slipped on doing water changes, its probably nitrates You can buy a test kit if you want a definate answer but I'd say its a fairly good educated guess. I've got an overstocked slightly neglected 3ft tank here, and I do it on purpose to get the high nitrates because it makes my java moss grow like crazy It wont grow at all in my clean tanks Using Flourish Excel or CO2 etc will certainly work (until you stop using it) by making the plants use the nitrates up faster. Both my Jebo tank and the 3ft started getting algae when I stopped religously doing weekly 25% changes. My solution was to add bristlenose just to clean up the algae and leave the ntirates for my plants. My only gripe with Excel is the cost and how much you have to use. Certainly a fantastic product though.

Remember Flourish and Flourish Excel are very different products. Phosphates shouldn't be a problem if you're doing weekly partial water changes. Feeding stuff like frozen bloodworms can raise it though. Some young bristlenose might be the answer. I've got a Jebo R338 and it was developing the brown algae near the bottom of the tank, put in some baby bristlenose and viola no algae

caserole is saying there is no point buying the JBL stuff to absorb the iron if you dont have undergravel heating. I'm using Daltons Aquatic mix ($9.95 for 10Kg), I wasn't happy about the mess it creates when first setup but now that its cleared its fine and the plants love it, although now I have a cyano problem starting :roll: I'm guessing the JBL mixes for aquariums dont have the muddy water problems.

I use rock salt at times, but its not recommended because it can contain random impurities. Table salt is fine except it has a small amount of Iodine in it. There is some debate over whether that is bad or not. I use table salt for baths etc but dont use it in tanks/brine shrimp hatcheries. Tonic Salt is the best bet, and its cheap from your local pet store. Its just normal non-iodised salt.

Bristlenose dont jump. Most important thing is good water quality. Use a sponger filter or similar, preferably one that has been cycled in another tank already. If thats not available, use some gravel from an already established tank to help seed the new one. Set the temp at around 28C. I raised mine at 30-32C but 28C is a safer bet. Feed daily one slice of courgette and the occasional algae tablet. Make sure to have wood as well. To feed courgette you need to weight it down, plant weights work, I used to use old keys and I've seen people use teaspoons etc I did this and got really good growth with my GBAs. Make sure the water is clean, if in doubt, do a partial water change.

Name: Jonathan or Jono Age: 25 Family: Only child Pets: 1600L of heated tropical fish goodness Job: Internet Developer Hobbies: Fish, and Cars Engaged to Helen, we're getting married on the Labour Day Currently driving a 1992 E36 BMW 325i and a 1989 Mazda MX5. Also have a 1989 BMW 535i and a 1982 Mitsubishi Starion GSR-X (I love the old girl). I also love playing pool, so anybody from Lower Hutt feel free to challenge me 8)

If your ammonia is 0, and its just one fish, I'd point to bad luck and fish stress (cardinals are wild caught). Unfortunately it can be just a part of the hobby at times. Saving the fish is often more expensive than replacement, however normally you get enough warning to visit the pet store or vet if needed to save your little buddies. Sorry for your loss. I just had to put down a Dwarf Gourami with dropsy

My parents had a pond they built, about 3m x 2m x 0.5m. Filled with river rocks, goldfish, lillies etc They found the pond lining was unreliable, and if they got a tiny hole the pond would start draining. The end result was to use pond liner, then covered with rocks and concrete. They didn't paint the concrete etc, so I'm guessing the fish didn't mind the high pH (goldfish). Another important lesson they learned was drainage. Water either from the pond being overflowed or dripping or whatever was causing the area to be always damp and muddy, so one of those plastic drainage tubes was installed under the pond when it was redone in concrete. The pipe went to a lower part of the section and worked a treat.

For a 440L tank, that flow doesn't sound too high, especially if you diffuse the output of the powerheads as suphew has suggested. Discus are best in groups of 3 or preferably more, and appreciate dither fish. Dither fish (like cardinal tetras) will show the discus its safe to come out. With other discus and dithers, they'll come out a lot more.