purplecatfish

Having seen everyones bathtub on the recent tankcrawl I have BT envy and I'm thinking of getting one myself :lol: Wok's one with the keystone around it looks very nice and tidy and is highly recommended

Animall in Avondale has the aquatic mix

I'm using Flourish excel for plant growth between 2 to 4 times the dose because they are heavily planted tanks. But I've found that the algae comes back if I use any ferts with iron (or phosphorus), so I'm just using potassium and generally keeping it all under control. But I wouldn't expect to see any effect after such a short time because (as I understand it) the Flourish gets rid of the algae by helping the plants to out compete for nutrients and the algae then starves. I used to get outbreaks after doing a good gravel vacuum when I was using a product with minute amounts of phosphorus (about .03%) because the phosphorus that had settled to the bottom got disturbed and distributed through the water column. As aquatic plants have minimal phosphorus requirements it builds up over time, and it's in the substrate because it's heavier than water. So accordingly it was something that developed after several months. My main algae cause is because of the fact I want to see my fish in the evening so they get a daylength which is too long. You could try keeping the lights to a minimum to starve the algae of light.

I've got aprox 1250L of planted tanks which I've been adding fert daily, so quite a bit I guess. I've tried the local hydroponics store but they only have standard plant products with phosphrus in them which would lead to algae problems.

Hi Sharn. Yeah I'll be doing the 2nd dose just before Christmas . Thanks for the offer for the meds , I've got enough for the 2nd round I think, but probably not enough for a 3rd. I'll let everyone know how the other two pairs of angels go on the other meds just for a comparison.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I thought I might update you all after the first round of dosing. I decided to transfer the two angels and the worst affected molly to another tank that had no gravel and some surplus guppies. I needed to treat this tank because the mollies had lived here for a few weeks while I found homes for the other angels who were constantly harassing them. As the guppies are expendable it was a chance to experiment with the dose rate. I used Levicare which has 40% levamisol to make up a 2% concentration in the tank, having first done an approximately 80% waterchange. After two days the molly no longer had any worms showing and the ones showing on the angels looked like they were dying so I did another 80% water change. I then transferred the molly to the original tank to which I added 15ml of the meds to give a concentration of 2mg/L. This means that the 1st molly is a couple of days ahead of the rest of the tank residents as far as exposure is concerned. I did as large a water change as I could (about 60%) but as the bristlenoses had spawned in the log I couldn't do more. So far everything is going well. Everyone is happy, the last of the worms are dead on the last angel (and they are enjoying the guppy fry who aren't happy). Just for the record the water changes were done straight from the garden hose with 40ml of Stressguard added in the 300L tank. Readings before the change were pH 7.2 KH 5deg Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, Iron, Phosphate all zero. After the change pH was 7.2, KH 3deg. All the residents are coming out more now the Angels are elsewhere so I don't think I'll return them to the 300L tank once this is over.

I don't think wisdom and bureaucracy go together in the same paragraph let alone the same sentence. Davidb is right on this one. The most likely cause of the world wide epidemic that has resulted in frog populations being decimated, often in remote locations, and often by more than 90%, is probably the scientists who were studying them transmitting the fungus. And there's sections of the Wildlife Act which prevent you from keeping them in captivity. Anyone up for forming the ALF (amphibian liberation front). Free the Frogs :lol: Equal rights for Tadpoles :lol:

You can get Flourish Potassium from your LFS. But I'm trying to find some Potassium Sulphate or similar potassium product to make my own liquid feed. Is there someone who is doing this already, or maybe one of those people who makes PMDD (poor mans dosing drops) could tell us where they get their chemicals? And what the actual potassium content is?

Yellowing can sometimes be caused by trace element deficiency such as iron. But in this case it's probably lack of nitrogen and you might be able to add more fish . I fertilise with liquid potassium which is sometimes the limiting nutrient to plant growth. More Potassium helps the plants to use the available Nitrates (and also starves algae) so that I often get very low nitrate levels considering the number of fish in my tanks. The plants then act as a sink for the nutrients/fish waste and then are likely to need constant pruning or thinning out. I wholeheartedly agree with Alanmin4304's comment re root feeding. Most plants except floating plants will derive much of their trace element needs from their substrate so feeding the water makes those nutrients available to algae as well whereas poking fert pellets into their basket makes them available to the plants before the algae can get a look in. The test from my 5ft tank this weekend was zero ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, 5KH (hardness) and a pH of 7.2 (unusally high for this tank). I've been double dosing with Flourish excell and adding Seachem's potassium daily. My plants include twisted val which is known by some to melt from the Flourish excell, however mine doesn't.

Technically releasing any organism into a waterway that does not already exist there requires a permit from DOC for approx $5000. This includes releasing native fish . I know this because I have recently looked at removing Gambusia from a pond at work and wanted to replace them with native whitebait for mosquito control. We would also need a permit from Fish and Game to transport live whitebait. All of this because I want to do "the right thing" and get rid of one of their unwanted organisms.

My favorite choices for small tanks are: Glosso, Anubias nana, and some of the smaller crypts . Keep these thoughts in mind when planning and doing your research: Try not to cram in too many varieties. That would cause the aquascape to look too busy. Choose 1 specimen or a group of three, avoid using a pair or a group of four. Start with your hardscape: either rock, driftwood or ornament will form the bones for the softscape. Check out plantgeek.net 8) Most important: get lots of advice, then ignore it and do what you feel is right.

Piperazine is the active ingredient in some cat worming tablets that can be bought from supermarkets. It's also one of the ingredients in party pills. Dose rate is supposed to be 25mg per 10gm of flake food for five to ten days Fenbendazole is a generic wormer, like levamisole, but it's dose rate is 200mg per 100gm of food for three days Ivermectin is also a possible solution but there is a very narrow margin of safety. Part of the problem is that these are theoretical and the research often turns up variation in dose rates and frequencies. Also the concentration of the medication before dosing/diluting isn't given

Hi Evilknieval , I started this thread because I wanted advice from someone with actual experience in treating these :evil: parasites (thanks again antwan ). The theoretical research is the easy part and it goes something like this: Camallanus is a genus of roundworms/nematodes with about 27 species. They have a life cycle which requires an intermediate host and can have 5 stages in their life-cycle (not including eggs). It is a livebearer as the eggs develop inside the female before being released as a motile larvae which sit in the bottom of the water column. The 5th stage can live for almost six months, the early couple of stages are usually about 2 weeks. However us fishkeepers have been exerting an evolutionary pressure on these parasites and it has been shown in Norwegian studies that C. cotti, (which is one of the more common aquarium species), can now reproduce with both direct and indirect life-cycles. I've recently given two pairs of angels to a friend who is going to try the piperazine treatment (Angels on party pills :lol: ). While I'm going to try the levamisole method (we are currently waiting for the meds to show up). At least he is in a situation where the fish have only been in the tanks for a week so there won't be a a large population of larvae to deal with. Oh and I've just found a dead Hara Hara Cat in the tank

Oh and I forgot to mention its a 305 litre tank so a 90% water change will mean I have to age about 270 litres of water. I guess I'll need to get a couple of wheelie bins or something.

Hi Caserole I meant as well as a gravel vac. The tank is quite heavily planted in some places with large pieces of swamp wood and some kiaua rocks (Echinodorus specimens with clumps of crypts in the mid ground, twisted val back ground and glosso ground cover) and I'm not sure that I can give all the gravel a really good vacuum. How do I tell if the infestation is bad? :-? The angels have been spawning with it but I now think it was the cause of some molly deaths a few months back. Also what would a good antibiotic to use? Thanks for the luck and advice. Time to go home and see how they're doing.

Thanks Antwan. Wow a 90% waterchange , any hints on how to reduce the shock beside stressguard. And I've got glosso as a ground cover so vacuuming up the cyst/larvae stages is going to be awkward. What does everyone think about doing a third treatment?

Is there someone who has successfully treated their tank for these parasites :evil: . I know how to identify them (red worm protruding from the vent) and I have heard that effective treatments include: levamisole, fenbendazole and piperazine (I find it hilarious to think of fish on party pills :lol: (and nightclubbers on cat worming tablets :lol: )) What I can't find, is agreement on dosing. How much? How often? For how long? What water change regime is necessary between doses? My angels and mollies definitely have them but it doesn't seem to affect the angels spawning. Other tank residents are Bristlenoses (who are also breeding), Chain Loaches, Skunk Loaches, and Hara Hara Cats (aka Asian moth Cats).

Just what is a fluid bed? :-? I have visions of a waterbed bladder set into a lawn next to an outdoor pond :lol: . Could be a very nice way to watch the goldfish, especially on a nice summers day with a glass of bubbles 8)

Awesome Thats one beautiful fish

It could be algae, use a bit of filter wool or some white cloth and scoop some up. If it's green it's probably a summer algae bloom.

Can anyone answer these questions about using liquid prazi for gill flukes? Where is a good place to buy some in Auckland? And what is the cost/volume/dose? How many times do you need to dose? And how often? Are there any problems associated with its use? Is there some things that shouldn't be used at the same time e.g. fertilisers, other medications? Does it work on any other parasites or diseases? Any other advice? Thanks in Advance

Having learnt the hard way I wouldn't advise anyone to add snails to their tank. Apple snails eat everything :roll: , and those pointed pond snail type cause havok with my twisted val :evil: , Ramshorns multiply worse than guppies :-? , and then there's those little flat ones that you just can't get rid of. I have Skunk, Chain, Clown, Yo-yo, and Angelicus Loaches and they couldn't keep up with the pace of the breeding snails once they're out of control. When I set up my new tanks I managed to get it all under control and I now have one tank with Ramshorns which I always crush before giving to the loaches. I keep the water very soft so that the shells are easy to crush. But I'm still having to battle those pond and tiny ones. :evil: :evil: :evil:

Hi Steve, Very sorry to hear about the disaster. I've got some guppies and some bristlenoses that you can have if you want. Cheers, Pete.

I bought them from psycho5 8) on trademe (he lives in Whangaparoa). I haven't seen any of the young ones since I put them all into the big tank (it's 2.5m so that's not surprising) but I'm not sure that they've survived. Anyway this weekend was awesome, both of the females have spawned at the same time for the first time and one of the spawn's is on the exposed side of the tank. So it's snap-happy time with the camera.

I've managed to eliminate chemicals (pH, ammonia, nitrites, phosphates and copper etc) as causes for the following symptoms but I'm wondering what else could be occasionally killing my guppies . It's a reoccuring problem which only affects a few at a time and they live for weeks ( in a hospital tank ) with the symptoms. They get skinny, have red/inflamed gills, and rub themselves on the stones. I've been using Furan2 but the :evil: problem :evil: keeps reappearing every few months.