venustus

Wok, Yeah, the goldies poop a lot!!! :lol: Caryl, I've never tried cannisters (expense & plumbing :-? ), I use HOB. I do water changes every other week and vacuum when I do. Not that big a deal. It just sounded like some were looking for a way to not have to do maintenance. :-? Suphew, I've never had any luck with plants (w or w/o UGF), can't afford lighting & co2. So plants aren't an issue for me, I use silk for decoration and chuck them when they get funky :lol: Joze, Wish I could find a setup like that! Keri Ann, Right you are, high water movement is a must, pretty much no matter what type filter is used. :bounce:

My husband had kept fish years ago and I bought the 1st tank to respark his interest (he needed a hobby!) but it backfired and I caught the bug! :lol: The LFS said UGF's were "old technology" and no longer needed. Hubby argued they may be "old school" but still very beneficial. I've tried just power filters several times and had to admit "hubby was right" the water just doesn't stay as clear. I actually use both, I run UGF's in all my tanks (except salt) I've had power heads die and the UGF works until I notice and fix it and vice versa. They do require a little more work, but if you are looking for "maintenance free" buy a screen saver! :lol:

That's heartbreaking! Isn't it ironic? To be able to bring more tourists, they are destroying the main thing they come to see in the first place :roll:

Fluid didn't run out, I drew it out with the syringe. It did ok for about 3 days, But as I expected it started to swell again (since I didn't find the root cause). It finally got tired of fighting and was laying upside down on the bottom when I got home from work. When I tried to net it, it tried to swim off. Finally decided it was time to give up, I gave it the "freezer bag" treatment Only good news is 3 other neons and 4 cory cats are doing fine and showing no signs of problems. I had moved everyone else out of the tank last week

Glad to hear that It's kind of a "catch 22" if they want to bail, they can find even the smallest opening. Once had a pleco (in freshwater of course) bailed out through a 1 inch opening beside the filter

OK Caryl, But don't you agree, that's still too darn HOT? :lol:

p.s. I forgot you guys use celsius, here in the U.S. we still use farenheit, don't know the conversion :oops: Just too darn HOT!

Hi Skippy, I don't know how your tank is set up, but watch for temp. changes with lid closed. I had my tank running for about 6 months (open lid) firefish gobie bailed out. I closed the lid so no one else would follow his lead. I didn't think about heat accumulating from the lighting :oops: Next thing I knew temp. had crept up to 88! (it took about a week) I know I should have noticed sooner, but sometimes I barely have time for feeding and head count! Luckily only 1 casualty, but of course it was my favorite. My flame angel!

Nope, didn't think so... http://community.webshots.com/photo/552486858/2067045680052341469zLXXMs

Let's see if this works

Hi Fishboi, On mine it's not dropsy, I've seen that before. I tried another epsom salt bath yesterday (seemed to help the 1st time). While in the bath I noticed the swollen area was actually transparent (accepting the poor thing is probably going to die anyway) I tried an experiment, I inserted a very small syringe and drew out about a teaspoon of fluid. Fish showed no signs of distress and so far, as of this morning, looking much more comfortable. Since I still haven't determined why it's retaining the fluid, I don't expect it to solve the problem, but at least it won't "bust" from the swelling. Hi Kyle, Sorry to hear about your goldfish. Perking up like that is typical, it's usually a fish's only defense. Look and act as healthy as you can so you don't get eaten! :roll: (it's kind of like that where I work too!!) :lol:

Hi Rebecca, Thanks, and good luck. Everyone told me to start with the largest tank I could, and they were right! The more water volume, the less chance for abrupt changes. Things can go really wrong, really fast in a small setup. But I started small anyway, I didn't have room or $ for the setup I would have liked! Also I wanted to find out if it was worth it before I sunk the $ in it. It has made it a bit more challenging. If I had it to do over I would wait until I could start larger.

This is the Cichlid tank, and one of Hubby's hobby that ended up in the wrong folder http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=105168585&security=MBHPRe This is a 12 gallon nano setup: http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=187500092&security=AnhgyK Some of my Bettas: http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=199438058&security=HxZWrm I need to do some updating and add some when I get time. Thanks again for all the "welcomes"!

Hi Mustcooktea, Hubby had no interest, 1st tank was a 30 gallon hex (not very good for cichlids) so we didn't keep it long. This is my 1st salt tank: http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=187501803&security=rPnpFW p.s. Got pics mixed up, needless to say flame gourami doesn't belong in this album :oops:

I've been keeping fish for about 5 years now, currently have 6 tanks running. 4 fresh, 2 salt and various individuals. I bought my 1st tank as an anniversary present for my husband (I knew nothing about keeping fish) He had kept fish years ago and I was hoping to restart his interest (tired of hearing about work, work, work!) Anyway, it backfired and I got bitten by the bug :lol: 75 gal. Mixed cichlids 30 gal. - 1 Clown, 1 Pajama Cardinal and 1 Yellow Watchman Gobie 20 gal. 8 Angfa Rainbows and a Royal Pleco 16 gal. Community- Cardinals, White Clouds, a Dwarf Gourami and a Tiger Pleco 12 gal. Nano (running, but currently no inhabitants) 7 gal. Community (my little girl's tank, of course mommy takes care of it) 3 Rasboras, 3 Cardinals, 3 Black Neons, 3 Featherfin Rainbows and a Gold Nugget Pleco Individuals include: a Gold Killie, 2 Paradise Fish, 5 Bettas and a gGuppy

Hi Alan, It's no longer in isolation. Only in a 7 gal. going to move other fish to another tank. Hi Antwan, Actually it's that big on both sides, looks like it swallowed a grape whole! :lol: I had thought about the "squeezing" option, but read it could cause hemoraging. As long as the poor little guy is still hanging in there, I don't want to do anything to cause it's demise. Beside, I've seen men with "beer bellies" like that live for quite some time! :oops: Anyway, thanks again everyone!

Thanks, I appreciate all your input. One funny thing, when this first started, I put it in an isolation box while feeding the others. I promptly sunk to the bottom an laid on it's side, I thought sure it was done for. After about 15 minutes of that, I turned it loose and it swam off like nothing had happened. That was over a week ago. It did fine in both of the epsom salt baths, I guess it just didn't like that box! BTW I guess it is pretty old (for a tetra) it's about an inch and a half. Thanks again!

Oops! clicked wrong button :oops: http://www.fishaholics.org/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=890

One of my 4 black neons has become extremely bloated. I've had it for about 2 years. In a 7 gal. bowfront with 4 cardinals 3 rasboras and 3 feather fin rainbows. No new fish added lately, everyone else ok. Amonia, nitrite and nitrate all .0 and Ph about 6.8. Regular weekly water changes about 25%. Temp 78 with 110 penguin bio wheel and under gravel filter marineland powerhead. Not dropsy, acting and swimming normal, still eating, no raised scales. I tried epsom salt bath (2 tsp. per gallon) about 20 min. Seemed to be working at first, reduced size by about half, then stopped and started to swell again. 2 days later tried another epsom salt bath (35 min.), no change. I fed boiled shelled peas this morning and just added 1 tsp epsom salt to tank about 30 min. ago. Any other suggestions?