whetu

Oh that's sad. I have heard a lot about new clown loaches not thriving and fading away like this, but not older loaches in well-established tanks. Keep a close eye on your other loach just in case it was something that might have infected that one too. RIP little fish.

How did this little piggy get to market? The swine flew!

Hmmm... that all sounds good. A large-ish established tank, with an established community and a loach that has been living in there for a while, and doing well until now... Sound like it's less likely to be a cycling or water quality issue... Is the loach showing any other symptoms of illness? Is it looking skinny with a sunken abdomen? Can you see anything on its skin like a velvety look, or tiny white spots, or red or injured areas? At this stage you should probably set up a hospital/quarantine tank so you are ready to act quickly if you need to isolate the sick fish and/or medicate it. See if you can get hold of a smallish tank, a heater and some kind of small filter (a basic box-type filter is very cheap from a pet store if you don't already have one lying around and can be run from a small air pump). Use old water from your existing tank to set up the new one, and get the temperature etc as close as you can to the existing tank, so it's ready to go if/when you need it.

Sound like it might be a cycling issue. If you moved "all the baby fish and mothers ready to drop fry" into what I'm assuming is a small, uncycled tank, then a few days later the babies started dying, it sounds like the ammonia may be building up. Here are my suggestions: 1) Do a water change with water from your established tank 2) Test the water from your new tank for ammonia and nitrites (or take a sample to a fish shop and ask them to test for you) 3) Come back here and tell us the results of the tests. Also, what size tank is it? What kind of filtration system are you using? You might be able to help matters by using some media out of your established filter in your new tank - even if you're just running an airline or sponge filter in your new tank you could still set up a system for moving water through some old filter media which may help the situation.

You don't have to worry until your sneezes start sounding like "achoink!" and/or you get an uncontrollable urge to say "th-th-th-that's all, folks!"

Clown loaches are fantastic snail-eaters and great community fish. The fact that you have a 600 litre tank to move them to as they grow means you are one of the few people I know who actually has the right conditions for clown loaches! Now I'm jealous! :lol: I used to have a lot of snails, but haven't seen a single one in the years that I've had the clowns. I have even introduced plants from other tanks that I know for sure have baby snails and eggs on them, but still no sign of snails in my tank.

Yep, learning is what it's all about! :bounce: It's really good that you're getting all this kind of stuff sorted first and not rushing in to adding the fish. The most stressful thing for fish is sudden changes in pH, so avoid pH swings like the plague (or like the swine flu...). I would suggest adding some driftwood and the plants, let it all sit for a few days and test again. You may be surprised how much of a difference the wood makes (depending on its type, age, condition, etc.) If it turns the water slightly yellowish, that's great. All part of the good woodness it adds to the water. If after a while of the wood in there you are still determined to lower the pH, try some peat in a mesh bag (or stocking) added to your filter. This has the same effect as adding driftwood only more so, due to the larger surface area etc (peat is basically wood that's breaking down). You can get peat from the same pet store where you got the "pH Down." Adding peat will give you much more stable results than adding pH Down because the water will just leach out the amount it needs at a steady rate, rather than you having to measure and add chemicals.

What kind of loaches do you have? I have clown loaches and they have never shown any signs of aggression to another fish in my tank. (Although they do squabble amongst themselves quite a lot! :roll: ) Like I said, I have never lost a fish while I have been away, despite having a mixed community tank. At various times I have had tetras, barbs and danios in there with the loaches and they have never touched them.

Ira was just being a smarty-pants. You used the word "contempt" when you meant "content." I would say to Ira "people who live in glass fishtanks shouldn't throw stones" and he'd better watch out next time he uses a word in the wong context! :lol:

Wow, I've only just caught up with this thread and watched the video. Brilliant! Regarding the pollen, it would have to be stored very carefully to remain viable for long. (Very dry, dark, cool conditions - but not in the fridge!) Wouldn't it be great if several people on here could get their plants flowering at the same time and exchange pollen. We could end up with a unique FNZAS hybrid! :bounce: Once again - beautiful flower, stunning video. I'm off to watch it again. :lol:

What kind of decor do you have in your tank? What kind of look are you trying to achieve? Some people love the American-style tanks with fluoro pebbles, bright fake plants and ornaments. Personally that's not my taste - I definitely prefer dark gravel, driftwood and live plants. Look around for photos of what you like, to help narrow down your own preferred style. Then study all the pics carefully and work out what you like about them. Then see if you can reproduce that look in your own tank.

Hard to do any kind of diagnosis without more specific symptoms so... 1) Check the temperature of the water. (Use a thermometer, not the dial on the heater) 2) Do a large water change. 50% may help. Make sure the water has been dechlorinated and ideally slightly warmer than it comes out of the tap. 3) Take a sample of the old water to a fish store and ask them to test the quality - ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH etc... 4) Post back here with more info: How big is the tank? How long have you had it set up? How big is the loach? How long have you had it? What other fish are in there? Have you made any changes to the tank in the past few weeks? (eg introduced new fish, cleaned the filter, put new plants or ornaments in there...) Please get back to us if there are any changes to the clown loach or if any other fish in the tank start behaving oddly.

Feeding while you're at home: In part depends on what kind of fish you have and how many of each. But the basic idea is there should be no food left over so watch your fish while they're eating and, as Alan said, make sure all the food has been eaten in five minutes. For slow-release sinking pellets you can leave them in there longer. Read the instructions on the package for guidelines. Feeding while you're on holiday: I have never, in the many years I've been keeping fish, got someone to feed them while I'm away. Long ago I decided that the risk of a non-fish-person feeding them was much higher than the risk of leaving them unfed. I have never lost a single fish by doing this. Generally if I'm going away for more than a week I take extra steps before I leave. I make sure the fish have been getting a generous diet of high-nutrient foods for a couple of weeks in advance: mosquito larvae, frozen shrimp and/or shrimp pellets. While I'm doing this 'conditioning' I increase the frequency and size of water changes to ensure water quality is the best possible (but I don't clean the filters before leaving! That's another story) Then I just wave goodbye to the fish and walk out the door for a couple of weeks at a time. Like I said, I have never lost a fish with this method, and never seen them looking skinny or sick when I get home. They are always glad to see me though! :lol: My current tank is 1200mm (4ft) long and well planted, so if you have a smaller tank or fewer live plants you may need to take other advice.

I third that opinion! :bounce: Much better to: a) find out why your pH is 7.8 in the first place (does it come out of the tap that way? Or is there something in your tank causing it?) Then... b) fix it with slow, long-term changes or... c) choose fish that are happy with the pH the way it is. Either way, return the pH down to the shop you got it from. If they don't want to give you a refund ask for a store credit for the same value - you will have no problem spending it!

mmmm... watercress and Marmite sandwiches! :bounce: Romeo next time you're down at the creek you should get some for yourself! (But wash well before eating... most creeks aren't as clean as they should be)

That's a very clever design! I like it! :bounce:

Yes, they are two different fish. But unfortunately shops don't distinguish between the two, so they are often mis-labelled and sometimes the fish in a single tank are a mix of the two species. I bought mine from Hollywood Fish Farm in Mt Roskill. They were labelled "black line flying fox" on the tank. I brought them home, put them in my tank, and they have been gobbling up my black beard algae ever since. They are the only answer I have found for my tank, after having tried several other methods for getting rid of the algae. It has been a few months now since I got them and the algae has not returned. I'm delighted!

My planted tank's about that size (1200 x 450 x 400 I think) and I have TWO Eheim cannister filters on it. The advantage of two cannisters is that I can take one off-line and clean it up as much as I like, and know I'm unlikely to cause a mini cycle. Also takes twice as long before they need maintenance so I have a whole heap of redundancy built in. Also if you need to set up an extra tank in a hurry (quarantine, hospital, etc... not implying that you will ever get another real tank of course...) you can just move one of your established filters over. So I would suggest getting the best filter you can for your $200 (oooh... Eheim... mmmmm ) then add it to the tank along with your existing CF1200.

... As Tony Veitch said to the judge...

LOL! Unfortunaltely without any references or links to independent sources, I think you might find this is a hoax

LOL me too and I don't even have a "winkie" ... some threads you wish you'd just never clicked on them... now I just know I'll be drawn back to this thread each time I see it's been updated just to see how it's getting on... :roll:

Ummm... sorry to break it to you but there's no point being shy and typing ple*o when your username is "mr pleco" :-?

What was he doing with his nose in the fish tank?! Pacu are vegetarians as far as I know and don't have the really sharp teeth needed to tear flesh. I wouldn't be surprised if they could break a nose (or a finger) though because they have immense crushing strength in their jaws. Since I read that about them biting off someone's nose I have been imagining some guy looking in the top of the tank at his fish and getting closer and closer until eventually the tip of his nose is in the water.... Pacu says "mmm! a grape!" and the rest is history... Chocolate fish to the first person who can find a video of this on YouTube. Two chocolate fish if you make one and post it up.

Caper has put a very excellent post about cycling a tank. I recommend that the original poster should read that and follow it step by step, and if in any doubt just ask! We will be very happy to help. I also agree that the tank is too small for goldfish. There are a few small fish you can keep in cooler water (white cloud mountain minnows have been mentioned) but you will have a lot more options if you add a small heater to the tank and go for tropical fish instead.

Hi Shyfan, welcometo the site and welcome to the fantastic hobby of fishkeeping! It's great to hear that you're doing research before you start and I understand how it can get confusing when there's so much to know. But that's what keeps the hobby so interesting! I would suggest that the single most important thing to understand about keeping fish is the nitrogen cycle. That explains how fish waste gets turned from deadly poisons into harmless substances in the water. It is vital that a tank goes through the "cycle" before you keep delicate fish in there. I assume you have come across the concept of cycling a tank in your research - but if there is anything you don't understand please feel free to ask lots of questions here and we will help guide you through it. As for first fish, I would highly recommend some of the peaceful barbs (gold, rosy, cherry etc). They have the following advantages: - hardy (can even be used as cycling fish if that's what you choose) - stay reasonably small - compatible with all kinds of other peaceful community fish - colourful and attractive - bold personalities so you will see a lot of them - cheap to buy - easy to breed if you choose to get into that side of the hobby later. You will need to keep them in a school of approximately 6 to 10 fish of a single type. Other people will have other suggestions, so ask lots of questions and hopefully you will find some fish you love! By the way, you don't mention in your profile where you live. I would also suggest visiting people in your area who have established tanks to help you get more ideas.