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I got to eat the chocolate, but my fish got the little plastic egg-thing from the middle of the Kinder Surprise. After removing the toy I punched some holes in the egg with a nail, put a marble in to make it sink, put flake food inside then dropped it in the tank. As soon as it sank the fish were all over it trying to get at the flakes. They took about an hour to eat the same quantity of food that would usually be gone in five minutes. And everyone had a go - loaches, barbs and bristlenoses. At the end of the hour I took the container out and opened it, and the fish had managed to get every last fraction of a flake out of it. I believe in making my fish work hard for their dinner, so this was just the ticket. (And entertained me as a bonus.) :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: LOL @ Stella & museeumchick So far the strangest live thing I have taken to work is some aquatic plants that lived in a bowl in my office until picked up. Even then people were very curious about them - I would hate to think how they would react if I started bring live bugs to work.

Congrats on getting your fish to eat. It can be very stressful when it won't eat and you don't know what else to try to tempt it! Keep trying other foods - you never know when it might suddenly decide it's time for a change. Often it's easier to get fish to try new foods when they are younger. The older they get the more set in their ways (a bit like humans really). :roll:

I second that advice from mickey. I've had five clown loaches for a few years now and they have proved to be very hardy and resilient. I recently bought loach #6 and noticed that the loaches for sale in the shops now are way smaller than they used to be when I bought my first batch (about seven years ago). When I selected the new little guy I noticed a few skinny looking loaches with sunken stomachs. As much as we all take pity on the runt of the litter, you're better off choosing the biggest, healthiest, strongest looking fish in the batch because it has a better chance of survival. Good luck for next time.

Your description of a thick white cloud of slime sounds more like bacteria or fungus rather than algae. Personally I would make sure it's cleared up before you add any fish - much easier to sort it out in a fishless tank than trying to do it later. I suggest washing/scrubbing the wood, boiling it, then returning it to the tank and seeing whether the slime returns. It's possible it's caused by some kind of sap leaching out of the wood - in which case it could keep coming back for a long time. If that is the case, personally I would discard the wood.

I'm lucky enough to work with animators (at South Seas Animation School). One of the guys I work with has been an animator on Yogi Bear, The Smurfs, Scooby Doo, Biker Mice from Mars, Tiny Toons, Dave the Barbarian and a whole bunch of other stuff. He's my hero!

Always allow more time than you think it will take to move the fish! Also warn your helpers in advance that it can be a stressful process so please forgive you if you get a bit snappy by the end of it all! :lol: I have moved bucketloads of fish all over town and have never lost a single one in the process (thank goodness). Just prepare as much as you can in advance at the new place, so as soon as you get the fish there you can concentrate on getting them out of their buckets and back into the tank. If you are going to use heaters in plastic buckets, make sure they can't touch the sides. Safety first! I normally just throw towels or blankets over the buckets to insulate them while I'm preparing the tank. Also of course it helps if you can transport the fish in chilly-bins so they already have some insulation. Good luck, and don't panic!

In winter I use warm tap water for changes, in summer I use cold. If I only had barbs in my tank I would use cold all year round, but I also have clown loaches which are more prone to white spot and like their water warmer, so the warm water changes are for their benefit really. I add dechlorinator to each bucketful as I go - for me it's easy to add a drop while I wait for the bucket to fill, so that's how I do it. Oh and I hang garlic above the tank to deter vampires.

That's definitely a male. Looks like constipation/obstruction to me. You did the right thing trying epsom salts & peas - I don't know anything else you can try. Barbs are quite tolerant of salt (in general) so you could try keeping the water in his hospital tank a little salty. And see if that helps. Sorry I can't be of more assistance. Good luck!

Yeah as far as I can tell there are only two ways of getting rid of it: Physical removal Removal by fish It's convenient that it always floats so physical removal isn't actually that difficult. I just used a net.

Well that was exciting! I counted eight exclamation marks in three posts!! It's fun when some thing can be passed on to a good home!!!

Lucky you're going to be washing a lot of floors in the near future to justify buying it

The ammonia is definitely to do with the tank cycling. Make sure you don't add any more fish until your ammonia and nitrite are both 0. I second the water change. Keep doing large water changes often, until your tank has finished cycling. You have a lot of fish in there for an uncycled tank, so they will be producing a lot of ammonia. I assume all the fish are still small, with the tank being so new, so hopefully it won't be as bad as it sounds! By the way, what kind of algae eater is it? There are several different kinds of fish that could be considered algae eaters. If you don't know the name, describe the fish to us and we will tell you what it is. (Regardless of the type of fish, it is still likely to be the ammonia and/or nitrite that are killing it.)

Yep, keep doing those water changes. Good idea to take a sample to the lfs for a comprehensive test. Let us know the results and we'll be glad to help.

How big is your tank?

Oh! I'm so sorry to hear about your loss

I definitely find loaches are the best snail-ridders around. Because they're always busy actively seeking out the snails, they are an ongoing solution. In my experience they eat all the adult snails, and perhaps they don't eat the eggs but as soon as the new snails hatch out of the eggs they get gobbled before they can reproduce the next generation. I have deliberately put plants in my tank knowing they are full of snails just to give my loaches a snack, and I have never seen the snails again - they certainly didn't get established in my tank.

How are the loaches today?

Raising the temp overnight is a good idea - also keep the tank as dim as you can to keep stress levels down, and make sure it is well covered (stressed fish often jump). I know loaches like dark places to hide and I often put a bit of pipe in a tank for a stressed loach to hide in, but in this case I think it's more important that you can monitor the fish carefully for any changes.

Well from your replies I can't identify anything that might help you... in my experience once you've had clown loaches in a stable tank for several months they are pretty robust. It does seem odd that you have two loaches falling sick at the same time, but with different symptoms. What other fish are in your tank? Often other (more sensitive) fish will show symptoms before the loaches which might give you a clue about what's wrong. One more question: has any salt been added to the tank water at any stage? I have heard that loaches are very sensitive to salt, but I don't know what the symptoms would be.

Yeah and my spelling and grammar were too good. :oops: And I forgot to mention religion. neway ur contry sux. and ur god sux. and ur mom sux. add me as a friend.

Can you tell us more about their situation/their tank? What size is the tank? What kind of filtering system does it have? What is the temperature (have you checked it today?) What is the pH of the water? Have you done any other tests on the water? What have the loaches been eating? Have you noticed anything unusual about the water recently? Colour? Smell? Have you been using any medications, anything to adjust pH, get rid of algae etc? How bg are the loaches and how long have you had them? Have you introduced any new fish recently or made any other changes?

Eeeewwww! Graphic pic. Yep, makes you realise why people don't like the look of it in their carefully aquascaped tanks.

If you're thinking of selling plants on, I think the most important thing from a buyer's perspective is knowing what other organisms they may be getting along with the plants. If you have a plant-only tank, you would need to make sure it is snail-free and algae-free (at least free of the really annoying/invasive algaes). When I sell or give away plants from my tank I can guarantee they are snail-free because I have a bunch of hungry loaches in there! :-?

O I wznt frst ur vid stinx I coulda dun betta myself favorite me coz my vids r sik man :roll: