Adrienne

Okay - I have just googled the stabilizer and it does the same thing as cycling your tank therefore I think your problem has been a sick fish bringing something in to your tank. I'm in Epsom, I will look in the shed tomorrow to see if I have a spare air pump that is not too noisy to loan you and some spare airline tubing. Without an airline I wouldn't suggest you up the temp to 30 degrees. The only thing I can find on the net for accuclear says it is for pond algae. At this stage can I suggest you don't use it as mixing medicines and a lot of other things might be a little hard on the fish. What did the shop sell you to treat the white spot. Most problems can be solved with salt and frequent (at least weekly in a well established tank) water changes which saves a lot of money in the long run.

I would think that your tank is 'cycling' as if you only have 4 fish in it it will have taken a while for the ammonia to build up and for the nitrate and nitrite levels to change. Reduce the amount you are feeding for a few days and keep up with the daily water changes. It should settle shortly and then you will be able to increase your stock of fish

It could be caused by either - a small ammonia spike due to the tank 'cycling' or the second lot of neons you purchased may have 'brought' something nasty into the tank. My suggestion is that you treat for white spot (caused by stress normally) as you are and to do that effectively you need to increase the tank temp to 30 degrees. White spot has a cycle of 7 days and therefore you will need to treat for this length of time. Each day you will need to do a part water change and vacuum (syphon) up any muck that has accumulated in the bottom of the tank. To help your fish cope with the increase in temperature you will also need to add oxygen to your tank via an airline connected to a pump. You may not have one of these but if you let us know where in the country you live someone may be able to loan you one. Normally when fish are at the top of the tank gasping it is because they are trying to get more oxygen into their systems. You can also help white spot by adding salt - not table salt - but rock salt (from the supermarkets next to the table salt) at the amount of 1 gram per litre of water in the tank. If you do this you will need to measure the amount of water you take out during a water change and replace this with the same amount of water and added salt (water evaporates but salt does not). Salt is a good cure all and all the fish you have will happily cope with this amount in your tank. Just one question - the stabilizer you are using, is this for pH?

Hi and welcome, As asked above, how big is your tank, what sort of filter, do you have gravel and plants, do you have an airline (bubble blower). You say your tank has been set up for three months so after the first lot of fish died what did you do with your tank? When you got your next lot of fish over a month what order did you get them in and how long have the ones that died been in the tank? Do you do water changes and if so how do you do them, how often do you do them and how much do you do at one time? I know it seems like a lot of questions but the more info you can give the more help we can hopefully be :roll: There have been a few new fnzas forum members on here in the last few weeks with similar problems. Don't let it put you off fishkeeping, its a great hobby

If I was you I wouldn't add anything else to increase the weight on the tank base. Are you able to put plywood and polystyrene underneath the whole tank to provide bracing? Maybe I am being too cautious as initially it may seem okay but it will only take a rock to drop and the base will very likely crack (this is coming from someone who had a 100 litre tank split the other evening and deposit nearly all the water over the shed floor before it was discovered). Driftwood may be okay if it is light and as it doesn't have sharp edges.

Nice bookmarks Theres nothing wrong with those pics either Caryl

Morcs advise as to raising the pH for fish is good. Before you get the puffers you will need to stabilise the pH at the level you want if you want the fish to stay healthy. By doing it the way Morc has suggested it is much better than using pH up which can be purchased in a bottle (this is only a temporary measure and doesn't keep it there in the long run). With planted tanks and tanks containing driftwood - the driftwood does lower pH and as the tank matures the pH will also lower, I don't run CO2 so can't comment on that. However your pH sits, a stable pH is way better than one that varies as this puts a lot of stress on your fish.

Just want to thank everyone who has contributed to this You will be pleased to know that today I have finally identified my King Tiger in my tank I was really worried that something had happened to him but no, there he was, behind the heater Thanks again

shoot one and hang it in the middle of the paddock - it works for blackbirds so why not pukekos We used to hand a blackbird in the middle of our cherry tree to keep the other birds away

I'm happy to wait until they get bigger and see what they turn out like One of them has already grown quite a bit and its markings are clearer than the others heres a pic taken a couple of days ago

whats wrong with the pH at that level mine runs lower than that yet comes out of the tap way higher

I don't think its the water as I am on the same supply as you and have had absolutely no problems with the water FYI black beard algae is the bane of the planted tank world

Good to hear its all cleared up - often with fry they grow at different rates and the biggest problem is that the smaller one will find it harder to compete for food so it may not be the whitespot thats slowed this one down When you feed just make sure that what ever it is it is small enough for the smallest platy mouth Keep up regular water changes as part of the routine but they will not need to be daily You've done a great job

thanks but apparently he belongs to the school next door and lives in the biology outdoor ponds by the science labs He's free to come and go as he pleases as he has done today so we've taken him back or at least put him over the fence where he headed off back to the ponds

I will phone the school tomorrow (and try and get hold of the caretaker) as apparently its done the wander before into our school site Maybe no one knows it exists :roll:

It appears that the turtle has come from the outdoor ponds in the biology area of the school next door - it apparently lives outside year in year out and travels around as it wishes so I guess we'll have to leave it - its now out of the pond, has dried itself and has moved into the shade

Thanks - I pm'd you as well What should I contain it in I have a spare 4ft tank - no water but its only 4ft X 1ft X 1ft

A turtle about 15cm has arrived today at our place by itself and I happen to know no one around here owns it currently its taken itself to our very small pond i can't look after it as don't have a tank big enough any suggestions

A turtle with about a 15cm shell has just walked into our place and past the door, suggestions as to what to do with it please I happen to know no one around here owns one as it is a school site with very few residential staff Its just launched itself into our very tiny outdoor pond

Thanks firenzenz - the King Tiger, Tiger and Chocolate Zebs were all bred in NZ, the rest were either imported or sold to LFS

I've decided that in about 6-8 weeks or sooner if I move my fighters out of their tank that I will catch the plecs and remove the 3 chocolate zebs to their own tank - next time I will keep plecs that look similar seperate but at the stage of purchase I hadn't considered I would acquire more However this thread certainly shows how confusing it can be when faced with photos to ID fish

Welcome to the forums (before I start can I please explain that my fullstop on my keypad refuses to work ) There are many different types of substrate you can use ranging from sand of varying colours to rocks, some you can put fertilisers under and some you can't Stone and Water world in Ellerslie have heaps of different types or if you have a read through various posts in this site you will see and find out what others use Shells can be used however they do tend to raise the pH level of your tank While most cichlids love high pH some of the other fish will not thrive in it My best suggestion to you is to read through here, ask lots of questions to which you will get varying replies and answers, decide what you think would be right for you and give it a go

how do you mean about the tail

Thanks Skippy - I've amended the last lot of pics Now I shall go and study how to tell the king tiger and the chocolate zebra apart - may be simple but I haven't yet studied planet catfish

This is one of my L270's This is one of my 'pretty peckoltias' which everyone reckons is 'maccus' These were the L066 & L270 when I got them and this was the L226 Tiger