Adrienne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Clou ... ain_minnow Heaps of info easily available on the net for sexing these fish or for any info you are looking for you can use the search button at the top right of this page. Just pop the main word in and click and it will link you to any posts relevant. As with the majority of fish, the males are more slender and colourful.

Try not feeding for a couple of days and adding epsom salts to the water to help clean the fish out. It may go back in by itself.

If the fish do have worms, what you might be seeing is the worms coming out as a result of dosing with prazi.

Maybe its something your existing guppies had but were more immune to that has knocked off the new one first as no resistance was built up. I await your photos.

I like the 1st from the first post of pics and the last from the 2nd post.

I would tend to go 8 x double T5HO units (3ft) if you are planting it and it is deeper than about 35cm. I am assuming it has multiple braces across the top which you could place lights on. You are talking about ballasts - I think the biggest available is for 54watts which equate to a 4ft light tube.

Clamped fins indicate external parasites - you could dose formalin - nasty stuff though. Can you isolate them by floating a container inside the tank and placing them in that , with an airline?

If it gave you hayfever imagine what it gave to the fish! I am assuming that you checked that the one you were using was safe for aquatic life. It is unlikely that excel killed off your snails. Lack of oxygen is more likely, caused by too much excel. I have to say I still think your problems are related to excel and you are still suffering the aftermath of the overdosing.

Have you snails in the tank - if so, where abouts in the tank are they sitting late evening and early - ish morning (say 6.30am)? Fish losing their colour is not good - unfortunately they will most likely be next. Do you have a spare tank you could start up and transfer the fish to? You can fill a tank and immediately place fish in if you use something like TLC Smart Start. This could work if there is something in the water, not in or on the fish. You would need to use a different heater and filter as well to the one in the current tank. If the damage has been caused by ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or CO2 (excel) poisoning/burns it could take several weeks before the fish succumb to the initial damage. Have any of the other fish lost their colour? No one has sprayed or bombed the house recently for pests?

Aquatic mix is the fertiliser. If you have that as fertiliser your swords will grow just fine. What do you have over it as a substrate to stop it being disturbed by water changes etc? My previous tank had that with daltons propagating sand over it.

Your tank is exactly the same size as mine. To get to 60cm with enough light to get down to the substrate of the tank you have you will need as least as much light as I do. I run 2 x double 54w T5H0 on my tank - 3 of these bulbs are arcadia plant tubes and the 4th is an Aqua one sunlight bulb for white light. I also run a twin 54 watt T8 light unit in the middle of these two. The lighting is good enough to grow glosso but its not exactly speedy in its spread. However the lights are plenty strong enough to stop lower level plants reaching - as in stretching for the light. You can see my tank in this link viewtopic.php?f=4&t=61015 The problem with non aquarium commercialised lights are that the bulbs are not colour specific and the proper plant bulbs may not fit into the fixtures. You would need to check. To get good growth for the swords you will really require a substrate fertiliser as these are heavy root feeders. You could try fertiliser tabs but they will not grow as fast or remain as healthy. As far as CO2 goes you will need to go pressurised CO2 on a tank this size.

It also depends on the height of your tank.

Praziquantel in the liquid form is the best you can use. It does worms and flukes and requires three treatments.

http://www.fishvet.com/Flukes.htm common symptons - fish flashing (swimming around tank looking like they are trying to wipe something off their sides or fins), one gill opening more than the other, or one clamped to the side of the fish. I dont think its your nitrate causing the problems hence my suggesting this. They can not be seen with the naked eye. Discus are very susceptible to them so keep an eye on yours.

Have you checked for flukes?

4 - 10 x litres of your tank per hour is recommended turnover for a filter. I will repeat myself again - nitrate reading 10 is no way excessive. What makes you think it is? 40 and over is where the trouble really starts. Perhaps you should look at getting some fish to help you with algae. SAE will clean up BBA at the beginning stages of growth.

that nitrate reading is not excessive.

If you are not cleaning your filter out all the time then thats good. Sometimes people do clean their filters out under tap water every time they water change, which kills off the good bacteria in the sponges and causes a mini cycle. I do tend to think the excel may have something to do with the issue although it might not be the main cause. It is often night time when problems occur which means you may not see it happening. If you have an airpump and airline it would not hurt to add them until things are sorted. Let us know what the test results from the shop are.

a couple of 50% water changes over the next two days and then 30% twice a week. You will have to add prime or smart start or water conditioner and an artificial bacteria if you do the 50% changes. Please forgive me for asking this question if you are an experienced fish keeper. Do you clean your filter out each time you water change and if so, what do you rinse it in or under? With the excel you are dosing at the amount for over a 40% water change, if you are changing less than that you will need to adjust your dosing rates. Excel is a liquid carbon and works like CO2. In a larger than recommended dose it can become toxic to fish.

800 litres is recommended for a fire eel and people seem to find that they go well with angel fish. A sand substrate is a must as the eel needs to be able to bury itself.

While you may not have done it the way the teacher required, the teacher should be impressed how many people from around NZ you managed to get to participate

The May 2013 Aquarium World is due to go to the printers at the end of this month. This AW will be the last edition with Caryl as the Editor. Caryl has been Editor for 18 years. So far not one article has been received for this magazine, not a single one!! I would love to give Caryl a decent send off - so instead of expecting her to fill the magazine with articles she has written herself can some of you please write about your tanks, your fish or anything to do with the hobby. If you can help please either pm her or myself, we will happily give you assistance with editing. :thup:

ouch - what is in the tank that it may have given itself a cut like that from? Suggestions - make sure the aquarium water is kept very clean, even put the cory in another tank by itself if you have one, or float an icecream container with water in it in the top of your tank and put the cory in it. You will have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesnt become infected or fungus. If you have aquarium salt you could add one gram of salt per litre of water, if in a container change the water twice daily using tank water with replacement salt. Or if you have melafix I would add some of that.

You are very likely to have covered a much larger area of NZ than your classmates given we live all over the country. Therefore even if we only go a short distance for our holiday the variation will be greater.

You need more red eyes and more neons to encourage all of them to be out and about more. Adding more small fish will not overstock a tank of that size. You could even add fish that are more bold and brave without a problem.