jn

Still no shrimp?

In the US yams are actually orange Kumara, and in Canada they get called 'sweet potato'! I was pretty shocked when I first saw NZ yams too!

It was a cold tank that had flukes which is why I added the heater temporarily. I haven't seen symptoms in at least 3 weeks but I just want to be 100% sure. I've been disinfecting all my equipment before using it between tanks with PP. Fish in my other cold tank are a bit pale so wanted to warm them up a few degrees to see if its the cold snap we're having (they haven't been here through the coldest part of the winter so they could be unaccustomed to it!!) or if they've got something wrong with them too! Ok.. so a bucket of water and run the heater at max for a while.. (and a wipe down of course) I'll make sure I let it cool before taking it out too!! Thanks.

Need to transferring a heater to a different tank. Want to make sure there are no hitchhikers (parasites/ snails etc)...should I use bleach or potassium permanganate? Are there seals or plastic parts that would be adversly affected by either? (this is a newish jager heater). Thanks.

I have some lilaeopsis in the bottom of a bigger than average barrel half. The barrel sits in a spot that only gets a couple hours of sun per day in the summer and NONE in the winter....I can't imagine much light gets right down to the bottom (it's about 70cm deep). It spent most of the winter frozen over. The plant is doing fine, as is my myriophyllum that's also right down at the bottom. Someone is seling some myriophyllum on trade me now I think.

Janelle.. what happened to this comment you put into the 'things you learned the hard way" thread!! :-? :lol:

Don't know that it would be the same. They recommend Epsom salts for dropsy to draw out fluids....I would use regular salt for this personally. How are they doing in the tank? Are they ok? are they better or worse? flashing/scratching? or just behaving normally? If you haven't done anything yet maybe you could just wait and see? Maybe the ones that died, died for reasons other than their pyhsical symptoms (ie: something waterborne)? If its just carp pox then Caryl says it won't be killing them.. just making them look bad! A few websites I visited said there seemed to be a relationship between carp pox and elevated nitrate levels. Maybe do a real good wc and spring clean since the fish are out of the pond.. leave it sit for a few weeks to let any parasites die out from not finding hosts and then put them back in and see how they go. Melafix is often recommended to help heal wounds but is really expensive. I used a whole bottle of it in our pond (1100 L) and it was barely enough to do the full treatment course. (I'm not even sure what effect it had if any!)

Where Alan saying you should put killies in there?

Have a read of this: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/dronta ... 23656.html Maybe purplecatfish can sell you some adtape! I've used Droncit and Drontal and both have worked. Drontal is available from the grocery pet aisle. Droncit may be available from a farm store (that's where I found mine).

Doesn't sound too bad (I was worried cause the fish looked real big in your photos!) but if the tank was empty it will still want to cycle like any new tank. So adding all those fish suddenly will sure result in some ammonia. I'm assuming you know about cycling I didn't at the time and lost 3 really good sized fish which is why I'm mentioning it!! Do you have any pond plants that will fit in there? They may have some established bacteria on them....but then.. they might also have some of whatever is causing their ailments! Have you got an ammonia test kit? Remember.. if you dose with salt and then do water changes to make sure the water you put back in has the same salt concentration. For that reason I prefer the Koivet salt recommendation. I can use tsp's to measure it out. Then when I when I change water out.. I measure out a gallon and replace with the right number of teaspoons. Make sure the salt is compltely dissolved before pouring it in. Probably easiest to dissolve smaller amounts at a time until you reach the amount you need (and definitely do the 12 hours in between if you're going up to the full dose). The fish I treated were similar size to yours and they were all good even with no airation. Maybe you want to put a quick post in the disease section with a link to this thread. Someone might be able to say exactly what it is! (Wouldn't that be great!) Salt is pretty harmless though! (but at the 3tsp/gallon dose I think it might harm some plants)

Ok.. so you dont know if this is recent or if its been building up slowly, That could be good news. Could mean that it's been like that for a while and not come on super suddenly! Here are the links I like to refer to for salt treatment: (first link is a US one so be sure to use U.S Gallons for conversion to litres) http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/art ... _term=salt http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/salt.htm I use rock salt but you can buy a 1lb bag of salt from the supermarket for cheap usually labelled as Plain Salt.. make sure it has not a single additive (no iodine or anti-caking agents) I have used this on goldfish in the past. the fish I was treating had some raised scales with what looked like the beginning of a swelling or ulcer under it, others had excessive slime and cloudiness.. This was due to poor water quality at a pond where we had new tenants! The salt helped but I did a course of Furan too. Furan could be a little expensive for 500L though! Maybe you can start with salt and maybe decide later to treat individual fish seperately with Furan if they look like they need it? Both those websites have alot of health information so have a good poke around! You haven't said how big the fish are. You might have to watch the ammonia even in 500L.

Had anyone done anything at all with the pond recently? Stirred up dead stuff from the bottom? Dropped the hose in the bottom to fill it? Done anything with a filter? When had the fish last been really looked at? I would probably do salt or furan. The fish are dying so something has to be done. If you don't think there was a water quality problem then I'd guess bacteria/fungus and I'm pretty sure Furan would help with both. Would anyone expect a parasite to cause so much sudden death? (I don't know personally) (I think salt would help for velvet) Just ideas here.. I'm not very experienced but I really sympathize with you. I've got ponds myself and I know I'd probably be going crazy in your situation!! Really hope you can work something out!

This may be a dumb question but you have gravel right? Does the amount or size of the gravel influence the actual flow rate with those undergravel filters?

The solution kits probably do ALOT more tests and would work out cheaper per test I remember when I bought my test kit I thingh.. I'll never get through this stuff.. but low and behold I'm starting to wonder where I can get refills! Also with the liquids sometimes you can be pretty sure that say your ammonia is fine but you want to check your pH.. With the strips you basically test everything whether you need to or not. I test pH and nitrates more often than other things.

This photo came up in a search for carp pox. http://www.hyggedam.dk/images/havedamme ... _laant.jpg

Is there an online store that you could buy fish from? Or a Canadian fish forum where you might be able to buy from reputable keepers? There was a guy on here.. umm.. Zoban I think was his username also in Canada (maybe Ontario) I think he'd posted a link to a Canadian forum. Shipping across Canada would obviously not be practical but if you could find some other keepers in the Atlantic or Eastern provinces you might be able to get some couriered? Or you need to go on a shopping holiday somewhere not to far away

Looks like scales missing ... Its been warming up here, have they been spawning? Are the pond sides rough/abrasive or are there rough edges on things in the pond? Can you tell if its more on the females than the males? The females can get knocked around alot. (the fish look pretty mature.. the males should have little pimple looking spots on their gills) Would some salt help for a start?

Got a picture yet?

Fungus would usually look furry I think. Did you do a water change just in case it was a water quality problem if they're looking unwell?

First thing I would do is take out all the fish with lumps on them so it doesn't spread. Put the fish in a plastic bin or something while you work it out. You can also get a kiddie pool pretty cheap from the warehouse! How long have the fish been in there? Have you added any new fish lately?

Plants give off oxygen in the daytime but use it up at night. But, cooler water holds more oxygen than warmer water I think. So if the heater was off overnight the plants would have used up some oxygen, but the cooler water might have offset that a bit?? (Have I got that right?)

My tank is still growing in and the fish tend to hang around the spot with the best plant cover? Is your tank planted?

HI all, I just closed down a pond yesterday (at another property) and brought all the fish and plants home. The fish are comets (possibly veiltails) and most are probably between 6-8 years old although some may be older as they were all there before we owned it and were already big then! Some of them are blind! I think 2 have lost one eye and 2 have lost both eyes. The others are fine. It is possible that cats may be the culprit as the edges of this pond are cat friendly but what else may cause this in fish? It looks like the eye is actually gone as opposed to just the eye going cloudy and white. Any ideas? The fish are otherwise happy. No flashing, no excess slime, no laboured breathing etc etc. Any ideas?

Ok.. so those sponges are really dense are they! Sorry! :oops: Wish it was easier to find coarse sponge in bulk like the type they use on pond pre-filters!

Sounds like a marketing opportunity to me. Why doesn't someone sell something like that? Hey.. out of curiosity... I've never used a sponge filter so excuse me if this is crazy.. but would there be a type of sponge that is commonly used for a sponge filter that might fit over a standard filter inlet? That might allow better flow than a stocking?