Fluffypants

We've just got a beautiful new male siamese fighter and put him in a tank on his own. Since putting him in all he has done is bob up and down in the corner. He has no interest in food and only waves his pectoral fins every so often. The tank has been going for 2 weeks and the water was tested okay before we put him in. The temp was 23.9 this morning so I've turned up the thermostat and added some Melafix on the assumption that he's stressed from the move. We're worried because his behaviour is so different from the females that we already have. They are extremely interested in food and always on the move. Is this normal behaviour or is it stress? Anything else that we could do?

We're planning on being there on Saturday. So that's me and three.

I'm really sorry for your loss. This is senseless, cruel behaviour and amounts to the same as torturing any much loved family cat or a dog during a break in. I really hope karma (and the cops) catches up with these so and so's and they get their dues

Thanks Loopy, we might stick them in our new tank when it's finished cycling and see what develops. Definately a few wider bodies amongst the mix, so I'll assume these are female. I consider our danios to be very pretty and although they usually appear silver, when the morning sun hits them, they have the most beautiful blue sheen. It's all about personal preference

Finally managed to get a photo of the fish. I've noticed that all of their tails are quite tatty. They spend a lot of time chasing each other around the tank and I wonder if they are nipping each other. We haven't seen any fry or noticed any getting fatter. After reading Loopy's "spawn, spawn, spawn" comment I was expecting to see some offspring. How do you sex them?

Sad news, our GBA died this morning I suspect now that it may have had an obstruction and ultimately a perforation as it's abdomen is very black (hope photolink worked). In hindsight, I had noticed it's stomach looking quite dark and obvious but had put that down to the fish becoming more pale. Post mortem photo:

Our two Golden bristlenoses are about 6 months old. One is about 5cm and starting bristles but the other is only 2.5cm, pale and not a bristle in sight. Severly growth retarded and every day for the last 2 months we've been expecting it to pop off but it keeps hanging in there. The boy is so cute with his facial growth but the kind of cute that only a mother could love :lol:

My two cents.... I saw these fish in store in Feb this year and was reluctant to buy them as I thought they were dyed. Blame ultimately lies with MAF as they failed to check that they were not GM before allowing them in the country. It is acceptable that the fish were destroyed, as that is the law but the other fish should not have been touched. Personally, I do not agree with GE/GM or dyeing fish and would not purchase either. Very disappointing to see some of the exchanges on the other thread.

We are going away for a week and will be getting our neighbour to keep an eye on our tank. I was wondering if it would be okay to drop down to one feed a day and leaving the lights off all day. The tank gets early morning sun from across the room, so it gets a bit of natural light. I thought by having the 'sitter' come in once a day she won't find it too much of a drag.

Sorry Loopy, once again we'll miss the meeting. We're off on holiday and will be leaving our fish for the first time. Relying on our lovely neighbour to keep an eye on things. I'm taping up the gap at the back to prevent our siamese fighter (aka Houdini) from getting out again.

Amazingly our fish survived her ordeal. I took her out of isolation after 3 days and she looked good as new. Her fins have all separated and no sign (touch wood) of any infection. Stupid thing jumped out again yesterday morning but at least this she was seen doing it. Is this normal behaviour for bettas? I was expecting the SAEs to be the jumpers.

Our fish go into a frenzy over skinned peas.

Our SAEs don't seem to bother the bettas. I thought the SAEs were quite boring to look at at first and bought them solely as a functional fish to clean the algae. Now I love to watch them as they work as they almost seem excited to be cleaning. Weird but cute

Siamese fighters....our two females have heaps of personality. Our tank is 65L and we have 2 bristlenoses, 9 cardinal tetras, 7 long fin blue danios (very active), 2 siamese algae eaters and the bettas. I like the mix and the fish all get along. The danios were the last to go in and really made a difference to the appearance of the tank.

Q. How long can a fish live out of water?????? A. At least 2 hours!!!! (probably more like 2.5) On Friday night, I kept hearing a slight clicking noise but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I went off to bed about 10.30 and then my husband followed about 12.30am. He could also hear the clicking when he went near the tank, and after checking around, found one of our siamese fighting fish in the bottom of an ice cream container where we loop the cords from the tank. He thought she was a gonna for sure but when he put her in his hand she gave a little weak flip. She went back into the tank and sank straight to the bottom. Her 'sister' swam straight over, gave her an almighty nudge and off she went. Lo and behold, she was still alive the next morning, although a litte worse for wear. Her caudal, anal and dorsal fins looked clumped and severely dehydrated but she still managed to swim. A quick phone call to John at Organism he recommended some Melafix, Aqua Plus and isolation. Today she is looking better and some of her tail is even starting to spread out a bit more. Hopefully she will survive this adventure. Mind you this isn't the first time she's caused me alarm. A couple of months ago she managed to wedge herself between the filter and glass after gorging on blood worm. Luckily she was moving the stones as she struggled and I could hear them tinkling against the glass. Perhaps, she thinks she's a cat?? 2 down and 7 to go

A shelled pea goes down a treat.

We have 'lost' a cardinal tetra. No body to be seen anywhere. I would have expected to see a floater in the morning or evening when they are fed. Have our other fish eaten it? We have blue danios, siamese algae eaters, GBAs, female siamese fighters and tetras.

Sorry Loopy, clashes with my brother-in-law's 60th birthday which starts at 5pm Last month it was my friend's birthday the same night, just bad timing I guess. I will have to block out the first Sat in now and reserve it for the Totally Tanked meeting. Would love to have seen your blue danios as ours haven't spawned yet though we suspected a couple of them from being pregnant. Maybe they're just fat.

What are those snails called anyway? They are small, around a couple of mls in diameter and flat. Used to see them on the plants, now they stay mainly in the gravel.

Thanks for the tips. I don't want to add any more fish to the tank but I will try the mug and pellet trap.

I have an infestation of small flat spiral snails. I suspect they arrived on some plants I bought awhile ago. Every time I syphon the tank I get a hundred or so in the bucket. They don't appear to crawl around the tank so much as just sit in amongst the gravel. I saw snail traps advertised on TradeMe and wonder if they acutally work. Anyone have any experience of the traps or have another idea how to get rid of the snails?

Sorry we didn't make it Loopy. Easter, school holidays and all that got in the way. Hope to make it for the May meeting. Getting a bit dark and cold for BBQs, have you got a plan B?

Still alive and kicking, thanks for asking. The 'big' GBA is nearly twice the size now and definitely a male as little bristles are becoming obvious. The smaller one doesn't show any bristles yet but we suspect it may be a male as well. I now have some driftwood in the tank as I don't see the small one eat any pellet. Fingers crossed that it will continue to grow, however slowly.

We are testing the water weekly and it is always fine. They were both the same colour to start with but it is now more of a light golden yellow than bright gold, not white. It's still swimming around happily cleaning the tank and plants but just doesn't seem that interested in the pellets or peas. It is pooing though, so it must be getting some food. :-?

Yes, they look exactly like this one. I bought them from Organism (my favourite store) :bounce: Can't find much info on them on the web though.