fishychick

Dixon - how long did yours live after you first noticed? a coincidence your situation and mine both occurring about the same time! ... I see you are in Christchurch - mine came from Invers; what are the chances they are from the same genetic group? are there many suppliers in the south island? Caryl - thanks for that; good to hear from a fellow Pratchett fan! Karen

Hi All, Have been noticing lumps and bumps on my neons over the last couple of months. They seem to start around the base of the tail fin and are a dark (almost black) colour. More recently I have noticed them around the mouths and front fins. Out of 8 neons 5 are affected. I think I read somewhere that black lumps in fish are usually cancer, but am starting to think that would be unusual to have such a large percentage affected? Or did I just get a "bad batch"? (they were all bought at the same time - about a year ago) They don't seem to be distressed, are swimming and eating quite happily and normally. I can't remember when I first noticed it - would have been maybe november? Admittedly the one I first noticed with these black bits is the worst affected - major tumour type lumps around base of tail, base of one front fin has started getting lumpy recently, and mouth area has gone dark, but no lumps - mouth doesn't seem to shut completely tho. I am not inclined to euthenase him - as I said he's eating, swimming with his mates, seems happy. Any thoughts?

I've been having similar problems too - for over 2 months now. Have been doing water changes at different frequencies for a couple of weeks at a time. Daily 50% changes meant I could see the fish, but didn't solve the problem. Had inherited something called Algol with the tank. Gave that a couple of goes over a 3 week cycle, but the green just kept coming back. Tried a "clear-water" formula food when the last jar of flake ran out. Tried cutting down the lights from 10 - 12 hrs to 8 hrs. Nothing worked and I was getting pretty fed up with those water changes I was still doing! :-? Had just about given up and started researching UV filters (to the point I was in lfs with 1 in each hand deciding which one to buy) when the helpful lfs staffer suggested cutting the lights right back to 1 or 2 hrs daily. I had been under the impression I needed them on longer for the plants (and that could be the case - time will tell!). Also when I got home I noticed the tank was getting quite a bit of reflected light in the early evening, which I think will only happen during summer - which would be about the right time-frame for when my problem started. That was solved by closing a door. I bought a bristlenose while I was there - had thought my wee tank (ar380) was too small for one (also a trio of rummynoses - they're tiny and so cute! ) but apparently not (I stand to be corrected here!). He - or she - has had a great tidy up in the tank, and yesterday for the first time in MONTHS I glanced at the tank, did a second take, and thought "that looks brilliant!" Not sure which of the changes to give the credit to - a bit of trial and error will soon tell! Karen .

Excellent! Pleased to hear it's solved your problem; thanks for the info. Karen

Hi Aquarium Dude, How is your tank looking now after a few months with the UV sterilizer? Can u give us an update - did it solve the problem?, and if so how long did it take? Have you had any relapses? Have had a similar problem myself for a while now and UV sterilizer was suggested as a fix. Have spent the last couple of months trying all the other suggestions, but that green haze just keeps coming back! :evil:

Righto, plan of attack - wrap filter wool around filter intake, try to catch all the green, cleaning wool regularly. - if unsuccessful, march down to lfs and buy some TLC. - if green reappears, buy uv filter (I take it this is the same as a uv sterilizer?) Thanks for the info everyone - am quite confused about how I have ended up with brown and green algae! I was under the impression that brown algae is quite common in new tanks, and had hoped that it would just kind of disappear after the prescribed period (6 months-ish I'd read somewhere - which is about now).

Thanks for the tip, Rockerpeller. I might have to have a hunt around for one tho - we don't tend to have the marketing "competition" down here that you enjoy up there. Having said that, I buy my filter wool in sheets, and am sure I could make something that fits - the rubber band idea sounds like it might just work!

Jim, I don't have a spare filter, unfortunately, but if I can't get the problem sorted with some of these other suggestions, I may have to invest in one! Is TLC available from the lfs do you know? And can anyone who has used Algol before tell me whether it is worth a try? Thanks

It's an internal filter, so could be a bit tricky - it is sounding like the easiest option tho. Michael - no it's not the main filter - it's a small cylindrical sponge that fits around the bottom of the filter intake. It's quite a coarse guage (if that's the right term - big holes?) so I don't know if it will be much use for algae anyway. There are occasional spots of brown algae on the glass which I normally just clean off, and brown algae on the fake and real plants. I was doing water changes weekly (approx 25%) but have bumped up to nearly 50% every 2 - 3 days since this problem started.

No wood in tank at all. Rockerpeller, I have a blue sponge thingy over the filter intake. Looks like it needs replaced, but am a bit scared to fiddle with filter stuff after all the warning stories I have read about NOT TOUCHING THE FILTERS! Would a replacement do the trick, or would you put wool as well / instead of?

Not sure why the ph is so low - we are on rain water here. Tested from the tap recently (couple of months ago) and was fine. The only thing I can think of in the tank that might affest the ph is a couple of big stones I put in there a while ago - did the test with drip of vinegar first, then cleaned thoroughly and soaked to make sure nothing leaching out - seemed okay. There are a couple of plants in there which have been there since setting the tank up (April) they seem to be doing fine apart from a bit of brown algae (which I understand is normal in a newish tank?)

Hi, been checking out old posts to see if I can do a bit of self diagnosis. I think we've got a bit of a (read major) algae bloom happening. Water is really (really) murky - greenish, not white. Have tested water - nil ammonia, but ph is fairly low about 6.2 if I'm reading it right. It's been going on for a couple of weeks now. Have been doing extra water changes, but would like to know how to fix it properly. Have got some stuff called Algol here (inherited with tank) but am not keen on adding stuff if I don't have to. Tank doesn't see any direct sun that I know of, so any clues why this should suddenly happen? Are the fish safe? - they don't seem stressed. There are 8 neons, 2 glowlights, 3 silvertips, and 2 khulis in an AR380. Suggestions?

Have just noticed a similar thing with one of my neons a few days ago. Now that I've noticed it I can't believe I haven't seen it before. The spots are more of a grey colour in this case tho. As you say, the fish doesn't seem to be bothered by it. I don't think these are old, they came from the LFS in april. If it was eye flukes, would the other fish be in danger of getting them?

I have a small tank that had ammonia trouble recently and was doing water changes every 2nd day. Fixed the problem and didn't seem to cause any side effects. Think I read somewhere that when you have an ammonia problem, take the water from the top of the tank. Not sure if ammonia is more concentrated up there (does ammonia float?) or if it is to avoid disturbing your gravel and all the good goobies growing there. Someone more learned may be able to cast more light. Karen

Thanks, Sam. The tank is just a small one (AR380) - how big do bristlenoses grow? Yeah, looking a bit more inviting out there today! Karen