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

Thanks for the info - will have a "re-assessment" of tank location. Would be nice to have it where it can be viewed more comfortably anyway

We only have 1 small tank - not sure that I can justify a generator (altho the fish may disagree! ). Tank is located in a hallway with no heating - it's been like antarctica these last few days. It was the only place I could put the tank where it is out of direct sunlight but maybe I should have worried less about the sunlight and more about an even temperature?

thanks wok - don't have polystyrene available, but did wrap with a couple of blankets. Didn't think of the hot water bottles tho - will know for next time

Greetings from the deep south - we're in the middle of a fairly nasty blizzard at the moment, and have had a power cut this afternoon. Power was off for about 2 hours. What is the recommended procedure for keeping the poor darlings in the tank warm? We seem to have escaped any damage, but if the power was off for longer ... ??? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Our one remaining is doing really well. I've decided he's a she :oops: (doesn't have a red nose - is that right?) She's quite nosy, but very placid - doesn't annoy the others at all. I'd like to get some more to keep her company, but I don't want to upset the harmony, and I don't think I've got room for 5 (they grow quite big don't they?) The silver tips seem to be the bullies in our tank :-? Thanks for all the support everyone, what a friendly bunch you all are

Hi Everyone, I've been lurking around leaching info off you guys for a couple of months now, finally got time to say hello! My fish story - well let's just say that if there's a wrong way to do something, chances are pretty good we've done it that way... I have 4 young boys (8,6,4 & 2) who decided they wanted pet fish, and when looking for a sm 2nd hand goldfish tank came across a very cheap AR380 with all the gear, which we promptly cleaned (without chemicals - I did know that much!) and set up with gravel, plastic and real plants and water (we're on rainwater here). Left it for a whole DAY, thinking I was very smart knowing to let things settle. Off to the LFS for the big fish buy-up. When there are 4 boys all wanting their own choice, the numbers mount up fairly quickly, but the staff assured me the 18 fish we were taking home were not too big for the tank. We ended up with: 11 neon tetras 2 glowlight tetras 3 silvertips 2 tiger barbs At this stage cycling was something that involved safety helmets. :oops: Got the fish home and floated, tank looked great, all well. Forward on 10 days. One of the barbs had blown up like a puffer fish, and most of the neons had white spot. Back to the LFS, home with all the recommended potions. Lost 3 neons and the barb. Lets just say that the remaining 14 fish must be particularly hardy creatures, cause they have survived a massive ammonia spike (all my own fault) which was drawn out over quite some time, until I found this site and found out about cycling. We seem to be on the good side of things now, and have recently added a couple of kuhli loaches to our happy team, altho I would like to add another barb or 2 - our remaining 1 is lovely and I'm sure he's lonely. Thanks for all the info so far - I've got plenty more questions coming! Karen

Hey, that's done the trick - thanks guys. They are all tucked up for the night with no drama. Now, to get the kids to bed as easily ...

Will try Evil / Snookies methods - thanks for that. The tank is in a hallway where we leave the light on all night (for the kids getting to the bathroom) but it is in a fairly dork corner and the lighting is very dim anyway, so will try a brighter light. What is that? Karen Make that a dark corner ... :lol:

The tank is still fairly new - about 2 months, so the fish could still be getting settled I suppose. There are 2 live plants and 1 plastic plant as well as an ornament to hide in so hiding places shouldn't be a problem. As soon as the light clicks off they start wizzing round the tank, looks like they may even be bumping into the glass, and I can hear the gravel being disturbed (watched last night - fairly sure it's not the kuhlis doing that). Lasts maybe 30 seconds to 1 minute? Thanks for the replies regarding the length of time; 10 - 12 hours it is then. (One of the few things I've done right so far! :roll: ) Karen

Can anyone tell me how long I should be leaving the light on in my tank? (It's an AR380). I've heard 10 - 12 hours is recommended, but lfs suggested just a few hours morning and evening ("save it for when you need it" was the reason given). Why is this? Also the fish seem to go ballistic when I turn the light off in the evening. It's seems to mainly be the neons - but that may be cause they're the only one I can see when the light is off. There are 8 neons, 2 glowlights, 3 silver tips, 1 tiger barb (very calm, doesn't seem to annoy the others) and 2 kuhli's. They settle down after a few minutes, but I am just wondering if this is normal? Karen