Jennifer

Yeah, the biggest ones are 2cm now.

Figured it was time to post some pics of some of the fry. Bigger... And bigger... And a video...

Dirty moss is a great habitat for microorganisms that fry eat. 8)

And the difference is? 8)

No, it is some old funny T8...very dim so the camera threw a hissy and I couldn't be bothered taking it again... :roll:

One gram per litre is a good place to start.

The crypt looks very healthy and will benefit from Flourish Excel and a liquid fertiliser (they put up fine vertical roots out of the substrate which can take up nutrients from the water column).

That's a great idea for the discounted memberships. I think our club could be well challenged this year for the most new members trophy!

It shouldn't matter if they overlap. Praziquantel can be used in conjunction with many other drugs.

One thing to keep in mind, in clinical environments we would rarely dose an animal in food without using a proper dose rate. A dose rate is usually the weight of the drug (e.g. milligrams) that should be administered to the weight/surface area of the animal (e.g. grams). The reason is because animals will often eat more or less than they need meaning they can get a wide variation of the recommended dose rate and either result could have detrimental effects. The other thing to keep in mind is that without diagnostic testing we are just guessing at the cause of the problem, and thus hoping that the medication will work. Remember, just because there is anecdotal evidence of a dose rate that 'works' doesn't mean that it actually did anything at all.

There is some information here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=43107&p=467724&hilit=metronidazole#p467724 You can also try injecting the medication into mealworms, fly larvae, bits of shrimp, gel foods etc. Or as a last resort, soak the food in the medication and feed it out. There are several effective dose rates for this drug depending on what condition your are treating for. It comes in tablets and used to also come in a liquid suspension (which is also not very soluble in water). Oral is the best route and it can be challenging to find the body weight for a discus based on length alone so a gram scale would be useful (place a small container of water on the scales and then add the fish - subtract the weight/volume of the water to get the weight of the fish).

I could be remembering incorrectly, but I think shrimp meat is very deficient in vitamin A.

Depends on how much they eat. Let us know what the calcs show, would be interesting to find out.

How is this fish doing now? If the deworming didn't work, I would be thinking about the possibility of fungal or bacterial gill rot, or perhaps a protozoal infestation. You could try treating with metronidazole for the protozoa or acriflavine for the others.

Sorry, I have been away for a few days so I wasn't following the forums but it is great to come back and see he has recovered as I hoped he would. Well done on the nursing care.

That could be the wet weight. Dry weight might be something more like 40-50% protein. If you knew the moisture content we could calculate it...

Its a bit untidy, but the best I could do in a half hour. Photos are just used as examples but it would be good to perhaps use some POTM as well as other member photos to represent our varied community.

That's great to hear. Unfortunately, as you know, a large majority of students in the fish and reptile units have struggled to find work experience placements and this has meant that the future of these units is in jeopardy and we may see that these units are not offered in this qualification anymore. It is a very disappointing outcome for the future of reptiles seen in vet clinics around the country. It is also a shame that people like yourself may miss out on discovering what great pets these animals can be.

Those are great photos David. I have noticed that my adult males are more grey and the females are bright yellow, somewhat like those fry. All of my fry are completely gold but they are younger than yours are I think. Is it possible we are seeing some sexual dimorphism developing in your fry? This is probably not the answer, but it is just a thought. On another note, I notice that when strangers approach the adult tank, they zip down to their shells and seem to camoflauge themselves with a very attractive mottled colouring.

That's what I heard too, and possibly that the importers are very reluctant to get them in again because they are prone to disease. I keep mine in soft neutral Christchurch tap water with only bog wood and CO2 to lower the pH to about 6.8. Temp is at 24-25. They tend to be mostly bottom dwellers and develop a territory of more than a couple of feet if you let them. To a tank of your size I would consider adding one harem of 3 females and one male and perhaps a large shoal of dwarf danios (I find danios to be some of the best dither fish for these guys and the small varieties of danio are much better at leaving fry alone than tetras are).

Go to: http://askdryin.com/ and enter 'feline aggression' or 'feline elimination disorder' into the search field. Dr. Sophia Yin is one of the foremost veterinary behaviourists in the world and her techniques are not only effective but they are low stress on both the animal and the humans involved. Well worth a look.

Try this. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi- ... 8/PDFSTART I have no idea how much plants can use. I am sure there is more recent evidence that says as much, but if not, perhaps you can start a research study to find out?

Rust is a complicated electrochemical process. In that system, there would be phases of soluble iron (Fe2+) that would be usable to plants (albeit unstable, but that is true for our fertilisers too). It is also a myth that plants cannot absolutely use oxidized iron (Fe3+). Here is a research article that I looked up last month that clarifies the issue: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/jour ... 1&SRETRY=0

You would have done...if you were super smart and jumped on the bandwagon early on. :-?