Jennifer

If the cloudyness is isolated to the lens as seen only through the iris (dark middle part of the eye), then it could be a cataract. Cataracts will cause blindness eventually but are not generally painful. If the cloudyness is on the cornea itself (surface of the eye), then it could be an ulcer that has resulted from an injury/abrasion. Ulcers can be quite serious, and they are usually quite painful so the rabbit may show signs of squinting, decreased activity, and watering of the eye. If not treated properly, they can cause scaring or in bad cases fungi, viruses and bacteria can invade the tissue and cause a prolonged infection. In the worst case, the ulcer can begin to 'melt' and this can cause the eye to rupture. If the rabbit is showing signs of pain, the best thing is to have a vet look at it as soon as possible. Ophthalmic (eye) injuries/disorders are emergencies! If the vet thinks it is an ulcer, they will apply a simple flurocein stain to the eye to confirm if it is an ulcer. The treatment for basic ulcers is the application of eye drops 3 to 5 times a day (usually antibiotics and sometimes antiinflammatories). It is important to follow the instructions to get it to heal as soon as possible. Good luck.

I think badis and dario are slightly different, apparently dario are under 2.5cm max and badis are 4 to 5 cm max. Dario also lack the badis' dark spots at the base of the caudal fin and under the eye. Have seen some dario around and they are sooo cute!

I am no expert on Discus, but I used to keep some and I believe that 8 is the minimum number of bars that a discus can have (unless they are 'negative' and the bars are not visible at all). If the fish has more or less than 9 bars (including the head and base of the caudal fin) then it is most likely an S. haraldi - what is commonly called the brown (or blue) discus. They can have 8 to 16 bars and a multitude of colour variations. The checkerboards have full horizontal colour lines in addition to the 16 bars (this is what gives them the checkerboard appearance). If the fish has exactly 9 bars, it could be a Heckel or a green discus in which case additional rules apply! That's about as much as I know and who knows if it is still correct :-? (someone correct me if I am miserably wrong!). Might help to post a pic. HTH

Did you use any of the new media that came with the filter? If so, did you rinse it well? I have seen some instances where the ceramic dust from poorly rinsed new media was suspended in the water and this acted like shards of glass in the gills causing irreperable damage and death to the fish. Also, when you filled up the new canister, did you use tap water? If so, that may have killed off some of the bacteria and caused an ammonia spike that stressed the fish, etc. etc. Just some ideas really....

Good advice nzcookie. 8) I tend to agree - the pH fluctuations could certainly be part of the stress as could the ammonia spikes of cycling. Getting back to basics is a great idea. Also some very good advice here about water changes and chemicals used in the tank. Sometimes less is better. I know it is frustrating when our fish die. I doubt the shop knowingly sold you a sick fish but the stress of moving into a new tank could have caused the fish's immune system to weaken and this may have made it susceptible to disease. In general, once you have taken livestock out of a shop, they cannot guarantee it since they are no longer in control of the environment that the fish is kept in. If it was an obvious disease that showed up within a day, then you may have a case. Just a sad fact of reality and a risk we take with purchasing live animals.

They are so cool. Are they quite pricey? I heard they are somewhat difficult to keep, have you found that to be true?

Providing a big log, rocks, tall plants, etc may provide them with areas of respite if they wish to get out of the fast flow.

My partner works in nanotechnology (a surface chemist) and so I asked....after a very long explanation and a lookup of the CAS numbers, the expert advice is to fill it as full as you can with water and change the water daily for at least a week. Assuming that surfactants are alkaline and most plastics are very porous, it may take longer than a week to fully remove leaching chemicals and these chemicals may be very small but still harmful to aquatic life. I could go into more details about the chemical details (the CAS numbers don't agree with the chemical names listed on that sheet BTW) but not sure anyone really wants to know about the non ionic surfactants and benzene rings, etc, etc... Disclaimer: without knowing the type of plastic, the above advice cannot claim to make the drum safe for use with aquatic animals. HTH

Wow, you are one seriously cool dude LA. 8) Wish I lived closer....although you are probably glad I don't! :lol:

Nice work. Very nice work. Bet you are happy with that increased oomph.

Metro is not easily absorbed through the gills. Try the search function on this forum for a recent discussion about dosages and administration tips. I'd provide you with the link but I am out and about and my iPhone isn't very cooperative in that regard.

In the aquatics ward (and in the absence of cytology or histology) we always used metro as first port of call to eliminate any primary or secondary protozoal influence as that will usually kill a fish faster than bacterial or fungal insults. After that, gill diseases that were suspected to be bacterial in origin were treated with erythromycin or smz-tmp unless culture and sensitivity indicated otherwise. Sorry, I should have clearly outlined my reasoning and diagnostic pathway so as not to cause any confusion.

Oh, I think I see what you guys mean now.......I thought it was a texutral thing....turkey flavour but crunchy like crickets. :lol: Turkey gristle? So when turkeys eat crickets it makes the meat taste bad?

Well, whatever that giant winged thing is, it is pretty impressive.

Turkey full of crikets?? Trying not to imagine what that must be like....yuk.

OMG!! Those are some gigantic moth-like creatures in that photo!!!!

Sounds like it could be gill disease and if you don't see any external signs of flukes, it may be bacterial in origin. I would treat with metronidazole ASAP.

Gosh, thanks. :oops: Glad I could help a little! Well done on your diligent nursing. Often that is what makes the real difference.

Oh my, you do have it bad dear boy.... 8) :lol: :bounce:

Excellent. 8)

Ah...and mts sets in... 8)

I don't think there is an official link yet, but this is the link to the discussion about it: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=42998

You'll love the increased oomph of the new filter. It will make you wonder how you ever got on without it.

No, I don't use the original outlet. I have both the inlet and outlet coming through the holes on the left side. I don't use a spray bar so that I can get good flow around the tank by using the directional flow of the duckbill. The photos below show the inlet tube right next to the duckbill. The strong flow coming from the duckbill sends the water around the tank in a circular motion from the top left of the tank, down the front and around the floor of right side and around the back to the intake. Side view: Front view:

Yes. I was originally wanting the intake and outflow to be at opposite ends of the tank but I didn't really want to cut up both ends of the hood. As it turns out, I couldn't have done it any better. The filter really is much more than what is needed for the tank so the fast flow of the duckbill sends tha water out to the front of the tank and down to the opposite end and around the back of the tank straight to the intake! Couldn't be happier with it really.