pink_fish

Wow, Adrienne, they all look lovely! Thanks for sharing. I particularly like the colour of the fish in the very first photo.

Hi, I've done a quick reccy, because I wasn't sure either, but it seems that while meth blue will work, this is better for preventing fungus on fish eggs. If you're stuck you should be able to use it, but otherwise I'd recommend a proper antifungal. Fingers crossed you won't need it anyway, eh!?

You can add a bit more salt with each water change, but try to work out roughly how much salt is being taken out and only replace that much – don't accidently add too much (i.e., if you've got one teaspoon in 10L, and you take out 25%, then you'll need to add 1/4 teaspoon to the new 2.5L of water you're adding, if that makes sense). I think that corys are sensitive to salt(?), so less is probably more in this case – have a google. IMHO salt isn't all that necessary anyway – just cleaness and peace and quiet.

The plants will be fine in the tank with him for a few days – he'll probably use them for hiding. Don't leave the plants without light for more than 3-4 days though. Fingers crossed that he comes right for you.

Yeah, he'll be stressing a bit without his mates. If you do move him, don't light the tank you move him to as he'll feel a bit safer. If the white starts to go fuzzy/cottony, that will be fungus – which is quite common around wound sites. If it does turn fuzzy, use Wunder Tonic (or another anti-fungal remedy – Melafix won't help in the case of fungus) to treat it. Good luck!

Hi there, sorry to hear about your fish. Sounds like you have done all the right things, and I wouldn't necessarily treat him with anything else (other than the bit of salt you've already dosed him with) as you don't know what it is he has 'got' (if indeed he has got anything other than a wound). If you can, move him to a separate tank by himself with a well-cycled filter and keep the water nice and clean – 2–3 20-30% water changes a week – the main thing will be not to let his wound get infected. If you can keep the wound clean and the fish healthy, it should heal by itself. Don't treat with Furan 2 unless you know that you are actually treating something bacterial that can be cured by using an antibiotic – talk to your LFS and read up about Furan 2. Furan 2 is an antibiotic – like all antibiotics, it should be used with caution since if it is incorrectly used all it will do is increase antibiotic-resistant bacteria. You can use Melafix if you wish, since it's effectiveness either way is not really provable, lol But, honestly, the best thing in my opinion is just to get him somewhere clean and quiet and let nature do its thing.

Hi cliffy, welcome! Glad to hear you're planning on joining the Auckland Fishkeepers too – will see you there in November!

That is awesome, Phoenix – really good for visual learners like myself who are just figuring out the plant thing!

Hi Shukura and welcome to the forums. It would be really good if you could give us a bit more information: Could you put up a photo of the afflicted fish? It would be helpful – then we could have a go at diagnosing the problem, which doesn't actually sound like ich to me – but a photo of your fish and tank would help. Did you 'cycle' your tank – i.e., allow time for waste-eating bacteria to grow in your tank and filter to handle the waste that your fish would make? You almost definitely have too many fish in your tank – a single goldfish around 5 cm long requires roughly one foot of aquarium surface area – this is far more important than many litres of water your tank will hold. While there are a lot of reasons why your fish might have died, overcrowding leads to stress and a stressed fish is susceptible to many illnesses. EDIT: I should have said first of all good on you for doing research and the water changes – sounds like you are aiming to make a good start!

I also would like to thank WAS for letting us attend and be involved in your event – we had great fun and it was lovely to meet/re-meet Waikato fish keepers. Well done to the organisers too – awesome work! Hopefully we will be able to extend the same hospitality to you if you are able to come up to our tank crawl in a month-ish.

Hi there, sorry to hear about your fish. Epsom salts will not cure him if he has dropsy – as Bilbo has said, as dropsy is fluid retention due to kidney failure – it may just relieve the fluid build up for a short period of time. Unfortunately, once the fish has sticky-out scales all over the body it is almost definitely too late to cure whatever it is that has caused the kidneys to fail in the first place (any of a great number of things). It's not a pleasant way to go, so as soon as he starts looking uncomfortable, if not before, I would euthanize him.

Hi Adrienne, Map link is: http://maps.google.co.nz/maps/ms?hl=en& ... 08647&z=12 It's working as of 10 secs ago.

Hi Shannon, Me, Sarah (neon) & my partner will definitely be coming down & will stay for the quiz too. )

May I say again – don't waste money on Bettafix – it's just a watered down version of Melafix which works fine with Bettas (I think Bettafix is a bit of a scam [if not even all the -fix stuff, anyway]). Try improving your water before adding any chemicals – up the water changes and that should improve matters.

I'm just glad someone smarter than I thought to report it ... doh!

True, but I'm guessing if they were goldfish I would have been much easier for the person to just have put 'goldfish'.

Whoops, I should have thought to do that – thanks Phoenix!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 967981.htm Lol. No photo I notice.

Hi there, am considering buying a second hand one of these. Anybody ever used one? If so, what are they like? Can't seem to find much about them anywhere on the net ... I do know that they don't sell them anymore. Thanks in advance!

Banjos are awesome. I would take you a piccy of mine, but he's as-per-usual buried with only the tip of his tail and his snout showing. :roll: He/she comes out from time to time though. We've had ours for about 2 years now I think – was about 5–6 cm long when we bought it and now it's about 15 cm long, which I think is about their max size (although who knows if that's true for every banjo - there's so many different kinds!). Buggered if I know what it eats (never really moves out for food unless it's a shrimp pellet dropped in front of its snout), but when it does come up for air, it's about 1.5-2 cm thick – kid you not – a real fatso! Every now and again I'll look in the tank and s/he'll be perched atop the java fern – have no idea why, lol! Enjoy yours!

He'll be fine by himself, but alternatively if you get a 30L tank with a good filter, you could stick in 5 or so ember tetras. Or (not as well, lol) depending on the foot that the tank has, you could put in 3 cories (although some of them get quite big and may need to be moved when they get bigger). I've kept fighters with cories before and they ignore each other so they're a good match! Keep in mind that some fighters like munching on fish small enough or with long enough fins (guppies, for example). @SamH – a fighter with puffers! Wow – don't the puffers ever have a go at your boy's fins?

Yes, quite right. I should have said I meant stable pH.

Yup, pH anywhere between 6–7.5 will be fine. More important are other water parameters, anyway – like whether or not you've got ammonia, lol! If the fish is happy, the pH doesn't really matter. Some established tanks will drop further too – 5.5 etc. – again, if the fish are happy, no problemo. I wouldn't use Furan unless you're absolutely sure what illness you are treating. Furan is an antibiotic, and just like with humans, misusing them can encourage bacteria to become resistant and/or kill off good bacteria too. Keep us updated.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things and I think maybe Phoenix is right about it not being finrot. When a fish has finrot, in my experience, its whole condition becomes poor and they start to look a bit sorry for themselves, whereas your guy looks fine. I also find that when I keep my males with long fins (i.e. anything with a tail longer than a plakat!) standard planted tanks (as opposed to small, completely unfurnished 'display' tanks) often tear up their fins – they catch them on anything even vaguely rough – like the substrate, for example, because they are such curious little people who always like to squeeze into small spaces, under things, between things, etc. The piscine version of felines, lol. The yellow specks – my first thought was velvet, but I don't know whether it is or not as I've not ever had a fish with it! If the patch isn't growing, and he otherwise seems in good health, I wouldn't worry, but you might wish to continue researching just in case (perhaps looking up velvet?). The pH – don't worry about this. As a tank becomes more established, the pH will naturally drop as it matures. If it hovers around 6.0 you're sweet as.

I have used normal Melafix with bettas and have never had any problems (and Pondfix too, sometimes!). That said, try water changes first and avoid using any chemicals if at all possible.