BikBok

ahhh my Birman does that , he see's me at a puzzle and wants to chew on the pieces.

How is the little platy doing?

my guppy fry always hide in the indian fern near the top. The real new ones sometimes dive down into the gaps in the gravel but then the betta comes along and starts turning over the gravel looking for them.

ok - thanks guys.. will get some prawn next shopping. Will work out cheaper than bloodworms anyway!

wow, I'm glad my half banded won't grow that big ..It would cost me a fortune to feed! But how much should I be feeding?, he's about halfgrown at the moment.

lol.. a piece of PVC piping might be easier and cheaper! Just let the algae grow on it for a more natural look.

agree with the suggestion of jager.. but they are expensive. i have two aquaone heaters and two jager .. the jagers win hands down.

yeah I've seen that in the supermarket. they seem huge for his little mouth . Would be good if I could try him on one first because we don't eat seafood ourselves.

our half banded spiny eel will happily chow down frozen blood-worms but turns his nose up at shrimp pellets, sinking tabs etc. I haven't tried earthworms yet , am goign to try the wet towel on lawn trick suggested by another member. But otherwise, are bloodworms alone enough to meet the dietary needs? How often and how much should I be feeding? 1/4 cube every 2nd day ? he's still a juvenile and very friendly .. eats straight out of our hand and is out and about during day as well as night.

thanks for that tip, I'll try it! ps I love minted sauce on lamb! minted peas and potatoes Mmmm.

haven't tried earthworms yet... I wonder if tiger worms would be ok

PEAS: I've run out of plain peas and only have the minted ones in the freezer. Are these OK to give to my fish? I fast my fish once a week and them give them peas for their next meal. so their gut gets a good clean out. DINE CAT FOOD: I was feeding my cats tonight and thought the whole whitebait looked like a tasty treat for the fish , perhaps even the spiny eel who is proving fussy. The ingredients are tuna, whitebait, gelling agents. then it said "No colours, flavours or preservatives " would it be safe to feed to the fish? EEL: what else besides frozen bloodworms can I try the eel on .. he has turned up his nose (albeit a cute wiggly nose) to shrimp pellets and sinking tablets. Would he take tiny bits of fresh meat that I could cut off our evening meal? He is a half banded spiny eel. Will eventually put some mollies in with him so they can give him some live food lol. Mind you, he has so far ignored the young guppies in with him so may not need the mollies after all.

I think Omaria is asking how can Ira tell her tank is acidic. ... Tests were done today and unless it was Ira that did the tests how do they know it was acidic? But perhaps Ira meant that because of the neons it should stay more towards the acidic range.

I just checked my eyedropper.. and 1ml was 20 drops. Omaria, I'm not upset I just feel for you. I remember how frustrating it was when I started out and I had to deal with worm infested guppies straight off and at the same time as trying to cycle my tank. But i got there in the end and only lost the guppy that was the worst infested because my aviverm didn't arrive in time.. arrived by mail the day after he died . :-(

sorry Omaria if you think I've steered you wrong. Aviverm is a very useful product to have on hand for worms. The reason i was thinking worms is because it was just your platy behaving strangely and not the other fish which i would expect if it was an ammonia problem. I did also suggest you check the platys poop. I know from experience that guppies and platy OFTEN come with parasites from petstores. Just something about the live bearers make them more susceptible. I didn't think you would be sold a big expensive bottle of aviverm from the bird barn as usually they sell me a small bottle. Anyway I will shut up now. Was just trying to help.

Hi again Omaria you're probably getting really confused by now. If you could possibly take a sample of water to animates they can test the ammonia level for you. If there's any at all then the tank is still cycling. if there's no ammonia and no nitrites . then you could continue with the worming treatment. Aviverm contains levamisole which is completly safe to worm fish with. You won't have wasted your money as sooner or later most fishekeepers encounter the nasty little worms. As I said earlier, I worm all new livebearers anyway. Did the bridbarn not sell you a little 5ml bottle? (I buy it to do my birds as well and they usually have small bottles enough to do 1-2 birds ) anyway dose rates: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=46809&p=508446&hilit=aviverm+dose#p508446 go down to Jennifers post which i will quote below: * so 1ml per 100L ... for your 50L tank use 0.5ml without any carbon in the tank. * Leave 24hrs without turning the tank lights on * then do a gravel vac of 25-40% * do a couple more smaller water changes over the next 2 days and then you can put carbon in to remove the remaining medication if you want. This can be repeated in 5-7 days , if you see dead worms when you vacuum up then def repeat the dose . Good luck.. let us know how you get on.

I am goign to suggest a worming treatment. Others may not agree but it seems you've done water changes and seen no improvement. Often fish from petstores will come with internal parasites and it does seem to be more common in livebearers such as guppy and platy. Clamping is one sign that all is not well. Platys usually have dark coloured messy poop. Can you observe the poop of the sick one? If it's white and stringy or floats afterwards, that is a sign of worms. The next tricky thing would be getting the right worming treatment because different formulations treat for different types of worms! not easy is it! (but worth it in the long run) You're out west so you could pick up a small bottle of aviverm from the birdbarn.. this is a wormer that can be safely used on fish. I now worm ALL new livebearers in a small quarantine tank before adding them to my main tank . The other wormer is prazi but I'm not sure where to buy that from as I was given mine by a fellow fishkeeper. You could wait and see what other forum members suggest but worming is not goign to hurt them even if the problem is not worms. Once you have a wormer, come back here for dosage rates. I do feel for you! I had problems too when I first started up as well... and it was the result of being sold a dropped fish with callamanus worms. Not the way I needed to start the hobby but a quick learning curve with help from the wonderful members here.

well I've always used hot water straight from the tap. We have one of those single mixer taps and I just feel it with my hand and fill up the buckets. After doing this for over a year I can get the temp right within a degree! But if your hubby thinks there may be copper pipe issues then it might be safer doing it your way. Our previous house was less than 15 years and the one we're in now is less than 5 and doesn't have a hot water cylinder. (instantly gas heated) It's always best to run the tap for a minute or two each morning anyway to flush out any heavy metals. We have always done that before filling up the jug or changing the pets water each morning.

well I'm convinced a betta will eat them selves to death if given the oppurtunity! such pigs!

my guppies loved them.

Hi and welcome ! Your platy and guppy will get large and fat when they are ready to drop fry which will be about once a month! In the guppys you can see a dark area which is all the little eyeballs of the babies inside. Bit harder to see on the red platys though Some fry will get eaten by the parents but there's usually a few that survive especially if there is plants and places for them to hide. If the tank is still cycling, it's possible that ammonia may be affecting the platy , or there may be some other reason like parasites. This is not uncommon with livebearers bought from some petshops. I usually mix my water from the taps to get the right temperature and add drops to take the chlorine out.

just another day

aaaw look at all those little golden BNs

lookup the clove oil method. that puts them to sleep first (anaethetises them) before you add vodka which finishes them off. In my opinion it is one of the most humane methods short of a quick sharp blow but i don't have the stomach for that!

Congratulations!!!!!!