BikBok

You can upload pictures to TM that aren't used for listings. Click MY Trade Me - Photos/ upload a photo then enlarge it . It's one way of getting images onto the forum here. I used to do it that way until I started using photobucket.

it boggled me too but they did it several times, and they weren't little kuhli either. here's my original post I made when it first happened! viewtopic.php?f=10&t=38648&hilit=kuhli+up+filter

When I had my first tank my Kuhli loaches regularly went up the filter, through the intake and out the holes in the spray bar. (AR380) I would find them in the media , looking scratched but still alive. I never had any die from their adventure but i did check the filter every day. Then I realised I needed to put the intake pipe higher, not so close to the gravel where they can swim into it... this lessened it but still happened. Now I put a mesh over the intake, it means having to unclog it from debris , plants bits every so often but at least the inquisitive kuhli are now safe. Kuhlis are cool, one of my favourite. Get at least 3 but 5 or more if you can. They are happier in groups and come out more. They will burrow in the gravel but mine tend to hide out under pieces of driftwood. They burrow into the gravel at feeding time to get the bits that have floated down from the other fish. Here's one of my kuhli after he went up o the filter... ajust a bit scratched, stress coat and a little salt in the water is all he needed to heal. a couple of my other kuhli

i guess the sponge filter would be fully submerged in the tank itself? thus staying wet. My filter is over the hood so I was a bit worried but it's all worked out.

thanks everyone. Still no ammonia reading this morning so I guess there was plenty of live bacteria left in the filter so once it got turned back on , it dealt with the ammonia pretty quickly. All fish looking fine.

is it attached to any driftwood? . I find my attached java fern does very well compared to my non rooted java fern that I have in my Q tank (not rooted so I can remove if tank gets medicated)

I didn't have time to do a 50% waterchange (that would be about 10 buckets worth!) before taking my daughter to a holiday short course which is 1 1/2 hr drive away.. 3 hr round trip. So I quickly changed two buckets, added prime and some zyme, turned the filter back on and was going to do a bigger change when I got back. Just rechecked the ammonia and it's back down to zero ..and there's no nitrite either ... so looking hopeful and the fish seem ok I will keep checking levels of course.

what fish do you have? I remember well the current the 380 causes on the surface! I started off with an AR380 - great little tank. I still have the kuhlis from that tank they are now in my AR850. The old 380 is in storage as a backup emergency tank. I think my fish will be ok (need a fingers crossed smily) but i did have an ammonia reading.. hopefully it won't get any higher.

thanks. Here's hoping everything will be ok.

best I can tell is up to 24 hours , could be less. I don't know when it got turned off.

I noticed my tank a little cloudy this morning and to my horror the filter plug had been knocked and wasn't on. I took an ammonia reading and it was 0.5 . SO now what? are all the bacteria dead or will some have survived? Is the tank going to have to cycle from the start again or have I caught it in time?? None of the fish were showing any adverse reactions. I have PRIME I can chuck in but I'm more concerned about whether this tank has to cycle afresh and what affects that will have on my fishies, Especially my otos and new baby butterfly pleco. In the meantime.. water change plus prime? do I need to add ammolock or will that just hinder things? EDIT: Its an over the tank hood filter (AR850) so some of the media would have dried out but the noodles would have been wet still. UPDATE: well the ammonia settled down for a day or two then started going up again. The pH and temp are at levels where the ammonia isn't causing any extreme harm but I'm getting frustrated with the daily water changes (sometimes twice a day) in order to deal with the ammonia. The problem is my tap water is pH 8, and my tank is pH7.0 . I don't want he pH to start going up at the same time ammonia is present. I'm using Prime as my dechlorinator but my understanding is it detoxifys the ammonia whilst still making it available to bacteria. Todays ammonia reading is 2 (total ammonia) , the highest it's been . pH 7.0 and temp is 25oC. I can't afford the pH to start increasing. Out of interest I have emailed watercare to see if my tap water reading should be pH 8, that seems high! Perfect for cichlids maybe but not my fishies!

Here's my two little guys... unfortunately i couldn't get a decent pic of them in the tank, so here's when they were first home and still in the bag. They have since oranged up a bit more as in the last pic.. had to crop to get a closer view but photo quality poor. . the guppy is in front of the bag so looks huge in comparison! But they are just little juveniles at the moment. They are starting to come out a bit more. I was so worried the shark was going to kill them over night but hopefully he's startling to lose interest. His Chasing is not as intense.

well I picked up two cuties today. will upload some pics tomorrow if I can catch them when they're out and about. ATM they're understandably a bit shy and are near the back of the tank where there's more cover. I have one annoying shark that keeps patrolling them. Hopefully he'll get bored and leave them alone. He never bothered any of my other gourami so I was surprised and frustrated to to see his behaviour.

I talk to my fish too! Dana , is yours a female? Does she/he eat the plants ? I've got Java fern, windelov and a small amount of floating indian fern.

cute. and I love how you named your BN! My hubby is going to call our dwarf gourami - Cheech and Chong. I name some of my fish, I have Chromati (From terminator) - he's the rainbow shark. , Bik, Bok, Bak, Slim Shady (Kuhlis) , Brachy (Butterfly Pleco) , the pearls and guppy are unnamed. My fav guppy who is no longer with us was named Bubble Oh Seven. (Bond)

awesome

that's good to know. Think I'll go ahead and get some. Good to hear from you ... what have you been up to since HC?

Is that for all types of dwarf gourami? I did have some ordinary dwarf gourami - the stripey ones, who only lived just over two years, not sure what the expected lifespan is for those ones. MY pearls are about 2 1/2 years and doing well.

Hi All I was browsing my LFS today and saw some Golden Honey Dwarf Gourami. I really like the look of these and am keen on adding a couple to my tank at some point. I asked the staff member if they would be OK with my two pearl gourami, the other mostly smaller fish shouldn't be an issue. She said they should be fine. Who here keeps gold honey dwarf gourami and what can you tell me about them? I read on one website that they are prone to parasite infection.. .. that does concern me a little or is that not something to worry about. I'm not interested in breeding , just want something different to the pearls to add to my tank so can I get two of any gender? .. male&female/ two males/two females.. or should I not have two males together? thanks in advance for any advice

just setting up an extra tank and was wanting to get the cycle on it's way and that got me thinking about the bottled bacteria and how it stays viable. But now I know ! Thanks guys.

Hi I used to live in Rotorua. welcome.

interesting.. I never had much trouble with my dwarf gourami other than getting stuck in driftwood tunnel.,.. after several rescues (so bad their skin got ripped and dorsals damaged) we decided to hollow out the driftwood. They always healed well. I think they lived about 3 years and then I replaced with pearl gouramis which are also doing well. my troublesome fish always seem to be guppys!

I'm not an expert around here but until someone else answers I'll do my best! firstly how long has the tank been running and do you know if its fully cycled? any tests done on the water parameters?? I haven't kept honey gourami before but I have dwarf and pearls . They can handle some salt. The first thing I would do is a good water change and if it is a newish tank I would add some salt just in case it's nitrite poisoning. Nitrite posing shows up as gasping for air,, and heavy gill breathing, sluggish fish and dulling in colour. The gills darken too . Can you increase the oxygenation? extra aeration, or lowering the water level if you have a filter outlet that can splash down. Let us know how you get on.

hello! tell us about your fish and reptiles. I keep fish (and cats and bird, daughter would love a lizard)

thanks. I use and like TLC , was just wondering how it stays alive lol.