herefishiefishie

Very nice. Good score. Aussies bit more lucky than the kiwis here. We have these in the country. As said above vicious to their own kind. They can fight with similar looking mbuna too. Generally go very well in a community set up. Frenchy

Good luck Frenchy

I don't really know if it is or not. No one can really tell you exactly what the disease is in the first place. Chances are if a fish has broken out then the rest may get the disease to as this disease is associated with stress, poor water quality, malnutrition. In most cases the fish have a depressed immune system. Keep an eye on your other fish. The disease is first recognised by an eroded{gaps in the} lateral line. This lateral line contains several sensory organs, runs along the fishes body. If a fish has the disease, look at what could be wrong with the tank. Frenchy

Is the lateral line on the gourami eroded. As in is there visible gaps in the line. Can't tell from those pics, I am with the doubt you do. Any fish in there that could of picked a fight with the gourami? Do a goggle search for hole in the head & compare the pics of those to your fish. Frenchy

Virus & parasites are completely different. I don't believe it remains dormant. I believe in this quote here. Whitespot shouldn't be in your tank if you can help it. Sure it will break out once a fish is weakened, eg; bad water, stress etc if they are carrying. When fish sometimes flick around in the tank, that can be a sign that the fish are carrying the whitespot parasite, just the body is healthy therefore you don't see the dots. At one stage one of your fish had/has the parasite & carried the disease. {Possibly new addition} If it isn't the new fish, then something is wrong in your tank & the disease has broken out. If none of your fish were carrying the parasite, then it would not be in your tank. Anyway back to the point, Virus can remain dormant, parasites{nematodes} have life cycles, whitespot in this case has a short one, therefore dormant is not correct term. In this case brought in with new fish, or it has always been there, not noticed, just living in fishes gills. Back to the questions at the start. That will more than likely caused your problem. What is your water quality like? Did the treatment go on for 1-2 weeks. You only kill the white spot parasite when it is free floating. Pays to always do one treatment after the spots disappear to be sure. As there can be parasite eggs in the gravel, plants... As for the female being harassed, I would say he is keen to breed & she isn't. By what you wrote, looks like she lost condition during the disease out break. Therefore she isn't ready. Just a question too. How often do you do water changes, what % of water do you change? & do you use a gravel vac? A nice read on the parasite, http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_FA006 Frenchy

Gold fish are very hardy. bit of salt short term won't harm them. Frenchy

To put it simply, the firemouth has taken ownership of the tank. Visitors are a threat to his territory. The small fish are herded into the corner, as the rest of the tank is his. As for the heater, my guess is he sees the colour as a threat, as it is similar to his. Does he herd the fish into the opposite side of the tank to the heater? Or the same?May not be a threat Frenchy

No point stirring up gravel. Unless you have bigger pebbles, most bacteria only live in the upper layer. Unless of course you have an infestation of trumpet snails. They turn the gravel over a bit. Because you don't want to use old material, water.... you are limited down to what Brad said. If you are looking to set up so many tanks, what is the rush. Wouldn't it be worth doing once, doing it right. Don't rush it, be a big mess if say, half the new set up craps out. Frenchy

As above, get your water tested. If the levels are fine, add a handful of salt, increase the water temp to near 30 degrees, increase airation in the tank & go buy a good whitespot remedy from your lfs. Treat as per bottle instructions. Treat tank for at least a week. If water conditions are not right you will be doing water change{30-50%} before treatment, day 3 and day 7. I haven't seen your tank, Caryl can fix up what I wrote, to suit your tank etc. Frenchy

I was thinking the same as Brad & Caryl :lol: I txt brad about this topic on my way to poker. That is why I asked about your readings. Just when you said they have always been at zero, I thought hmm. With the amount of water changes you are doing I think you are basically nearly always having a bacterial bloom. Feeding fish lightly, having plants in there & big water changes. Tank sounds like it may of been cycled,but not quite right. The more you changed the water, cut back on feeds, the harder it is for the tank to catch up. Just a quick question, is there enough bacteria media in the tank? Let the tank run for a week or 2 as mentioned. Keep the feeds light & keep an eye on your ammonia etc levels just incase. Frenchy

So you never had a reading of nitrite, nitrate & ammonia? Frenchy

Baa Baa :lol: What nutritional value is in these foods? Everyone says these foods are good. Why? :lol: Frenchy

The information I wrote above came from "The new illustrated guide to fish diseases" Gerald Bassleer. Is on page 203. It's proceeded by, Followed by I have given my reasons on this so many times,{no fault of yours if you haven't read, been mainly in the Cichlid section, quotes from Kjell Fohrman, in an Ad Konings book} Therefore, to hopefully save me time I will ask you this instead. Why do you think they are excellent food for fish? Frenchy

:lol: Frenchy

hmmm, well no clear cause can be pin pointed. This disease is usually associated with stress, poor water quality, malnutrition, internal flagellates{such as Hexamita etc} & bacteria infection{such as FMB etc} In most cases the fish have a depressed immune system. This disease can be cured if the exact cause is known. The disease is first recognised by an eroded{gaps in the} lateral line. This lateral line contains several sensory organs, runs along the fishes body. Fish can survive a long time but eventually the weakened fish will die of a {secondary} bacterial infection. At the onset holes are not visible yet. In some cases a number of parasites can be found around the holes, but there is no indication that they are responsible for the holes. Specific bacteria could not be determined in the initial stages either, but do occur in later stages. If fish are infected with FMB they can no longer be saved. To prevent; keep your water clean, eliminate stress, be fussy when buying fish, feed your fish only high quality food. {beef heart, turkey meat or mosquito larvae are not the ideal food for fish.} Frenchy

The cichlid section is busier now compared to a year or more ago. So could be done. A few things to think about. This forum is generalised, as far as Fish Forums go. Some sites around the world are more specific. eg; There are forums just for discus & catfish & cichlids etc. Therefore they need to break up into sections. So is there a need to break up the cichlid section? How many posts in this section are American based for example. I enjoy reading about both old & new world cichlids. For me, makes no difference. Frenchy

I doubt anyone would raise baby turqs to 20-30cm, then sell them for $10-15 :lol: :lol: :lol: Sorry Wilson, I had a good laugh at that. Frenchy

Aren't cichlids great!!! hmm, I am yet to see an african cichlid not know how to breed. Or a female mouthbrooder not hold eggs. My male Calvus eats the fry when they leave their home, just like in the wild too :roll: The American cichlids I have had have protected the young too. Salvinis, convicts etc The odd time I have seen fry not looked after, has been the odd discus pair, or first time breeders. Fish in bad setups etc. I would always let Angels do the job. They tend to do a very good job with their young. As Ryan said, give it a few goes, sometimes parents do eat them, usually just the first couple of times. eg; Inexperience. Like the reason they sometimes eat eggs, is that they aren't fertilised properly. Young males aren't fertile enough or it could be 2 females breeding. Cichlids all have their adaptations, eg; mouthbrooders. Their eggs don't have the adhesive threads of egg layers, they don't want them to clump up in the mouth. They also tumble the eggs in their mouth in a circular motion, towards the rare along the bottom the mouth & then back along the roof of the mouth to the front. This is to assure good contact with oxygenated water. Thats why people who artificial raise africans for example need an egg tumbler of sorts for success. Just like chemicals for egg layers if separated from parents. Point for me is, I am with Amazonian, let nature do its thing. Its more interesting to watch too. Isn't that why we keep fish? Watch them do their thing? Great post earlier to Amazonian 8) Frenchy

Male 8) Frenchy

Unless the male wasn't mature enough yet. Frenchy

Its growing nicely. A few days ago it was the tallest stem was 5cm below the water surface, now its past it Will add more pics once its changed. Frenchy

Got another 20 cardinals, 10 Harlequin rasboras & 2 Blue Rams{Brad got more German Imports in} for the discus tank. Added some Terminalia Catappa leaves today too. Finally took a pic ps; Keep forgetting...Anyone or Brad remind me.... what is the name of the plant in the middle at the back of the tank? Frenchy

Look really nice. Congrats to Alan too for breeding & raising them. Not the easiest fish to breed. Frenchy

I use the food too. Even the discus eat it. Frenchy

Have a read of this article http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3118 Frenchy