Caryl

Are any other fish in the same aquarium showing signs of illness? Always test the water quality first. If this is fine and it is just the one fish, has she given birth recently? Swordtails, like guppies, tend to be pregnant non-stop and this causes strain on the females. Try and separate her to give her a rest. I would float a container with a bit of plant added in my main tank and clip it to the side with a peg if I wanted to keep it in place. Clear plastic is good but bear in mind, if you use a white, or light coloured container (like a 2L ice cream container) the fish will try and match its surroundings and turn very pale. This water will need changing daily, using water from the main aquarium, to keep it fresh. Add a bit of salt (about 1 level teaspoon per 4 litres). Apart from the spot and getting skinny, are there any other signs of illness? Does it stay at the top, or bottom, of the tank? Are the fins clamped? Are the fins ragged or split? Some of these could indicate a bacterial infection or parasite but if it is just one fish and the rest are fine, I think it more likely to be damage from birthing. Do you have any idea how old the fish is? Remember these fish only live 5 years max (often only 3 - 4yrs)

Is there a reason you want this particular substrate? Sorry I can't help with info as I've not heard of it before.

There's a Livebearers NZ Facebook page that mentions they are not available in NZ. Check the allowable import list.

True maxxi1 but there may still be people asking the same question and the answers will be different now, especially with AI. Has anyone tried designing an aquarium using AI and what sort of results did they get?

Never heard of them. Do you have the scientific name for them?

Sad to hear customers are still having issues a year after the first complaint was made here.

Sorry I can't help you with local spots.

Hi and welcome. Someone else with lots of excellent advice would be Stella McQueen. She has written several books about native fish keeping but I don't think she is on these forums anymore. She can be found on Facebook though under her own name and New Zealand Native Fish.

Yes there are freshwater shrimp in NZ

Please do not put a goldfish in a bowl. One fish is too many and 3, no matter how small, would not last long. A goldfish needs at least 80L of water (pref 120L) plus good filtration and regular maintenance. The first thing your church children would get to discuss, if you put 3 goldfish in a bowl, is whether their goldfish went to heaven. We, as an organisation, do not sell fish. Our members offer when they have some for sale.

How old was he? Bettas have a 2 - 5 year life span and can often be relatively old when they arrive in a pet shop. They will deteriorate quickly when it is old age. This can be mistaken for fin rot or other disease. As there has been a delay in response here, did he survive?

I haven't seen them for quite a few years (but I haven't been specifically looking either) but used to breed them. A lovely fish. Ask at your local pet store, if you have one, if they can get some for you.

Make whatever size holes you like and cover them with netting, or a bit of mesh, to stop fry from getting through, if that is what the divider is for. Otherwise, if this is for platy fry, they are quite large so make the holes slightly smaller than the fry. Won't matter if one or two get through as you will be over-run with fry quickly if you save them all. You could also get solid mesh netting that would do the trick or perhaps a metal, or Perspex frame with mesh siliconed or fastened some other way to it. A heavily planted tank (especially with fine leafed plants like water sprite, Indian fern or Java moss) will ensure enough fry survive each month without you ending up with hundreds of fry you don't have space for and can't get rid of and you don't need to build a divider.

OK, so if I am reading this correctly, you added the new guppies to an established tank that already had fish in it and it is just the new guppies that are dying and not the originals? What is a possibility, is that your originals have some sort of "bug" that doesn't bother them but the new fish have not encountered and so don't have an immunity to. Once the new fish started getting sick, it increased the number of "bugs" so now the originals are having to fight the larger number. People always say you should quarantine new fish for 4 - 6 weeks to check they don't bring anything with them but that doesn't help if it is a case of something the fish have not built up resistance to. I had a similar problem once, many years go now, and it was not the fault of the fish shop. From memory, we just had to wait to see which ones survived. I don't think adding further meds to the water will help. Survival of the fittest. Do the sick fish have stringy poo? That can be a sign of internal parasites. Next time, quarantine new fish to check they are fine before adding them to the established tank. If they were sick to start with, they would show signs in the quarantine period. If they don't show signs of sickness until a week or more after being added to another tank with current inhabitants, I would look at something in that tank that is the problem. Not necessarily poor water quality, as it sounds like everything is good there, but something new to that particular batch of fish. Someone else may have other suggestions.

Well done and good work. I know a number of different hobby and interest clubs who are wrangling with all this.

True but it is also the Fun section, which does not need to be about fish. As a long time fish keeper, ccmuva probably hopes someone who manages this site (or has their own) might be able to offer help, or suggest where to go for help. Surely there is a tutorial somewhere on youtube itself?

Worked for me too, I was just looking for them in the wrong place as downloads 🙂

An easy way to cycle is... you have a 2ft tank, so start with 4 harlequins. Wait one month. If all is well, add another 4 harlequins. Wait one month. If all is well, add another 4 harlequins. Repeat until you have the number you require without over-stocking the aquarium. The waste from the fish will build up matching bacteria in the filter. Do some research on honey gouramis as, if I remember correctly, they are sensitive to water quality so shouldn't be added until the aquarium is balanced and matured - at least 6 months. Filter media starts to die the minute it is taken out of the water so old media will not miraculously produce instant bacteria I'm sorry. If you use the above method - slow and steady - there is no need to add products or faff about with ammonia etc.

When I tried to open the original article, it has an error so I got the magazine itself and scanned the article livingart mentioned as pdf's and attached them here but I don't think you can open them! Perhaps someone can tell me where I went wrong 😞 Cycling 1.pdf Cycling 2.pdf Cycling 3.pdf Cycling 4.pdf Cycling 5.pdf Cycling 6.pdf

Good luck! Tomorrow someone is coming to catch all my fish and dismantle my last aquarium. I will be fishless for the first time in 45 years. I am unable to do the maintenance myself and want them to go to somewhere they will be well looked after.

I was going to post an updated pic of what the cucumber slices looked like today but when I looked, at lunchtime, the knitting needle was totally bare! It usually takes them 3 or 4 days to finish it and there are often rings of skin floating about, which I remove.

Here is what it looks like day 2. See how they have eaten from the inside out? You can also see gnaw marks on the outer skin.

I've never boiled any veg before adding them to the water. I would think they would break up and foul the tank faster. You don't have to weight them down either but I think it makes it easier for the fish to eat. Try spearing a slice onto a fork and dropping that in. Try various veg but make sure they are washed first to remove any pesticides or other stuff on store bought veg. It can take the fish a day or two to recognise it as new food. If they haven't touched it after 3 or 4 days, and it is starting to break up, remove it and try something else. Pumpkin is also enjoyed by some fish but it does break up faster, which is why cucumber, zucchini and the like work well. Shelled peas are often used for constipated fish. Experiment and see what your fish like best. I knew a cichlid who loved bananas!

Thought you might like to see these pics, taken today (excuse the messy tank). The gold ancistrus is around 8cm. The Odessa barbs went nuts over it as soon as I dropped it in.

Until they have eaten all but the rind, or it all starts to fall to bits. Start with 1 slice as it sometimes takes them a while to try new foods.