Caryl

We made our own. An article on how to do so was in an Aquarium World years ago and if anyone wants a copy I am happy to email it. Be aware, if you do not have basic electrical certification I suggest you get an electrician or someone who knows what they are doing. If you get it wrong and it overheats, shorts out or something and burns down your house, insurance will not pay out. Our heat pad is not buried in the substrate, it sits under the tank itself. It is wire (like that used in electric blankets) coiled on Pinex. The wire just sits on the Pinex and was taped down with parcel tape. Because it is evenly spread it does not cause stress on the tank base. Like Alan, we got Argus Heating to do the plugs and have them heat shrinked and sealed. Our heat pad has been running for over 10 years now. The only problem we had was when the thermostat died and we had to replace it. That is the hardest part now - finding a suitable thermostat. They only produce all in one heaterstats now.

Our 4ft sits on a heat pad Grant made for it. I think they are a good idea as heat rises and you have less equipment to hide (and large fish to break) in the tank itself.

Can't you hang the filter on the tropical tank? Either that or swap some of the media over. I have cycled a tropical tank using goldfish (cycled cold then threw the fish in the pond, added a heater then the tropicals) so I don't see why you can't do it the other way around.

It was obviously as a result of food, as they had been fed the night before, but I don't know why they reacted like this as it is the same food they get all the time and have never had a problem with it.

Injuries to fin edges often turn black as they heal. Also, goldfish do change colour, seemingly randomly. They also spit out their food a lot. The bit that most concerns me is the clamped fins and we need to find the reason for the stress that is causing it to do this. Black can also indicate a chemical burn. Check your water quality. I know it is only one fish and the rest seem fine but perhaps it is more sensitive, or already was a little ill, so reacted before the others.

15 goldfish is a lot to have in a tank, unless it is at least 8ft+. What size are they? What size is the tank? How long have they been in there? How long since the goldfish stopped eating? Is it smaller than the other fish? Is it not eating, or are the others preventing it from getting food? Was it introduced at the same time as the other fish or is it a new addition? If its fins are clamped that is a sign of stress or illness. I would separate the affected fish in case it has something contagious.

Read the sticky on turtle care at the top of this reptile section

Yes. Danios seem back to normal this morning. Still seems to be a slight swelling but all redness has gone and fish swimming normally, although still frantic. That is more likely to be because they were trapped in a small container though! Poo appears normal. I have released the 2 I managed to catch back into the tank.

Jennifer has suggested the fish might have intestinal inflammation and gas buildup in the intestines is causing the strange swimming. Stop feeding for a few days, add some salt to the water and when you start feeding again, add lots of daphia, brine shrimp and spiruling flake. Add those things for the other fish as well to help prevent it.

I have 4 giant danios. Today 3 of them are head down, tail up and swimming oddly. Occasionally spiralling but mostly swimming frantically all over the place, instead of their usual gentle cruising. All seem to have a lump behind the anal region and all have red vents. All other fish are fine. I have managed to catch 2 of them (in case they are contagious) but in a large tank with a lot of driftwood and plants, they are hard to catch! They may be sick but they can move fast! Any ideas on what the problem could be? No change in anything, no new food, no new additions etc.

I think I have Indian fern (a Ceratopteris pteroides or C thalictroides) growing emersed and submersed but it is in a tank where the water is darkly stained from the driftwood so I might have to move it to get a clear pic.

Looks great! I suspect we will have a few more of these appearing now :lol:

Our club is not meeting regularly at the moment but we do organise trips to other clubs, or go on shop crawls, critter hunts etc.

Temperature shock Too much chlorine possible run-off from something sprayed on surrounding garden ...all come to mind. Otherwise I am surprised as fish would generally like a water change like that! I assume the fish were found floating in the pond? Any marks on them? Is it possible they floated out of the pond at some point, so died, then flowed back into the pond as the water level dropped again? In their last house my dad had to watch in heavy rains as the pond would overflow, the fish would swim out on the grass, then as the water level dropped they couldn't get back into the pond. He used to rake them in :lol:

:happy1: :happy2: :bounce: Perhaps a good weekend to have a working bee

That is good to know Discusguru. Is your pond sheltered at all? I would not keep orandas outside over winter here as our pond (about 3m x 9m) freezes over in winter.

Sorry to hear about your loss Ryan, I know how distressing and heartbreaking it can be. A similar thing happened to my daughter. In her teens she had a tank full of guppies she had been breeding for over 2 years. She added a lovely black male (she had been looking for one for several months and the source was reputable) and within 12 hours all the fish were dead, except the original fish who was still fit and healthy. Again, quarantining wouyld have done nothing to prevent all the other deaths and we guess he had some infection he was immune to but to which the other guppies had no immunity. She has never kept fish since

Sorry we can't make it but I recommend anyone in the area do so as their meetings are always interesting and tasty! :love:

I did not comment on this as a) I do not live in Wgtn and b) I don't have orandas :-? Orandas apparently have a lower tolerance for pollution and cannot tolerate temperatures much below 16° C so I guess that answers the outside in winter question. I suspect you may have more problems, once the fish is bigger, in putting her in a tank after a summer in a pond, rather than trouble putting it back in the pond.

Rising fuel prices are not going to help either if your members are far flung. :-?

Hello You need to go to a Totally Tanked meeting

It was only the one fish that was sick to start with and you have treated it. If it is now symptom free and the other fish are still fine it should be OK to reintroduce.

I answered this in the coldwater section. Please post a question only once in one thread although it can be hard to decide, in some cases, which section would be best (ie whether to put this in coldwater or disease). Thank you.

If one eye is clear he may only be blind in one eye. I think he might do OK back in the pond but if not, he should be easy to catch again. Fish seem to adapt to lack of eyesight in one eye but he may suffer from lack of food if totally blind.