Caryl

Overproduction of slime is a defence mechanism, probably caused by poor water quality. Fungus is usually an infection. How many fry, what size and what are they in? What sort of water maintenance are you doing? Melafix won't help if you don't fix the cause - most likely the water quality.

Did the tank come with a filter? If so, what sort? Ideally you should contact one of our Hamilton members and run your filter in their established tank for a couple of weeks then you will have an instant cycle! Personally I would not use neons to cycle with as they are not very hardy these days. You have to start of with a few fish and slowly build them up, don't put a whole herd in at once - unless you have had the filter running as suggested above in another tank. I rarely use test kits these days, only if I have a problem and I haven't had one for a number of years. I would recommend a beginner get pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests. Learning how to use these will help you know when the tank has cycled. You will need a siphon for doing water changes and a scraper to clean the front glass. I use a nylon scrubbing pad from the supermarket. It has no soap, mould inhibitors or antibacterial stuff in it. Can't remember the brand offhand and I am at work so can't check.

Remember a large tank is actually easier to look after than a small one and will have less problems - or the problems will develop more slowly so you have time to figure out what's wrong and correct it before you wipe out all the inhabitants! If you want a nice community tank of livebearers and small to medium barbs, tetras etc, I recommend a 3ft long tank minimum. If you buy from the lfs you can get fancy stands etc but it is actually a lot cheaper to have a tank made at the glaziers.

I got my odessas from dogmatix Here are some fellas... and here is one fry about 1.5cm long... and hiding in the plant above a gourami...

Me? I wouldn't do that. I love your pics!!

It is you I am more concerned about. You will reach a point when the fish become more of a chore than an enjoyable hobby :-?

May be the heat. They live in flowing, cool streams.

We had a rock pool marine running for a couple of years and it was the most interesting tank we've ever had. We had to give it up though as we did not have a chiller and the tank kept getting too hot. All we did was take some containers down the Kaikoura coast and gather up rocks and sea water. We also caught as many critters from the pools as we could, brought them all home and put them in a 3ft tank. This tank had an AquaClear running off it and no other equipment. Critters in there were anemones (prised gently off rocks with flat edged knife - or try to get a small rock with anemones on it so you can take rock and anemone), chitons, triplefins, rockfish, hermit crab, starfish, cushionstars, brittlestars, shrimps, sea cucumbers and, at one point, an octopus. Critters were fed sea lettuce every now and then but nothing else. Lots of microscopic stuff would come in on the lettuce. Seaweed won't live. Nothing died and the shrimps reproduced. Since there is no coral in that region, our tank didn't have any. Live rock isn't necessary in a rock pool either. We never had a skimmer, powerheads or any other equipment and it was never required. I imagine there will be a difference in the needs of a reef compared to a rockpool though. As far as the law goes, I believe it is illegal to collect undersized paua and crayfish and a lot of the bigger marine fish but anything else in a rockpool is fair game.

Never seen my barbs protect their eggs or kill other fish either.

Haven't you got enough fish already??? :lol:

Hmm better go on a barb hunt! :lol:

I have some negative feedback for you - you have set up in the wrong town and the wrong island!! :lol:

Noticed a couple of fry in the community tank last night and figured they had to be Odessa barbs. It has been suggested they must be at least 1 month old. The rotala has so got out of hand in there it is anyone's guess how many fry are actually in there. :roll:

Have now seen 4 all at once so who knows how many are in there :roll: There is no way I can get them out either.

I guess someone had to look after all the fish there :lol:

They are all different and have different fish and plants so you need to rob a bank

I just threw mine into a $24.95 paddling pool from the Red Shed with lots of oxygen weed and left them over summer.

Any Wellingtonians NOT been there lately? :lol:

I have an Eheim wet/dry, 2 Fluval 404s and 2 Jebo 819s (plus assorted internal canisters, UGFs and box filters). I wouldn't touch another Eheim wet/dry with a 10 foot barge pole, the Fluvals are a nuisance to clean and restart and we love the Jebos. Have had them approx 12 months and haven't had to clean them yet. Both are still pumping water at a good rate, unlike the Fluvals which need cleaning often as they clog.

To get decent descriptions of specific fishes you really need specialised books like Cichlids of Lake Tanganyika or Killifishes of the World for instance. I love the Baensch Aquarium Atlas series but only 1, 2 & 3 have been translated to English Most books only mention diseases briefly. One specific one I have found useful though is Handbook of Fish Diseases by Dieter Untergasser. It was put out by TFH. ISBN 0-86622-703-2

Easy, the males are really red and the females are paler and fatter. top is male, bottom is female

The bigger the better Alex. Goldfish are very messy. 150L is not much for 8 fish. OK if they are small but they will grow. I would get an external canister filter, as big as you can afford. Undergravels are no good with goldfish as they like to dig. Other filters clog too quickly.

My electric yellow has dropped again. The fry usually get eaten but I found 2 hiding out today. Ignore the blue body cruising by, check out the little fry hiding underneath . Just to give you an idea of size, the S. ahli is about 10cm and the fry almost 1cm and here's the second one hiding out

What are you feeding them? They need baby brine shrimps

Welcome to the fishroom. You're only a virgin once so I am sure you will quickly pick up the help you need. A good start would be to join the Waikato Aquarium Society!