Caryl

Do you need excuses???

Hi and welcome. You have realised the original tank was too small for goldfish. They are big waste producers too - like the apple snails. Mixing meds and tonics is not a good idea either as some can react with others. Goldfish do not need company to be happy. Ignore your heart What sort of filtration do you have? Here are my questions now: 1) I cleaned out all the gravel and ornaments and "disinfected" it with formalin - then rinsed it a few times and mixed in Prime, Stress Zyme and Stress Coat with the gravel to put the good bacteria back to fight whatever caused the ilnesses - was this the right thing to do - or what else could I have done? I don't want the feisty one getting sick. Are you sure the fish had finrot and not ammonia poisoning or other problems due to the poor water quality? Best thing to do in these cases is to improve the water quality. Did you ever test it for ammonia, nitrite or nitrates? This would have helped with a proper diagnosis. Forget adding products and do more water changes. 2) How long to wait before placing him in the new tank (much bigger at 54 l) with two other fish? When will I know it is okay to transfer him - what else can I do to make sure he is disease free? 54L is not big enough for 3 goldfish to grow. All you can do is get the water quality fixed then keep an eye on the fish for any sign of further trouble. I found this on a goldfish specialist site... Stocking level - what are the SURFACE dimensions (length x width) of your tank? As a guide, in a coldwater aquarium, you should allow: 60 square cm for each 1 cm of fish body length excluding the tail or 24 square inches for each 1 inch of fish body length excluding the tail. For example, in a 60 x 30 cm tank you can keep a total of 30 cm (12 inches) of combined fish body length, such as three 10 cm-long fishes, or two 15 cm-long fishes. There is no way round this! If you overstock, you will always be up against problems; remember, too, that small goldfish grow, so you need some spare capacity for growth of your existing stock. Do your sums, and, if you are overstocked, find temporary accommodation for your surplus fish until you either get a second or a larger tank. Lessons learnt: Apple snails are extraordinary creatures BUT not in a 21 l tank - leaves about 1 l of waste a week They are great little poo machines aren't they? :roll: :slfg: Water that is crystal clear is not necessarily healthy water This is so true and inversely, cloudy water is not necessarily unhealthy either

There was an is813 selling them on TradeMe late 2011 and early 2012

Do remember, when travelling, that your car heater will most likely be running so the interior will not be that cold (unless you have an old car or the heater isn't working). Make sure they pack the fish lightly and don't put too many in each bag. Bag should have 1/4 water to 3/4 air, or oxygen preferably. You could just put the bags in a cardboard box then pack scrunched up newspaper around them. Make sure the bags stay upright so they aren't falling over or rolling about.

One of my wanted destinations! I too saw the guinea pigs and immediately thought "lunch?" :slfg:

They are live bearers so don't lay eggs for fry to hatch from. Platies, swordtails, leopardfish and mollies are also live bearers.

It depends on the species of tree. Some sink more quickly than others and some never seem to sink at all!

Have you done any water tests? Can you tell us the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate or pH? I think the fact it is the newly introduced fish which are dying points towards water quality or conditions. Sometimes something goes a bit bad slowly so the original inhabitants have time to adjust to the conditions and stay alive. New inhabitants will die quickly though.

I would have boycotted Monster drinks - if I had ever heard of them, or seen them, before now 8)

The blonde wasn't a true blonde either (and I am referring to her hair colour, no other parts of her )

Size doesn't matter

It varies greatly as many are franchisees so service varies from depot to depot. Does the pet bus still run?

They were the only entries but I was hoping for more :roll:

We were the same with our conure, Pepper. Grant met him in Animates and fell instantly in love. The two went everywhere together. He loved his baths too and climbed right in, water would get splattered all over the room!

Which Animates? Besides, they won't tell you who the breeder is as they want to add their commission on and sell you their bird for a higher price! We prefer to buy from a breeder we know has hand reared the bird. Having said that, we bought our conure from a ChCh Animates.

A real man wouldn't need a kitset, he could build his own!

My Africans lived in, and bred, at 7.0. The breeder I got them from initially also kept all his Africans in 7.0 as that was what came out of his taps and he said he did not want to muck about altering the pH as he was breeding on a large scale and doing many water changes.

Sounds like the Southland fish club has already had its first meeting!

Making my own was quick and easy and a lot cheaper than buying them I was very pleased as it was a first effort. I might try experimenting with toppings in future !drool:

Ah, I thought cheese went on top. I will try your suggestion next time. It might have stopped some of the things from sliding off :smln: I assume you buy the bases? I made my own.

:thup:

I made a pizza tonight. As those who know me can attest, I do not know a lot about pizzas and have only even eaten them a few times in my life. I found a recipe for the base that does not use yeast then added stuff from the fridge and freezer. The result was delicious!! I even got a compliment from Grant (very rare indeed) who claimed it was better than the gourmet pizzas in the supermarket deli. Here 'tis... It had a tomato relish spread over the base with green peppers, onion, mushroom, tomato, left-over cooked chicken, bacon and a bit of Edam cheese grated on top 8)

I enjoyed Brave yesterday 8) I don't think Ted is my kind of film and I am not in the demographic to which is is geared :slfg:

Grant and I have been waiting 2 years for a hand reared quaker but the breeder's pair have not been obliging. Where did you get this one Henward and how old is it?

If he was putting it in with discus one wonders what other things he does regarding fish keeping, water quality etc. :dunno: I am assuming you were unaware he was going to add it to a discus tank so could not warn him against doing so?