Pegasus

Hi Lyn.. :) Sounds like Alan is keen on a few guesses. Is it an Australian Rainbow...?

Hi Lyn,... Welcome to the boards. Looks like you're gonna have lots of fun here. We might have to start a new "Guess My Fish" competition for this goldfish lookalike you have he he.

I've got the same as Ira, except mine is in a small square box Obviously the link to here..http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/starfish2.jpg ... isn't working.

Hi Aaron, Welcome to the forums.... lots to read and learn

We will "definitely" infect you with MTS... Welcome Nightshade.. great to see you here and look forward to your posts..

Couple of good sites here, and the second one shows examples of the "upper" Swordtail. http://www.guppies.com/PAGES/genetics.html http://www.world-guppy.de/english/artic ... swords.htm

This post is over a month old TC, but there are Swordtails, and Double Swords, Plus Delta's, Combtail, Lyretail, Crowns.. (like three small swords) plus just about every colour you can imagine. Great little fish if you want to do some selective breeding.

Welcome to the Fishroom Fishfinder. Looks like you have some interesting fish there.

Hi Mechtiger... Welcome Good place to learn more about the hobby. Don't be afraid to ask if you are not sure. Lots of helpful people here

It's only the male that keeps them attached to the nest, and as far as I know, they have no "homing" instinct. Like any child, they tend to wander off, and as the days pass they will become more adventurous and the water level can be increased gradually each day if needed. As above, once they are free swimming there is no need for the male to be in there.. Some of my last batch are now about 48mm long and just look like "Mini Leeri's"

AsCaryl says, plus the fact that these fish breathe from the surface, which they do constantly on and off.. all day.. all night, so having the water deep would cause great efforts for the young fry to keep swimming to the surface.

Pretty quick to jump on the "Whackit Waggon" Alan without actually knowing all the facts, after all, it could be full of guppy fry that he has been feeding for all you know, or pellet food.. or.... I do however like yiour analogy of a ... what was it..? A "Cure".. Quick, easy answer... "Out of sight, out of mind" "Any" fish (even a Convict) is worth at least "some" attempt to find out what is wrong with it, otherwise we would get nowhere in the hobby. (Just my thoughts, and no offence meant) If you "have" to dispose of the fish, then drop it in a plastic bag and swing it down quickly on a firm bench .. or the floor. (It pays to close the eyes and clench the teeth at this time)...

Hi Andyman, Sounds like Dropsy, but I can't say I've ever seen a Cichlid suffering from that. More than likely it is bloat.. or full of eggs.. but you say the scales are protruding. 1/ Hopefully.. 2/ If it's bloat... no.. 3/ Forget three. Try a short bath in the following. One tablespoon of thoroughly mixed Epsom Salts in a gallon of water... or measure to suit your container... Don't dose the whole tank. Put the fish in there and leave for ten minutes, but remove if undue stress is seen. Repeat twice a day until improvement is seen. They also say that an increase in temp (29C) helps ease the bloat. HTH

Hi Doch, Have the pic on your site.. or someone elses.. Copy the addy... ie: (mypic.mysite.ihug.co.somewhere/tank.???) Start your post, then click "Img" Paste your addy in between the two "Img's" You will then have one at the start... Your picture location sits between them. HTH.

Great stuff Interfecus, Don't forget to lower the water level to around 4 to 6" (100-150mm)

Hi Doch and welcome, Hope to hear more about your fish. You found a great friendly place :)

Great stuff Ira... Congrats :) Slip a piece of foam over the intake of the filter. Might be time to remove the lady if you haven't already done so, as she has no paternal instinct and may decide to have a fish burger he he. Sunday or Monday sounds good, but not unless they are 'truly' free swimming and have consumed the egg sac (big belly) If you are using the tube stuff, place a few drops in something .. anything... and mix it thoroughly with a bit of tank water, then swish it around in the tank otherwise it will sink in one blob. Hope you lowered the water... Very Important. They will tend to stay near the surface, but will become a bit more adventurous as the days pass. Shift the male out as soon as they have all hatched.

Hi Dubbie, As Alan says.. do the siphoning to remove the cysts that will EXPLODE into MILLIONS more The quarantine situation. The therory behind the quarantine is that you can adapt the fish to "your" conditions.. your water and param's.. During this time you can fully observe the new arrivals, and many aquarists include a couple of "sacraficial" fish from their established stocks to see if "they" get affected by the new arrivals. This is done in preference to infecting the whole tank. Quarantine means just that.... Complete Isolation... Great care should be taken with nets and equipment so that nothing can be tranfered from the "Q" tank to your established tanks. I never tip the "shop water" into my tanks, but always net the fish out of the bag, although even a single drop of water can tranfer some nasty or other... even on plants, or snails.. or... he he. You get the picture. Like humans... fish can be "carriers" but show no sign of illness, so nine times out of ten the sacrificial fish will show the probs first if there is anything ammiss. BTW: Never use meds on the "Just in case" policy. You'll finish up with a cocktail of soup in your tank. Alway "fully" diagnose the prob before medicating, and if poss use natural methods. Hope that helps

Good one Ira, You guessed right... about two days. Infusoria is the recommended first food, but the liquid stuff works, plus green water seems to have enough to sustain them. I get the cloudy water from a vase of old flowers... as this has heaps of infusoria in it. Don't feed until they are truly free swimming and you can see they have consumed the egg sac. Get them to about the size of new born guppy fry before you feed them the NHBBS. They grow rapidly on the right foods. Great stuff. Pity you missed the actual spawning. It's an awe inspirering sight, and one you never get sick of seeing.

As you possibly know, I never use meds, or any additives really, so I can't really comment on the Metafix. Usually if W/S is about, most fish in the tank will get it, but the Tetras normally seem to be first in line Often it is not the fish from the store that are transmitting the disease, and may be just the addition of the new fish caused enough upset to start the outbreak. Then again it "could" be the fish from the store that were perhaps in fine healthy condition, but due to stress of some sort have contracted the W/S and so spread it about the tank. They say that W/S is always present in a tank, and all it needs is one fish to become rundown or scared to allow the parasite to attack. Hope you sort things out with no more losses

Hi Dubbie, Once it gets you there are no shortcuts to getting rid of it, as it has to run through its life cycle, and is only vunerable at ONE stage, and that is once it has left the fish and is about to open and multiply. The thing is, that the parasites won't all leave the fish in one hit, so you have to work in conjuntion with the progress of the ich cycle. Double medicating with two types of meds is a big mistake, as one can counteract the other, however, what you need to do now is keep the temp up, as this speeds the cycle up, and once the parasites begin to drop from the fish they will need removing from the gravel with a syphon. Do this each day over the treatment period, which could take ten days. Use only the correct med for W/S as per the instructions. Keep the aeration going and remove any fatalities as soon as poss. You don't say what type of Barbs they are, or the size, but if your tank is a two foot you could have a prob.

Hi there Dave... Welcome to the fishroom. Hope you find lots of interest

Sounds ok.... hope you have a heater in the tank in the sleepout 80F is good. Your "best" procedure would have been to just put the "females" into the new tank and get them into condition with the live foods. Once they were filled with roe, then pick the best and remove the other.... then introduce the best male.... or... you could partition the odd female off so that it is ready if the other female doesn't perform. Never fails... Poorly conditioned fish will give poor results, (low yeilds.. poor quality fry) and the Anabantoids expel a lot of energy during spawning. It's a great sight to watch if you get the chance Some pairs will cope together after spawning, but often the male will terrorize the female and could kill her, so it is best to remove her once the action is over. Leave the male to tend to the fry till you see them free swimming and disturb them as little as possible. Just a note.. Lowering the water level once spawning is over is best done with a piece of airline. This lowers the water very slowly and will keep the nest intact. The same applies to Betta's, but lower to around 100mm (4")

Any water agitation will break the nest up, so you are better without a filter. Have the fish shown any intention of spawning...?

I used two females on the last batch... but only one at once. Reason was that the male was still keen to breed, but the first female was depleted. Don't know if the BN's will eat the eggs.. or fry, but the tank is a bit big as you will need to lower the water level to around 6" (150mm) once the spawning is over and cover the tank top to avoid draughs and keep the surface air warm. Provide some hiding places for the female and remove her once spawning is over also. The water level should remain low for two weeks or so until the breathing organ develops correctly. Feed on a liquid fry food for a few days, then NHBBS. Dominant fry appear very quickly, and you will soon see you have batches that are much larger than the rest. Increase the level of the water after a couple of weeks... just an inch or so every few days until normal level is reached.