mcmillanm

I wasn't even sure I had a male/female pair but it appears not only do I have a pair but they must like each other as they have spawned in my clay pot cave! The Parents are busily guarding them but will wait and see if they hatch/survive as it is a busy community tank. I don't have a spare tank for any babies but do have a breeder box I can stick on the side of the tank. Is it worth trying to transfer some survivors intoma breeder box do you think? Thanks.

Nutrafin flakes in am and either two of these: nutrafin bottom feeder tabs, wardley shrimp pellets, spiralina tabs, novo Pleco tabs & tetra vege algae tabs for both Corys, catfish & loaches.

Thanks for your replies ichtus and Caryl. Caryl - I'll test the tap water for nitrates tomorrow although it hasn't been that dark an orange before when I've tested. I agree too that I think I may have mucked up the cycle in my endeavour to fix my fish. I did another water change today on both tanks, added some pimafix and am bringing the temp back to normal on the big tank. From there I will do another water change on Wed and maybe add some salt then. Not sure what else I can do for tetras other than wait and see.. Other fish are flashing less so hopefully I've helped them a bit. I did notice today that one of the Corys in my smaller tank has a lump where the body joins the top fin... I share the nets, buckets etc for water changes so may need to observe from there as to whether to take action for a bacterial? issue. With the pH I was concerned as I know fish such as tetras and rams like it on the acidic side and was wondering if that could be stressing the tetras and hence the white lumps? I also read about water needing electrolytes re Molly issue but nit sure how to address this? I've had her around 18 months so wouldn't think it is a lack of salt unless it contains electrolytes?? Dilemmas... Thanks too for your offer Ichtus - I'll see how things go in the next few days and Pm you re visit if things don't improve or go downhill.

Hi again, With the ongoing tank issues I am having can I please have some more advice? Due to fish flashing and what looked like a few white speckles on rasboras, some white nodules on neons and lethargic fish (platy & Molly) on bottom of tank it looked like it could be white spot according to a pic so I've treated with temp at 29 & white spot cure at 1/2 strength because of loaches. Now not sure (so sick of this) & my remaining Dalmatian Molly seems to be bordering on whirling disease. Nose down yesterday and at surface of tank today. Tetras no better, worse I think, other fish ok. I did a water change today and tested water just now as follows: PH: 7.2-7.4 Any ideas to get it lower preferably without chemicals to around 6.8-7 as tetras etc prefer it acidic? I use oyster shell to make my very soft water harder which I know also makes water more alkaline... Ammonia: looks pretty close to 0. Nitrite looks about .25ppm Nitrate however is still at around 30ppm. Surprised nitrate so high as I do 2 water changes a week. Could the meds I've been using make the nitrite and nitrates spike? Thanks for any help and sorry to have to keep posting - I just want happy fish!! Ps: I live in Glendowie, Auckland - is there a fish disease expert nearby who could look at the fish/tank and give an opinion? Should I do another water change and start bringing temps down tomorrow?

It looks awesome, especially the way you have combined the white sand with the pebbles as the substrate - a great idea!! Did you get the rocks from around Auckland?

Ok, have dosed tank at 1/3 strength so hope my loaches and catfish are ok :smln: I also cut back a whole lot of plant growth to give them more room to swim. All seem ok so far... Still seeing some flashing but hoping that is the parasite saying 'what the??' and dislodging from my poor fish! Will wait and see :cofn:

Thanks Ichthus & Alanmin. I've already ordered the formalin so will try this at 1/3 dose as suggested I think as something is bothering them and hope my loaches are ok with it... Alanmin, if I use gloves and wash my hands thoroughly after will it be ok? BTW Ichthus - I hope yr new tank set up is going well. The chain loaches are going great in my baby tank & I love the Bolivian ram's character so much I found him/her a friend and both are doing well in my 180L (not flashing like some of the fish) so thanks again :nfs: If anyone else had more info on safety of formalin at 1/3 and loaches I'd love to hear it as I can't seem to find anything definitive online. Thanks

I've had some problems with flashing, lethargy as well as a slight possible fungal infection in a couple of neon tetras. I finished dosing with Furan as suggested but fish are still flashing and some platies and a Molly are still mainly sitting at bottom of tank with fins clamped. These are mainly pregnant females (the boy doing it died last week) so whatever it is is effecting fish with slightly weaker immune systems more which makes sense. A lot of fish still flashing though. I wondered about flukes??I rang HFF and was told it sounds like some sort of parasite bothering them but not flukes as fish not skinny and he recommended Formalin (at 1/3 dose due to my loaches and catfish). Has anyone had any success with this and found it safe with scaleless fish? Thanks for any help/advice to solve ongoing problem.

Well I finished dosing with Furan and fish are still flashing and some platies and a Molly still mainly sitting at bottom of tank with fins clamped. These are mainly pregnant females (the boy doing it died last week) so whatever it is is effecting fish with slightly weaker immune systems more which makes sense. A lot of fish still flashing though. I wondered about flukes??I rang HFF and was told it sounds like some sort of parasite bothering them but not flukes as fish not skinny and he recommended Formalin (at 1/3 dose due to my loaches and catfish). Has anyone had any success with this and found it safe with scaleless fish? Thanks :cofn:

Good thinking - sometimes the answer is so simple it stares right at you without you seeing it LOL! Will do that for the last dose. :thup:

Thanks, that's where I got my last lot from. I was hoping someone more local had them but they seem to be the last ones. I'll see if they still have any. One capsule doses 40L but you need to dose 4 times so they soon add up LOL. cheers for that.

BTW - I've checked quite a few pet shops & Google re Furan-2 so woils like to know if anyone knows of any that still have it. Cheers

Hi, yes I have read that article briefly a few times and just reread it again. It sounds like adding a little salt is beneficial so will do that after treatment and will also do some plant trimming and clearing up re the organic matter as some of my fish seem to enjoy chewing on plants and making a mess... I already do 2 water changes a week as I think tank is a little overstocked, have two filters and a UV filter. I feed them twice a day, maybe I need to cut back on this too or not feed at all one night a week - does anyone else do and recommend that? I really enjoy my fish & just want them happy so any ideas welcome.

That's what I thought U would say LOL. Anyone know where to get more Furan-2 from if needed? Thanks

Thanks for clearing that up:)) I started Furan yesterday. For those that have used it before and because it is so hard to get (I bought some for an emergency a few weeks ago) how important is it to do 4 doses? Would it be a waste of time to just do 2 (yesterday and today)? Thanks

Except for the neon which died and had some sort of sore on it's body there is very little 'white' on the other fish's mouths & fins seem a bit better too since adding primafix over last few days. I also lost a platy (which has looked lethargic with fins clamped for quite a while) and a rummy nose this week though. Sorry to keep on at it but will columnaris cause fish to often hang at bottom of tank with fins clamped and fish such as rummy nose, loaches, mollies and platies to flash on bottom and items in tank? Fish do seem a bit happier after a water change though. Dilemmas bit I just want to do what is best for fish... Shall I start with salt? Thanks everyone

Will columnaris cause lethargy and flashing in fish too? I underdosed with Furan-2 a few months ago as I was worried about my loaches but will do proper dose this time. BTW there is only minimum fin freying on the neons and a tiny bit of white near mouth. Thanks

Hi, Just a tiny bit of cotton and fin damage on a couple of tetras and one tetra which died this morning had a lump on it's side. Quite a few fish, even the rummy noses are flashing a bit though. I added primafix over the last few days which I think has helped the tetras a bit but not the flashing of other fish. BTW is primafix or melafix better for that kind of Thing? Thanks for yr help. Also, do U use salt with yr loaches, corys?

Hi, I haven't heard any ideas on what to do re flashing, cotton prob on tetras and lethargic fish so think I will try another water change and adding some salt as a start?? I've got tetras, sterbais and loaches so want to be fairly careful with it. Can anyone tell me ordirect me to info on how much? I've also added some primafix this morning and have some emergency Furan-2 tabs but would this be panicking? I just want happy fish LOL! thanks

One other thing - a couple of my neons have what look like fungal growths & cottony bits on either their body or fins. I've been adding primafix the last 3 days. Thanks

Hi I don't know whether to be concerned or not or what I should do... Things have been going well with both of my tanks and thanks to this website I have recently solved a skinny fish problem of some kind of parasite or worms in my smaller tank with Aviverm. I also dosed my big tank as I sometimes swap fish over even though they weren't looking skinny. My problem in the big tank though is that a few fish (platies mainly) have been hanging around the bottom looking lethargic with some fin clamping. These are mostly pregnant females though so I thought they might just be a bit tired and heavy. Tonight when I went to watch the fish after their lights out one of my golden zebra loaches did some frantic flashing on the bottom of the tank, even turning right upside down and around for a few seconds (enough to alarm me) and then sat on the bottom of the tank breathing heavily. The fish in this tank (which is a little overcrowded) seem to flash more than what I would think is normal and tonight it was frantic. It's a 180L Juwel, I do 2 water changes a week, have a UV filter, a pH of about 7.2, GH/KH of about 3-4 and I'm pretty sure nitrates are fine. Any ideas - flukes? And anything I could do that is safe for loaches, tetras, live bearers etc? Thanks

Has anyone had any success with just an airstone and no anti fungal stuff? I don't really have room in the tank for an ice-cream container and need the tank's heater. Thanks

I knew my corys were looking frisky this morning LOL and now they look like they've swum a marathon (which they probably have) and are mostly sitting very quietly at the bottom of the tank. BTW - I have albino, bronze and sterbais in the tank and suspect that the albinos and bronzes may be doing the deed together. The two babies I have sem a lighter bronze or dk green so far. Would this be because of their age or the combination of the colours? Thanks for any responses.

Ok, so corys spawned again this morning after a coolish water change and some glass cleaning. I scraped as many as I could comfortably collect and put in my breeder box with my newly set up air pump and turned it on. Do I go to the LFS and get some meth blue now or use the acriflavine I have left? My breeder box DOES have holes in it for some air flow so will meth blue stain everything for good? Thanks

FYI After two doses my 2 skinny fish seem happier and are swimming around more normally which is great! Also added an airstone which all the fish seem to be enjoying. Thanks for the advice!