alexyay

For heavy root feeders I recommend either a fertilizer substrate or fertilizer tabs. If the tank's already set up, fertilizer tabs are preferable. You just pop them under the substrate and they're good to go. How much fertilizer and how often you need to dose depends on plant growth, fish population, CO2 etc. You probably only need to dose "Micro nutrients" or "Trace Elements" if you're not dosing CO2. I've found with my fertilizing substrate, I don't have to dose any nutrients in my low-medium light tanks (otherwise I get nasty String algae). It's all a bit of a dosing game as every tank is unique. I find if I overdose I get string algae - if you underdose you may find deficiencies. Can take a while to find the right balance for your tank

Mine get a mix of everything. I've been recommended a more vegetable-based diet for early growth, but otherwise mine get Novotab, Hikari sinking wafers, Hikari algae wafers, NLS H2O stable wafers, leftover flake, leftover bloodworm, leftover frozen community food, leftover prawn and beefheart (not often, just used for raising siamese fighter fry), leftover bloodworms, leftover frozen daphnia, leftover microworms and zucchini... they get a fair few different ones based on what everyone else gets lol.

So basically using infusoria? I'll definitely have to try that! Thanks for the tip

Good to know :thup: Unfortunately I wasn't successful on my first attempt raising the fry - still setting up my breeder tank in order to try again (know what I need to do differently this time, though still not 100% sure on what to feed as that's still a bit of an experiment)

It definitely depends on the situation. Planting options have been difficult with our larger fish however we've never experienced filter clogging (though the wavemaker does get clogged) and while we can only use certain plants (swords, fast growers like Hygro polysperma etc) the benefit outweights the small amount of maintenance needed. Totally understandable to use fake plants with fish like large plecos, plant eaters like silver dollars etc. Though emersed plants may be used successfully to help with Nitrate reduction.

Three of mine (temporarily holding them in that tank), unfortunately I only have a male of the "black" (unsure of exact species, there was a thread on it on here but it turned out to be an argument and don't think it actually got answered :dunno:) so will be looking for a female. Hoping to spawn the commons over the next couple of months (which are a breeding group that I recently acquired). Also unsure of whether the red is a "hybrid" or a true. Was one of Jennifer's fry. Also currently own a couple of royals (one male, another still growing out). And a farlowella if that counts. Never seen the whites in person but the guy I got the commons & black from said he had one at one stage.

Real plants 100%. The only time I use fake plants is in medication tanks where they can't thrive and need to be sterilized (so it's very impractical). There are several plants that'll pretty much grow under any light and conditions. My list is - - Hygrophila polysperma - Indian fern - Cabomba - Ambulia - Hydrocotyle leucocephala - Stargrass - Duckweed - Java moss, Christmas moss, sometimes Riccia moss Anubias and Java fern are also low light plants, but due to being slow growing they are prone to algae growing on the leaves, which can cause them to die if the algae is too much. Thriving plants will only benefit the tank and reduce algae. For the ones above you'll likely not have to dose anything. If you're experiencing algae, my typical recommendations are - Lower light hours - Replace light tubes if over a year old or a poor quality - Do WCs! - ...More WCs (algae often thrives on an abundance of nutrients, for the majority water changes will help) - Increase planting - Use emersed plants to help take up extra Nitrates/Phosphates/etc - Look further into specifics such as exactly what nutrients the algae thrives on, whether you need better quality lights (with good colour/wavelengths), whether you need to increase/decrease flow etc.

Without a heater you'll probably struggle to spawn the warm water species but with a heater I don't see why we wouldn't be able to span them up north!

What expert do you propose checks it instead? (To note: I'm not particularly happy with price increases and hope to attend one of the meetings myself)

I'm really liking my Glowlight Danios, which allow for a slightly higher temperature range than some of the other small SE-A species, making them perfect as gourami tankmates. I have ~11 at the moment and they are really tight shoalers and absolutely fascinating to watch while they're eating. "Purple head gold harlequin rasbora" have been around lately, if you're interested in either a morph or different species (unsure which) of harlequins (I don't care for harlequins either) CPDs, Sawbwa rasbora, Neon Blue rasbora, Clown rasbora, Emerald Eye rasbora and several other rasbora and danio species are available, though many of these prefer cooler waters which makes them a bit difficult with the gourami which prefer warmer waters (I'm also not sure whether the pearl gourami will predate on any of the smaller species). Loads of larger more common danios about also, like zebras, leopards, giants etc but again cooler waters (and slightly higher flow for these guys too).

Sounds like the perfect size to me also I've found my CF1000 too high of a flow for my 120L so I have the flow reduced but other than that it's worked well for me on the tank so far Depending on the species of gold nugget you will likely find that outgrows your tank though, unfortunately.

I guess my question is, is she likely to heal up from this? I found my Honey Gourami with this hole in her head, assumed it was a wound (re-deciding tank-mates after finding Honeys develop infections so easily after wounds) and moved her to a tank that I new was cleaner and had no chance of her being picked on/wounded. But several weeks later and the hole hasn't gone away. She got a bit lethargic at one point (by a "bit" I mean very slight, hardly noticeable) but perked up and has been acting healthy & hasn't developed any infection (which was my main worry). It's a very "clean" wound, hasn't gotten bigger, no fuzz etc. However, when she takes in air, bubbles can go through the hole (and the hole is really clear to see through, though it's only on one side). Which is a bit freaky and a bit of a worry. I will have to try to get a clearer pic later (was trying to get pics of other fish at the time). Edit to say that while it is a hole in the head, it doesn't have any symptoms of HitH.

I guess just as an update for anyone curious. The male passed away pretty quick (was too far gone), my girl who I thought was doing OK (who I was quite attached to) passed away the week I wasn't there The last girl who's still very swollen was doing okay until recently in which she looks like she probably isn't going to make it either. At the moment I'm putting it down to being viral but hope to do some samples once I get my microscope set up (though I am totally new to it so may not find anything of use). I have a very small batch of fry from the boy and they are all growing up healthy. The two girls who are a wee bit swollen around the mouth area (no pics of them above) are still looking the same or slightly less swollen.

IMO you need far more than 3 cories Cories are shoaling fish - these guys may been seen in groups of hundreds in the wild. They require large groups in order to feel safe, show natural behaviours etc. Smaller groups tend to be timid, stressed and are more prone to disease - not preferable! Here's a good article on shoals: http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/c ... p?sid=6577 Personally in tanks below 55L I recommend around 2 species for the tank. They can have quite the bioload (especially large enough shoals) and so I'd say go for 2 species for a few months, see how you handle it and then perhaps add a third. Cochu's blue tetras are known for fin nipping (something that also reduces in large shoals) and may be a wee bit too big for the tank. I have some "nano" fish listed here - http://fishwise.co.nz/index.php/article ... ble%20Nano Fish (scroll down to the 55L and over for some middle dwelling shoalers). There's a bit on Honey gourami below that if it's of any interest

Icky and unpleasant :nilly: I now have 2 different skin issues on my hands from the fish tanks + likely washing my hands more frequently (eg after handling certain fish stuff) and I am likely going to need to wear gloves for the treatments for them. - Do you take any precautions to prevent skin irritation with fish, any particular chemicals you wear gloves around? Do you just suck it up and watch your skin deteriorate as it's part of the hobby (I kinda handle diseased fish relatively often and would prefer not to have too many open wounds around them)? - What kind of gloves are safe to use in the tanks? May use them predominantly around things that I'd usually wash my hands after handling eg bloodworms/foods/etc but will for now need to use them for WCs too. :sick: I would like these problems to go away and to fish-keep in peace, please!

Ah, that makes sense - I was more confused about the criticism about the price - I'm newer to the scene so didn't see them at $60, have only seen them sold in the triple digits.

I think there may be some confusion around the pricing? They appear to be retailing >$100 at the moment from my experience?

If of any interest, stores seem to be selling Rios as regular "BNs" so they could be that? ()

But the evidence just pointed towards aquarium release in the quote above?

It seems to be that they're easy to find but no one is willing to sell any of their hoards City kid with no access to a pond here - and I'd rather get them from somewhere which is hopefully "kinda" disease free (as opposed to a random location).

Nitrates are very rarely 0, and can mean one of a few things. One of the most common reasons is the test being performed wrong - which we all have done! The API Nitrates test needs to be done exactly as per instructions or it will give you a reading of 0. Bottle #2 and the Test Tube both need to be shaken for the times given (basically until your arms fall off). It's also good to double check to make sure it's not expired as that will give false results. Gasping can mean a few things such as - Bad water conditions (especially Ammonia) - Too high of temp for the fish (probably not this) - Low oxygen - sounds like you've been taking measures to increase oxygen levels but at higher temps good surface agitation is needed to oxygenate all the water. You'll also need good flow all around the tank, otherwise you end up with dead spots which allow for the build-up of waste, reduced temperature and reduced oxygen levels. Air stones don't always provide this and sometimes a wavemaker may be preferred. - Gill issues, so may be worth double checking the gills for any parasites such as flukes.

I am really keen on buying some also. Amongst the others in a sales thread a while back wanting some :thup:

Do you mean the pricing or the comment on importation? Pretty concerned about the importation... hoping it's just some scary rumour going around with no truth to it :tears:

Fantastic links :thup: Really useful The main information that I took from the method is the rate of flow impacting the amount of BB and it's totally changed my view on filtration (I always went for the highest flow, which is efficient for mechanical filtration but not at all for biological filtration). Certainly changes your setups and how you view things like canister filter efficiency. Has alsocompletely changed all the sump plans we had made for the new large tanks and fishroom, based on the idea that bacteria mostly form in the first few Cms and avoiding heavy stacking of the media as all it does is mean you require more flow (rendering the first pieces useless)!

Both SanityChelle and I have experienced this - first we both just had one fish with the issue, but today I've got 2 fish with the issue (one has shown symptoms for a week or so, the other only for a couple of days). I was wondering whether anyone could confirm that this is a bacterial infection that they've encountered? SanityChelle managed to fix hers (but the Betta developed further infections and passed) with Furan 2 and I intend on treating them all tomorrow if there's no response to indicate I should do otherwise. Both of us attempt to keep our water pristine - the only one in poor conditions may have been the male, who was caring for eggs at the time. All 3 of mine have been exposed to stress (eg females at the bottom of the hierarchy, male after spawning) so while it doesn't look to be very contagious, stressed fish seem prone to it. Edit: It also appears to be only affecting the Betta splendens, and no other fish sharing the same tanks/water system/etc (including other Anabantoids in other tanks sharing the same water). First my girl, who hasn't been medicated and still has the lump (since around early-mid October), but is still eating and in isolation. Chuck, SanityChelle's fish who literally developed the same thing at the same time (mid October): New sick boy: New sick girl: I hate to pose the question, but as all of these fish are related pretty closely (all siblings or cousins etc), could it perhaps be a genetic and/or age thing?