alexyay

Kinda, you just have to be aware that in warm waters, subtropical fish may suffer shortened lifespans and if it's too warm, increased stress (thus disease). Ideally, they're subtropical fish.

Personally I am hesitant to medicate unless necessary. The only thing I might dose for is internal parasites (eg Prazi) as some fish are prone to them (eg wild caught fish) and they are hard to notice - Callamanus worms spread quickly and are dangerous, whilst the treatment for them, Levamisole, is very safe and soft for the fish. But in most cases, I don't medicate. Some fishkeepers might still use salt as a preventative but that appears to not be so common any more with newer fishkeepers. It'll kill plants and many fish (especially soft water and scaleless fish) are sensitive to it. Methylene blue may be used as a general treatment (fungus, parasites, /maybe/ some bacterial etc) and is not too dangerous for sensitive fish (such as scaleless fish) - it's used for things such as Nitrite toxicity and may be used in cases such as quarantine tanks and fish in bags. However, at higher doses it can knock back the filter, along with killing plants and staining tanks/decor - so it's rarely used as a preventative in display tanks. Products that help slime coat production are often used by some when fish are added to bags and new tanks. I don't know how effective they are, but they don't appear to be harmful. But honestly, even if you had the perfect medication, I would still recommend quarantine as the number one preventative measure. Callamanus worms may infect a tank for over a month before you notice. Columnaris can take a month to show. Ich can take several weeks to show (if fish are only carrying it in the gills, it may not be visible for some time). These three are such major issues, and the medications to treat the tank are either difficult or have a tendency to kill plants, inverts, filtration bacteria and sensitive fish. Generally, IMO, you don't quarantine until you need to quarantine - when you have something wipe out everything. It's something we so often see people suffer, and it'd be awesome if even just one person doesn't end up with an infectious disease because they decided to try QTing first. Colour has some great tips for QT tanks - mine may sit anywhere between 30-70L and continuously run. All that's needed is the separate tank, filter, heater, siphon, bucket and net. Can sit in a corner or in a cupboard - somewhere quiet is usually preferred to prevent stress to the fish

Personally I am a big fan of the Dalton's mix :thup: I believe CaribSea is available, and Flourite is often popular. JBL is here too, but I don't see many people use it. I haven't gotten around to reading about imported soils, http://www.mpi.govt.nz/importing/plants/growing-media/ might be of help (page looks to be under construction atm). I am expecting it to not be an easy task - likely is very specific about organisms potentially arriving in soil. Anything damp/wet/aquatic often ends up going through more procedures than terrestrial. So in short, they are not currently available here and are probably difficult to import. Few businesses are likely to take them on due to the weight of soil (being the major factor in cost), and as being "high up" brands, they'll probably cost more than most are willing to pay. Hard to introduce a new brand and compete with products like Flourite. I'd love to see a better range of sands available here, personally.

My apologies - I mean via direct or indirect contact (such as via the water). http://www.thefreedictionary.com/contagious http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contagious_disease

Yeah, it's definitely contagious, but I'm not really sure as to what level of contagious it is (whether it's constantly present in the water, whether it needs to be spread via direct contact etc) - but it certainly doesn't seem to be white spot/columnaris/callamanus-level contagious, fortunately. Unfortunately because I can't really treat it, there's not much I can do about it (especially as anabantoids are supposedly prone to viral infections anyway)

I had to euth one of my girls today who had been infected for a few months now (slowly got worse, and her face had become so swollen that it seemed to be the most humane option). I managed to do a poor attempt at a squash mount, which appears to be pretty similar to other cells with viral infections. I don't have any expertise though, so cannot make any definitive diagnosis. But I believe it's likely to be a viral infection. Slides:

Do you have any pictures?

Ooh - looking super healthy! Wonder whether I can sneak a setup in the house

I would perhaps just suggest the Dario dario - possibly about 2-3 females and 1 male? Otocinclus (as mentioned above) need groups of about 5+, and are highly sensitive to water conditions (due to being wild-caught). A 20L is pretty small and unfortunately doesn't allow for many fish, as it's very difficult to keep water conditions stable. This means often only 1-5 are recommended for the tank size. It sucks but it's definitely worth at first at least to only get a few fish to see how well you handle the water conditions (I've found algae issues are a right pain on tanks under 30L!).

Dwarf sagittaria can make for a good carpeting low-light tank Also another +1 as a little warning against female and male siamese fighters in the same tank - I've seen them turn and almost kill a female overnight. She was pretty much near death - there was only 1 male and 2 females in the tank, a well planted/decorated 220L (with a big footprint)

Is it possible that the JD is already sick? Fish have a tendency to pick on sick fish - his condition might be getting worse, leading them to just pick on him further. If he doesn't perk up - isolating really may be the best option as it could continue to get worse. Others might have better ideas of what else could cause non-aggressive fish to pick on others.

Holy moly - gorgeous scape! !drool:

Water from the ocean increases the risk of introducing pathogens and pollution - I believe RO is typically recommended for this reason.

You're walking in the woods. There's no one around, And your phone is dead. Out of the corner of your eye you spot them, Discus and Axolotls. Running for your life (They're Discus and Axolotls.) They're brandishing a knife. (They're Discus and Axolotls.) Lurking in the shadows Tanked superstars Discus and Axolotls. Living in the woods, (They're Discus and Axolotls.) Killing for sport, (They're Discus and Axolotls.) Eating all the bodies Actual, really grouchy Discus and Axolotls. If I'm repetitive enough, my point might start to make sense

+1. Glofish are genetic - the offspring (the Glofish sold in store) are not negatively affected by it (if you don't count "shining bright like a diamond when there's a predator swimming towards you" as negative). Dyed/tattooed fish, however, go through a cruel procedure of being injected with dye, which ends up with high mortality and any surviving fish being extremely prone to stress and disease. They are very different procedures. I personally don't like Glofish, but it's not necessarily cruel and is typically just regarded as tacky. Glofish, however, are illegal to import in NZ (though there have been some illegally imported before).

...Discus and axolotls...

So... how do you make a tank suitable for Axolotls and Discus together? Their show has an impact on fish outside of the show - people take what they say as fact and believe them to be educating, they go and follow the show and ultimately kill their own fish. These guys, IMO, do not care, or they would not be showing people such disgusting ethics. Honestly? The guy's position on how TV =/= education, how Animal Planet shouldn't be education, makes me absolutely livid. And he completely misses how everyone watching Animal Planet believe they're being educated. I absolutely looked up to that channel as a kid and it helped to get me on a path in Aquatics - I fully took what the channel showed as truth, and I believed them to be educational. As does the majority of other people watching it. They, IMO, could not care less about the fishes' welfare.

https://vimeo.com/28934631 He states that he doesn't want it to be for education (the guy imo does not at all understand the impact he has) - and you make a good point. It is about a business - a business that doesn't care about the welfare of the fish or what they're teaching viewers. Their clients likely believe that large amounts of deaths are normal, and the Tanked business just re-stocks them whenever needed. Their tanks lead to a lot of dead fish - that's a fact. It doesn't take an expert to see keeping an Axolotl together with Discus as a big red flag.

As long as you increase the temp slowly you should be fine Some people recommend about 1-2 degrees per day, but personally I'm not too worried to go about 3-5 degrees per day. 2 female GBRs should be fine Cories will definitely appreciate the new company! I love watching mine swim around out and about more since their offspring have grown up (putting my shoal at about 8+). They definitely seem a lot less timid now.

Sounds excellent :thup: The filter should be fine, just don't go too heavy on the stocking. Once the tank matures you'll have beneficial bacteria in places like the substrate also, but if you decide to go for heavy stocking you might just want to add a second filter (HOBs are always handy). Love the dwarf spotted danios - I considered them before I got the glowlights (wanted something similar in colour to CPDs but in warmer temps) - would love to own a shoal of them one day (despite not being a big danio fan). Only recommendation is to maybe add 2 more cories You will definitely get cooler behaviours as the shoal gets larger, and you'll likely see them out more too. Just be careful in that if you decide to get a male GBR, you might have issues with the dwarf gourami - but I see you're only getting females so it should be fine!

Unfortunately due to the tank volume and very small footprint, you are pretty limited for options. A single siamese fighter or dwarf puffer may work (note that DPFs require a lot of research and are "specialist" fish). I would probably recommend a larger footprint for Dario dario. You could run it with native shrimp but you'll want to keep it under 21 degrees C. Snails are certainly an option, though

Was about to recommend a polypterus but the tank's too small (220L with a good footprint the bare minimum for a delhezi) 112L doesn't really offer much. I'm not really sure if there's anything big enough to eat guppies that'll fit in a 112L. Several fish may eat the youngest but not juveniles/adults.

I would personally recommend about a 300L minimum, with good space for their own territory. I'd probably be a bit concerned about it with the otos and kuhlis - it'll eventually grow to be about 6x their size. Ours is a big bully, and fiercely defends its territory. It's better with larger bottom dwellers if possible. I imagine it might compete a bit with the rainbow shark, too. Also worth noting that they eat algae for maybe a couple of months - once larger, they move on to a meater diet (sometimes fish slime coat :lol:) and pretty much reject the algae. Just checking - what temperature is the tank at? Not sure whether you mean a butterfly pleco or a butterfly loach (hillstream loach) - the loaches tend to prefer cooler waters than the tropical temps of most of the other fish. If you're after the golden fish with lots of activity, albino corydoras might be an option. Or if you're after the single fish, the golden bristlenose suggested below could be a good option too. Dwarf chain loaches make for excellent active bottom dwellers, but it depends on how well stocked your tank is (don't want /too/ many fish accompanying the same area).

Unfortunately they are likely to frequently go into spawning condition, and so the aggression will continue. Rams, despite being dwarf cichlids, are incredibly territorial when breeding

...Captive bred Altums? !drool: Give me 10 months, we'll have space for them then...