jackp

this is one of the coolest tanks i've ever seen. it is a credit to your obvious knowledge and dedication. i would say you are lucky to have a tank like this in your house, but i know that luck has very little to do with it. loving each and every photo and looking forward to the updates

i use coral sand in my tank. it can be quite expensive (though i managed to get 50kg for $80), but it looks awesome. if you do use silica sand you can raise the pH by using bits of coral or limestone in the tank, or crushed oystershell/coral in a bag in your filter.

dinosaur1833? :sml1:

i am sorry to hear this mcrudd. i will be sending out good thoughts to both you and your aunt. i really do hope things turn out for the best

depends on your stocking level. those filters should be ok so long as the tank isn't too heavily stocked. i run 2 1200l/hr filters on my 300l tank (plus a couple of little internal filters for water movement). give it a few more days and see if it settles down.

while i think sueing him would be morally wrong, you also actualy wouldn't have a case. there was no contract or money changing hands, therefore there is no legal responsibility on his part. if you hired a professional fish looker-afterer, and they were neglegant and killed your fish you might have a case. otherwise where would you draw the line. should a friend helping you move have to pay for any damages if he stumbles while carrying your stuff?

you can't sue someone for mucking up while doing you a favour. if you could, noone would offer to help anyone else as they stand to gain nothing but possibly lose a lot. all you can do is write it off to bad luck and learn from the experience. fish don't need to be fed daily while you're on holiday and no matter how well meaning, people with no experience of fish have no idea about water parameters etc. they just think it's about getting enough food into the fish

perfect. just don't try keeping africans in it. the acid levels are way too high

yeah, that's ok, but i prefer pink substrate

in bruces case he has had it from birth (it can also develop later in a dogs life). bruce started regurgitating the day i got him (at 6 weeks old). for the first year i had him i didn't really know what was going on. the vet i was going to at the time wasn't a lot of help. when bruce was about a year old i went to a different vet who diagnosed hi with megaesophagus. after that i used various feeding techniques that kept the problem under control. he had gone 3 years without any major issues. he did have short spells where he would regurgitate and cough a bit, at which point i would stop his food for a day and he would be fine (sounds mean, but it was one of the management methods the vet told me to use). up until mid november i never thought his condition was that serious. i had to clean up a bit of vomit now and then, but he was a healthy happy dog. i still don't know what caused his condition to become cronic, but i'm hoping that he will still be able to live a full life.

and when he was a pup http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/jackp88/?action=view&current=brucepup.jpg

http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/jackp88/?action=view&current=IMG_0595.jpg

a feeding tube is only a short-term solution, the tube can't stay in indefinitely. they are also quite expensive ($3000 at the specialist clinic, maybe cheaper at the vet clinic) and run the risk of infection. through changing management stategies, i think i've got it down to a system that works. bruce hasn't regurgitated much in the last week, and not at all in the last 3 days. he is also up to 32kg. he is much more energetic and, though very skinny, almost seems like his old self. i think i've managed to suss it.

i did try rice. pasta seems to work better. i know that pasta has more protien, but for some reason he holds the food down better when i use pasta than rice. i think that he also had an inflamed oesophagus from throwing up so much. it sort of means the worse he gets the worse he's going to be. i figure what i'm doing now is working, so i'm going to leave it for 2 weeks, then start experimenting to see if i can get him onto something a bit cheaper. his food is costing $50-$60 a week at the moment.

on wednesday i had organised for a vet to come round to the house and put bruce down. the previous few days he was regurgitating everything he ate and he was miserable. I finished work at midday, with the intention of spending the afternoon with him before the vet arrived. something seemed different. he was still coughing and having trouble breathing, but he seemed better. his eyes were a bit brighter and he wagged his tail every time i spoke to him. I called the vet and told him not to come. Since then bruce has been getting better and better. he hasn't regurgitated anything in the last couple of days and his demeanor is much better. he is still very skinny and doesn't have the energy he normally has, but he is happy and i am confident he will get back to his former glory. i'm not sure what prompted the sudden change, but i have been constantly tinkering with his food. i have now settled on a mix of premium mince, vegetables and pasta (it's about 60% mince and i use the premium mince as it has a lower fat content). It seems that foods high in fat and protein set him off. Once i've cooked the food i put it through the food processor and store it. when i feed him i add boiling water and mix it into a slush. i have made him a bailey chair to keep him upright before and after feeding, but he hates it, so i feed him on the stairs and hold him upright afterwards. I am currently feeding him 3 times a day with 2 feeds of raw mince (about 100g a time) in between. while i feel terrible when i think about how close i came to putting him down, i am stoked that he seems to be recovering. it's been hideous watching his decline, but now he's on the up life is much happier.

just come back from mums place. bruce's gains were shortlived. he hasn't held anything down all day and i'm fairly certain he has pneumonia again. we're going to call the vet in the morning, but i already know what he'll tell us.

Bruce is certainly holding down the pureed food better than anything else, he's even gaining a small amount of weight. He has gone the last few days without regurgitating too many times. my mother is looking after him at the moment, as she is able to feed him 5 times a day. he is also getting the odd lump of raw mince as well. he is still coughing quite a bit, but hopefully as he gets back his strength things will improve. that said, he is certainly not out of the woods. there is still the issue of him getting pnemonia (a common accurence with animals who have the condition). just going to have to wait and see how he goes

depends entirely on what tangs you want to keep.

yeah, i've been on those sites, they were quite helpful. thanks everyone for responding. i am a bit more hopeful after today, but i have a nasty feeling that i've done all i can do. here's hoping i'm wrong

he has had a good day today. the pureed food (cooked mince with pasta and vegetables pureed down to a milkshake) fed from a table seems to be working better than anything else. he has only been sick a little bit and i think he is retaining enough food. (yesterday he wasn't too bad on the same food). i am going to continue this feeding regime and hope for the best.

I have tried every type of food imaginable. He was first diagnosed about 3 years ago (though he has always had issues with regurgitation). At the time I did a lot of experimenting and eventually found that purina 1 large breed dried food, soaked in boiling water and left to cool, worked best. he was fine on that up until about 6 weeks ago. then he just suddenly wouldn't hold anything down. i always put his food up high so he has to be standing to get it. have since moved to putting it on the table so he is standing on his hind legs while feeding. Have tried holding him vertical sfter feeding aswell. In terms of different foods, in the last month or so i have tried beef and chicken mince (raw and cooked), tinned food, soaked dried food and every combination possible. I have tried pureeing his food so it resembles a runny milkshake, aswell as feeding him small amounts many times a day. Nothing seems to work for any length of time and he continues to lose weight.

i have a 4 year old huntaway/retriever cross who was born with a condition called megaesophagus (an enlarged oesophugus). As a result food does not travel properly down his throat and into his stomach, reulting in hi regurgitating. I have been able to manage the condition till now by soaking his food and feeding him at a height so gravity aids the foods travel down his throat. 6 weeks ago things started going wrong. nothing i do seems to work and he isn't holding down his food. he has gone from a 36kg healthy dog to a 29kg shadow of himself. I have racked up thousands of dollars in vet bills (3 different vets and a vetinary specialist) and the general concensus is that i've been lucky to get him this far and that he will need to be put down. He's my best mate and i can't bear the thought of this (though i will have to if i can't get him holding down food as the alternative is that he will slowly starve to death). has anyone successfully dealt with this condition in a dog? (apparantly common in german sheppards and more common in large breeds than smaller dogs). I have spent hours on the internet and tried all the advice i can (medication, feeding methods etc.). I realise my situation may be hopeless, but i refuse to give up till I've tried every available avenue.

don't give lollies to the kids, they buggers their teeth. take pens and paper instead. also having travelled through a few third world countries my top tip is "always carry bog roll"

no, i've got a 3ft double t5 unit (sun sun) and i got the bulbs for $15 each from aquaworld in glenfield

i use a whit and a blue bulb. the blue brings out the colours really well