Fievels

Thanks for the advice! Not a sump... haha, good to know! Such a newbie! What then is a sump? Good advice on the cleaning too Glad to know the algae in the pipes isn't a problem. Will try covering tank for a few days. Ta!

Hi, We have recently got ourselves an Aqua One 130L tank and it has with it a sump, Aquis 700. We have had it running for a couple of months now with no problems. However, this past week we went away and while my neighbor was looking after it it got an algae bloom making it very bright green water. I'll limit the light to the tank, have done a 40% water change and will continue to do that over the next few days to deal with it. My question really is about the sump though, as it is the first time I have had one. While cleaning out the tank I noticed the pipes down in the cupboard look hideous, with black/brown blotches of algae growing in them. I haven't yet done a clean of the sump. * What do I need to know when I do clean out the sump? * Should I be concerned about the build up in the pipes? * The inlet to the tank has the pipe with lots of holes in it and trickles into the tank waterfall style. Does it need to be above the waterline to create flow? (The pipe that curves in from the back makes it difficult to fill the water level up above the black lid of the tank, making the look of the tank not quite as pretty). Thanks for your help.

Haha... Blue's Anatomy...

So Wundertonic is a mix of a few things, is that okay? Can get some cotton buds. Its right over his eye... looks to be getting better. How do you hold him still?!

Would Wundertonic on the eye have the same effect? Not sure that I'll be able to get it on the infection without getting it on they eye. Is it worth putting Wundertonic in the water, or just keep up with daily water changes?

I hope I can find him an eye patch at my LFS... otherwise I might have to sew him one out of a bit of bike tyre... leather would deteriorate in the water.

I think water deteriorated due to a couple of things- 1. The vege pellets were not being eaten and were ending up under a log where I couldn't see them, growing fluffy bits. 2. I hadn't replaced the carbon filter in a long time (lesson learned) 3. In trying not to disturb the plants I hadn't done a serious gravel vac in a while (did so on Staurday and fish are so much happier... just not this guy) I was away for 5 days, with mother n law feeding fish for me, so she wouldn't have known anything was up with the fishes' eyes, and by the time I got home the pleco had died and this ram had his growth. He's still alive in his quarantine tank... his eye is now quite side-ways, but he's a bloody trooper! Will go do a water change now. So you all think his growth is simply pop-eye? Looks so much like a tumour!!

Yes, but the treatment duration had finished, so I put the carbon back in. He's now in a diff tank with some wundertonic, but nothing much is fixing this ugly problem! I'm wondering if it will eventually just grow out and fall off! Poor fish, his balance must be getting quite put out!

http://s364.photobucket.com/user/fievel ... sort=3&o=1 Dosed the tank with Furan2, but didn't really notice any major changes. On final water change, while renewing carbon filter I found one of my rams dead. Ironically she wasn't the one who looked too serious, but whose eyes were a bit pop-eyed compared to usual. Gave the tank a really good gravel vac, and cleaned log, under which I found the culprits... a couple of very fluffy looking vege pellets which I hadn't realised hadn't been eaten. Fish all very happy now, and loaches are zipping around back to their usual selves... all except this guy who I now have in a QT. The bulge above his eye since taking this pic a few days ago, developed blood in it, and now looks like what I would describe as popped popcorn, and now is a bit fluffy too. What is this problem and is there any hope for him?!!

Dosed the tank with Furan2, but didn't really notice any major changes. On final water change, while renewing carbon filter I found one of my rams dead. Ironically she wasn't the one who looked too serious, but whose eyes were a bit pop-eyed compared to usual. Gave the tank a really good gravel vac, and cleaned log, under which I found the culprits... a couple of very fluffy looking vege pellets which I hadn't realised hadn't been eaten. Fish all very happy now, and loaches are zipping around back to their usual selves... all except this guy who I now have in a QT. The bulge above his eye since taking this pic a few days ago, developed blood in it, and now looks like what I would describe as popped popcorn, and now is a bit fluffy too. What is this problem and is there any hope for him?!!

What exactly is furan and what are the pros and cons?

So I went away for a week, did a nice water change prior, and returned last Sunday to find my 8 year old bristlenose floating dead, and not looking pretty. He'd been acting a bit odd before I went away, hanging out in a different part of the tank, but I couldn't see anything physically wrong with him, other than he wasn't as shy as before. The fish were fed everyday while I was away, apart from Saturday, which they normally cope okay with. Anyway, I think he was dead in the tank 2 days before I came home to find him. Then I noticed my blue rams had boggly eyes, one in particular has what looks like a big bubble of a tumour growing out the top of his eye and is pushing his eye out somewhat. Two of my neons have slight white patches near their tails too. I removed the bristlenose and did water changes immediately, and have treated the tank with wunder tonic, but the two rams don't seem to be getting better. They are still active and feed well. What is your advice?!!

Bugger, so I did some research and it is definitely an apple snail. I hate bad advice from LFS morons! He definitely told me it was NOT an apple snail. Feel like posting it back to him!

Hence I don't think it is an apple snail.

WOW! This worked a treat! My Witchery shop card has never been so useful! Tank clean as ever, and took my about 30 mins to do the whole thing instead of 1 hour to do just one third!! :happy1: Have changed water and fish happy as! ...May well now have to get rid of snail! He is a beauty... anyone in Nelson want him/her?!!!

Great idea! Will try that now! Thanks Sophia! :dnc1:

I don't think he's an apple snail... only because the guy at the shop said it wasn't an apple snail... do apple snails eat meat? He said this one was vegetarian and not an apple snail... but I'm not always trusting of shop assistants! This snail may well be banished to my classroom fish tank. A scraper like that would be excellent! Would it be bad for the fish if I removed the plants for a couple of days to encourage the snail to eat algae?

I've only been here 2.5 years and love it Do you belong to the Tasman Aquarium Club? Could be fun to join?! http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=414

Just spent the last hour scrubbing the tank, and got about one third of it done! Phew, what a mission! Looks good though... wish there was an easier way! Still have that pesky large snail nipping my plants off though! Could get expensive at this rate! And my plants are currently floating on top, as when they are planted they are too easy for him to reach! Doesn't look so nice!

Lazy ol' fish! Will go try and give tank another scrub! Will try that, ta.

So I've got my tank back from its baby-sitter of the past 18 months. It has a moderate amount of green algae on the glass that I'd like to get rid of. Scrubbing it while filled with fish doesn't seem like a great idea and doesn't seem to work anyway, so I bought a large snail (I'd say 3cm shell) to eat the algae. I'm also leaving the light off and have reduced the tablets for my siamese algae eater and bristlenose, as I think they have become lazy and aren't doing their tank cleaning duties that they were originally hired for!! The problem is the snail's got huge teeth (who knew?!) and is sawing the leaves off my plants! So, two questions: * How to get rid of the algae efficiently? * How to stop my big snail from eating my plants, as I wanted a pretty planted tank?! Ta

Welcome now you an ask Qs on here too... Can save lives sometimes!!!

Will do for sure!!

Thank goodness for this link! Major disaster today after transferring tank and fish from blenheim to Nelson only to discover heater and filter pump left behind! Thank you to glen for lend of a heater!