SanityChelle

Any chance you've got a link to what the autopsy showed? Was it a marine tank you mean? At the moment, I don't have any embers showing black, so fingers crossed I don't have to do an autopsy. Since I dosed the entire tank when the fighter had his neck wound, shouldn't that have been enough to stop the bacteria? Is there another bacteria medication that I can easily get, other than furan 2?

So what would you suggest for sorting the bacterial issue? The fighter's wound got better very quickly after the furan treatment. He was back to flaring and speeding around the tank just a few days after it, and the wound cleared up nicely. However, I noticed mid last week that the spot on his back had started to grow (see above with only two scales missing, and the larger patch below) so I took him out of the tank to a medi tank this time, as the furan killed off some plants last time and I wanted to avoid that. He's had four days of furan treatment and is back in the main tank again (he was very lethargic in the medi tank), but still has stress lines as of this morning. Could both of these wounds on the fighter, and the internal marks on the embers be the same thing? None of the embers have had external injuries, just the blackness.

I've got three in the lounge (see the list in my sig ) and a cichlid fry tank in the garage. Might need to set up more fry tanks the way things are going! I would also like another fighter tank... or three. The boyfriend is fine with them. He's got the games room for his hobby, I've got the lounge for mine.

I will also add that the fighter they are in had a really bad wound about a month ago, and I'm still not sure how he did it. This is the before and after furan 2 treatment. He has just gone through a second treatment in the last week (in a medication tank this time) for losing a few scales on his back, which started when he hurt his neck, but hasn't seemed to heal since. I don't know if this is related, but thought I might add it anyway. The furan 2 from the first treatment couldn't have affected them this way, could it? And still be affecting them now?

So, over the last few weeks, I've lost a few of my male embers in my 30L fighter tank (just the one boy and originally 10 embers). I'm now down to seven, two boys and five girls, with the girls all very fat with eggs. I've noticed them turning black slowly, from a matter of days to over a week before they die. This was the best picture I could find of it. Parameters in the tank are Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrates about 10, with the temp at about 28C.

I just used fish food, and dead aquatic plants. And an unfortunately timed dead hillstream loach from another tank. :dead%fish

You could try tying fishing weights on them with nylon, then hide the weights under the substrate. To get my driftwood to sink though, I just put rocks on it for a couple of months.

Just a little update on the tank as the last photo was a few months ago. The cyperus is going nuts.

Wow, those photos are amazing. Are they from your last trip over there? Just did a wee google on the Hamburg Matten filter and found your page on canister replacement foam. Would putting a layer in the first tray of the Nautilus be a good start? Nori is a smart idea too. I've just put them on NLS about a week ago, and they seem to be showing great colours (though they seem to be making a lot more crap too!). Would you break it up into small flake-size pieces, or let them have a go at big chucks of it?

Okay, thanks for your input. You've said your bit, I've said I'm going to do some research.

I'm at that point too. I got lucky in catching one of my holding rusty females, and got about 18 from her, and another one is holding,but I don't want to take the chance of squishing someone while pulling the tank apart, just to catch one fish. I'll just keep the numbers down by catching them when they're decent size, so I don't need to try get specific fish.

I've been pretty open about my stocking plans for this tank for a long time on multiple public forums, long before I even bought the fish. You're the first person to say I'm overstocked to the point of harming the fish. I mean, I'll look in to it as I do care about my fish, but I'm not going to change my stocking based of one person's opinion alone.

The tank is looking great! That full tank shot and side tank shot is awesome.

The rusty fry tank's numbers is now up to 18ish, with more to be stripped over the weekend. The rustys are going crazy! Bacon is still tiny. He's one of two fry in the main tank and are only about 1-2cm, so pretty impossible to tell what sex they are. Since they're already in the tank, and there's no way of catching them, I'll leave them in there. The others in the fry tank will be sold on when they're big enough.

Is that overstocking in terms of adult size for in the future, or overstocking as in waste levels? Because I think I've got the latter well covered with the Nautilus, haha. Plus you are suppose to overstock african cichlids to a degree to lower aggression. As for when all the fish are adults, the point of getting large groups, especially of the demis, is so I can move on the more aggressive ones as they grow. I expect the demi group to end up somewhere between 15 and 20, and the yellows down to 10ish. Which is the original stocking size on the very first post of this thread (just with cuckoos instead syno petricolas). I'm not upgrading the tank in terms of getting a larger one, just replacing the same one with a new tank, as the current one leaks through worn seals and is very scratched.

I only know what my tank is like, but when I was first setting up my african tank (a 120x45x60cm) I was advised to get two wp-25s (http://www.fish-street.com/jebao_wp-25_8000l_wave_maker) which are 8000L wavemakers. Two seemed a lot when I got them going in the tank, and I have very small juvies at the moment, so I downgraded to a wp-10 (4000L), but I'll be going back up to one wp-25 soon, as the fish have gotten older, and the wp-10 isn't moving the crap enough anymore. I don't know if you missed a zero on the end there, but 700L/hr powerheads won't do much in a tank that size. As for buffers, I'm personally not buffering my water with anything, save using Aragonite as the substrate, which has been enough to keep the pH about 7.6 - 7.8. I will looking in to adding crushed coral into the cannister filter if it looks like the pH is dropping. I'm not sure about how effective epsom salt would be, all I know is that it's great for getting fish to poo if they're bloated. Swimming in that all the time would surely get rather messy.

What brands are you using? I find I can usually get my fighter to come up to the top corner for a feed of pellets before the other fish figure out that it's dinner time. By then, the fighter is full, so I put the flake in for his tetra friends.

Little update. I now have 8 additions in the form of cuckoo catfish, four about 10cm, and another 4 between 2 and 4cm, the little buggers. I also have just over a dozen rusty fry in a spare tank in the garage, and already another female holding! It's very exciting. Just finished saving up for a new tank to replace the old one, so I'll be putting an order in for that soon.

Try use this: http://www.aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php? ... AddFilter& Just put in your level of filtration, and add electric yellows until you get 100% stocking. That'll give you a pretty good idea of what numbers you'll be looking at.

I still don't see how we know they're getting products in illegally. And it'll probably sell out well before they get 'caught', considering it's already in NZ. I'm just letting people know where they can get it from so they can save their fish.

There's still some on Trademe, and AquariumsuppliesNZ is still selling it for about $22ish. I grabbed some more about two days ago.

This is what the Furan 2 packets should look like - And what they're imported as. A box with 10 seal foiled powder packets inside. On the back is Directions for use, a Diagnostic Chart, Lot # and Expirey date, and a warning stating I'm personally using it at the moment to treat a fighter with a wound in a 30L tank, and though he's making a great recovery, I have been very careful to avoid putting my hand in the water, or washing my hands heaps afterwards. If the packet did not look like the above, then there's some serious issues happening here. The plastic bags with a sticker make it sound like the packets are being broken up in to smaller amounts to sell more (Furan 2 is currently being banned from importing, so there's limited stock around).

Probably the same reasons most animals need rescuing. Being kept in unsuitable conditions... Owner suddenly realises they don't want / can't have them anymore... Randomly found outside abandoned... The list is as long as the imagination. That's awesome that you're doing this, Ruby! Keep being amazing, :thup:

For equipment, prices all depend on the brand/type/age/size etc etc. Without knowing the specifics, a price can't really be put on it. As for actual fighters, most store prices are crazy. Best place in Auckland is New Pupuke (the owner is a fighter breeder himself, not just an importer), and $49 for a fighter at HFF is cheaper than most I've seen from there! I've seen over $99 and over multiple times. Other places for bang-for-your-buck is the Siamese Fighters New Zealand facebook page. Most of the breeders country-wide are on there, and they're always selling gorgeous fish for great prices.

If the mum is refusing more pets, it might be a good idea to check with her before you get a live creature as a 'surprise gift'.