Aracnabat

I did a dumb and added a male bristlenose to my existing tank and now I have WAY too many wee guys. So he and his offspring are being made available to anyone that is interested in picking one (or more) up. The male is about 10 cm or so. Some of the babies may not be ready to rehome just yet (what size\ age do they need to be??) but they range in size from about 2 cm to 3 or 4 cm. Unfortunately time and resources are a limited at the moment so it's pick up only. I'm located in Invercargill If interested post here or flick me a PM. Cheers Gareth

I'm looking at changing my current lighting set up from two 120cm T8 lights to LED. At this stage I'm wanting to spend around $200 - $250 I would be sticking with the low tech set up I currently have so I would be looking at something that would give me a similar light output. I've been looking online and have found the Aqualover from Fish2water. Has anyone had any experience with these lights? Are there any other recommendations?

He flares fairly regularly so it could be that. I rescaped his tank this weekend and I haven't seen him flare as much so hopefully that will help. Its still sticking out a bit but not as bad as it was. I treated the tank for parasites just in case but it didn't seem to help. It doesn't seem to be life threating so I'll just leave him be and keep an eye on it.

I was able to have a good look while he was flaring away last night and everything looked normal. No lumps, bumps or odd colouring. Other than a gill sticking out he is acting like his usual self. I have spotted him rub against the driftwood and rocks once or twice since getting him in August but I haven't seen anything recently.

Not 100% sure from the photo but it looks like a Blue Tetra to me. I got my first one as a stow away as well.

I have a fighter in a 35 litre that has a gill permanently stuck out. It doesn't seem to be red or inflamed and he is acting normal. I've tested the water and ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are all 0 (I tested the nitrates 3 times plus tested my other tank to make sure the test kit wasn't 'faulty'). The tank is filtered and planted. I first spotted it after he was doing his normal evening routine of flaring at nothing, however it may have been like that earlier. I've tried taking a photo but he gets too hyperactive when anyone is near the tank so all I get are mistimed blurs. It just looks like he is flaring his gills on one side of his head. Does anyone have any ideas of what it could be and any treatments that may help? Cheers

Sounds like a plan. Thankfully its a small tank so it shouldn't be too difficult.

Unfortunately after trying everything under the sun I decided to euthanize him today. What ever it was was very slow but everything I tried didn't stop it. It had obviously affected his swim bladder as he was no longer able to swim properly (was corkscrewing around the tank if he wasn't just sitting on the bottom) so I thought it best to end it. What would be the best way of disinfecting the tank etc? The stem plants I'll throw out but would a short bleach dip work for the java fern?

He wasn't looking any worse when I checked him before work this morning so I may be lucky and have the slower strain. If it is hopefully it will give the salt a chance to work. Even if it halts the advance of it and let his immune system try and fight it.

I don't have any antibiotics or salt at hand unfortunately and I can't make it to the LFS to get the salt until Saturday. Hopefully I have one of the slower strains of Columnaris. I have been doing a bit more reading on salt baths and it appears a quite few people have had success using it so fingers crossed.

Thanks for the replies. After doing some more research I'm reluctantly leaning towards columnaris too. I have heard adding salt can help with it. Has anyone here had success treating it with salt? I'm assuming sourcing the anti biotics required can be a little difficult.

Hi All, I have just spotted that my fighter has a white film on the side of his head. It is also covering his left eye. For he last few days he has also been going nuts every so often and streaking across the tank and then fairly vigorously rubbing himself on the gravel, glass etc. He is still eating fine and is generally acting normal (other than the above). I have done a bit of googling but don't have a positive ID of what it is. I'm thinking possibly a parasite of some sort. Any idea what it could be? And what treatment it would need? Some info on the tank: The tank is 35 litres It has been set up for about 6 weeks and he has occupied it for about 4. I cycled the filter on my existing 230 litre tank. I haven't tested the water for a week or so (I'm about to do some tests now) but the water has been fine in the previous tests - Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, and Nitrates about 10ppm. The PH was sitting at about 6.8. EDIT: Latests tests all come back OK - Am 0, Nitrite 0, Nirate between 5-10 and PH of 6.8. The tank is lightly planted I also do a 30% water change each week Sorry for the average photos but hopefully it gives an idea on what it looks like

When I cycled my tank I used home brand cloudy ammonia. I just made sure I did a 100% water change before adding any fish.

I wasn't able to find any 'pure' ammonia so I apprehensively went with Home Brand cloudy ammonia. I made sure I did a 100% water change before adding any fish and I have had no issues so far (First fish went in nearly two months ago).

Lighting is two 36w T8 tubes on for 6 hours a day. I have a third one on stand by just in case. Not dosing any ferts at the moment but I am looking into it. No CO2 either but I am dosing with Excel in the hope it helps with the BBA. Yeah I'm not sure if I'm regretting my decision to leave it in there (it was a hitchhiker on the java moss). It has take off in the last couple of weeks.

I have had my 4 footer up and running for a couple of months now so I though I would post up some progress photos. Tank Dimesions: 122cm x 46cm x 46cm Current Stocking: 24 Neon Tetra 2 Common Bristlenose 4 Peppered Cory (adding more soon) Around day 1: A few days later: First lot of stems planted (still in the middle of cycling): Just after Bristlenoses were added: How it looked a couple of weeks ago. Pretty much still looks like this other than the plants are slightly taller and an outbreak of BBA (I think) on the driftwood: I haven't had any losses so far and the Corys spawned the second night I had them so all seems well so far. :thup:

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll stick with the fishless cycle at this stage. My thinking is if the bacteria level isn't high enough for the initial bio load there is at least something already there to start from. I plan to stock up slowly at this stage anyway. I have test test kits already. I actually tested the water last night and found that ammonia and nitrite was 0 but the nitrate was at about 20ppm. Is this normal for tap water down here?

My previous attempts at fish keeping tortured enough fish. I'm going to try and avoid that this time.

Thanks godly. My next option was going to be a raw shrimp. I'll check out the chemist when I get a chance.

I'm finally ready to start cycling the tank but can't seem to find any 'pure' ammonia. I can find cloudy ammonia at Countdown but I'm hesitant to use it. Does anyone know somewhere in Invercargill I can get some or places likely to stock it? Cheers Gareth

Welcome.

Thanks for that. Any idea on what stem plants would work well in this setup?

I have nearly got my tank setup to the point where I can start thinking about what plants I'll put in it. The tank is 122cm L x 42cm H x 45cm D. I plan on putting 3 36 watt (4 foot) T8s (1 double and 1 single) over it at this stage. I'm not sure how much of a difference it make but the lights will be about 10cm (possibly less) from the surface of the water. The tank will also be opposite some full length windows/door. However there shouldn't be any direct sunlight (not ideal but it is the only location suitable). The substrate will just be gravel. I plan on going low light/low tech to begin with at least. Will the lighting be enough (too much??)? In terms of plants I plan on going down the java fern, java moss, anubias, and possibly some crypts path but I am looking for some other options that will do well in this set up. If there are any what would you recommend? Cheers Gareth

Thanks for the welcome guys. @Caryl I have definitely learnt a lot from this site already so hopefully I won't repeat any of my previous mistakes. @Godly3vil thanks for the offer. It will definitely help having someone local around for advice.

Thankfully I still have the taps (just reread my post I wasn't as clear as I could have been). But if I have any issues with the taps I'll probably go down a similar route.