stillnzcookie

"This is a small crustacean from the Phronima family. Its looks supposedly inspired movie makers when they created alien species. This phronima lives inside a salpe which is a separate species group and looks like a transparent little barrel. The phronima lives inside the salpe, eats its content until only the outer shell is left and spawns in it." (Institute of Marine Research, Norway)

Not as far as I can tell. If they were, what could this be a sign of?

Thanks for the replies! True, but I was interested in what other people do, not necessarily just what they recommend. I'm presuming that those of you with great big lists of food also have a large number of fish and/or much bigger fish than I have, so I won't feel obliged to try to follow what you do Are there any other veges that are good to feed? Can you just blanch veges and put them in the tank or is there a specific way of preparing them to make them safe and edible? I have fed peas several times, and I just pour boiling water over a couple of frozen peas, drain and remove the shells and put them in the tank.

I have a question in the Diseases section about some panda cories with fin rot. From the information I have been able to find, one of the contributing factors could be either stale food or not enough variation in the diet. We have panda cories, harlequin rasboras and dwarf neon rainbowfish in a 60L tank, so of course, one container of food lasts forever! Currently we feed JBL Nova Tab and Nova Grano Colour Mini, with Nova Fex 1-2 times a week and TetraMin flakes occasionally. Everything I have read says that most of the nutrient value will be gone after about 6 months. They have all been open for more than 6 months, so it looks like I need to throw them all out and get new food, even though most of them are still pretty full. So I'm wondering what I should replace them with. Do I need the sinking tablets for the cories, as the Grano Colour has sinking bits anyway? Ironically, the cories eat the Grano colour before the Nova Tab (although they seem to like both), while the rainbowfish go nuts for the tabs, and try to grab them before they sink! How do I know if there is enough variation in what I'm feeding? Also, are there any human foods (eg veges) that are good to feed - I have read about peas and courgette, but I'm not sure if these should be fed often or not? So what do you feed your fish, and how often? I'm sure lots of people feed their fish the same food every day, but if there's anything I can do for my fish to make them more healthy, I'm keen to know about it!

Thanks for the replies. I wondered about increased slime production, but it really looks like the fish has changed colour, not just that it has a white coating on it. No, we haven't added anything to the water (apart from Stress Coat) in ages. We only have cories, harlequins and rainbowfish, so it's a peaceful community tank, and I haven't seen any signs of aggression. Will a vet give a prescription for this? How do you give a fish antibiotics? Will I need antibiotics, or is there a chance that it will clear up without them? In the past, it has seemed to clear up of its own accord, but perhaps it has never fully gone away? Two of the fish look like they have before, but one of them seems worse than it has ever been - rather than just a whitish line along the top of the tail fin, it is looking quite ragged. We have not used Flourish Excel for several months, have only used recommended dose, and cories have had fin rot before we ever used it as well, so it's very unlikely to be that. But that is good to know, so thanks! Heater burn is a possibility, as they all squeeze behind the heater, and often sit there for ages, but it seems unusual that they all have it in the same place. One of them got stuck behind the heater one night last year, and when we rescued it in the morning it had a big white burn right down one side (which fortunately healed very quickly). Actually, I hadn't even considered that that could be what happened to the cory with the funny flap on its body - it could have got stuck and blistered, then freed itself and burst the blister, all overnight But it still doesn't explain why its body turned white two days before that :-?

Hi, three of our panda corys are not 100% at the moment. I have dosed the tank with acriflavine, which seems to be helping, but one of them has something which I have no idea what it is - I have googled and searched on here, but nothing quite seems to fit. About 5 days ago, the pale parts of its body went very white, but the black patches stayed very black (so it wasn't just faded all over). For a couple of days that was the only change I could see - it was still active and eating well, but it then seemed to get a bit listless, and the next day I noticed something hanging off the side of its body. The best way I can describe it was that it looked like a blister that had burst and left the skin flapping around, but I had never seen a blister, and I couldn't see any sign of damage underneath. This was when I decided to dose the tank, and the flap seems to be getting smaller, the fish is eating and acting more normally and its colour has returned a bit. So it's all looking promising, but I'm still curious as to what it was. It seems most likely to be an injury, but if it was caused by an injury, I would have thought there would be some sign of damage underneath, but there isn't. Also I can't see why the whole body would go white? The other reason I decided to dose the whole tank was that the same cory plus two others have a bit of what I assume is fin rot. It seems to be an ongoing problem, which I have never medicated for in the past - just kept up with regular water changes. I have always assumed that it is caused by fluctuating pH (which has always been an issue in this tank), and it seems to go away of its own accord usually, but I'm starting to wonder if it is actually caused by injury - all three fish only have it on the very top if their tail fin, so I wonder if they are scraping it on driftwood or something in the tank? Two of them don't seem very bad, but one is now looking quite raggedy. Is acriflavine the right treatment, and is this all I need to do? I think I read somewhere that it is possible to cut off the infected/dead part of the fin, but I'm reluctant to do this unless it is really necessary! Our tank conditions are as close to perfect as we can get them - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all 0, pH 6.8-7.0, but we do have a bit of algae in the tank - can algae (or the cause of algae) cause problems? Thanks!

verily

Hi - Cookie's husband here. I design fresh water nitrification / denitrification systems for a living and this system (e.g. by using a deep sand filter) will certainly work on fresh water. I'm currently working on one of these where the aerobic tank (for conversion of ammonia and nitrite to nitrate like happens in the main fish tank) is 750,000L, and the anoxic tank (which converts the nitrate to nitrogen gas like happens in the deep sand filter) is a further 750,000L. You can use a large sponge filter, deep sand bed, or even just a second small tank with no aeration (and no fish!) to remove nitrate biologically in this manner. The trick is sizing the anoxic zone right so it removes enough nitrate but does not go anaerobic which would produce sulphides and other nasties which the fish won't like. You just cycle the water between the tank and the anoxic zone and back continuously and the right kind of bacteria (nitrobacter/nitrosomes) will naturally proliferate. You need to make sure you don't let much oxygen get into the anoxic zone.

Sounds like you already have your answer, but NO, except for maybe a couple of times after bubs is born.

If it is what we had, we fixed this in a 60L tank by doing a BIG water change, blacking out the tank completely for about 3 days, then doing another big water change. If you don't find out what caused it though, it will probably keep coming back. In our case, the early morning sun was shining on the tank, so we now cover the tank every night.

I am finding this fascinating reading - thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences. I am a violin teacher, and every so often I get a pupil who really struggles to read music. Usually they are not good readers either, whether or not they have been diagnosed dyslexic. I have tried different methods of teaching - getting kids to colour the notes in different colours, create "maps" of the music, draw a picture of the music, tell a story about the music that describes what happens, or even "act" out part of a piece (eg crouching down for low notes, stretching up for high notes), with varying degrees of success, so I'm always on the lookout for new ideas. It saddens and angers me that kids like this often get labelled "stupid", especially when they can be so talented in other areas.

Thanks for all the replies - I have some fresh garlic, so will try lightly crushing a clove and putting it in the tank. I'd guess fresh garlic is best for humans too - in the same way that you usually get more nutrients from fresh food than pre-prepared or supplements. My brother used to chew on a clove of raw garlic when he started getting a cold, and it always seemed to work for him (if nothing else, it stopped the spread of germs, as no-one else wanted to be near him!). I haven't made it yet, but there's a french chicken recipe I want to try one day that has 40 cloves of garlic in it Might wait until after bubs is born, as I doubt it goes well with pregnancy heartburn!

I read something a while back about feeding garlic to your fish as an anti-parasitic and health booster. I wonder if this is a good idea, and how many people do it? The initial questions I have are: 1) Are there any risks with feeding garlic? We have a 60L planted tank with panda cories, dwarf neon rainbowfish and harlequin rasboras. 2) How do you get fish to eat garlic? Is it as simple as crushing a raw clove and putting a bit in the tank, or is there a way of preparing garlic to make it safe/palatable? 3) As far as I can tell, our tank and our fish are all healthy at the moment. Should I use garlic as a preventative, or is it only of benefit if I suspect our fish may have parasites? 4) If I can use garlic to keep my fish healthy (as opposed to cure them when they are sick), how often should I give it to them? Thanks!

Thanks for that, candy. I found it interesting that you had no problems reading the paragraph, whereas my husband, who is not dyslexic, but who is a slow reader, could not make head nor tail of it. I wonder whether the real difference is between people who are "whole-word" readers, and those who are not?

I've been following this thread and metaphorically biting my tongue, but, what the heck, here's my two cents' worth... On a forum like this, as others have said, as long as you can communicate clearly, it probably doesn't matter if your spelling and grammar aren't perfect. I don't think we should ridicule others' mistakes, especially as we usually know nothing of their backgrounds. However, it is to your advantage to use spelling, grammar and punctuation correctly wherever possible. Why do I say this? For several reasons, including those below: You WILL be judged by people, and there are situations where this is important. For example, I was asked recently to assist in sorting through job applications and CVs. Any with multiple mistakes were immediately placed in the reject pile, without even looking at their qualifications or references. Showing that you understand the rules of the English language does say something about your intelligence and your ability to learn. Practice makes perfect! If there are situations in your life (e.g. at work) that you need to use correct English, you are more likely to get it right if you try to use it in all situations. I'm not saying you should go and try to memorise all the basics of English grammar and punctuation in one go but, if you are made aware of something you get wrong, why not try to remember the correct way and use it in the future? After all, isn't that what we strive to do in other aspects of our lives (e.g. fishkeeping? ). Through learning from our mistakes (in all areas of life), we grow as people. The English language is amazingly rich! It is far more interesting to read and use all the wonderful subtleties of our language than to be restricted in how we can express ourselves. Although you may be able to communicate the gist of what you mean, it is often possible to make the meaning clearer, or more emphatic, by rephrasing a sentence or two, and this may prevent later misunderstandings. Correct use of written language is AN indicator of intelligence, but it is not the only one. There are many different types of intelligence and we all have strengths and weaknesses. Let's celebrate our strengths and improve our weaknesses to the best of our ability. Oh, and a final note. Please do not rely on computer spellcheckers - they are notorious at making mistakes!

Sorry, I don't have any of the fish you are interested in, so can't help there, but how big is your tank? In your first post you call it a small tank, so can you fit anything more in there? I thought clown loaches got pretty big? And liked to be in schools? Apart from the loach, you don't seem to have any bottom dwelling fish (although I don't know what rocket pencils are?). Maybe you could look at some corydoras. We have panda cories, which stay smaller than most, and we have recently added two more, so we now have five in total. We have noticed that in a bigger group they are much braver and much more playful and interesting to watch. In my opinion, you are better to keep larger schools of a smaller variety of fish, as the more you have, the more interesting they become. It would really help if you gave details about your tank (dimensions, volume, planted or not etc), as that will give a better idea of what you could consider.

I agree... up to a point. I think a lot of us struggle to find the right balance of showing authority, and making it clear who is in charge, without becoming domineering, or conversely being too soft. I think both pets and children feel more secure when they know someone else is in control, but that you don't necessarily need to use force or punishment to show that you are the boss. I think of the difference between teachers who used punishment/ humiliation etc to get children to obey them, the wishy-washy teachers who just let kids run riot around them ("oh I don't think you should be doing that, dear"), and those amazing teachers who were just calm and in control, who you just naturally respected and obeyed, but who quickly took charge if there was a problem. Similarly, I know some people who just seem to have a way with animals - everything about their behaviour and body-language seems to say "I'm in control and you can trust me". As a parent and a pet-owner, I know what I'm trying to do, but I certainly don't always get it right!

Thanks jenniferh - this looks like interesting reading. I have only skimmed through it so far, but it looks like we are basically on the right track with our dog (and we are generally happy with her behaviour!) However, there are two things I would like to point out. About 2 years ago, we were at our wit's end with our border terrier. After countless trips to the vet, the only possible problem they could find was that she may have had epilepsy, or some neurological problem that was causing her anxiety problems. Her behaviour was so extreme that we even considered the possibility of having her put down. We contacted BarkBusters, which does subscribe to the dog-needs-to-be-lowest-in-the-pack theory, and although we didn't use all their (non-physical) punishment methods, by subtly changing our behaviour (by acting more assertively), we were able to start correcting some of her behaviour. The other thing they suggested was that we try her on a raw foods diet, which went directly against our vet's advice (who gave us all the horror stories about dogs and bones, and told us she would not be able to get all the nutrients she needed on raw foods alone). Well, we persisted with the vet's advice for another year before finally making the change to an all raw foods diet (K9 Natural and raw bones), and we now have a completely different dog! I have always been slightly skeptical of there being a causative link between diet and behaviour, but our experience has shown this to be true in our dog's case - quite literally, after less than a month on raw food, with no other changes, we saw almost all the undesirable aspects of our dog's behaviour disappear, and many physical improvements as well. The point I would like to make is that, yes, you should listen to your vet's advice in the first instance, as their advice should follow the most recent scientific thinking. However, there are other options if you are having problems that your vet seems unable to help with, and although some of these may go directly against your vet's advice, they may still be worth considering. If we had only followed our vet's suggestions, our lovely, amazing dog would have been put down almost a year ago.

I asked my husband, as he deals with a lot of wasp nests, and this is what he wrote: Given how un-P.C. it is to use DDT these days, carbaryl is indeed the best way to kill wasps. Don't mess around with petrol unless you have ulterior motives and want to see the little so-and-sos burn (even though you shouldn't light it, the temptation is sometimes too great!). Super Derris dust actually has more carbaryl in it than the product called carbaryl and a teaspoonful will do. If you can find a product called Carbaryl80, this has about 50 times more carbaryl in it than anything else. If you're not keen on walking up to the hole and sticking a teaspoon down the entrance, we use a 1.5m long piece of pipe (about 15mm diameter). fill one end with the carbaryl powder by poking it into the container, put that end well down the hole and blow in the other end like a blow pipe. Bingo, the entire nest is now full of insecticide and there is zero chance that the nest will still be alive in the morning. We keep a pipe especially for this with the end that has the pesticide on it CLEARLY MARKED Additional hints: To find a wasp nest go out just before sunset and follow them from a food or water source (fruit trees, swimming pool etc) to their nest. With the sun low they are easy to see, and they all fly in dead straight lines to the nest at this time of day, often forming clear highways in the sky that are easy to follow. Then wait till after sunset to kill the nest as wasps are cold-blooded and all activity stops once the evening starts to cool down. We have a large property in the country and often kill 20+ nests per year by this method. Have tried petrol, other insecticides, and other ways of getting the insecticide into the nest and nothing else we've tried is as effective.

As others have said, it is worth talking to the council and looking at the plans they have there for the house. If the room was never intended to be a bedroom, you may run into issues with getting consents (and consequently insurance). My only experience of this is that when my parents put a study in their attic space, they were told they could not put bedrooms up there - if I remember correctly, it was to do with the size of the staircase, daylight requirements, and lack of windows that could open wide enough for emergency exit. When we were looking for a house, we saw dozens of places that had converted a basement room beside the garage into an extra bedroom, but most of the agents were quick to point out that technically they are not allowed to count them as bedrooms. If it is a basement room, there may also be issues with dampness, which could be expensive to resolve. Have you got the space to put an internal staircase - they take up a lot of room?! If it means turning a double garage into a single, for example, or making the bedroom much smaller, it may end up reducing the value of the house. Can you do what we did when we bought our house, and get a friendly builder to do a building report on the house, to make sure it is structurally sound and at the same time, discuss your plans and get a rough estimate of what they would cost/whether they are feasible? You will then need to find out if your mortgage will cover renovations. We have managed ours by getting a partly fixed/partly revolving credit mortgage. When we pay off the revolving credit part, we can use that money for the next round of renovations, but of course it means we are paying interest on our renovations, so that has to be factored in to the cost. You also need to be very disciplined with your budget to have revolving credit! I don't want to put you off - renovating can be really satisfying, but you need to use your head, not your heart, to decide whether it is going to be worthwhile in the long run. We rejected lots of houses that we loved, simply because the costs of renovating were going to be too much, compared to the increased value of the house. Make sure you know the value of other houses in the area, to give you an idea of how much you can spend without overcapitalising. I hope it does work out for you, but just remember, there will always be another house (good luck convincing your other half!)

If you sell livestock, you will always run the risk that they will go to a bad home. Even if you visit people at their home (as some people do before selling puppies, for example), there is only so much you can find out, so you are always taking a risk by selling to strangers. Just because you have found one person who doesn't seem able to care for their pets, doesn't mean any other buyers will be any better. However, if you feel that an animal's well-being is being compromised, I think you have a moral obligation to inform the SPCA. That way, it becomes their responsibility to follow it up and decide on a course of action. If it is someone you know, then of course talk to them about it, and help if you can, but I got the impression you just met this person when you went to deliver some fish. In that instance, I don't think it is your business to directly interfere in their life - leave it to the SPCA. Someone has to speak up for those who have no voices...

We were told to get one male and two females, which seems to work well - one female gets a rest, while the other one is being harrassed! I think you want more females than males, however many you get, and the number of males will partly depend on the size of the tank. There's obviously no hard and fast rules, but I think if you have two, three or four females, you only want one male, five or six females to two males and so on.

I second this idea - we only have three, but their colours are amazing, and they are really confident and curious, always at the front of the tank, watching what's going on outside! As a bonus, they have made our other fish more confident, so there is a lot more action in our tank now. I'd love to have a tank big enough for a large school of these (not to mention a bigger house to put it in...). Just make sure you get the right ratio of males to females.

We have found Animates a bit variable - sometimes they have a good selection of plants and fish, sometimes they don't - still worth a look. We have bought most of our fish from Organism and would thoroughly recommend going there! Haven't made it to Redwood Aquatics yet, but I've also heard lots of good things about there.

When the Creme Egg boxes first came out (with the big egg and the two creme eggs), there was much disappointment that the big egg was hollow...