mustcooktea

Welcome along, Chris. Looking at your blog you seemed to be very organised. What community fish are you planning on putting in that gorgeous tank. MCT

After all that bad luck, you deserve to have something 'once in a lifetime' lucky happen! Take care MCT

Welcome! I think with 11 tanks you definitely deserve your own name (and it's less confusing for us too). :-?

What beautiful fish!

Welcome along alanmin 4304! What a long break from fish keeping. How many tanks have you got so far this time around? PS Caper, I agree with Mystic, you have graduated from newbie. I've seen you giving out plenty of advice!

Welcome!!! :bounce: Your tanks sound interesting (dreams of one day owning six tanks). Any chance of some photos? MCT

How are you increasing the ph? Have you tried testing your tap water and then testing it again after letting it stand? MCT

What a fascinating workshop. Was the wood attached to some kind of base?

Hi fisherless Welcome to the site. It sounds like you have put lots of fish into your little tank. I know they are probably all small now and so it doesn't look too full but you will need to work hard to look after them since your tank is new. Search the site for threads on cycling a tank. This will give you lots of information about what to expect while your tank is new. With so many fish added quickly you will have problems with ammonia and nitrite levels until the bacteria in the tank that convert these to nitrate can grow. You can get test kits for these at your local fish shop (lfs). Partial water changes can help to keep these levels down - you may need to do daily changes if the levels get too high. Best of luck and don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. As Alan said there have been many of us that have been there before you. MCT

Welcome along! If my memory serves me right (from when the Olympics were in there), I think Barcelona is as far away from New Zealand as you can get. I enjoyed looking at your photos. I still have trouble taking good photos but at least with a digital camera I can practice as much as I need to. I look forward to hear more from you.

Sounds like someone may already have an oompa loompa skeleton in their closet!

I am wondering if it might be ammonia burns, if the tank is fairly new. Tell us more about the tank, kiwibird. How long has it been set up? How big is it and how many and what size fish are living in it? Have you tested the water? How often do you do water changes? Hope your fish pulls through! MCT

Caper, that is such a shame! I have no idea what is wrong but since two fish have died it may be something that they brought in with them. Your ph shouldn't be any problem I wouldn't think. And you are right about the water changes, as long as the parameters are fine a weekly water change shouldn't be a problem. It is only if the tank is cycling or, once it has cycled, the nitrAtes get too high before the next change that the water change size or frequency needs to be increased. Was Squirt one of the new ones? I hope everyone else hangs in there! Best wishes MCT

I think it is a comet. It only has a single tail, doesn't it? How big is the fish and do you have any idea how old it is? I have a fantail that has a little cap like that and I have seen photos of comeys with a cap like that too. I guess it was from this that the wens were developed. Nice looking fish BTW. MCT

Here's another good posting. If you use the search function and put in 'brineshrimp' you will get heaps of information. Good luck! http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/brine-shrimp-vt6384.html

I can't believe how grown up they look in such a short amount of time!

I'm so sorry, Caper! You did all you could. The poor little fish was obviously very weak to not swim away when the otto was 'cleaning' him. Take care MCT

Yes, I do, Caper. This is because I had read about this being good for fancy goldfish with their round body shapes. When the fish see me they start swimming back and forth in the tank, rather than come to the surface. I find swirling the food in a plastic cup with some tank water easy as I don't have to get my fingers wet.

He doesn't look tooo trapped. Maybe he feels comfortable there because it stops him floating about. Keep an eye on him. The main risk would be if he hurts himself on the plastic plants struggling to get out. Keep us posted. MCT

It looks like you are having some trouble in both your tanks, Caper. I am glad to hear that the fantail with the red fin is better. That's one less fish to worry about. I am not completely sure what is wrong with your other fantail but I will give some suggestions anyway. The water seems good which is great considering the surprise additions to your bioload. The floatiness could be swim bladder but with the swollen tummy, I think of consipation. This can cause bouyancy problems too. However, this shouldn't cause clamping of the fins so I am not confident in that. For consipation fasting for three days followed by three days of peas is meant to help. Best wishies for your fishies! MCT

It sounds like he has a colourless female and at 1 cm long the fry may not be showing adult colouration yet. Not that I know much about guppies but I do know that albinos have red eyes!

Hi Melanie! Sorry to hear about your fish. It sounds like you are over-run with guppies. How big is the new tank that you have set up for your babies? The clamped fins are probably the result of the new tank cycling -could you let us know what the readings for the tank are, if you have managed to pick up the test kits? Best of luck MCT

Are all your fish accounted for? Perhaps one is deceased and rotting among all that plant cover. MCT

Are there any fish that don't tolerate salt in the tank?

I'm no expert on snail eggs but glass marbles would be microwave safe. If the marbles are dry you would need to put a glass of water in the microwave too. Wouldn't pouring boiling water over the marbles be effective? Or am I underestimating the ability of snail eggs to survive?