Shelley
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Posts posted by Shelley
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Thanks so much for your care and efforts on William's behalf, Caper. He is still with us though looking very miserable....he does suffer from loneliness too....he is quite a social fish and I hate keeping him on his own when I know he sulks to be left alone but I am unsure if what he has is contagious (which it might be if it is some sort of a fungus) or if, with feeling so miserable he would be more likely to be picked on....so on his own he stays. I am trying very hard to keep the water as tip top as I can and will be doing another partial water change and adding water conditioner (which does seem to perk him up) and melafix....I haven't heard of the betta stuff you found oout about for us (thank you so much for that) but will see if I can get my hands on some...unfortunately I know I won't be able to get any locally.
The water conditioner I use is absolutely marvelous stuff and is supposed to help repair fins and replace the natural coating on the scales etc.....I haven't been able to tempt him with any food the last day or so....Formerly his favourite was frozen brine shrimp (have not had a lot of luck with the fresh)...but I am trying him with different things......and very concious of the fact that uneaten stuff contributes to the ammonia.
Poor dear wee fish....since yesterday he has spent a lot of time semi lying on the top of the tank.....partially out of the water....I feel I should do the kind thing and put him out of his misery....but in the moments where he perks up I think that maybe I can nurse him back to health. He is such a lovely boy.
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*sobs*....think it is too late. He is still alive but I am considering putting him to sleep. If someone can shed any light as to what the hell has happened to him I would be very grateful. Is this some sort of fungus? Is it an injury that has festered?.... I am worried about other fish going in this tank once he has gone...which seems to me to be inevitable. He perked up for a few days. I have been treating with melafix. But he looks very grim now. I apologise for the quality of photos....got an old and not particularly good digital camera....not to mention the glass of the tank needed a clean!
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I really like the sound of FindingNemo's tank....that sounds like a beautiful mix of fish!
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Yes I've been in that fish shop and it is quite good. They had some very reasonably priced young discus there. The younger/junior staff fell over themselves trying to be helpful.....but I think the head lady must have been having a bad day on the two occasions I visited....Service is such a big thing....hell I hate being made to feel guilty when I go looking at fishies.....Decent staff has got to equal decent sales...or so i would think. She is lucky her staff outweigh her own lack of enthusiasm. Cute wee pet store. Love the kitten and puppy houses
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Now THAT'S service! well done!
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but I'm contemplating purchasing a beautiful 4 foot tank and would like suggestions on: inhabitants, plants and how to decorate it.
However you like!!!! Isn't THAT the best fun ever!. The one thing I have learned when buying fish I think I like.....is I now know what I do like and what I wouldn't bother replacing or adding again. Some people can be very artistic with their tanks and I am looking forward to setting up my main tank again very carefully and exactly how I want it.....I've got some lovely plants but have seen a few different ones I would like to add....also I am very fussy about decorations (man there are some tacky decorations out there!) The advice about checking PH is good advice too...though in my tanks...the stuff that comes out of the tap...and into the tank measures different from the tap to what it measures in the tank! (still trying to figure that one out). Please let us know what you decide to do
you won't regret the bigger tank. -
I would think the discus would be more compatable than the angels. Currently I have neither....and like both....so will be getting the angels for my 'stroppy buggers' tank....and maybe adding discus (eventually) to my main tank. I know discus prefer their own company but when I re-set my tank up (once it comes back from the glass repairer) I plan on putting in a LOT of plants. My mother kept discus in a commuinty tank and they were very happy certainly a very peaceful fish. I have been put off angels by their reputation though from what I read here it depends on the individual fish....and I think this is true enough too as when visiting the lfs recently i saw a young discus giving his/her discus tank mates hell! and I have never seen that before from a discus. I particularly like the siamese fighting fish too and have found they can actually be quite a timid fish after receiving a few nips from some tiny bullies (*growls at the sherpae tetras and black widows*). My stroppy tank will have the fin nippers...which are pretty little fish.....and a few angels when i get it set up the way i want it. In all of my tanks I plan on providing plenty of hidey holes for fish needing respite from unwanted attention from other fish.
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Hi Roy and welcome. I think you do very well with your English.....much better than I could do with Chinese :-). Hope you enjoy looking at what everyone has to say and I am sure everyone will be interested to know what type of fish are available in china compared to what we can get here.
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Yes? Well I'm thrilled to hear it...I was beginning to wonder if I had over dramatised the situation from yesterday :-) if he improves this much each day he will be back in shape in no time
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Misty..... I only have the one female and she is lovely and a peaceful fish in the tank....however....when she is feeling amorous she is lil-miss-nasty and quite hard on the boyfriends. She frightened off her favourite boyfriend. (Sadly, he has since died...although not due to her attack I think....I had to shift him from a tank and he sulked and didn't recover). The only one she 'mated' with she was quite violent with....definitely she was the boss of the situation....is this normal for bettas as I keep hearing it is the male that can get aggressive.
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Update on William. He doesn't look quite so 'raw' today. Sort of looks like his scales have brushed up against the cheese grater but the hole doesn't look hollow today (but i cant believe it has repaired that quickly!). He still doesn't look too happy but I am very pleased witht he fact that a) he is still alive and b) he seems marginally better in that he is coming out...not doing a lot of swimming around but not hiding away. Poor boy. I added more melafix to his tank and will do another water change tomorrow and add water conditioner and melafix.
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Hi and welcome Morgie...a nice mix of fish you have there.....lovely fish for starting off with
...I am sure you will come to love it here and learn a whole heap about your new hobby. -
you had 200 TANKS! OMG You must have a huge house...200 tanks OMG!
LOL......imagine THAT on water change day......or come to that...if he had forgotten to put polystyrene underneath first!....Come to think of it...wonder what it costs to run 200 water heaters and 200 filters....and however many lights?
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I wonder if some of those trainee joiners/cabinet makers/carpenters at polytech might make one as part of their training? Often down here we see granny flats etc that they have made being sold off and it could be worth approaching the tutor to see if they would consider a project like that. Trademe though is still a good idea. 5 of my tanks have come from there
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I have never had any luck with okygen weed (on the few occasions when the kids had goldfish years ago) now i realise they must have eaten the damned thing lol. I was always surprised the plant was sold without any roots and figured the reason was so it wouldnt grow and i would have to go back and get more. (cynical me!) welcome and enjoy the site.....so much to learn, so many friendly people to do the teaching...it is great
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I'm wondering how long you have your tank lights on for Caper. Maybe they think it is night time all the time
You said you were late getting home....but the lights on the tank werent on when you got home (or at least that is how i read it) I turn on the lights on my tanks about 7.30 am and turn them off about 10pm...the only time i have them off for longer than that is if i have a green algae problem (or in the case of the wee tanks i havent had the light tubes till today so had been sharing a light between three tanks). I also find the neons lose colour when shifting....i.e. they look very pale when you get them home from the shop in the bag. My black widows change colour rapidly all the time...sometimes they can be quite dark other times a very pale silver grey. -
LOL! Trust me to get off topic...what i was going to say is...i have no algae eaters at present....just a couple of cute bronze corydoras in one of my small tanks...... my favourite fish of all time a peppered cory, died a couple of weeks ago.....
anyway...i need some algae eaters...particularly for the diningroom tank which houses most of my fish now the main tank is away for repairs.... I just put the main tank filter on in the dining tank today to help out the filter i had running there...and to keep the bacterias doing their thing for when the main tank comes back....today was very exciting because the man that came to replace our electric stove with another second hand one also had the size tubes i needed for my fish tank lights that i have been totally unable to get in south canterbury....all my tanks now have light! woohoo.
The only fish i will be buying in the near future are corys/plecos/bristlenoses...... (its so exciting)!
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Very cool! Thanks for the advice....I do prefer the fishies small. Harry the pleco was about as big as I was prepared for him to go....and nature took over
he was one very cool fish! Lovely pic of the bristlenose...thanks...havent seen any in the local store but new owners take over there next week....i believe they are not particulalry knowledgable (i.e. totally new to running a pet store) but maybe they have had lots of experience in their own home(?) i have more or less decided to use Christchurch for my fishy base for purchases....with the occasional trip down to Oamaru because I was so impressed with the service down there. Animates on Moorhouse Ave Christchurch have good stock and knowledgable staff that WANT to help you. A shop (think it is petworld) on Stanmore Road had a cheerful bloke with a fishnet and the most amazing male guppies and some lovely corys in stock..... I was not overly impressed with Redwoods when I visited, but will give it a second chance as I have only heard good things about it. And I believe there is a new pet store off Blenheim Road somewhere near Ezibuy and Bunnings that I will be taking a look at next trip to Christchurch. I really hope the new Timaru people are interested in the fish......it would be wonderful to have some great supplies closer to home. -
i have an electric knife which i never use for anything....except now.....for cutting polystyrene :-)
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I meant to say...the wound looks quite fleshy though grey in colour....absolutely no sign of blood. The fish itself is a little paler in colour than usual.
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Oh dear! When doing our regular water changes today I got a shock to see a big chunk missing out of our male fighter. He is in a tank on his own. It is a 54 litre tank (although currently only has about 30 litres in as it is our "breeding" tank)...where we put him maybe a week ago to recover from a fit of the sulks after flirting outrageously with the female fighter who was on the inside of a mesh separating cage thing (he never got around to building the bubble nest....) ...He did not have this huge chunk out of him then and he has no other fish in with him.
It is hard to describe.There is no redness or blood although it does look like someone has just taken a big bite out of him. This hole is about the size of a pea right beside his fin....it could be some sort of decay although where/when the wound happened I do not know. He has been in hiding the past couple of days but seems brighter today and came out to say hello when I fed him. In his tank there is a rock thing full of holes that he likes to hide in which he may have scraped himself on....could this be finrot? I did not expect such a gaping hole for finrot. I have treated his tank with melafix and also added water conditioner to the new water added today...as I say he is more alert in himself today than he has been for a couple of days but I am very worried about him. I will re-read the melafix bottle and see when I can dose his tank again and thought i would feed him on thawed brine shrimp...as he does seem to like it. Is there anything else I can do? I haven't yet checked the water quality as I like to leave it for an hour os so once I have done a water change...but will do that next. Last time i checked it for this tank it was good. What should I do?
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I'm just about as excited as you! Isn't it FUN!!!! I had the same concern about the stand too it looked like a light coffeetable so was glad to be reassured about that (what a tragedy to lose a beautiful tank like that...not to mention the poor fish.) Have fun getting it set up and ready for occupants
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Excellent advice Pomereef. (About the suggestion of the current tank being for sammie and a couple of goldfish tank mates...and a new larger tank for the tropicals) Caper, you may be able to pick up a larger tank second hand to save some moeny but just bear in mind the need to cycle it before you throw in the tropicals you have (and don't forget the polystyrene for the new tank ...lol...)...so I wouldn't rush out and buy sammies friends just yet. I am tempted myself to make one of my tropical tanks a goldfish tank....I wont do just yet but I am thinking about it. Pomereef is right. Corydoras are the CUTEST little catfish ever. I bought 2 a couple of weeks ago for two of my tanks.....but they looked so cute together i couldn't bear to separate them...so i have decided i need at least 2 corydoras per tank...(counts on fingers....heehee thats a few corydoras...and given that odd numbers are best maybe i should be planning on 3 per tank!
) I like the plecos too.....except they can grow quite big and i don't like the big ones...but they are so funky the way they suck against the glass and jiggle across the algae! They seem to be quite fragile though....i don't have a very good track record with plecos...and lost my last (favourite) one i had after i moved him to a new home when his tank needed repairs....
i am so looking forward to all my tanks settling down....and the fact that it takes time is good it means i can save some money for more....FISH! :lol:
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Perhaps Goldie could stay in the 10 litre tank...and you could get a new bigger tank for your tropicals :lol:
Our Betta needs your help!
in Diseases
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Thanks for all your help Caper. William is looking a little more perky tonight after a water change and a good squirt of water conditioner and a dose of melafix. Still not eating though. I thought I would spoil him with some blood worms...not interested....flake...not interested.... dried worms....not interested....dried ground up plankton....not interested...I even gave him some liquifry (baby feed) seeing as he is an invalid....and no...no attempt made. Sure hope he doesn't starve to death
I took out the ornament thing with all the holes...i left a different one in there but that is much smoother...so he still has somewhere to hide. His colour is rather bleak he is usually a beautiful purpley-blue. But...he is looking more lively since his water change, not that the readings were bad prior....i shall let you know of progress.
Pearl (the pearl gourami) died tonight. But I am confident that was merely of old age...she was the wonkiest looking fish I have ever seen! We inherited her with one of the fish tanks we bought. She had a peaceful death...for which I am very grateful.....and I know she had a good life for the last two months. RIP Pearl.