Shelley

whoa! not me! lol..... I have polystyrene under all of my tanks but yes Caper, Pomereef is right it isn't hard to do particularly for such a small tank....and you only have to do it once....or maybe more if you get more tanks Maybe Sam the goldfish could be donated (sniff...sad I know) to a kindy or something. Or perhaps the fish shop would consider swapping him for some more neons? Just a thought. No more losses here...yet...thanks Caper.... one of my fighters still looks a bit sulky but he ate well this morning all alone in his very own tank...the girlfriend next door is just about going nuts...she wants at him! lol but he isn't interested! serves her right for being such a tease. Just bundled up my two tanks that are going in for repairs...in the stationwagon tonight. It will be good to get them back...they could be away for over a week!

Scalare....are you the dutch guy from animates in Christchurch?....if so I want an update on the new tank you said you were going to be setting up.....I think you (if it was you) said it was going to be a 600 litre tank?.....lol....if that's NOT you....well just ignore me

When you consider the other stuff that gets flushed...a lil wee dead fish isn't going to be causing me sleepless nights (apart from the fact it died in the first place)...with being flushed.... as for sick fish....now this is something i really want help with.... i have 'euthanased sick fish by putting them in a small amount of water in the freezer (as recommended on this site)....to me this seemed horribly cruel, and i felt absolutely awful doing it. I could not bring myself to chop off their heads (also suggested) or smash their skulls in with a rock...... i haven't had to euthanase a fish for a while (poor little buggers have been dying in droves of their own accord as per previous posts) but i am almost of the opinion that flushing them might be a more instantaneous death (when you consider the temperature and force of the water flooding into the bowl and them being whisked away into ....what they are being whisked away into.) If anyone can tell me of a more humane way......please do.....the freezer death gives me the shudders.

I don't have any discus (or angels) myself just yet but would quite like to get a couple of discus for my main community tank. My mother loves discus and has had them in the past and has just got some again now. She read up and has put some blue rams with them as they are supposed to be complimentary tank mates. Of the reading she and i have done it has been suggested that discus stay in a species only tank...however in the past mum has successfully had discus in community tanks and they look great...the other shapes and colours really seem to set them off. As for angels. I have decided to have a tank for the more anti social fish. I have one only sherpae tetra....and plan getting more...and 3 only black widows....which i LOVE...but they are not very friendly to other fish...and make my fighters life hell. so once my tanks are sorted i will have MORE of these fish....in a tank of their own...and shall get some angels for THAT tank. Originally i was just going to let them live their natural lives then not replace them but i really do love those black widows and i think it could be an awesome tank colour wise with a few neons thrown in and maybe some golden barbs.

They do lose their colour when they die and will be harder to see (I have noticed this to be particularly so with neons they sort of go silvery transparent almost).....even if he is still alive with your multi coloured stones he may be harder to spot. I would perhaps very gently move the rock you saw him hiding behind...he may be stressed and have slid underneath it to hide from the goldfish! I lost a favourite male guppy a couple of weeks ago...and KNOW he is dead but have not been able to find him at all. Whether he has decomposed to the extent of non-existance or been eaten I am unsure. I also lost a harlequin which had been half eaten by the time i found him. (ugh). Havent lost any fish for a few days now.....but one of my fighters has been seriously sulking for a few days now.....he is currently in a tank on his own to give him the chance to recover....despite the fact he does get lonely he had been getting very shy and timid....so i will give him a few days to come out of hiding before trying him again with the 'placid' fish.

Frenchy....I absolutely adore dwarf gouramis...and would like to get more but what specifically am I looking for to check their health?..I know the very basics....such as their fins shouldn't be clamped...and they shouldn't have white spot, lol, and now i know to watch if they sort of bob backwards and forwards...but how do i know i am buying healthy dwarf gouramis...or any other fish for that matter (apart from avoiding dirty tanks and tanks with dead fish). Once i get my tanks sorted out i would love to get more dwarf gouramis.... i have two honey dwarf gouramis now and they are the sweetest wee fish. Alan you also mentioned about colour....i have seen some gorgeous cobalts and some orangey coloured ones with red (I think they were called blood red dwarfs...but honestly can't remember) are these fish substandard...in that they aren't a traditional breed? Sorry, I am wording this poorly....what I mean is are these fish likely to have been pumped full of colour enhancement stuff to help them be more attractive for sale but are actual a sub standard (for want of a better word) fish? I really would like some advice on this before I buy any more because top of my 'want' list was the dwarf blue gouramis (i wasnt that fussed on the red ones). Thanks in anticipation.

Hi Ormali...havent read your other posts yet but will go looking for them soon. Sounds like a lovely set up you have. I am interested to hear you say they all get on so well as I was warned off putting angels with gouramis or bettas (as the angels can be quite stroppy)....then again...since I have been reading from this site people have said it depends greatly on the personality of the individual fish. I was also put off adding golden barbs for the same reason. I had been tempted to get some simply for the contrast of colour but decided against it after i heard they can be a bit stroppy. I've been having a few problems myself lately with my main tank....and am due to cart a couple of tanks in to the glass man for some minor repairs shortly.....once i have my lighting sorted....it will be all systems go (and a couple of long cycling processes for 2 of the larger tanks....) although i have learned a lot there is still heaps more to learn and here is an ideal place to do it. Anyway...cheers and welcome.

lol ....nooooooo i didn't forget ;-) but i think i need to get the upper hand of the tanks i have got...also more tanks in this house at this stage might equal divorce papers...my husband is not amused

This sounds familiar. When you initially put them together....did they get a little frisky? I put my new female fighter in a bowl inside the tank to introduce her.....they both seemed very keen but i hadnt done enough homework....and didnt wait for him to build the bubblenest...anyway.....she raped him....she was vicious! he didnt seem to mind too much but he certainly came off second best. His beautiful tail and fins were torn to shreds and i was unsure whether to get in there with the net to separate them or if such passion was 'normal'. there was lip locking...where she dragged him to the bottom and lots of writhing about and i thought....uhhuh! this is IT..... but i was a little afraid she would kill him!...after about 10 minutes they broke apart and both went to separate sides of the tank to pant and recover....to this day i suspect this was not at all right...from what i have read it seems the female is supposed to be totally submissive......nothing submissive about my female fighter lol.....if she was human she would have black pvc thigh boots and wield a whip! anyway...after this they became quite wary of each other. I have separated them....and put them together again with her in the bowl....he made a bubblenest....but she had lost all interest in him. i should explain that she tackled him on the rebound...she actually had the hots for another fighter we had.....and they were a lovely pair but she was far to bossy for him as he was quite shy...unfortunately he has since died as i was hoping with conditioning both fish in separate tanks may have got them both in peak condition for mating. She was not nearly as interested in the fighter she attacked...and has shown absolutely no interest since then despite him having built beautiful bubble nests. They are now in separate tanks and i am conditioning them both with brine shrimp. She is looking really good..... but with a bit of a crisis in the tank situation i am not ready to put them together yet for another try. I figure absence may make the heart grow fonder.

Thanks for the hug Caper . On the sad side, I lost a kissing gourami today...although she has looked a little strange for quite some time. On the happy side a guppy had 13 babies this afternoon :-). I need to get more lights....... *consults her list....lights....stones....FISH*

Thanks Caper and DiverJohn...i think the only reason the main tank is sitting on nil ammonia and nitrite is because there are NO fish in there at present....the other tanks with fish in have slight readings of both. I may have to dismantle the main tank anyway as......the middle section of glass (in the top) has cracked....and since it has cracked the 'lose' sections that just slide in either side and sit on wee glass ledges no longer fit...the glass just falls in which makes me think that that middle section must have been helping support the tank and hold it together...which also makes me worry that now it is cracked and not supporting the tank walls...maybe with the weight of thew water the whole lot might collapse BUGGER!!!! I really can't AFFORD any more right now lol. Also (of course) with not having the glass pieces that slide in on either side for the lid...means the light is open to the elements of the tank/condensation etc.....and the wooden frame also...whci i suspect may not be particularly healthy or safe for anyone concerned....oh damn and flaming blast it! The tank i 'sealed' (and that was leaking more so after i had done it...for some reason appears to have stopped leaking (???) i have my suspicions about what is going on. I was pretty sure the leak was coming from where the bottom joined the front wall....maybe it was just from the top of the tank and the water has leaked beyond that level now? although there has been no sign of it running down the edges. i remain sceptical. sure wish we could have a smooth run for a while...i am getting depressed (not to mention broke!)

Latest update..... The main tank is now empty of all fish it is still slightly cloudy but much better than it was. Readings have all dropped with the exception of PH. I have not counted the number of losses we have had this week. I think it would be too depressing...and we just lost our last platty this morning but everyone else seems to have settled. Re-checked tap water which has a PH of 6.6, Ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 5. The lowest reading of PH in my tanks is 7.2....can't quite figure that one out!

lol...actually tiddles does do piddles....ever since she picked a fight with a car her bladder has been a bit dodgy...but i dont for a second believe anything from her can get into the tank.... firstly i have had three sheets of glass for the lid...on top of which goes a wooden frame where the light sits...on top of which sits 2 pieces of timber to close the box in. there is no way she can get her paws in...the only reason she fell in last night was because all those layers were off....to allow me access to the tank. But yes.... i take your thoughts on board...and thanks they are very much appreciated.

Hi and thanks again for your useful comments. Our lfs....is actually not that accomodating...and to be honest i wouldn't trust their knowledge/skills anyway. I am going to Christchurch anyway today and could get it tested up there but it is only the 2 test kits i feel i need right now nitrite and phosphate. and i like to have these on hand particularly as i have 7 tanks to be keeping an eye on. The PH threw me too but i seem to remember the last PH test i did on our tap water the reading was much higher. I suspect with our water supply it is constantly changing. I noticed the last PH test i did on the main tank it had come down a couple of points from the previous test which was only 24 hours before with a water change in between so i suspect our house supply is all over the place depending on conditions which are changing all the time. I have refilled the main tank...and although little time has passed since doing so it is looking ok at this point. i will have a better idea when i get home from christchurch tomorrow..... and i am not looking forward to coming in the door and doing a round of the tanks for a body count My favourite fish is not long for this world...a groovy little cory. And my favourite fighter is sulking. it will possibly do the fish good to have me out of the house for 24 hours! Leave the poor wee buggers alone! Just as an aside....a funny thing happened last night. One of our cats loves to sleep on the lid of the main tank because of the heat from the light.......and last night when i came online......i heard a major crash in the lounge and thought it was my bloody tank collapsing!...... the cat had gone to jump onto the lid for a snooze only to find there WAS no lid....and jumped head first into the tank which had about 4 inches of water in the bottom (lucky for the cat it wasnt full!) it was a bright moment in an otherwise sad day. I was relaying this to my mother on the phone this morning...and said cat KNEW i was talking about her...she sat with her back to me washed herself very stroppily...and turned and glared at me :lol: heehee.

A very good thought....and highly probable too. I don't know...the crap they put on their paddocks! How the heck do I go about gewtting our well water checked? Who does it? What am I asking for? and how much is it likely to cost? I have shifted ALL the fish from the main tank....and the poor wee guys are not happy about it ...........i have kept the plants in and will finish filling it up this morning...will turn the filter on...have left the heater on...and will see if the cloudiness returns with no fish in there to add to the load for the filter. If it does i shall start from scratch and cart water from my mothers place.....which will have to be done in several trips....and will try and keep some on hand for standing for water changes, as her water is chlorinated. This is really tough. two more deaths this morning....a scissortail (which may have been very very old anyway and had a stooped back...my daughter calls them the question mark fish because that is just what they look like) and a lemon tetra....which isn't actually dead yet.... but will be any second i would think.....i hate to leave her to suffer but she looks like my wee dwarf gourami looked the other night and THAT fish has made a complete recovery! i could sob....i really could....... these fish are stressed and i have no idea whether removing them from their grotty tank to an apparantly clearer tank is going to help or not. i will be collecting a phosphate kit today also when i replace my nitrite kit. I am glad my husband is away at the moment..... he would be absolutely mortified if he was aware of just how much money is being spent!...on fish that are dying Mind you..... he is the bloke employed on this farm to do all the spraying!

Yep :-) Thanks.

Hey that's great to hear! I thought they might have had heart attacks in the week after their journey :-) so glad they are happy and well.

Thanks again Suphew. You have been a great comfort and a very big help. I will go take my 72 litre drum around to my mothers....and cart some water home to stand for the next water change. I will find out from my husband when the last time the paddocks near to the house were sprayed (think it was very recently) as i dont want to have to cart water for every water change. plus i would have to heat some of the carted water so i am not adding it cold. i suspect i may need a few more drums or i will never keep up. Am just using water from the old tanks (not the BAD one) to set up a new tank now to help speed up the cycling process. I have had the filter for this tank churning away in one of the other tanks for a week or so also so hope this will help. my hands feel and look like prunes lol.

I've said it before.....and I will say it again YGASC! (You guys are so cool ;-) ) thanks for the great advice :-)

hi again. yes i know what you mean. I had never heard of nitrite before coming to this forum....and when i saw it i thought i had been spelling nitrates wrong! lol. But in a very short time of reading you learn about the cycle of ammonia-->nitrite-->nitrate we now have7 tanks :-). My daughter had a tiny tank which is now or baby tank. she then bought a 360 litre tank (4 feet wide)which i am currently having a lot of trouble with...something is wrong with the water but i cant quite pin it down. i bought 3 tanks 2 feet by 1 foot by 1 foot and once things are running right they will be my adolescent tank (for babies that are too big to be babies but not quite ready to be put in with the big guys) the breeding tank, and the female fighters tank (currently i only have one i would like about 3). Then i have my dining room tank (3 feet) which I will re-set up as i tried just river stones and it looks awful....also the stand for it is too low so i will drag in a heavy old cabinet we have and sit the tank on that. Then there is the kitchen tank which is.....i think about 2 and a half feet wide. This will be my 'blue' tank for all my favourite fish. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen so it will be nice to chat to my blue gouramis and fighter fish while getting tea ready I am just in the throws of resetting this tank up now after resealing it. so there won't be muc in there for quite a wee while yet.

Hi Caper.....IMO is an abbreviation for 'in my opinion'. and yes i think test kits are essential. I am new and finding my way by braille too. I think the basic kits you need are PH,ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. I also have a GH and KH test kit (for water hardness) but the main tests i do are the PH nitrite ammonia and nitrate. Maybe when we become more experienced we might not need to depend so heavily on the warning signs from these kits but it sure does tell you if something is wrong and you can act on it.

Well...I don't know about unusual....I only know the basics. But the one tank i am really looking forward to setting up is going to be a themed tank colour wise. i am having a blue tank with all my favourite fish in it....i have dark stones ready for it and am looking forward to blue dwarf gouramis a bluey-purple fighter perhaps some neons a blue guppy with some girlfriends to keep him happy and possibly the rams (although i may have a special tank for them...haven't decided yet.) I am trying for a totally different look in each tank i have. I am not fussed on the backgrounds you can buy in the pet shops...look a bit garish to me so may look for some wrapping paper in pretty colours. I dont want the background to overwhelm the fish but rather be a backdrop to highlight the fish.....i think the background will either be blue or pinkie/mauve...slightly richer than pastels maybe with a self swirl/marble like effect? dont know...if i don't like it i can always change it. Another idea...although not different would look nice...is just neons. I saw a fabulous tank in critter kingdom in Christchurch a few days ago with nothing but male guppies or every colour you could imagine...and that was absolutely gorgeous! (I am definitely going back for more of them once my tanks settle). I also am very fond of the corys..... for ugly-ish looking things they sure are cute! and there is constant action in a tank with cory's in. such busy wee things and such fun to watch. Please let us know what you decide on...and some pics would be great!

Dawn.....I don't know if they are true 'cobalt' dwarf gouramis....but in animates in Christchurch about a month ago I saw the most beautiful blue dwarf gouramis and I am certain they had both female and male. (I would have bought some but am not ready for them.) I also saw some much larger (but still dwarf...presumably more mature?) blue gouramis at Redwoods in Christchurch just a few days ago.(To my eye not as attractive looking fish as the ones animates had). I am definitely getting some when my tanks are up to scratch. They are absolutely beautiful fish. Also can't wait for the tanks to be 'perfect' so i can get a pair of those beautiful blue rams. What amazing looking fish!

Yes Dawn I have (i have been writing in about my problems in a post entitled "cloudy water" in the beginners section so i won't detail it all)....but i am determined to beat this thing and have the pleasure of seeing my fish happy and beautiful again. It is such a good feeling when everything is RIGHT and they look so content....and is so ghastly horrid when it all goes to custard

Good point! Yes it has been raining and yes there are pesticides and herbicides and fungicides and any other sort of -icide you can think of used on this farm! Ugh! the water that goes into the tank is the water we DRINK. Bugger. I have just been to Temuka too....and bought heaps more buckets and a 72 litre rubbish container for using to save old cycled water to help me set up the tank i just resealed. and of course if i had have collected Temuka water i would need to have let it stand for a day or so as it would be chlorinated. But..this doesn't explain why it is the main tank goes so cloudy so quickly...and is killing off fish.....with not hugely high (although admittedly above 0) readings.....and yet the same water used in the smaller tanks...so far.... has been ok. I still believe the cucumber to be at fault and will have a closer look at the hose of my filter in case there is a piece wedged in the actual hose (although output seems to be the same as usual). Bugger....so the tank will go yellow if using peat..is that just till it settles? and is that harmful to the fish? i am unsure where i would put the stocking of peat in the filter....would i use it instead of carbon? or perhaps the filter wool? there is conflicting advice about the order of medias too. I have a fluval 404.... the 4 trays from bottom to top are now filter wool, carbon, ceramic noodles,ceramic noodles. They were in the reverse order when it was set up by the guy at animates....but upon reading the instruction booklet (and getting a grotty tank) i decided to put the media in the order recommended in the book. today is a really good day for tank mucking about as it is a kid free and husband free zone...it does make things so much easier.