learning curve

[Goldie]

I have just finished the water change in my three tanks and while doing this the mind sort of wandered (scary). :-?

I am interested in knowing the one thing that you learnt when beginning to fish keep that has stayed with you to this day??

For me it was how to clean the tank around plants (Don't do it) When new I thoroughly cleaned everything. Now I just softly vacumn over the plants and surrounding area to leave something for the plants to fed on. I no longer get upset at a little algae, realising that the bottom feeders and some fish really need it.

The greatest invention ever:- The syphon python.

[Warren]

I learnt that it takes time for things to settle (1-2 weeks minimum as a general rule) and the bigger the tank, the longer it takes. If you are going to muck with things, do only 1 thing at a time then wait for the settling period to finish before changing anything else.

[Caryl]

This isn't from the beginning (as the Net wasn't around then) but never believe all you read on the Internet - unless it is in this forum of course :lol:

[Ira]

I've learned that either I'm totally wrong about a lot of things(Ok, I don't know everything, But I think I've got the basics down) or there are a bunch of people on other message boards that are totally and completely insane. I think that is quite a good thing to learn.

How people can get their ammonia levels up to 6PPM without killing all their fish and then say that they can't change the water because it'll slow down the cycle...I'll never understand. The few times I've had ammonia levels get too high fish started dying at 1ppm and 1.5-2ppm the survivors were bleeding with their fins burned off...Then there are the "Don't change more than 15% of the water per month or you'll kill your fish..."

[Joey]

The one thing I learnt is not to listen to everything you hear and read, and just because someone works in a fish store, that doesn't mean they know what they are talking about.

I had a problem in my first tank a few years ago, and so I went down and asked the fish guy at the shop for some advice. He asked what type of filter I had and I told him it was a canister. He then asked if I had cleaned it lately, which I had, and he enquired as to whether I had rinsed the media in tank water or fresh tap water. I told I used the water I had just emptied out of the tank for a WC, and he said "well, there is your problem", he continued on to say that I should rinse it in the tank. I asked him how that was supposed to get rid of the gunk and he replied "don't worry about it, it will get sucked into the filter when it gets turned back on". Needless to say, I never returned to that shop.

[Ira]

Hahaha. I bet that guy plugs his power strips into themselves too.

[Pegasus]

Hi Goldie,

Most important rule I learned in the early days was never to use the same equipment like nets etc for other tanks, unless you use a sterilizing solution in a bucket to store your net, which I don't.

Also never dip your wet hands from one tank to another as you can transfer a disease so quick you will miss it.

It's a rule I learned early and have always stuck by.

Learn by your mistakes, and if possible only make the same mistake once

Shop at a place you can trust, even if it means a longer trip, and don't buy on impulse... know your fish BEFORE you buy. Don't be hassled by sales staff... take your time and be sure the fish are in top condition before you purchase. If a seemingly healthy fish keels over within hours or even a day after you bought it, chances are you did something wrong, or your setup is not right.

Never blame the fish... It's generally not their fault

Finally, stick with it. It invariably comes right in the end, but it may take some time with a few heartbreaks in between

Regards,

Bill (Pegasus)

[Wayne]

hmmm. one of my first recollections about fish....

somehow, i had managed to convince mom that i'll do the regular water change for our community tank in the lounge( i was probably about 10)

.

well, i must have overdone it. Actually caught all the fishes out in a bucket, scrubbed every corner of the tank, did a 90% water change, added all the chemicals etc, n then the fish. man, they didn't survive the next 24 hrs.....

so yeah, change = stress. and when the change is too sudden = acute stress response--the body decompensates. Perhaps ammonia might have been a factor too.

Yes... everyone else was not too impressed with my enthusiasm.

[ajbroome]

Goldie said...

> I am interested in knowing the one thing that you learnt when

> beginning to fish keep that has stayed with you to this day??

When in doubt, a 20% water change wont do any harm and

may just fix the problem. If you've run out of things to do,

do a water change - it's like flushing the toilet... ;-)

Also, killifish are cool.

Andrew.

[Goldie]

wow what a wealth of knowledge - nothing can beat the pool of experience. I sure have set up antiseptic (fish sort) for the nets. Something I had not thought of. I only have 2 n half tanks mind you.

[Wayne]

yeah, that's a good point Bill. we often fail to see how easy it is to transmit bugs around, esp if u have multi-tanks...n valuable fish!

my community tank was previously plagued by TB. lost heaps of fish over a long period of time. i was extra careful with equipment etc. Bleech is a cheap n effective disinfectant. only disadvantage is that it corrodes metal( nets). managed to confine the infection to the community tank.

I've since culled all the fishes, thoroughly disinfected the tank, n it's now housing goldfishes....no signs of TB for over 3 mths... think it's been eradicated( fingers crossed)

[Pegasus]

Hi Wayne,

Can't say I have ever been plagued by TB, and hope I never will be.

Some people seem to get disease after disease, and touch wood, up to now I have only had a mild case of white spot.

Just a query while I am writing.

I have a large Angel that either got into a scrap with one of the others, or was given a "love bite" by one of my Plecos.

There's a patch of scales missing around 8mm by 10mm on the side of it's body.

Now this happened about three weeks or a month ago, but the wound has never fungused, or really got worse. It looks a tad pinkish, but apart from that it seems to be healing.

The only salts I added were in setting up where I added around two or three tablespoons of sea salt to approx 40gallons.

Normally a wound of this type would be covered in fungus after a short time, but this hasn't happened in my case.

Temp is around 80deg, pH6.8, and other levels at nil or very near to.

My water is tank water and is quite soft.

Perhaps the imune system is quite high in this fish due to the conditions, who knows

May I just say that for someone who has just joined us you have proved to be a great asset to this forum, and I hope we don't scare you off with all our questions

We are definitely learning from you, and possibly you are learning something from us. It's a real pleasure having you here.

Regards,

Bill (Pegasus)

[Wayne]

Thanks Bill

yes, believe it or not, i'm picking up heaps of stuff from u guys. Been reading previous posts etc. Ask me about breeds, gadgets, breeding etc n i'll b totally lost. :-? i have absolutely no idea about that 'guess what fish this is' game u guys have.. lol.

anyway, nice description. It's quite a big focal area for an angel. one thing though, is it raised, even or slightly depressed?

Also, any scratching/rubbing observed?

why do u think it's gettin better? size reduction?

what about appetite? any changes?

what do u feed it?

any deaths from tankmates since a yr ago?

who else is with the angel?

how big is the tank?

have u noticed any illthrifty ones with flattened bellies?

any tankmates with kinked spines?

any ones with dropsy( popeye, abdominal distention, pine-cone scales?)

Any new fishes introduced from 6 mths ago?

well, sorry for all the questions, but they'll help us bro.

If we can rule out water and dietary problems, then it leaves us with the wound itself. If the wound is kinda depressed, or used to b, then it's most likely an ulcer.

If u see an ulcer in a fish, always think TB. Other bugs can give ulcers. anchor worms can leave ulcers after they detach( i've never seen it in NZ yet). A nasty protozaon known as tetrahymena leaves deep sores n penetrates into muscles in varous fishes, esp guppies. some spp. of Aeromonas bacteria can give so called furuncles/ulcer like lesions in esp goldfish n koi. it can happen in other species too.finally, Our whole list of usual skin bugs can produce ulcers in severe infections.

Well, we can do skin scrapes etc to check for any skin bugs, this will rule out obvious parasites, but we might miss the bacterial organisms.

alternatively, we can do salt dips as a therapeutic trial thingy. if it works,, actually, most of these r susceptible to salt dips, except TB, then we know it was one of these organisms...

anyway, i would do a salt dip, and possibly anesthetise it and apply some topical iodine/betadine. maintain good water quality n diet, n give it a couple of weeks. If it doesn't heal in a mth or so, we can try other drugs, but we then have to seriously consider TB. u might want to isolate it at the moment just to b safe, esp if u have valuable fish with him/her.

check your PM bro