FwDailyFAQs

Updated 8/28/2008 Other Specialized Daily FAQs Logs: General, Brackish
Daily Q&A replies/input from the WWM crew: Benjamin Kratchmer, Sara Mavinkurve, Adam Jackson, Scott Vallembois, Darrel Barton, Neale Monks, Marco Lichtenberger, Eric Russell, Chris Perivolidis, Pufferpunk (Jeni Tyrell), Chuck Rambo, Bob Fenner, are posted here. Moved about, re-organized roughly daily
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Pregnant Guppies, barb incomp. 08/28/08
Ok, now I have a new issue, nothing bad or anything this time.
<Oh?>
It seems that my two female guppies have gotten pregnant, I had a male in the tank for a few days but he was being harassed by the tiger barbs so i moved him to a different tank. But now i noticed that the females are getting quite large, I haven't changed food levels so that is not the reason. How soon will they give birth, I also heard the females can store sperm and become pregnant for several months after without the male.
<Some livebearers can indeed produce multiple broods from a single mating. Heterandria formosa is the "master" of this art, being known to be able to stretch batches of fry across six months after mating. All other livebearers are less proficient at this, and should be "empty" of embryos within six months of mating. So far as I know, livebearers don't "store sperm" but rather delay the maturation of some of the embryos, so that some embryos develop immediately, and others later on. In any case, it takes 3-5 weeks for the fry to be delivered after mating.>
And were the barbs bothering the male guppy because of his tale or because he was not yet fully grown, the barbs bothered the female guppies when i first added them to the tank but quit within a day or two.
<Tiger Barbs, and indeed many other Barbs as well as many Tetras, nip the fins of male Guppies. They cannot be kept together.>
Thanks,
Dennis
<Cheers, Neale.>

Guianacara geayi, sexing -08/27/08
Hello
<Ave,>
I have 2 Bandit Cichlids (Guianacara geayi) and they are around 1 inch big.
<Still babies.>
How long does it take for them to grow to a size they can be sexed?
<I'd expect these to become sexually mature at 4-6 months, the males before the females. They'd need to be about half-adult size, in other words at least 3-4 inches in length. Maximum size for this species is about 15 cm/6" for males, slightly less for females. Sexing is otherwise difficult. Quite a challenging species, be careful not to keep them too warm! 22-25 degrees C is ample, anything above that likely to stress them.>
Thanks
<Many aquarium books list this species as Acaricthys geayi or Aequidens geayi; use these names when doing your research. It is of course a harem spawner, so you will need multiple females if you want to avoid problems with male aggression. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Native (Austr.) fishkeeping; Ancistrus repro; the WWM BB?
Hi Neale,
<Silvia,>
Just after we came back from our little fishing trip our daughter came down with a bad flu. Even a 16 year old loves to be spoiled sometimes. She is now recovering but still stays for another day or two at home, just to be on the safe side. It seems there is a bad bug going around. Well, it is winter after all.
<Sounds as if you all had fun! Viruses notwithstanding.>
I think I might join a forum at sometime. The idea with the Native/ Australian section sounds good but I am by far an expert in those things and I am not very reliable when it comes to time spending on the computer. In addition I wouldn't have a clue how such a section would work.
<Please do get in touch with Lynn, and maybe asking her if you can help moderate such a section.>
The Corys are doing well. The bristlenose is sitting on eggs again since Sunday. He is so predictable and so reliable. I don't think I will take the fry out for space reasons.
<It's often fun to let the fish "do their thing" even if you only end up with a handful of fry. After all, they breed so often, it's more fun just to see their biology and marvel at Nature's handiwork.>
Cheers
Silvia
<Cheers, Neale>

Purchasing a Betta -08/27/08
Dear WWM Crew,
<Ave,>
Hi, can you please tell me which is a hardier Betta to purchase, a Crowntail, Delta or a Halfmoon?
<No significant difference. How long/well a Betta lives depends much more on the environment you create for it. For every Betta that survives in a bowl, there's at least a dozen that don't. So setting up a nice 5-10 gallon tank with a heater and hood will make a world of difference. Add some floating plants and if you want a few shrimps and snails to pick up any uneaten food. Perfect Betta habitat. All of these "fancy" Bettas are hopelessly inbred, so it's a bit of lottery what you get in terms of genetics, unless you're obtaining them from a dedicated breeder you know and trust. Pet shop Bettas are mass produced to a price, not a standard. So go shopping with your eyes wide open. Good livestock, whether a fish or a horse, rarely comes cheap.>
Or it really does not matter what breed it is.
<If it was me, I'd go for a wild-type Betta splendens or better yet some other Betta spp. any day of the week. Fancy Bettas are incredibly boring compared to something like Betta simplex or Betta imbellis. Your own tastes may vary, of course.>
I did have a Crowntail Betta that lived for 2½ years. I do know what to look for when purchasing a Betta.
<If you just want a pet, then pick one that isn't too big (i.e., isn't too old), has good colour and complete fins. That's about it really. If you want a "quality" fish though you need to research the variety and type, and then get a checklist of what the key points of that variety might be. For the top quality fish, spend some time tracking down respected breeders. Betta-specific forums will be able to offer you help here for breeders in your country/region.>
I should check the following: the Surrounding Environment - the jars in which the Betta fish is kept in is clean, the Body, the Fins and Gills, the Color, the Eyes and the Behavior).
<This is all absolutely standard for any fish. Yes, check the environment is clean and has things like uneaten food removed. Look to see that the fish is alert and moving normally. Check the fins aren't ragged (unless they're meant to be for that variety) and certainly avoid any fish with signs of Finrot or Fungus. Look to see that the abdomen is slightly rounded but not swollen.>
Please give advise. Thanks ahead of time for your help. Jean
<Hope this helps! Cheers, Neale.>

Guppy fry question -08/27/08
Hello WWM Crew,
First of all, let me say that this is the most amazing, informative site!
<Thanks for the kind words.>
Two questions for you:
I have a 5 gallon tank which is well planted, I keep the water perfect with bi weekly water changes and I feed them good quality food.
<Bit small for Guppies, to be honest...>
My fish seem very healthy and hearty! In this tank are 2 males and I think 5 females. I say this because two of the females along with one of the males came from a batch of fry that we had in March foam a mother guppy who died after giving birth. One is obviously a male but the other two I can't seem to tell their gender. They have gray bodies with a short ,but iridescent tail and I can't figure out if their back lower fins are pointed or rounded. They do hold them up against their bodies, which are slender like most males are. They are about 5 months now... shouldn't I be able to tell by now?
<Male Guppies will be sexually mature within 3 months. Sexing Guppies should be fairly easy; if the anal fin isn't a simple triangle, it's a male! Males also tend to be smaller and less deep bodied, and should have brighter colours, particularly on the unpaired fins. Breeders take this approach: if they can't confirm its a female, they remove it from the tank of "virgin" female Guppies and eliminate it from any breeding programmes.>
My other question is another one of my females had a batch of 41 fry on the 27th of July which makes them about 4 weeks old now. They are in a separate tank without any other fish and seem to be thriving just beautifully. I noticed this morning before feeding them that the females bellies were very rounded as if they had just eaten... I also noticed about 7 much smaller fry in the tank... am I crazy to think that these are new fry??
<Well, if there are baby fish there, and just the one female, then yes, they're hers! Guppies tend to produce batches of fry every 4-6 weeks, but this will vary depending on things like diet and water temperature.>
Please let me know. Oh, just to let you know, this same mother just birthed another 40-something fry on Saturday.....Holy-Moly....
<At some point you will need to restrict the numbers of fry; rearing huge numbers isn't practical unless you have a lot of ~10 gallon tanks to keep them in and to separate off males from females. Pet shops want quality, true-breed rather than mongrel Guppies or deformed fancies, so you also need to be sensible about selecting good specimens of a single variety. The mantra for any fish breeder is that it isn't quantity but quality you're after.>
Thanks for your time,
Yvonne
<Cheers, Neale.>

Violet Gobies, and Loricariid sys. -08/27/08
Hi my name is Shawna and I have 2 violet gobies and 1 leopard Pleco that is roughly 4 to 5 inches long. I have the gobies in a 10 gallon brackish water tank.
<Too small... the Violet Gobies (Gobioides spp.) are territorial and very large. You can expect them to reach 30-50 cm/12-20 inches under aquarium conditions and depending on the species involved. They will fight over hiding places. The Leopard Plec (Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps) gets to about 30-45 cm/12-18 inches. It is a freshwater fish and cannot be kept in brackish water. The Violet Gobies will need SG 1.005-1.010, and that is far too saline for these catfish.>
Will my Pleco do good in the tank with them?
<None of these fish will do well in a 10 gallon tank, and you need something 5 times the size just for the two Gobies, let alone the catfish. They can't be combined either. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i3/Dragon_Gobies/Dragon%20Gobies.htm
>
Thanks.
<Cheers, Neale>

Question about filters, FW, seeding/bacteria -08/27/08
Hello crew,
How are you going today?
<Just fine, thanks for asking.>
My question is: I am in the process of upgrading to a 40 gallon tank from a 5 gallon (big change, so excited) and was wondering can the cycling process be sped up by putting the 5 gallon's filter on the bigger tank, thereby transferring the good bacteria?
<Well, the bacterial won't actively "swim" from one filter to the other so while adding the old filter to the tank will help, it won't help by much. So for a few weeks you will need to feed the fish carefully and not add any more fish until such time as the new filter has become matured. The best approach is to take some media from the old filter and put it in the new filter. This will "seed" the new filter, and get it off to a much faster start. You can take 50% of the media from the old filter without substantially lowering its filtration efficacy.>
Then removing it once the bacteria has had a chance to grow in the new tank. The 40 gallon would obviously have its own bigger filter as well. How long do you think it would take? I plan to put guppies in there.
<I'd recommend leaving the two filters together for at least 4 weeks if you plan to do things this way. If you remove 50% of the media from the old filter, you can leave the old filter on the 5 gallon tank. That tank could now be used to rear fry. The "seeded" new filter will be instantly mature enough to handle half a dozen Guppies, and if you feed them carefully and use a nitrite test kit to keep an eye on things, this new filter should be fully matured within a month.>
Thank you very much for your time, I love your site.
Sam
<Cheers, Neale.>

Pregnant Yellow Malawi 8/26/08
Hi there
Not too sure on the exact name of my fish, but they are yellow, with black fins. Think they are called Yellow Labs.
<The Yellow Lab is Labidochromis caeruleus. Do check on Google Image or similar, because various other Malawi cichlids are yellow, and potentially so are certain hybrids.>
Anyway I have 2 males and 3 females. Got the tank in December for Christmas. So the first female had babies two weeks ago, there are 17 of them, and I have put them in their own tank. She carried for about 3 weeks to a month, and released them the day after I put her in a separate tank, think she felt safe there (I returned her to her normal tank a day later, as I was told she was no use to them anymore and would end up eating them).
<No, the females are usually pretty good and leave the babies alone. Your main problem is that the female needs a good month or so AWAY from the male to fatten up. Remember, for the 3-4 weeks she's incubating the eggs (and fry) she can't eat. For a small fish, that's a LONG time without food. Put her through that time after time and she'll inevitably starve to death. So you MUST keep the females in another tank (or at least isolated with a tank divider) for a few weeks so she can feed comfortably. And no, the male doesn't respect this, and will either mate with her or beat her up.>
I did not strip her and let her release them naturally as I didn't know what stripping was. The guy at the Petshop said I left it too long, and she could have had up to 40 babies.
<OK. Not a big deal. I'd tend to leave them to brood the eggs fully, at least for a few times so I could watch the behaviour. Who care's if you don't get the full number of fry? You can leave her with the fry, and fatten her up once the fry do their own thing. Scoop them into a breeding trap, leave her in the 45 litre/10 gallon breeding tank and kill two birds with one stone.>
So anyway 9 days ago I noticed the second female was carrying. I put her in a separate breeding net inside the main tank and stripped her but babies came out looking like yellow balls with eyes. Luckily she picked them up again. I have been told to leave her for another week.
<Hmm... breeding traps are not viable for adult cichlids. Put the fry in them certainly, but not the females if you possibly help it. She'll likely jump out at some point anyway.>
Then this morning SHOCK AND HORROR!!! Noticed the first female is carrying AGAIN!! She only popped out the last ones two weeks ago, poor thing! So my question is, should I put the two pregnant females together in the breeding net to keep each other company for the next week?
<No; this will end in tears.>
Or better to put the next one into the net when the other one is finished with it?
<Only put FRY in breeding traps. Adult fish, except perhaps tiny things like Guppies, have NO PLACE in a breeding trap. Period. End of discussion. Anyone who told you otherwise was misleading you.>
And my other question is, can I put the new babies into the tank with the first babies?
<Yes, mixing fry is not normally a problem. But do bear in mind big fry will get to the food faster. Adding more food harms water quality. So at some point you stop rearing fry. I'd recommending rearing one batch every 3-6 months -- you won't be able to rehome or sell vast numbers of these fish. It'll take 3 months to grow them to sellable size, and for that you WILL need at least a 45 litre/10 gallon tank. Trust me on this. Breeding traps are, frankly, a con.>
The first babies are now 1cm big. I'm running out of space for all these fish!

Also is it not bad for my fish to be pregnant again so soon? I'm concerned for her health.
<It's very bad. One month breeding, two months feeding is about right. If that means you need to remove the male, then so be it.>
Thanks for your help!
Leigh
<Hope this helps, Neale.>

2 part question about turtles and identification 8/26/08
Dear Crew,
<Hiya -- Darrel here>
Ok, so this is a two part question, first what kind of turtle is this??
<Oh dear .. if I'd known there was going to be a test I'd have studied!!>
<When I first looked at the pictures my sense was that it was a Rhinoclemys (a South American Wood Turtle). When young their carapace (top shell) is fairly flat and somewhat resembling an Pseudemys (the slider families) and as they mature it becomes more domed like a Box Turtle (Terrapene). In this case, Google is your friend. Try Rhinoclemys T Terrapene and reeves turtle and see what you think>
I got him from a lady who was not taking care of her and she gave her to me. After cleaning her up I put her in my 100gal tank with my RES who is a male (very long claws) who I have had for about a year, and is just a little smaller then the new turtle.
<Not sure the new kid on the block is an aquatic turtle though -- from most aspects it appears to be semi-aquatic at best and needs more dry land. Your identification from more comparison photos will tell all.>
The other day I noticed my RES vibrating his legs in her face, so he wants to mate with her, so if you know what kind of turtle this is, are they close enough for them to mate or is he barking up the wrong tree?
<Yes, in this case my guess is that you're shaving the wrong beard, to make a different metaphor>
thanks for your help!
<I'm also passing your pictures along to a more learned colleague for his opinion. Neale?>

2 part question... Turtle ID, cross-breeding? -08/27/08
Ok, so this is a two part question, first what kind of turtle is this??
<I have absolutely no idea. The fact the shell is domed rather than flat implies its either an amphibious or fully terrestrial species rather than a truly aquatic species. The front feet appear to lack webbing, but the back feed are webbed, so again, I'd tend to go with some type of amphibious rather than truly aquatic species. I would be keeping this species in an enclosure with equal amounts of water and land, and I'd also make sure the water wasn't too deep. But I really think you need to get in touch with a dedicated Chelonian support/rehoming site such as Turtle Homes:
http://www.turtlehomes.org/
They have contacts and resources for identifying "mystery" Chelonians.>
I got him from a lady who was not taking care of her and she gave her to me. After cleaning her up I put her in my 100gal tank with my RES who is a male (very long claws) who I have had for about a year, and is just a little smaller then the new turtle. the other day I noticed my RES vibrating his legs in her face, so he wants to mate with her, so if you know what kind of turtle this is, are they close enough for them to mate or is he barking up the wrong tree? thanks for your help!
<They are absolutely not the same species! Male Red-ear Sliders will attempt to mate with anything. So long as he isn't harassing her, I wouldn't worry too much. Cheers, Neale.>

Filter Changes... Eheim, FW, maint. 8/26/08
Hello!
<Ave,>
I have a new Eheim outside filter. Unfortunately, the instructions do not say how often to change the Substrat or the mech, or the blue filter.
<No set time really, as every tank is different. The biological filter media (things like ceramic noodles and sponges) should be fine for many weeks, even months, between cleans. I'd recommend starting with a 6-week cycle, i.e., every 6 weeks open the filter and give the sponges and ceramic noodles a good rinse in AQUARIUM WATER (not under the tap). They don't need to be spotlessly clean, all they need is for any solid material, such as bits of dead plant, to be rinsed off. Mechanical filter media, such as floss, should be cleaned at least as often, and it's sometimes best to replace rather than clean this stuff. Depends on your tank and, frankly, your budget. I have better things to do with my money, so I tend to take the time to deep clean filter floss and other mechanical media as far as possible. Mechanical media only works if it is reasonably clean, as the point to this stuff is to capture silt from the water, and dirty media won't do that. Finally, chemical media will very likely need to be replaced periodically. Carbon needs replacing once or twice a MONTH to do any of the stuff people think it does. I don't use carbon, and consider it redundant in most freshwater systems. Likewise ammonia remover (zeolite) will need to be replaced regularly. This is completely redundant in most tanks, but if you have a niche application such as a hospital tank, then you'll need to replace it sufficiently frequently that you never detect ammonia (likely every 1-2 weeks depending on the stocking level and the size of the filter).>
I have been changing the white filter every week. Could you give me some advice?
<Is this the mechanical filter media? I think so. See above.>
Thanks.
Susanne
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Filter Changes 8/26/08
Thanks so much!
<More than welcome.>
The fish appear to be doing fine. My aquarium has 240 liters (just over 60 gallons).
<A good size; half the battle one. Big tanks are easier to maintain than small tanks.>
My main concern is to keep my fish happy and healthy. The last thing I want is my fish to suffer as a result of my ignorance on how to properly care for them. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
<Hmm... specific questions I can answer, but this is a bit broad! Would suggest picking up a good book and reading it cover to cover. If you do things by the numbers, it's quite an easy and relaxing hobby!
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/bookswwmsugg.htm
>
Susanne
<Cheers, Neale.>

Potted plants? Attn Neale: Sending my thank-you'd. 8/26/08
Dear Neale,
<John,>
As I have observed in the F.A.Q's and in your articles, you are quite thorough, approaching challenges from more than one angle, while never being boring.
<Kind of you to say so.>
I also enjoy your writing style. I am in the process of setting up (2) 120-gallon tanks, in a fashion that I would have not dared to try, had it not been for your ideas/suggestions/input.
<Well let us know how things turn out!>
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for your help. I hope you are having a great day. Sincerely, John D.
<Am indeed having a great day, and its a little bit better for your kind words. Cheers, Neale.>

Gourami Sudden Deaths 8/26/08
Hi & respect to the crew.
<And to you>
I am new to this site, but what a rich store of useful information, for which I have already found useful and informative.
<Ah, good>
I have an issue that occurred over the last two days, which I will try to describe in detail.
Sat pm: Gravel vacuuming & snail removal (mechanical, not chemical) 20% water change with DI water & re-mineralised/aquarium salts
Fish fed with frozen bloodworm/mysis/ tablet(defrosted 1st mind you in the aquarium water)
Same evening later, 2 hours after water change & feed, small male honey Gourami darts around the tank sinking to the bottom, then flicking up turning around on itself, darting around the tank, died within approx 5-10 min.s.
<Yikes!>
Non external injuries evident or attacking from other fish.
Same evening 1 after this event our male dwarf Gourami displayed exactly the same symptoms and also died.
We still have another honey (female that has not died)
We thought originally that may have been frozen fish feed had given them (has been kept and given to the fish over a period of 8-9months)
Mon am:
Replaced the filter floss, rinsed the foam in tank water, added additional beneficial bacteria
Mon pm:
bought another new male dwarf Gourami & another honey from the pet store- same happened, cant believe it, no frozen food given this time!!!
Treated the shop tank water in the bag with 1 drop of ESHa 2000 antibacterial/fungicidal treatment for plants and fish.
with the tanks lights off, netted the fish from the bag after stabilisation, into the tank, after 3-3/2 hours the same thing happened
All the other fish seem OK, the 3 Corys we have laid eggs recently in the tank and sometimes swim fast around the tank
I had also made changes to a CO system i built to benefit the plants and has been running OK for 9 months. This was originally a micro diffuser that allows the CO micro bubbles to enter the tank via yeast & sugar mixture in an fermentation tank, that has a one-way valve.
But recently I changed this, by removing the micro diffuser (got blocked), replaced with a small upside clear container that catches the CO bubbles within the container and which is dissolved gradually in the water. We were wonder if the fish swam to inside of the CO chamber and surfaced & breathed it, would this have caused the mentioned effects above, like suffocation, hope not.......
<Mmm, me too... seems unlikely>
Have filled the CO collection chamber with wool/floss to prevent fish swimming up inside the chamber.
I monitor the CO amount in the tank water via coloured changeable dye in a small capsule that allows for display of PH & CO.
<And this capsule-mixed water does not get into/with the fishes I take it>
It does seem to be affecting only the Gouramis, but the problem seemed to have started after the frozen food & water change/gravel clean.
My wife bought the new male dwarf & honey today and is very upset, cant think of anything else to add except if you have any further suggestions relating to similar issue, please, please help!!!!!
Parameters: (current)
Temp = 74-78
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 20-40ppm
<Mmm, a bit high... I'd keep under 20 ppm>
PH = 7.2
KH = 12-16
every 2 weeks R/O water change with remineral salts
<Is your tap/source/mains water "that" bad? I would just use it over RO and salts... What are the salts for?>
Tank stocked with live plants, mosses.
Fish:
Normans Lampeyes 3
Rummy nose tetra 6
Cherry Barbs 4
Corys 3
Pleco 1
Black Neons 7
Amano shrimp 1
Honey Gourami 1
Kind regards
M. Atkinson
<Mmm, from the excellent accounting of your system, its occupants above, I am at a loss to explain the curious twin deaths of the male Colisa chuna here... Perhaps this is/was a bizarre coincidence. Again, about the only two items that raise concern potentially are the high NO3 and your use of RO water and "salts". I would look into, correct these and go forward. Bob Fenner>

Re: Gourami Sudden Deaths 8/26/08
Hi Bob

Thanks for your initial & fast reply.
Just to answer the few points you've enquired of:
The CO capsule that monitors the PH & CO - No, the liquid is a mix of reagent & aquarium water that is kept within capsule and liquid does not enter the water.
<Ah good... some reagents are quite toxic>
The bottom of this capsule does have an opening, so it has to be placed in the tank about 10cm from the surface carefully, so there is a small risk of chemical leakage if the instructions are not followed.

And yes the mains tap water here in Hants UK is really nasty to fish untreated (heavy metals, nitrates chlorines, chloramines)
with RO water I can reduce phosphates, zero nitrates & so-on. (great for Algae problems)
The re-minineralisation salts is ("Tropic Marin" - adds the natural minerals & substances removed by the RO unit, & raises carbonate hardness)
<Ah, yes. Am familiar with this fine product>
The other is "Aqualibrium" physiological salt- Aquarium tonic, helps minimise stress on fish and can be used as a supportive measure for treating disease.
( I don't add this as well as the Tropic Marin would put the PH through the roof)
<Good>
Will also take your kind advice and Lower the NO3 to 20ppm or less with more frequent water changes but less amount of water, so as not to stress the fish.
<Also good... do see WWM re other means of controlling Nitrates>
Discussing what happened at the fish shop with my wife today, as I was elsewhere in another part of the shop while my wife asked the shop attendant to get our selections. She tells me, that the boy who caught the Gouramis for us was clumsy to say the least. It appears that when he netted the fish, instead of lowering the net into the bag to release the fish, he tapped the net from approx 10cm height to bag water surface, and when the fish didn't fall immediately from the net, he proceeded to nudge the side of the net with his fingers until the fish fell into bag....cowboys!!!!!
<Shall we name him Geo. Bush Jr. II?>
I guess that really didn't help the situation. In future we will request that another shop attendant serve us instead
<Yes, I would>
Today the other two Gouramis (1 x honey male, 1x Dwarf female - still seem OK as well as the other fish)
Will monitor and keep you informed
Regards
Mark
<Thank you for this further info. Mike. BobF>

Sick Oscar - need help ASAP please, env., reading re HLLE 8/26/08
Hello,
<Eddie>
I have had this Oscar fish for over 2 years. He lives in a 60g
<Needs more room than this>
aquarium along with 3 parrot fish, Gourami, Knifefish and a Pleco.
Ever since he developed the hole in the head disease (1.5 years ago), I've been changing 50% of the water in this tank biweekly.
<... this won't cure this>
He eats dry pellets (3 different types) and blood worms. The development of the HITH disease stopped as soon as I started changing the water on a biweekly basis. However, 4 days ago I noticed that my fish started developing another "hole" but this time it was surrounded by what looked like a bruise. Today, I saw a white film coming off the spot of the new hole (please see attached photos). I've also started feeding it with frozen dry krill 2 days ago, hoping that it might help. I have already made 2 50% water changes in the past week and have another one scheduled for tonight. Otherwise, he still eats and swims OK. There are no signs of parasites or visible bacteria nor there are signs of blood.
Please let me know what you think that it can possible be.
Any help will be greatly appreciated by both me and my Oscar fish.
Thank you,
Eddie
<See above... this world is too small... likely has "metabolite accumulation issues", e.g. nitrate poisoning... Need a larger system, and reading: http://wetwebmedia.com/hllefaqs3.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Sick Oscar - need help ASAP please 8/26/08
Thank you Bob for your prompt reply. I will certainly read the HLLE FAQ and I've been looking into getting a bigger system. Based on the pictures, do you think that I have another case of HLLE in him at the moment?
<Mmm, not able to discern... looks more like a mechanical injury/trauma to me>
This "injury" doesn't quite look like a hole in the head.
Also, the white spot he had on his back seemed to disappear after a few water changes and two days of Krill and bloodworms diet.
Right now I change 25% of the water once a day and hoping that the fish can recover on its own without an addition of any medications. (for the next week or so)
Link to pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/edikpok/SickOscar?authkey=cuFXjhQnOaQ
<Improve this animal's world and you will improve its health. Cheers, BobF>

New comer in the aquatic world... Betta and Hymenochirus comp. 8/26/08
I had a quick question about the community my girlfriend and I should build in our fish tank. It's a 10 gal. tank and we've been doing a lot of research on what kind of fish would get along with our African dwarf frog we've had for about a week now. We already have an apple snail, and other than the java moss we have for the frog, it's a pretty empty tank. We've been thinking about a beta
<Betta...>
fish but most of the websites we've visited have mixed opinions with some saying betas make great tank mates and other saying that the beta would eat or beat up the frog. Would placing a beta in the community be a good idea? Thank you.
<Should be fine with an ADF. Bob Fenner>

unwell Japanese weather loach... English and reading, as usual 8/26/08
thanks for replying about the puffer fish, i have taken them out of the tank. Our loach has bitten fins, breathing fast and laying on his side we have put him in a bowl with disease safe is there anything else we can do? Is it best to leave him in his bowl or put him back in the tank which we have added fungus and Finrot?
<... don't live in bowls...>
He is a Japanese weather loach and is about 3 yrs old. thanks
<... No data of use here: Read: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/dojofaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

BGK Problem... FW over and mis-stocking issues, no reading -08/25/08
We have a 55 gallon freshwater tank that has been set up for about three months. We have 3 discus, 4 swordtails,
<Mmmm, "like" very different water conditions...>
4 clown loaches, 1 Pleco, 6 balloon belly tetras, 6 t-bone tetras, 1 elephant nose and 1 black ghost knife.
<Not generally a good idea to mix weakly electrogenic fish species>
The BGK and elephant nose were purchased together and were the first fish introduced. The BGK was about 3" when purchased and he is about 5" now. We added the other fish gradually. We do a 25% water change weekly. We are figuring out the feeding thing, and know we've been feeding too much, because of the water levels. Before we did the water change yesterday the levels were: PH 6.8, Ammonia 0.10, Nitrite 0.10,
<These are toxic...>
Nitrate .40.
<Likely you've misplaced the decimal... forty ppm... is way too much>
Last week when we took our water sample to the fish store, we were told the water levels were fine, except the ammonia was a little high.
<Any ammonia is reason for immediate action. Debilitating to deadly poisonous>
That, also, was before the water change. All of the fish have been doing well, except for swordtails, which were dying, one each day, for no apparent reason.
<... do some reading... the "reason" is obvious.>
It looked as though they
were being picked on by other fish, because their fins looked very ragged. 8 have died. 4 remain, so we are done with swordtails for now (replaced them with the clown loaches). The BGK was doing fine until a few days ago, when I noticed that the white stripe on his head was pink. The next day it seemed even pinker, but he was still eating aggressively and chasing other fish if they came too close to his "house". Today I noticed that he has a worm-like thing hanging from his chin/throat underneath. It looks like a Tubifex worm. He isn't eating much, and is pretty much staying in his house when we feed them. However, his pink stripe is lighter, looks like it is turning back to normal color. We give the fish live Tubifex worms, frozen brine shrimp and frozen blood worms. Pretty much worms every day and alternate with the shrimp and blood worms. We sometimes give them flake food. Can you help diagnose the BGK or tell me how to help him?
Thanks so much...
Jere
<All you need to know is archived on the WWM site... Your system is dangerously over-stocked... Start reading on WWM re Nitrogenous issues: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwmaintindex.htm
the third tray down... Acting on this knowledge should save most of your livestock... Then read re each species/groups needs ("Systems")... Then we'll chat. Bob Fenner>

Re: BGK Problem 8/26/08
I guess you can tell I'm a novice, huh? After the water change, the ammonia was down to zero.
<Ah, good>
Today the BGK looks back to almost normal. The white stripe is a little off-color, but that weird worm-thing is gone
and he has resumed eating. We haven't had any fishy deaths for almost two weeks, and the only ones that died were swordtails.
<Mmm, you really need a much larger system... actually two...>
I really appreciate your answer, and I plan to keep reading your Web site. I have been all over the Internet searching sites on aquariums and fish. I found so much conflicting information, that I was at my wits end. Then I found your site, which seemed much more consistent and extremely informative. I will continue my research in your archives.
>Very good<
The fish store where we bought the fish will buy back fish as long as they are healthy. We sold them four beautiful silver dollar fish when we bought the discus, because they told us the two didn't mix. The discus are still small, so we'll probably sell back more of our fish as they grow. I am in love with this hobby and my fish. I don't want to kill any
more fish!
Thanks again for your answer. I'm impressed with your expertise.
<And I with your apparent even-mindedness. Cheers, BobF>

Blood Parrot Help – 8/25/08
Parrot Cichlid Floats to The Top
I have a blood parrot cichlid that has something wrong with it's swim bladder, it keeps floating to the top and has trouble staying at the bottom. Is there really a malformation of their swim bladder? Could this be the problem? Can it be fixed? Will it die?
< The parrot cichlid is a cross between three different cichlids. They are deformed on the outside to give them that unique body shape and also have inherited deformities on the inside too. The problem is probably an intestinal blockage. Bacteria may be feeding at the blockage and causing the intestinal gas that cannot be released. Typically I recommend Metronidazole and Nitrofuranace in a hospital tank. If the fish is still eating then food with Metronidazole in it will be very beneficial. Some aquarists also recommend Clout too. The success depends on a quick effective treatment. Delays in treatment make a complete recovery less likely.-Chuck>

Life or death situation, Platy hlth. mostly, reading 08/23/08
Hi Neale,
<Is marked "out till Tuesday", so I'm responding in his stead>
I'm sorry I keep emailing you, and in my defence I've cruised your site and also Googled and Googled for hours. I know my fish are sick- there's no question about that. But I can't figure out what they're sick with. They seem to have only one symptom and that symptom has various diseases it could go with and also different sites have different symptoms, different cures, meds. To make matters worse, only three of my fish are really sick- which made me consider water quality a factor/ stress, yet the pet store tested my water and nothing was abnormal or wrong-
<Note... for what there are tests for... Not much>
the water was soft though. I know I should keep the water slightly harder for live bearers- could this have cause my problem?
<Could be a factor, yes>
I Googled this as well and have become confused. What would you recommend I use to bring up dissolved mineral content?
<Likely a commercial product... see your LFS re>
The three fish that are desperately sick display different symptoms, or possibly stages, of the same disease- or so I believe. My one largest fish is a girl platy that is high-finned and gray; her weight and body cavity appear to be normal; she is extremely stressed after being moved to my hospital tank and I cannot decide if she is really displaying a loss of appetite or just stressed. I removed her from my main tank because, although her gills are not red, she breaths rapidly and circles the surface/ hides for long periods of time. The last one that did this died- so this is a serious disease of some sort.
The other girl that is sick is gold platy and she has red gills and looks extremely emaciated. This emaciated girl looks to be on the brink of death and I've had one platy display very similar symptoms and die. Previously I chalked up this death to unusually high ammonia levels from poor maintenance on my part. But this past problem has been long since rectified and my ammonia is all but non existent.
<Mmmm... have you read...?>
The third sick platy is a gold twin side bar boy who was recovering from a loss of body cavity fluid. Almost all my fish began to display some loss of body cavity fluid after the high ammonia levels. This problem, as I've said, has been rectified and my fish are all somewhat normal again- except three. I considered that they may be just taking a while to recover, but they seem to be deteriorating further- which makes no sense. The third sickly platy is oddly shaped because he's lost the front half of his body fluid, but not the back. He also appears to have red gills, but he is slightly translucent and I asked you before about him and you said that he was biologically engineered to be as such.
<Something very amiss here>
On top of my platy troubles are my beta troubles, for they have an extreme case of velvet/ ich (I can't decide which). I had a recent outbreak of fleas
<?!>
with my betas and then the ick sprang up. The reason I mention my betas is because I had a sorority of four and after two died, I had to split the last two up due to one being well and the other extremely sick and because it's a common rule not to keep only two girls together. So I put the well one into my platy tank, but the well one also is displaying similar signs to my three sick platies. To be honest, at certain times all my fish appear to be breathing- not rapidly, not when surfacing for air, but just randomly using their gills for minutes, hours on end, when I know they shouldn't have to. My beta especially shouldn't be breathing as hard as she is. This makes me think it's the water making my fish sick, but besides the harness level, everything is fine! I had the full test done: nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, chlorine, harness, alkalinity...!
<Very doubtful>
My only other conclusion is that one of the new platies I added had some kind of spreadable disease.
<Quite likely>
My sickly beta is in the hospital tank, due to no other viable room at the moment. She appears still sick and floating at the top of the water. I hope my other fish I put in there don't get velvet, but at this point anything is better than having contagious fish mixed in with my healthy ones; plus I don't want the ammonia levels to skyrocket if all three of them decided to die.
I know that prevention is the key. Had I known that you are supposed to quarantine fish before you put them in your tank, I would have. I also would have kept my heater in the beta tank- someone told me it was unnecessary so I took it out.
<Put this back in... and stop stressing... Re-direct your energies into reading... on WWM re these issues>
I'm losing my mind and I don't know what to do anymore. I've considered gill flukes, gill bacteria infection, certain types of dropsy, and even stomach worms. I can't treat for them all...is there a sure fire way to dismiss one or more of the disease mentioned?
<Mmm, strictly speaking, not w/o sacrificing some of the animals, using a microscope, culture...>
Do you happen to know what my fish have?
<No>
Is there something in the water I didn't test for?
<Likely so>
Is it truly the hardness making my fish sick?
<Not of, by itself, no>
there are no visible parasites so far as i can see, but not all gill flukes are visible are they?
<Not to the naked eye, no>
I had been treating my betas for about a week and then two died and the one got well and the other became extremely sick...what am i doing wrong?
<Can't discern from the data presented>
Please, please help me! I fear all 10 of my platies may die and the last two betas I have left may follow them. I need help. And I'm sorry to have bothered you. I really am.
Thank you for your time.
<Start reading here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/platydisf5.htm
and the linked files above... We need the types/categories of data presented in this correspondence to help you... Do read the same re Betta splendens... Bob Fenner>

Mystery Mollie Illness? Reading 8/24/08
Hi there! Thank you so much for taking time out of your lives to create this site for us. In my ten gallon tank
<Mmm, small... volumes are hard to keep stable>
I currently have three bronze cories, one Otocinclus, two silver mollies, two Dalmatian mollies, and a Crowntail Betta ( perhaps you'll tell me it's overcrowded but I have not had any problems with nipping or bullying.) I'm having some problems with one of my female silver mollies. Her dorsal is clamped and she has a slight pink hue on the top of her head between her eyes. She also has a dusting of tiny black spots across her body and the edge of her dorsal is black when looking at it from the top. Her gills also seem a bit more pink than usual. I thought it was fin rot, but after a round of Melafix
<... not a fan. Little practical use, and can malaffect nitrification>
and Tetracycline I didn't see any improvements. I treated the whole tank but am now considering separating her and beginning anti-parasitic treatments. I was thinking of velvet as an initial possibility, but the spots seem too dark for that. All
the other fish seem fine. All advice would be most appreciated!!
Oh, and water conditions are:
pH - 7.0
Temp - 78 F
Nitrates, Nitrites, and Ammonia are all at 0
<Good>
I also add a few teaspoons of aquarium salt and Aquarisol
<Mmm, I wouldn't use this... the copper is too toxic>
every time I change the water (about 50% every two weeks) along with the typical water conditioner. It is a lightly planted tank with gravel substrate.
Thank you so much!
<I suspect the usual trouble with mixing Mollies here... Inappropriate environment. Please read Neale's piece here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
and the linked Disease FAQs above. Bob Fenner>

zebra Danios don't look right 8/24/08
Dear Wet Web Guys:
<Coleen>
I have attached an image to show you how fat some of my zebra Danios have become, but these fish won't stay still for a photo and the lights not right. Sorry. It looks like the works of a Dutch Master.
<Hey!>
I initially thought this fish was "with eggs", but as she has remained big for months without change, I am wondering if she is less than healthy. Perhaps I have overfed her (and if so does she need a "diet"). I feed them Tetra Min flakes twice a day - only so much as they finish in 2 minutes. They don't really eat that much. (My growing female guppies in another tank can out eat them hands down on any day of the week).
<Mmmm...>
I am beginning to think it might be a more sinister problem - Is it possible that several things I have noticed are coming to suggest another problem?
<Is mostly a matter of diet here...>
Cracks in their skin: For example, I notice that larger of the six Danios I keep in this 10G tank have apparent cracks in their skin (especially underbelly).
Dark Spots: I have also just recently noticed several indistinct dark spots on the head of another fat girl. (I think they are girls, more silvery) I believe the spots are a new development for this particular fish as I have not noticed these before yesterday.
Tail ends drop down: Their tail end drops down when they pause from swimming.
Perhaps just aging? I don't think so: I wondered if my zebras might just be getting old, but I haven't had more than a year and they were all svelte when I bought them.
Tank set-up: Over the back filter which I turn off at night. Aerating with oxygen wand, no heater in tank. Central air in the house kept at 79. Aquarium planted with low-light plants and with substrate of laterite, 3mm gravel and Eco-complete and some Mopani driftwood. Using tap water treated with Tetra AquaSafe and tsp API aquarium salt per 10G with 1/3 water changes every week.
<Good practice>
Today's Quick Dip Test Results:
pH 6.2
KH 40 ppm
Cl 0 ppm
GH 75 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate <20 ppm
Thank you for any insight you can provide regarding these problems.
Coleen
<I do think that simply changing their diet will result in slimming, improved health here. I encourage you to feed frozen/defrosted once per day (the AM likely) and the Tetra the evening meal. Brine shrimp or Daphnia are my choices for the bfast meals. Bob Fenner>

Keeping fresh water puffer fish, 8/24/08
Hi, I have just brought 2 fresh water puffer fish and added them to my tank which has been set up for around four months, the set up is all fine.
<What species of puffer? http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwpuffers.htm .>
The question is this- I have noticed that our bigger fish and loaches have had their fins nipped. It has only started since we got the puffers a couple of days ago. I haven't seen them do it so maybe they do it at night?
<Perhaps, but unless you are watching the tank 24/7 it could be happening during the day as well.>
As I have seen them go up to other fish and not attack them. I was wondering if this nipping will stop after a while when they learn that the other fish are not food or will they just keep doing it till the fish get infections and die?..
<Most likely this behavior will continue.>
Would keeping the puffers fed once a day stop them from testing out the fish’s fins?
<Probably not, the behavior is most likely not due to hunger.>
Do you think I should either get them a separate tank or take them back to my fish shop?
<That is up to you.>
Thanks for reading this and replying. Great website too.
Chris
<Thanks, but please spell and grammar check next time before submitting a query, we have to correct this before it gets posted.>
<Chris>

Jack Dempsey cichlids -08/24/08
Sexing Jack Dempsey Cichlids
Hello, I have 2 Jack Dempsey cichlids and I was wondering how long does it take for them to reach a size so you can sex them? Thanks
< At about 2 inches you should start to see some differences. Males will become larger and get longer fins. Males will also have more blue metallic spangles on the body. Females tend to have lots of blue along the lower jaw line back past the chin.-Chuck>

Re: Jack Dempsey cichlids -08/24/08
Growing Jack Dempsey Fry
Thanks for your email.
If there 1 inch now how long will it take for them to grow to 2 inches?
Thanks
<Many factors affect growth rates in cichlids. First is water temperature. Fish at 82 F will grow faster than fish at 78 F will all other factors being the same. Diet makes a difference. Young fish need a diet higher in protein than older fish. Check your fish food label. You should be in the 30% to 40% range. Another factor is clean water. Water high in nitrogenous wastes will inhibit growth despite all other factors being met. Keep nitrates down as low as possible with water changes. If you keep up on your normal maintenance procedures then I think your fish should be around two inches in another 4 to 6 weeks.-Chuck>

Re: Jack Dempsey cichlids -08/25/08
Growing Jack Dempseys II
Thanks, I have Hikari cichlid gold, JMC high protein fish food and frozen brine
shrimp. My water meets all the requirements Jack Dempseys like, the temperature is
27C and I do 40% every week. Is this good? Thanks
< Everything looks good except feeding the frozen brine shrimp. Frozen brine has almost no nutritional value but it does add some fiber to the diet to keep the intestinal tract moving.-Chuck>

Help! Please! Guppy hlth., no info., or reading 8/23/08
Hey
My new fish tank which I set up about a week and a half ago has developed some sort of mucus on my guppies' bodies. Like if you look down on three of them, you can see mucus coming off and where the mucus was their fin look red. Please help! If I have to I will kill all of the guppies that are in there but it grieves me to do so.
-Sarah
<Mmm, Sarah, am hoping we can help you help your guppies, but really need data to do so... For instance, the actual physical set-up, your maintenance, water quality tests, foods/feeding, the history of your husbandry... Please read here re others similar situations, input, to get an idea of what we're looking for: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gupdisf4.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Help! Please! Guppy hlth., still not reading 8/24/08
Ummm.... Here's what I know:
Low ph: 7.4
High ph: 7.8
Ammonia: 1.0
<Deadly toxic>
Nitrate: 0
My physical setup is: a underground philter, a regular 10 gallon filter,
and a heater.
Maintenance: Just a regular algae scrub
I feed them once a day but usually a bit more than a regular feeding time
What is husbandry??
<...? Use your search tool for definitions...>
thanks!
-Sarah
<And read where you were referred to on WWM, and re ammonia... http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwammfaqs.htm
and the linked files above...
This system is currently poisonous. Bob Fenner>

Re: Help! Please! -08/24/08
ok...Ummm...what product or procedure should I use to lower the ammonia level? Oh and the water look cloudy compared to my other two tanks. Oh...another thing what is aquarium salt and what does it do? If husbandry is asking questions to people them my husbandry is you.
-Sarah
<... keep reading>

tetra question, ID 8/24/08
Hello guys! I bought some really pretty Tetra's today; Pristellas and some that I can't remember the name! I called the aquarium shop, but they were too busy to go look for me.
<?>
They look very similar in color to Pristellas, but instead of yellow, white and black on the fin, they have orange/red, white and black on the fin, and they are a little bit rounder in shape.
Very similar to a Serpae Tetra, but the same color in body to the Pristella.
Sort of like a Bleeding Heart, but without the red heart spot! Haha.....so, can you please help me identify my cute new friends?
Thanks,
Anne
<Mmm, not from this description (perhaps a photo...). Do try placing these words one at time in your search tool: Hyphessobrycon, Pristella... and select "Photos"... do you see your fish? Bob Fenner>

Re: Tetra Question -08/24/08
I have one picture, but it's not very good. I have tried to search online for two days, and can't figure out what the fish is. If all else fails, I'll go back to Dallas North and look for myself. What do you think?
Thanks again!
<... I think you should re-read the first corr. and look... it's there. B>

Hyphessobrycon bentosi?

egg bound Aethiomastacembelus elipsifer eel
Female African Eel Full Of Eggs 8/23/08
Hello. I have an Aethiomastacembelus elipsifer eel that is frequently very full of eggs. I've had her for about two years now.
I tried to get a male for her, but unfortunately the young eel I bought turned out to be another female. My problem is that my eel is egg bound. She did not want to eat a few days ago, so I put in about 2 tablespoons Epsom salts per 10 gallons into her tank, and raised the tank temperature a little over a degree so that it is now 80.8 degrees F. She became active the next day, and begged to eat, but she still looks pretty big. I have not fed her for three days because I want to give her body time to reabsorb the eggs. She normally eats frozen mysis shrimp with liquid vitamins or freeze dried Tubifex worms. I did look at some of the old WetWebMedia files, and found where it was mentioned using a bath of 1 tablespoon Epsom salt per gallon of water, but she's in a heavily rocked large tank and I'd rather not have to dismantle all the rocks to get her out. I will probably give her a light feeding today. I hope that she will be okay. My thought was, if she doesn't continue to improve or goes downhill, would it be okay to roll her mysis shrimp with some Epsom salt so that she would ingest a grain or two? She eats from my hand, so I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to do if it would be safe. Thank you. Kelly IMG_8236.JPG
< With freight being so expensive and the dollar losing its value in the world market, shipments of wild Lake Tanganyikan are becoming increasingly rare and very expensive. Not many retailers are willing to spend the time and money to bring in wild fish. Trying to find a rare African eel can be very difficult these days. In 2002 I was diving in Lake Tanganyika and we found many baby eels in the shallower areas of the lake near weed beds. The water temp there was 84 F. This makes me think that maybe the eels are coming up to the shallower areas to spawn and the elevated water temps may aid in spawning. Since you have already elevated the water temp and have observed some recovery, I would suggest trying a couple more degrees instead of adding the salt to the diet and see if things get any better.-Chuck>

Two red lines on Betta's gills... 8/23/08
Hi, I have had my Betta, Theo Philas, for about a good three months now. He's extremely active and eats very well. Lately, I have noticed that each of his gills have two red vertical lines on them. I think the scales are missing.
<Are these markings symmetrical? That is, appear the same on/with either gill?>
Not sure. His condition has not worsened though. By that I mean that he's not become lethargic or stopped eating. He still eats the same amount of food that I always give him and he even follows my fingers around until I drop the pellets in the bowl. Normal behavior. Everything seems fine except these red lines. I'm a little worried so I felt that I should ask about them. Could you tell me what they are?
Thanks,
Taylor
<As you state this animal appears in good health and the marks may be bisymmetrical, I suspect that this is a genetic matter... That is, a natural, perhaps scale-less condition on this animal that results in some part of the gill/branchiostegals showing through in these areas. Please so send along images of both sides if you can... and consider looking into breeding this fish to "fix" this trait. Bob Fenner>

20L FW... water quality testing 8/22/08
Ok so now I have another question off topic. Hope that is ok?
<Sure.>
I have a 20L freshwater tank set up. I tested it tonight for the first time, I know should
have done this already but just got around to getting the strips.
<Strips are not terribly accurate.>
Anyway my Nitrate was 0, Nitrite 0, Total Hardness was Soft (75 GH ppm), total Chlorine was 0, Total Alkalinity was high (300 KH ppm) and my PH was between the 7.8 and 8.4 colors.
<Quite a wide range.>
My Ammonia was 0. Should I be concerned about the PH and Alkalinity and if so what should I do? I have searched your site and the web and I am getting conflicting stories, some say it is good to have a high alkalinity helps stabilize the PH and others say it isn't good so I am confused.
<The Alk will give you a more stable PH, if you need to do anything really depends on what you keep or want to keep in the system. The needs will vary greatly depending on livestock. Many times it is just easier to pick your livestock based on your water conditions.>
Thanks again for your time.
<Welcome, a link with related articles and FAQs re this below, Scott V.>
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwhardness.htm

Potted plants? Attn Neale: follow-up question 8/22/08
Hello Neale, (or stand-in teammate)!
<No, it's me.>
I have just about completed the plan for my next system, based upon previous suggestions from you, and ideas that I have gleaned from many W.W.M. articles. I have a follow-up question or two, which I have diligently tried to answer for myself, by searching the W.W.M. site, but to no avail. Since it has been quite a while since I've written, I'll briefly review the planned setup - (most everything purchased already):
-120 gallon tank (48x24x24);
-Rena Filstar xp4 and (2) big Hagen AquaClear filters;
-hard water, with ph of 7.5 (just hired a plumber to arrange that);
-"white" silica sand as the substrate;
-planned temperature of 76 degrees (F);
-weekly water changes, and all other good husbandry practices;
-MUCH of the décor will be "fake" wood and plastic plants;
-trio of South American puffers;
-large school of tiger barbs or other small barbs;
<Do choose a "fast" barb rather than something dozy or shy, because the SAPs can be nippers.>
-cats on the bottom, (you recommended some that would be safe with the puffers).
<Corydoras certainly get nipped. But Synodontis nigriventris (inevitably!) avoid trouble and so do retiring Loricariids like Ancistrus and Panaque. You'd want to avoid anything that was either slow or had long fins, for example Whiptails would be a bad choice, as would Synodontis decorus or Synodontis eupterus.>
I am considering the addition of some live plants. I have little experience with this, so I did a bunch of homework. My plan is based upon information that I've learned from your (Neale's) W.W.M. article, entitled, "In Praise Of Hard Water". Below are a few sentences that I've excerpted from that article:
"However, some aquatic plants can absorb the carbonate salts and strip away the carbon from them, and use that as their carbon supply. The list of plants capable of doing this includes many that do very well in aquaria, including Ceratophyllum demersum, Cryptocoryne becketti, Echinodorus bleheri, Egeria densa, Elodea canadensis, and Vallisneria spp - all popular and easy to obtain species.
If you have hard water and don't want to be bogged down with carbon dioxide fertilisation, then these are definitely the plants for you!
Ceratophyllum demersum and most of the Vallisneria are adaptable and easy to keep.
Vallisneria spp. are perhaps the most versatile aquarium plants, and few aquarists haven't grown these plants at some point."
<Ah, yes. What's known as Biogenic Decalcification.>
Okay -- so here is my question. I plan to use silica sand as the substrate. I understand that most plants/roots will not thrive in silica sand.
<On the contrary: my plants seem to do very well in it! It packs down nicely, forming an oxygen-poor substrate that plants prefer. To be fair, I use the sand on top of a certain amount (say, an inch) of pond soil mixed with fine gravel. I put a gravel tidy between this mix and the overlying sand. I say "gravel tidy" but it's really just some plastic mesh bought from a garden centre. Said to be pond safe, and hence I've assumed aquarium safe too. This mesh stops catfish digging too deep and bringing the soil up the surface (which would be messy, rather than dangerous).>
I do NOT desire to create "layers" of different substrates, or to mix this sand with other substrates that are better for plants' roots.
<Oh.>
Based upon that, is there a way that I can fill a "basket", of sorts, with good plant substrate, then place the plants into that basket, and then "hide" that basket down in the sand?
<Absolutely. This works fine. The easiest approach is just to use those little plastic aquatic plant pots that come with rock-wool fibre. Put your plants in those, and periodically ram in fertiliser tablets. The results aren't perfect, but they're good enough for undemanding gardeners tackling fairly adaptable plant species. I will make the point that this is an expensive approach, not only in terms of start-up costs but also because you'll need to keep adding these fertilisers, likely every month. A good layer of pond soil will keep your plants happy for years without any fuss.>
If so, can you tell me how FAR I can expect Vallisneria roots to spread?
<The roots of most plants equal the spread of their leaves above the substrate. Vallisneria is no exception, and something like V. spiralis will have roots that easily run 30 cm/12" outwards from the main stem -- and that's before you factor in the daughter plants that healthy Vallisneria will produce in abundance.>
In other words, what would be the minimum size for an appropriate basket?
<Doesn't really work that way. You're going to put the new plant in a pot, yes, but it'll quickly out-grow that.>
If this idea is not a winner, is there an alternative way to accomplish this goal?
<If you want to avoid messing about with substrates, then do consider sticking with floating plants and epiphytes. There are numerous species of Anubias -- all epiphytes -- as well as Bolbitis, Java fern, and Java moss. Couple those with floating plants, and you can create a veritable jungle without any fuss or bother. Indeed, there are positive advantages: with epiphytes, you attach them to rocks and wood to create instant results, and because they're all shade tolerant, you don't need to worry about what the floating plants do. The floating plants can be left to grow wild, and in doing so will consume vast amounts of nitrate and phosphate, preventing algae problems. Floating plants are adored by most aquarium fish, which use them as hiding places, for laying eggs, and for sundry other purposes.>
Thank you for your knowledge and support. Have a great day!
John D.
<Cheers, Neale.>

Micro nutrient, Planted tk.s 8/22/08
Dear Sir,
<Hans>
I need some advice if I can use this micro nutrient. It's ingredient is as follow:
Fe=1.1%
bo=0.3
cu=0.5
<Too high>
mn=1.5
mo=0.01
zn=1.1
mg=3.4
S =5.3
<Ditto>
This micro nutrient is the best I can find locally. It is low Fe percentage compared to Plantex, and it also has a high percentage of S (sulfur).
If I can use this micro nutrient, how much can I add?
Thank you,
Hans

My Oscar, damage... hlth.
Hello...
<Ave,>
I am having a very serious problem with 1 of my Oscars... We currently have 2 Oscars, 1 albino tiger & the other Hong Kong, in a 75 gallon tank.
<OK. For a start, Astronotus are not particularly sociable. If you have two males, the dominant one is likely to be pretty nasty the other one. Since Oscars cannot be sexed outside of watching them spawning, adding two Oscars to a tank is usually a recipe for disaster.>
We have had them both around 2 yrs... 2nite when we were getting ready to feed them, we noticed than 1 of them was gushing what looked like blood out of the left gill.
<Physical damage perhaps? Could be caused by fighting, though usually damage to the jaws and/or fins will be noticed before anything more serious. A photo would *really* help here because it's difficult to know what you mean by "looked like blood". Was blood seeping out of the gill covers (the skin on the head) or from the gills themselves, through the gill openings? Any damage to the gills is serious, and potentially lethal (cf. damage to our own respiratory system). Gills can also be damaged by poor water quality, as well as certain parasites, such as Velvet.>
I tried to research to see if any one else has and this problem, but had no luck... I have fed them feeder fish in the past (many months ago), but this just recently started happening...
<Well, don't use feeder fish, EVER. There are no benefits and many risks. Oscars have been tank-bred for generations, and will eat just about anything. By nature they are omnivores, and have very much a "suck it and see" approach to life, so I'd always recommend a nice mixed diet with lots of healthy chopped shellfish (such as mussels) as well a good quality cichlid pellet (like Hikari Gold).>
If you could let me know if you have ever heard of this & how do I treat this so that my other Oscar doesn't get it...
<Very difficult to say without a photo!>
Thanks!!
Tomeika
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: My Oscar 8/22/08
Well, my Oscar died last night after I sent you the previous e-mail.
<Ah, too bad. I'm sorry.>
We tried to treat the tank with some antibiotics that we had and he tried to fight whatever was causing him to die, but it just didn't work.
<Rarely does I'm afraid. Unless you can positively ID the problem, randomly adding medications almost never works, and potentially exacerbates the problem.>
He died around 4 this morning, yes we were up all night.
<Oh!>
Thank you for responding to me and next time I have any questions, I know where to go.
<Well, sorry we weren't able to fix this. Do take care adding any other fish to this tank, because the resident Oscar will likely view other cichlids as threats. Do also review water quality, and look out for anything that might have caused physical damage, such as sharp objects as well. Good luck, Neale.>

Sick fantail, env., fin/body rot... 8/22/08
Hi, I have recently added another fan tailed goldfish to my 15.6 gallon tank.
<Too small... you can't get Goldfish in tanks smaller than 30 gallons. Well, you can try, but you'll not be able to provide them with acceptable water quality. So your solution will almost certainly involve buying a bigger tank. What made you think a 15 gallon tank was acceptable? No book will tell you that, and if you listened to "the guy in the pet store" without doing your own research first -- well, you've learned a valuable lesson.>
Everything was normal with him/her until the following morning. I found my new fish unable to control its posture and it was quite sluggish. It swam up side down and bobbled around the tank. I tested for ammonia and nitrites and everything was 0. I did several 20% water changes morning and night for the past two days and he seems to have recovered. The pet store figured that it may have been a bacterial infection or an air bubble, I also had them check the water and they said it was in normal ranges except for my ph which was 7.8 but that's how it comes from our farm well.
<The water pH is fine.>
Now the fish has a new problem, on its left side it has a white growth on it's scales and on its top fin, I'm not sure if it is bacterial, parasitic or fungal. It looks like a fuzzy growth, Im attaching a picture of the affected fish depicting the white growth. Can you identify this and recommend and medications?
<Your fish has Fungus, and possibly Finrot as well. These are both triggered by POOR WATER QUALITY, period, end of discussion. No matter what your nitrite/ammonia test kits say, if you have fish with Fungus as bad as this, the water quality simply isn't acceptable. Check the filter is working properly and adequate to the task: Goldfish need a filter rated at a turnover of 6 times the volume of the tank. So for the MINIMUM aquarium for Goldfish, 30 gallons, that means you need a filter rated at 180 gallons per hour. You will need to treat with a suitable Fungus/Finrot medication, not junk like Melafix, but something serious, such as Maracyn or eSHa 2000. This fish already has one fin in the grave and another on a banana skin -- left untreated the infection will enter the body cavity and the fish will die. Once you've treated the fish, you MUST buy a bigger tank. Failure to do so is simply setting yourself up for a constant battle with sickness. Do see here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/goldfish101art.htm
Cheers, Neale.>

Re: sick fantail 8/22/08
Ok, I know there a cheaper tanks at Wal Mart and they are larger than the ones Home hard ware. Would you think Wal Mart has good tanks and how long should I cycle the tank before adding the fish.
<Most any aquarium these days should be good enough to last many years. Plastic all-on-one tanks are popular, but they do get scratched easily so I prefer the glass ones. Shop around; here in the UK at least the best value in tanks is to buy them online. You can also buy a used tank, but do bear in mind old tanks can be leaky, especially if moved carelessly, so test the thing outdoors first and patch any leaks with (aquarium safe) silicone sealant.>
I could also transfer over the filter media from the old tank to cut down time?
<Absolutely! If the water chemistry and temperature in the new tank are the same as the old tank, you can plug the old filter right into the new tank. You can then stick your fish in there right away. As and when you have the funds/inclination, you can add a new filter, either to supplement or replace the old one. We can discuss this down the road if you want. But the main thing is to upgrade the tank so your fish can enjoy better water conditions in the long term. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: sick fantail 8/22/08
Ok, should i treat my fish in their current tank and wait for symptoms to disappear before moving the fish to the new one?
<You'll have to treat immediately either way; whether you do so in the existing tank or a new one is up to you. Makes little difference, though a bigger, healthier tank will of course improve the odds of a speedy recovery. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: sick fantail 8/23/08
Sorry to bother you again but I went a picked up some fish medication today. Its called PimaFix from API, its an anti fungal treatment derived from a African bay leaf tree i believe.
<It's made from Tea Tree oil. Anyway, it's rubbish. Very unreliable. At best it can be used as a preventative but it works far too inconsistently to have any other value.>
I did some research on it after giving the recommended dose to the tank and it said that the fungus is able to grow on the fish by attaching to damaged tissues.
<All aquaria contain fungi. They're normally beneficial, and live in the substrate and in the filter breaking down organic matter into the chemicals the filter bacteria can process. What happens is that when water quality drops, the fish's immune system weakens, and it can no long keep these normally easy to control fungi outside of its body. Physical damage provides a way in for the fungi, and the damage can be anything from cuts through to burst blood vessels in the fins (which happens under poor water quality conditions).>
It is possible that the fish created a sore for himself while in the cave decoration, he was sick while inside there and could have been rubbing on the side of the cave while resting.
<It's possible, but unlikely. Nine times out of ten, probably ninety-nine times out of a hundred, Fungus and Finrot come about from water quality issues. That's why they're considered "beginner's" diseases by experienced aquarists -- they are just so unbelievably common in immature and too-small tanks.>
Hopefully this treatment works and heals this fish up and prevents the others from getting it as well.
<The disease doesn't "spread" because the fungal spores are in the water anyway. Your job is to keep your fish in good quality water, so that their immune system prevents fungal infection. In any event, the Pimafix probably won't work. I'd like to be surprised and find that this cheap, non-toxic product was as reliable as the copper- and formalin-based medications or antibiotics such as Maracyn (the drug of choice in the US for treating Fungus and Finrot). But so far, I haven't been impressed with Pimafix or Melafix, and neither have most of the crew at WWM. Do see Bob Fenner's words of wisdom here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/homeopathfaqs.htm
>
I just noticed that after giving the medication the ailed fish is swimming around normally now, earlier he just stayed in one spot for the most part. Also the bottle recommends that I do a partial water change after the 7 day treatment but their cite recommends it every three days depending on the organic load of the tank, which instructions do you suggest I follow.
<Probably doesn't matter either way. But I wouldn't be using this product, and would heartily recommend returning and exchanging for Maracyn (in the US) or eSHa 2000 (in the UK/Europe) as you prefer.>
Its a daily dose for 7 days and can be continued if necessary.
<Whatever. Do be more critical about "homeopathic" and "herbal" remedies -- none of them are tested by vets, unlike the traditional medications that use antibiotics, copper, formalin and organic dyes like Methylene blue. There's a reason for that... these New Age medications don't work! Cheers, Neale.>

Re: sick fantail 8/26/08
Opps, I hit send last time before typing,
<Oops indeed!>
but I've noticed that after giving the herbal antifungal that the white cottony growth is shrinking, It is coming off of him quickly.
<Cool. If it works for you, so much the better. The argument that Bob and I have with this product is not that it doesn't ever work, but rather that it doesn't work reliably. If an animal's life is at stake, why take the chance?>
personally I avoid the doctor as much as possible and use herbs, I may only require an actual prescription once ever two years.
<For a healthy male between 20 and 40, the need for prescription drugs is often very low (zero). So the fact you use herbs is neither here nor there.>
I do use tee tree oil on my self and do know that it is a strong antifungal/antiseptic, I use it on my cuts and it heals them quickly.
<Lots of things are antiseptics, such as honey, garlic and onions, but if I was suffering from gangrene I wouldn't want a doctor to prescribe them! It's important to put things in perspective. Most of the sickness and physical damage you will experience needs little to no treatment, and your body will heal itself assuming you are basically healthy and getting a balanced diet. This being so, feel free to use all the garlic, tea tree oil and cranberry juice you want. They'll do no harm and may even do some slight good. The problem with "New Age" medications is when they are promoted *instead of* medications that have been clinically tested. So you need to be scientifically rigorous about this sort of thing.>
But it does seem to be working very well for the fish.
<Fab.>
I shopped around for a new tank yesterday but the largest i found was a 29 gallon and they were out of stock, I have one more possible store to try today then if not i will have to take a trip into the city
<Well, good luck with the shopping! Cheers, Neale.>

Re: sick fantail (Melafix, efficacy of) -08/27/08
Yes I agree with you, I've now noticed that the redness has disappeared and it appears that the affected area is healing, it doesn't seem to be getting worse but there the area is still slightly white.
<All sounds like steps in the right direction. Keep treating, and so long as things improve, then you're home free.>
If it was life threatening to the fish i would have gotten a drug based medication, herbal medications usually will do the same thing but are often slower to take full effect.
<I'd argue with this. What I'll concede is that herbal medications can work usefully under some circumstances, and some aquarists prefer to at least try them out first before using other, more potentially toxic, medications. I'm not one of those aquarists though!>
Yes there is a certain point where it is necessary to get a medical prescription. For example I sometimes get painful ear infections that used to last for about a month but i do have a herbal liquid that i rub on the side of my neck and in my ear and it reverses the infection within a day, but not all herbs are that strong.
<Agreed; I'm not an MD so hesitate to offer medical advice.>
Sorry this has little relation to fish topics. I know here in Canada they are attempting to pass regulations through the World Health Order or Organization that will cut off our access to herbal remedies.
<Somewhat different trends here, with at least some complimentary medicines now available on the National Health Service state healthcare programme, for example acupuncture. Provided complimentary therapies are tested and proven to provide effective support or remedies, I have no argument against them. The problem with Melafix and Pimafix is that they haven't been tested as rigourously (if at all) as traditional medications such as antibiotics, organic dyes, and formalin.>
Basically we would have to go to the doctor for garlic and the sorts which is just stupid.
<Indeed.>
A lot of people are protesting it so hopefully it doesn't pass. But thanks for your help with the fish, if it gets worse I'll head back to the pet shop and get him stronger medication.
<Sounds as if you've got it sorted. Good luck, Neale.>

Swordtails, sys., comp. 8/21/08
Hello, I am not new to keeping fish but I have a few questions about the swordtail, the HiFin Lyretail Swordtail in particular. First, I have a 5 gallon Minibow freshwater fish tank, and it has a in tank whisper filter plus a 15 watt light bulb which keeps the tank's Temp. at about 74-78 degrees, I have only one fish in the tank at the moment, it is a half-moon male Betta, and I wanted to get two swordtails, a male and a female, I was told by a good friend who keeps the swordtails that this would be fine as long as I didn't purchase anymore fish after that, is this true? And Is all of this correct Information that i have received? Also, if my male Betta has been living in this tank for a while now, and is healthy and active, couldn’t the swordtails have the same luck? Aren't they both hardy fish and aren't they both tropical fish as well? So shouldn’t they coexist together and be able to live in about the same water conditions also? Sorry for the questions, I just really need to know this from some one who knows their stuff!! Lastly, If I don't want the swordtails to breed, should I just get two females, or will the male and the female get on with their life and forget about each other? Thank you so much for your time, P.S. I did read about the girl who was keeping the swordtails in a 1.5 gallon fish tank, and I can only fit a 5 gallon fish tank in my apartment so is this okay? Thanks and have a good time, sincerely, Mason. p.s.s I haven't changed my email since I was 16, I am currently 18 so this should explain the kid part of the email address! Talk to You soon!
<Hello Mason, this is Merritt here today to answer your questions. Well, first of all a 5 gallon tank is just not big enough for swordtails, sorry but you can still keep other interesting fish in a 5 gallon. Also, just purchasing a male and a female would not be good, due to the male being aggressive to the female, it would be better to have 2 - 3 females per male. Another aspect is no, the male and female would not ignore each other, the male would pester the female to mate and then you would have fry to deal with. If you got females you would have to get more than two so a pecking order could be established. Both swordtails and Bettas are hardy fish and can easily be kept together if the tank space allows. Have a great day! Merritt A.>

Help... Fancy goldfish... beh./hlth. 8/21/08
Hi, I bought my Son two Fish (Fancy's) last week. One of them have has a long brown stringy something!!! (looks like poo) hanging from its behind, and measures roughly about 3-4cm long. Could you please let me know what it could be, and what I should do, as my Son is very worried.
Thanks Claire
<Claire, what you are seeing is a symptom of constipation. The "strings" are compacted faeces. I'm guessing you are feeding this fish Goldfish flake. Contrary to what you might imagine, this isn't a good diet for them. They need lots of green foods; please read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/gldfshmalnut.htm
Short term there's nothing to worry about, but long term constipation makes Goldfish much more prone to serious diseases and problems. Do also make sure you understand what Goldfish need to thrive. Too many people buy them without researching their needs, and consequently a miserably high proportion either die or have grim, short lives. Say "no" to bowls and small tanks, and "yes" to big tanks, green foods, and good water quality! See here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/goldfish101art.htm
Cheers, Neale.>

Gasping fishes (RMF, thoughts on this mystery?) 8/21/08
Hi Crew,
I am hoping you can offer me some suggestions because I am not sure what I should do.
<Oh?>
Monday I did a relatively large water change in the morning on my 35g planted tank. I normally keep my water changes 25-30% but exceeded this to approximately 50% because I wanted to do some deeper siphoning where there are no plants.
<In itself should do any harm, unless you carbonate hardness is so low the tank is "balanced on a knife edge" as far as coping with normal background acidification goes.>
All replacement water is treated with Prime water conditioner. The filter sponges (two AquaClears) were rinsed in tank water. I keep filter floss on the top for extra physical filtering and this was replaced. This is normal procedure for me. That afternoon the hydro went out for about 3 hours.
<The hydro? What is that? Some sort of filter?>
On Tuesday I had a swordtail gasping at the surface and generally looking unwell behaviourally but no physical symptoms that I could describe to you. He died. Then a dwarf neon began to display the same behaviour and again died quickly.
<This is a Dwarf Neon Gourami?>
Last night I noticed one of the baby platys seemed to be off with a little surface skimming and this morning dead. Now I see one of my threadfin rainbows and another young platy exhibiting the behaviour and suspect they too will soon perish.
<It sounds to me as if you added something poisonous. I have done something similar once before, by adding wood to a tank without realising it had been sprayed with insecticide. Many fish died quickly, with essentially the same symptoms you describe. By contrast the fish that didn't object to the poison came through unscathed showing little more than heavy breathing and a certain loss of appetite. Poisons can be of various types, the most common being things like paint fumes and bug sprays. But there's also the danger of bleach, detergent, and other cleaning materials being used in buckets and not completely rinsed out. Stuff can get into buckets and pipes accidentally, especially if you store them in the same place as cleaning tools or garden equipment. It's wiser to store them somewhere safe, perhaps in the cabinet itself, so they can't be accidentally contaminated.>
Normally, this quick succession of deaths would point to water quality issues and since I guessed it is always possible that I put the tank through a mini-cycle, I tested this morning and everything checks out. Nitrite and ammonia 0. Ph 8.0 and Nitrate 20 which is consistent with my tap water. The threadfins and wrestling halfbeaks were the latest additions but that was 6 weeks ago. The threadfins went through the normal 2 week quarantine the halfbeaks did not. This is because my quarantine tanks are not suitable for jumpers. That said, they were specially ordered in for me and at the LFS for 5 days. I know that these fish are treated with erythromycin on arrival. The manager was not there one day last week when I was in and I saw employees adding it to the tanks. The halfbeaks are so far thriving and growing.
<It may well be the Halfbeaks aren't fussed about whatever toxin got into the tank. Once settled in, they are certainly quite hardy fish, particularly Dermogenys spp.>
There are potentially a few other hints. Last week I added a male swordtail who I have had a year in another tank (the dead fellow from above) I added him to impregnate a female Lyretail who I have also had for some time. It was my intention to keep her next brood but she did not appear to be pregnant (approximately eight weeks after she last gave birth) although she had been exposed to males and pregnant in the past. She suddenly showed up dead but I thought the male perhaps had become overly aggressive with her and killed her.
<Would tend to agree with that analysis.>
I am sorry but other then telling you that it was last week sometime I cannot pinpoint the time line. There were no hints of illness with her. The only other potential hint is a platy who is presently in quarantine due to popeye. I recently had a male "come-of-age and he is rather aggressively chasing the other platys at times, I assumed the pop-eye was due to trauma suffered at the hands of the rogue. She has recovered well in Epson salt and isolation.
<If one eye has "popped", that's usually trauma; if both, then environmental or some systemic infection.>
Lastly, I would like to mention that this tank contains along with plants a happy school of Corydoras. I mention this because I know in any suggested treatments, these fellows need special consideration.
<Unless these are some funky wild-caught species of Corydoras, they'll likely be tolerant of whatever medication you use. I've never had problems treating Peppered or Bronze Corydoras for example with standard Ick medications. That said, the old salt/heat approach is perhaps preferable.>
I do not think that waiting this out is good idea as it seems to be continuing but I do not know what steps to take.
<The usual: daily water changes and close observation for further symptoms, at least for the next week.>
Should I add carbon to the filter?
<Not a bad idea at all. Will remove many toxins. Remove and dispose of the carbon after 1-2 weeks; it'll be saturated by then anyway, and you run the risk of the toxins leaching out in the long term.>
Should I put a UV light on it?

Will this help if it is bacterial in nature? I am on a well and we have had a lot of storms and rain, it is possible the well in contaminated (we do not drink the water).
<Ah, this is certainly something worth considering. You can get stuff like ammonia and nitrate running off fields into the water table, and these can stress/kill fish. Do check the water for ammonia before adding to the tank and see how it registers. Would tend to recommend only using potable water for aquaria, unless you're sourcing from something known to be (at least acceptably) safe, such as rainwater outside of a city. Treating inbound water with water conditioner and filtering through carbon isn't a bad idea at all.>
The family is going away for a few days at the end of the week, so I could shock the well then and have all the bleach run through before they return?
<Somehow I don't think this is biotic but abiotic.>
Any suggestions you have would be much appreciated.....
Aileen
<Cheers, Neale.> <<Mmm, the "Prime" might have gone bad... or there may have been a bunch of chloramine pulsed into the municipal water for that day... Or some sort of negative interaction with either these and some biota here... My usual advice to mix/store change water, avoid such large % change-outs. RMF>>

Re: More re: gasping fishes (RMF, thoughts on this mystery?) 8/21/08
Sorry Neale,
<Aileen,>
Hydro is electricity. It has been a stormy, wet summer in Ontario...
<Ah, I see.>
I know this could saturate the soil and increasing leaching into the water table. My nitrates in the well climbed to 40 this winter. I suspect this was due to a failed corn crop last summer. The soil was treated (herbicides/ fertilizers), but the corn crop failed. I suspect this would leave some of the stuff available to my well if there was enough water to transport it there. This well is not new, it is the old hand dug well lined with field stone and apparently highly susceptible to contamination. Anyway the nitrates are down to 20 now and remain so. I just tested the tap water for this and ammonia which is 0. I did a water change on the "big tank" Monday morning, though it was a 25% water change and inhabitants are demonstrating no ill effects. That said it is a much bigger volume of water and a much smaller water change. Would this be enough of a dilution factor?
<Bob seemed to be recommending against big water changes, which is certainly good advice if you can't be 100% sure that water chemistry/quality of the incoming water is consistent. But if the water coming in is of similar quality/chemistry to the water taken out of a pond or aquarium, you can really change as much as you want. It's fairly standard practise among freshwater aquarists to change 50% per week.><<Unfortunately, much of the mains/tapwater sources in the world have become questionable in modern times... Again, my advice to only change about 25% maximum in any given period and to pre-mix/store change-out water to avoid such issues. RMF>>
My water has plenty of carbonate hardness Neale. You had me test and retest the water, and although it does change with aeration and time, it was not enough to cause stress to the fish. This is also why as a safeguard, I always kept my water changes to about 25%.
<OK. Well, if that works, best stick with it. As Bob suggests, this will minimise variations between water changes. It sounds as if your incoming water is simply too variable to be "trusted".>
Well, since I began this return email the threadfin has died, as has a wrestling halfbeak! I had not even realized that one of the halfbeaks was sick. This is really upsetting, but I suspect you know that.
<Oh dear.>
I have done a partial water change (50% out only 25% in) with a bucket of aged water and added carbon. It is the only aged water I have on hand. My buckets are dedicated fish buckets and have been in use a year. Prior to being fish buckets they were restaurant food bucket. Though I am certainly not the only inhabitant of this household, I really do not think there is contamination by way of that route. We drank the water here until, because of the fish tanks I discovered the high nitrate level. Regular testing of potability regarding fecal coliforms had in the past revealed low levels, but shocking the well remedied that. It was literally due to the fish and WWM that we stopped drinking the water.
<OK. I'm not an expert on drinking water, so I'll cry off commenting in that direction. And I have zero experience of well water (it just isn't something that's common in the UK) so I have to be careful about commenting. But the general advice is this: the water that goes into your tank MUST be approximately the same water chemistry as what was taken out. Obviously a fish in a river isn't swimming in the same water from moment to moment, but the water flowing past the fish will have more or less the same water chemistry all the time. So in the aquarium, when you do a water change, that's your paradigm: new water, same water chemistry. If you can't guarantee that, do smaller water changes so that any fluctuations are diluted.><<Mmm, if I may, I strongly recommend looking into using a simple RO or more involved at-home water filtering system... and blending about half of this water for changes... and using the filtered water for your potable (drinking, cooking) needs. RMF>>
My gut feeling is that something is in the well or the siphon that I cannot test for. Because the 100 gal is fine, I use the same buckets for both , but I use different siphons on the tanks. How, I have no idea. I would be really interested in your thoughts on the dilution factor mentioned above.
<Proportionally smaller water changes will reduce the risk of water chemistry shock.>
However, I am going treat as if there has been contamination of some sort. I think the well water should go in for a complete analysis, but that will not be in time for these fish. I do not see an obvious date code on the Prime but I will write Seachem just in case they know something I don't. I have had this particular container about 2 months. Could bad food be a possibility?
<Bit of a long shot really.>
These guys get spectrum grow (young fish and pregnant females)
as a staple with various vegetable flakes and fresh vegetables, particularly peas. The big tank has older and larger fellows in it and get the regular spectrum and less of the vegetable based flake, although everything else is the same.
<All sounds fine.>
In regards to my other slips.. the "dwarf" is Melanotaenia praecox and the Corydorus are not funky, they are the typical but delightful juliis and sterbai.
<Right.>
"My usual advice to mix/store change water, avoid such large change-outs. RMF" Yes. I am aware of this. During this water change I was so focused on the bottom I did not think about the amount of water I was removing.
<If you keep incoming/outgoing water chemistry the same, this isn't an issue. I have done 70%, 90% water changes many times without problems. If you think about it, moving a fish from the pet store to your home aquarium is a 100% water change, and your fish survive. Sure, you might take care to acclimate them, and if doing a "big clean" I would certainly remove the fish to a 5 gallon bucket of old water, and then acclimate them to the new water over 30 minutes by swapping out some of that old water with new water. Maybe an approach you might take next time around.>
Even then I could have replaced it and should have I guess. I siphon this tank into the buckets so if I suck up a platy baby I can put it back. I have developed a really good relationship with the manager of a local store and she takes any excess young I have for credit. It also means that now when I ask a question she cannot answer, she tells me she doesn't know instead of just making one up and of course now I can answer some of hers. As far as the storage, the sheer volume of water I need every week has complicated this as well as complacently: I have been getting away with it...until now.
<It sounds like small but frequent water changes, perhaps coupled with nitrate-management approaches (e.g., fast-growing floating plants) would be the way forward. Restrict feeding and don't overstock, and then you may find weekly 20-25% water changes will be acceptable.>
I do want to put an old and therefore well rinsed rain barrel in the basement. They are of sufficient volume and come complete with a lid and tap. . I have been a little concerned about the plastic and leaching and had not yet checked this out. I am of course now very sorry that I had not moved on this sooner
Thanks again for your help gentleman. I do hope I can stop this.
<So do we.>
Aileen
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: A little more Re: More re: gasping fishes (RMF, thoughts on this mystery?) 8/22/08
Hi,
Just a quick note to let you know that it seems to have abated. I did lose a couple of fish last night still, but there are no new casualties today and nobody is indicating any stress. Surprisingly the species that escaped totally unscathed was the Corydoras. I wish I knew what I had done or more specifically what was introduced into the tank to cause this, but I have yet to figure it out exactly what or when it was introduced. However, I shall carry on and follow your recommendations and hopefully this will not happen again. Not pleasant at all.....
Thanks again for your help with stopping this potential wipe out
Aileen
<Hi Aileen. Thanks for the update. Not sure I was able to offer much constructive analysis, but it sounds as if you have some idea of what *not* to do in future, so that the chances of this happening again will be reduced. Good luck, Neale.>