Shai

Crappy news to find out your tanks aren't the sizes you thought they were... If you want to be sure yourself on all your tanks, check out this calculator: http://animal-world.com/encyclo/information/calculate.htm Hope you get it all figured out!

If you're going to be gone for five days or fewer, don't bother with a sitter. Do a large feeding and a large water change before you go, and the fish will be fine on their own. For more than five days... Still do a large water change before you go. Unless you're going for three weeks or more, you shouldn't need to have your sitter do a water change for you (missing one water change is not going to harm your fish unless your tanks get really filthy really quickly). Use pill boxes or film cannisters and measure out the food that should be fed. Label the film cannisters with the appropriate day if you don't feed every day. Then, hide the rest of the fish food so the sitter cannot decide to overfeed. Get timers to control the lights, so the sitter doesn't have to worry about turning them on/off. There shouldn't be anything else for the sitter to do except visually inspect the tank for leaks.

Yes, I'm aware I needed to increase my stock. These pandas came from my 10g so I did not originally have room to keep that many. They were happy in the 10g but once I put them into the 55g things went downhill before I had the opportunity to get additional fish. Pandas by reputation are sensitive cories though, moreso than other types, and technically speaking they prefer softer water than what we have in Calgary so perhaps this was inevitable. I've been doing some reading and think I might try bronze cories...they can grow to 7cm though (whereas pandas average 5cm), so I think I would reduce the numbers in my stocking plan from 7 to 5 and see how it goes. If I feel I need to add a couple of more then I'll look into getting that cannister filter too. Peppered cories get to 8cm so I think bronze might be a better choice considering the other fish that will be in the tank. Otherwise, I suppose I could also try bandit cories, they look almost identical to pandas... If my neons all end up with NTD (hope they don't...) I'm going to get glowlights instead. Revised stocking plan: 1 betta 2 rams 12 neon tetras/glowlights 12 harlequin rasboras 8 dwarf rainbowfish 5 bronze/panda cories 3 otocinclus 6 shrimp Current stock is in my sig. Here's hoping nothing else goes wrong...

: ( That's too bad I didn't post in time... Instead of using garbage cans, if you have room in your existing filters, you can stuff the (cleaned) filter media from the old tank into them to uptake bacteria that way. At the very least, you can do this with the sponge, even if you have to cut it up to fit it into two or more filters. You can temporarily remove something like a carbon insert to help make room. This will be a lot faster than cycling a brand-new "tank" (garbage can). You can still put a cup or so (or more, however much you like) of gravel from the old tank in one of your other tanks (in a nylon or mesh bag)--new bacteria will still cultivate in it if you allow some of the mulm from the cycled tank to get inside. All in all, you'll still need a few weeks at least to do this, but compare that to upwards of at least a month or two to cycle a brand-new 150g... If this tank is planted, you can also Silent Cycle it, which would really cut down on the time needed if you also have your filter media and some gravel partially seeded--you could probably get away with adding a few fish within a week after planting once the filter is seeded, rather than the two weeks recommended in the article, and can thereafter reintroduce the remainder of your stock over the next few weeks. I would gladly help out if I could, but I don't have the physical means (I have scoliosis, no carrying of large, heavy, awkward objects for me) nor the transportation means (I drive a Saturn) to help get the new tank. I hope you get this worked out!

Yeah, I did that awhile back, no takers. Alas, Delta, my remaining panda cory, died on December 12. He didn't show any outward signs of disease like Dash did, so I suppose it's possible he died from the stress of being alone, but, when I checked the rest of the fish to see if anyone else had died or was looking ill, I noticed one of the neons showing signs of NTD. I removed that tetra right away and performed a 25% water change. The remaining fish appear to be fine but I wonder if it's too late. I've read that NTD can jump species so I wonder if both Dash and Delta were the first victims even though none of the neons showed any signs until now. I'll have to keep an eye on them. Either way, when I can eventually start working on stocking again, I probably won't buy more pandas, but will opt for a different (hardier by reputation) cory instead (such as peppered, but I'll have to research). This experience with the twins was a little too disheartening. I'm starting to think my 55g is cursed... : ( Water parameters have all tested consistently fine, so I'm hoping this was just a large bout of bad luck that is over now. Well, the tannins from the driftwood are clearing out and all of my plants continue to sprout new leaves, so at least I have that going for me. Still have yet to find any Brazilian micro sword anywhere...

Karen, if it looks like you're going to need more time to get things straightened out, I would suggest putting the filter media from the old tank in a pair of nylons or a mesh bag and hanging it in one of your other tanks to keep the bacteria alive.

I just recently had an ich outbreak in my planted 10g. At first I tried meds combined with increased temperature and unfortunately, lost all my fish (six cherry barbs) except a betta because it didn't work. The ich seemed to respond in favor of the meds instead of being killed by it. : ( The infestation was really, really bad until I stopped the meds. I saved my betta by treating him with a series of salt baths while still keeping the temperature high (30C). I also took the betta out of the tank for 10 days while at that temperature so that the free-swimming tomites would not be able to find any hosts. Some plants don't react well to salt so you might want to remove them if you're going to dose salt in the tank itself.

I stand corrected then. : ) I tend to think there's no harm in supplying info if it's available, because you can't always tell about the other person and also don't know if someone else will have the nerve to pipe up...just in case. Better safe than sorry, right? I've seen too many posts on other boards that begin with "If I'd only known..." Chances are, somebody else probably did know but didn't say anything at an opportune moment for fear of offending that person, because they ASSuMEd that person did know. I hope George gets better. : )

Probably because asking people on the internet to endure 6 months for a contest is a ridiculously long time. Start a contest every quarter, but leave it open for entries for only the first month of the quarter. At the end of the month, close the entries and open the voting. Voting can be open for a couple of weeks or more, whatever sounds good, but probably not longer than four weeks. The results get announced after voting ends. Announce the topic of the the next contest that will start at the beginning of the next quarter. Whatever time is left inbetween is "off" or "down" time where people can work on their tanks or otherwise consider how or if they can enter as well as allow time to get that "perfect" pic.

Not that I want to encourage the demise of said fish or otherwise discourage you, but you might want to do some checking on what you bought in case it dies and you consider getting another one. Are you certain it's Phractocephalus hemioliopterus? If so, this fish is a predator that grows to 100cm (and bigger in the wild) and requires a tank at least 13.5 feet long minimum (about 200 gallons) for adequate swimming room. No respectable LFS should be selling this fish to the general public. This fish is difficult to care for and should only be in the hands of very experienced fishkeepers who have adequate resources to house it. In the long run this fish is probably not even really suitable for those people either and should really only be on display in public aquariums. Are you prepared to keep this fish? They also live for 15 or more years. Articles to read: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_phracto.php http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/p_hemioliopterus.htm http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/redtcat.htm You can Google the scientific name for more info. Based on this, I'd surmise poor George is not only depressed because he isn't able to hunt, but the tank is probably too small too. If the LFS you got him from has more, I'd seriously think about giving them some information to encourage them to not sell them.

I just had ich wipe out all the fish in my 10g except the betta (heat + meds didn't work, I'm really bitter). I saved the betta by using a salt bath. Considering this experience, I probably won't ever try meds again if I have to treat ich. I'll completely go with heat + salt baths instead. Salt can be damaging to plants, so if you have a planted tank, adding salt to the tank itself might not be a good idea. I also agree with those who say that catfish don't react well to salt, just like scaleless fish. Either way, be careful.

Wow, good reasons. (Sounds like some guys need to find girls like me who like aquariums!) Thanks for sharing all that info, I can definitely see now why they'd be useful for some people. : )

Ta da! So far I still haven't been able to find any Brazilian micro sword, which I want to put on the right side. Other than that I'm going to leave the tank alone for a while to let everything settle in and fill out. The amazon swords are sprouting new leaves already and the anubiases are also starting to show new growth. The java ferns are reproducing like crazy too, I don't know what I'm going to do with them all. No new additions fish-wise, it's still way too cold outside (-40C with the windchill!). But soon!

Well, depending on the number of people visiting the board at any given time, a monthly contest may be too often. Perhaps you could host the contest on a quarterly basis? I also agree with Sam, themes would be a good idea too. This way, the guy with the little 10g who still did a great job won't feel put off if the guy with the 120g who also did a great job beats him out because the 120g is bigger and "more impressive" due to size. Another board I visit has themed contests...the latest one was about how the tank fits in with the home decor. You could do best small tank, best large tank, best planted, best non-planted, best community, best species, best biotope...there are lots of possibilities.

Agreed. In the meantime you should be priming the AC70 by running it on another established tank or by putting its sponge in a filter that is running on an established tank so that it uptakes bacteria for itself. Once this is done you can run both filters on the 55g for a couple of weeks to make sure the bacteria have established well.

Since joining this board I have seen many mentions of "fish rooms". What's the purpose of a fish room? If I understand correctly, it's where all the tanks someone owns are put, correct? Are people who do this uninterested in using their tanks for decorative purposes in other rooms of their homes, like the living room, etc, or does a fish room become a necessity if you have a lot of tanks? I guess in my mind I don't see why someone would want to put their aquariums in a room where people might not necessarily go to spend time (as compared to the living room or a den or the like), which might sort of defeat the purpose of setting up an aquarium. Unless people put furniture in their fish rooms, like recliners or a sofa or something? Or is the room just wall to wall tanks? Just curious, thanks!

Thanks Sam! I'll keep that in mind for when I'm going to be adding more fish. : ) Well, nobody else appears to be sick, thankfully! Delta, the other panda, has been active and eating, so I'm hoping he continues to stay that way. I know I need to get him some companions soon, but with the weather, I'm concerned about being able to keep the water in the baggie from shifting in temperature. Pandas are expensive and I don't want to buy more just to give them the chills and subsequently ich... I still have the water level lowered for increased aeration, as I still have the temperature up, but I think tomorrow after I do my water change I will fill the tank up all the way and bring the temperature back down. This is what it looks like now: I'm going to get another piece of driftwood for the left side of the tank and I'm thinking about the same for the right side (I'll take the castle out and replant the java fern). I'm going to try to get some pieces that are tall so as to help break up the current and give the betta some places to rest. I'll probably have to rearrange the current aquascaping a bit. If I can get some Brazilian micro sword, that would be great too. Also still thinking about a bubble wand. Plus, I'm going to pick up a background, I'm tired of seeing my wallpaper through the tank. ^^

No salt. I didn't put anything in this tank.

I agree with Tony, your fish should all be dead, but since they aren't, the test is probably off or wrong. I use Prime to condition my water and sometimes get a false positive. Prime is designed (according to the label) to "remove" ammonia the same way it removes chlorine and chloramine. It also detoxifies nitrites and nitrates, so if you aren't using it now, consider switching.

Thanks for the advice, AriahJade. I live in Calgary though, so I'll have to see what my LFS has available. I really don't want to lose the other panda, nor any other fish! Maybe it's silly, but I feel awful that Dash died. I've been trying so hard to keep my aquariums clean, keep up with proper maintenance, provide balanced diet, everything. I've done tons of research over the last year since I got back into fishkeeping to avoid exactly this kind of thing happening. This last week has been awful though, I sucked up one of my bettas into a gravel vac by accident (fish is okay, thankfully), then one of my neons got beaten up by the other neons, next came the ich outbreak in my 10g, followed by ich on my betta in the 55g, and now this. : ( I guess it's just bad luck and illnesses can still happen no matter how well you try to do things the right way...but it still sucks. : (

;_; He died just a few minutes ago. RIP Dash.

;_; He just died. I'm wondering what I should do now--should I still treat the tank with something, to prevent the other fish from catching what he had or otherwise becoming sick?

This panda (his name is Dash) started off about a week ago simply being listless but was still eating, so I wasn't too concerned, just thought he might be depressed after being moved into my 55g. I was planning on getting more pandas to complete the school, but then ended up having to put this off to treat the tank for ich, as another fish showed a single dot. Dash has not shown any signs of ich on his body, but since I can't look into his gills, he could possibly have it as well. There were no other signs of illness until this morning, when I woke up to find he looks like this: Dash is also breathing heavily. While trying to take these pictures he did swim around a bit, possibly in response to my face and the camera pressed up against the glass. Swimming motions looked fine, except that his right fin didn't move. Ammonia and nitrite are reading zero. His tankmates are in my signature. Everyone else looks healthy; the tetras have not shown any signs of ich and the parasite has since fallen off the betta. I'm still treating for it otherwise. The other panda has remained active. So, wondering what to do now. First time dealing with sick fish. I've already read up on treating ich so no help needed for that, I just don't know what to do with the panda. I'm not sure if this is Columnaris (bacterial) or just fungus. Should I remove Dash from the tank to treat him, or leave him in there and treat the whole tank? What should I treat with, a broad-spectrum antibiotic or a fungus med?

It might be a moot point where Dash is concerned... Today when I got up and checked on him, his right fin is all covered in fungus and the area of his body where the fin attaches to it is red and irritated-looking. He's breathing heavily too. I'll make a post in the Emergencies forum since I've never had a fish get sick like this before either. : (

Rats. The coloring would be a nice addition to the aquarium. Oh well! Thanks!