wandj

Trust me, it was not your fishkeeping skills. And it is true that these fish looked ok when they first came in, and they just seem to progressively deteriorate as time goes by...no matter whose tank they are in.

Try CLR. I use it to de-calcify air stones, etc. Just make sure to rinse it all away.

What size of tank are the said-affected fish in? Do you have more info?

I'll add a little story. My Discus tank had some fussy fish. My Discus would only eat frozen food. I started mixing in the small Cichlid pellets...mostly for the benefit of my German Blue Rams. To my big surprise, one of the adult wild Tefe Greens went after it like crazy. And the 2 other smaller Discus like it too. I thought I'd never get those Discus off frozen. Pain in the butt to always feed frozen. But I see the most difference in my German Blue Rams. I swear they are showing better coloration. And they really like the food too...enough they splash partly out of the water when I drop it in. Oh, and I have only been feeding the NLS for about a week. I might have to look into getting a larger size of pellets. What does everyone think of the flake version?

I found a gorgeous pic on the internet by "Tommy". Very nice. I couldn't get the pic here because it must be protected somehow. Would not go to Photobucket.

I just came back from Big Als. I saw the 4 remaining Blue JD's that I am sure that were from the same batch as mine. They are the same size as mine. And they look WORSE than mine. If anyone has been in Big Als during the last 4 months, you will have seen these. The pec fins are practically gone...just like mine. I don't know why....they are prone to fin rot there? AND...they have that weird white/creamy spot in the centre of their eyes...just like mine. See, I told you it wasn't my husbandry! I did happen to grab that beautiful adult Red Turquoise Discus that was in the big tank with the Heckels and wild Greens. The info I got was that it was in one of their show tanks. Yes, I remember looking at that tank long and hard. (Keep in mind I only go to BA's about once every 3 months or so) They always had 2 in there that had Hole in the Head and would not heal. And there were some in there that were completely normal. I got one of those. He is almost perfect. One pec fin a touch shorter than the other but that is just damage I think. No signs of pitting at all. He is gorgeous! I'm acclimatizing him/her right now. Sorry, didn't mean to change the subject. I am sure there are some HEALTHY Blue JD's out there.....somewhere!

Gill flukes? Anything is possible. Though gill flukes usually only happen with wild caught. But it is possible that they have been housed with wild-caught fish and contracted it. Keep up the water changes until you figure this out. Maybe use something gentle while you figure this out....like a touch of salt (Platies are supposed to like salt) and Melafix. Take the Betta out. He/she will be fine in a bowl while you look after the Platies. (Just make sure to give the Betta water changes every couple of day if it is a small container and keep it in a warm place of the house.

Are you thinking of using the kind of oyster shell that is given to chickens? I don't know about the Hg question, but I would hope they wouldn't be feeding chickens something dangerous as it would wind up in us!

Well, as most of you know, I just got my Rubys. I plan to breed them once they are settled down in their new home. I live in Drayton Valley, 1.5 hours SW of Edmonton.

Well, it can't be a bacterial bloom then. Sounds like you're having the same problem as the other guy with the "floaties". I've never seen this before so I don't know how you can get rid of it, if you say the filters aren't removing it.

Maybe when you moved it got the bio filter upset? Sometimes a bacterial bloom happens in "new tanks". Perhaps it's just a bloom. Is it a milky color? If it turns out to be the case....water changes just to clear it up. But it should be harmless.

You have floaties? This stuff is actually floating right on the top? Is it oily? As far as I know, the only way to get rid of stuff floating on top of the surface tension is to skim it. I do that 2 ways. In the fishroom, I fill my tanks till it reached the drain and down it goes. Most ppl are not set up like me. But I have a tank that I use the Fluval skimmer on and it does a fine job. You have to make sure it is set right. I'm not sure what all you are having trouble with, but if it is "oily", then use a few sheets of paper towel and lay it on top, pull it across and off. I wonder what these "floaties" are? It seems unusual. And I'm not sure what kind of skimmer you tried using, but I wouldn't block it up with a sponge on top. Got more detailed info?

If you click the link, it shows the same gravel I am going to use for my big tank, but it is not the white/ivory gravel I just put in the Peacock tank. The white gravel is a bit smaller. It is Industrial Quartz from Sil Industries. 100 lb bag with blue patch. Has "2095" on the bag like a model number. "4.0 surface profile". "1.00 effective size in filtration" I really like it! I didn't even rinse it and it is clean. (There were a couple of dead grass stems in it, but they floated anyway and just went down my drain at the back of the tank when I topped up the tank. BTW, Ick is pretty much gone already.

opps..wrong post

Oh yes, for those of you wondering about this sand/gravel from Sil Industries NW of Edmonton, it is AWESOME! Because it was an empty tank, I didn't worry about it bothering any fish. I was going to wash it first, but saw that there was no dust. So I put it directly into my tank. I added about 2-3 inches. There was a very slight milky haze, but it was completely gone when I checked the tank the next morning. And if I stir the sand around, nothing comes up. So I think this stuff rules! (It's a silica sand) And it was so cheap! I'd like to thank the people on the "sand thread" for telling me about this product and I highly recommend it to anyone. I have the darker gravel for the big tank. This tank got the whitish kind.

Oh, that's ok. I turned the drip off anyway so that I knew how much meds they were getting. The beau picked up some Jungle Ick Guard for me and I have to treat every 24 hrs. Once they are done, I'll give them another water change. They are doing quite well even though they have a little Ick. Since I started with the salt and temp, they have not developed any more spots. So the parasite is in abeyance right now. I have already prepped their new home. Waste of time taking pics as it will be a long time before I can post them, but I have 3 fake stumps, that gravel I mentioned before, 2 fake vertical rocks, a couple of levels of tile, one fake pc of driftwood, one lg sponge filter and a Rena XP2 or XP3, can't remember right now. One long air stone.

I am on well water. I need to ask, why would it be harmful to give them 100% a day? (Wouldn't they be experiencing a river-effect?) All toxins would be zero and the drip is so slow yet constant that there are no pH swings, it's temp is not a factor, etc. Please tell me what reasons there are to not do this. I only added salt today due to the Ick. My water does run through an earth-aggregate filter just to remove sediment from my well. That's all there is. In case you don't want to fish through past threads, my water parameters: pH 8.5-8.7 when aged (oxygenated) GH 220ppm or 12 grains KH 310 ppm Temp at 82 right now because if Ick The parameters below were tested by a pro when I moved into this house; Iron "safe" Copper "safe" Nitrate "safe" Nitrite "safe" If I were to test for NH3+ or N02 or N03, they would be very low or zero. (Yes, it is possible to have ZERO results when you have a semi-automatic water changing fish-room!)

Oh oh! I just checked in on them and they are all developing Ick. I haven't had Ick in a long time so will need to get some proper meds tomorrow. (My favourite is "RiddIck" but I can't get it in this town so will have to use something else). Raised temp to 82 and added one tbsp of salt per 5 gal. I'm not surprised considering how much they've travelled around in the last couple of days. Good thing they are in their Q tanks. One thing, they are on tanks with a continuous "drip" of fresh water. They are probably getting about 100% water changer per day. I'll have to either shut it off while I treat or make sure to keep replenishing the meds. Will worry about that tomorrow.

Here is the small male. I think he is only about 3.5 inches. I think he has very good color, not any worse than the big guys. He was swimming around so much it was hard to get a pic. Of course, the second pic has a mirror image. He is on the left, image is on the right. You can see the calcium deposits from my hard water on the Fluval. BTW, I used a 1993 Canon EOS Rebel film camera and a 50mm macro lens. And yes, I admit I need practice as I see some of the pics did not turn out very good. Ok, so there they are. Fire away with any comments you might have. Be honest because I need to know how to improve what I have and I need your input to best care for these beauties. And...are they red enough?

This is the other large male. I think he has more red. He was a bit camera shy, so I had to use a tank divider to keep him out in the open.

This is about the largest male. He is quite friendly. He does not hide when I come in the room to stare at him....the other males do hide from me. I think the red is a bit washed out on him. First pic is in the bag, and second is in the tank.

Ok, these fish went from their home tank, to Riverfront, to my LFS tank, to my tank all within a couple of days. So the first pic you will see is the fish still in the shipping bag in my tank(s), and the second is a pic of the fish about a day later. The first set here is of the girls. You will see how washed out the females are here, and the second pic is one of them after a day. Notice the mark on her side? They are all the same color and size. They all have the same body composition as well...a bit skinny and fins a little rough.

Today sometime, I will have my pics developed. Stay tuned!

Ok, I just called Riverfront. I asked Wayne if he had any info on these fish. This is what he told me: They are from a "local breeder". They still have some growing to do. They will color up more as they mature. (And no, I did not ask him how much he paid) There, so if anyone knows any breeders around Calgary, it is possible I have some of his/her stock. Oh, I love a mystery!

Unless the wonderful internet has lied to me, (that's impossible!), Ruby Reds are "line bred". Their line-bred origin is "Aulonocara sp. Stuartgranti Chipoka". The fish is line bred back to get more and more red. They were later called Aulonocara "Rubescens", which was renamed "Ruby Red" to make it sound more American over German. Ya, I missed some small details, but that's the gist of it. So these fish are not wild caught anyway. You can all jump in here if I am mistaken because I am a big African Newbie still. Wow, there have been a few posts posted since the one I saw from dunl. I'd better type faster. Just a comment about price. If I did way over pay, there's nothing I can do about it and honestly, it is shrinking my bubble of excitement over these fish. I am the type of "shopper" that if I want something bad enough, like the Jurassic Park old man said, "spare no expense". I wanted these fish to try, and that is why I didn't even ask their price. Somehow, I knew they would be much higher than the LFS $11.88 price on their regular Red Peacocks. So I am a little disheartened to feel like I got a little soaked, but I am going to focus on getting the females in good shape and conditioned and hopefully the males will turn out to be great quality. (Damn, wish I had a digi cam) This was a Christmas present to myself. :thumbs: Thank you everyone and please don't hesitate to give me some advice. I want these fish to get the best care, and maybe some day some of their fry can be swimming in your tanks.