Terrie Lee

Those are some really cool fish. They sure have a lot of babies!

This did happen to me once. It it did stop the filter now I make sure to pull my hair back when playing in my tanks.

The little ones don't ever get sucked up in mine. Of course I use a tiny siphon that was given to me by a friend. The little ones always get away from it.

Perhaps soak the driftwood in salt water?

They are so pretty they look like jems!

Flushing is the meanest way to dispose of fish. They slowly suffocate in the oxygen-deprived environment of the pipes. The best way is to get some clove oil and overdose the fish on it. I have used the freezing method but I was just reading this: Cut and pasted from: http://www.goldfishinfo.com/ailment1.htm#humane Humane Disposal of a fish- Sometimes although we have given our fish the best possible care, they become ill with something we cannot treat. At this time it is in the fish's best interest to dispose of it. It is the least distressing for your pet. Traditional methods were to chop its head off. Now days some are suggesting placing your fish in a bag of water (adding some ice cubes) and putting it in the freezer. Since they are cold blooded animals they lose heat and they slip into unconsciousness and lose sensation. However, more reports are surfacing that states freezing the animals is not the best choice. SEE BELOW: "I received this email from Lisa at FRIESIAN@prodigy.net Hi! I like your web page. Just a quick note on humane euthanasia... The freezer method is OK, but I was informed of a better method by a veterinarian who specializes in fish. I am a third year vet student at U of Pennsylvania and unfortunately I have had some cause to use this method, so I know that it works and it works well. Eugenol is a compound that is used to anesthetize fish; it is better known as clove oil and can be purchased in a pharmacy. It needs to be dissolved in vodka before you add it to the water the fish is in. The proper dose is 1 cc of eugenol + 9 ccs vodka to one gallon of water. When I had to euthanize my rather large oranda I used 2 ccs of eugenol + 18 ccs of vodka added to the 2 gallons of water my fish was in; he just went to sleep very quietly and peacefully. The process takes about 10 minutes. Please post this if you think it could be of help to other goldfish owners; I think its better and certainly quicker than the freezer. Thanks!! Lisa back to top The following Email was received by Bridey Maxwell from the Salk Institue for Biological Studies I read your humane disposal of fish section. When cold blooded animals become chilled they cannot move so their death appears peaceful but there is some evidence (I cannot remember where I read this as it was 7 yrs ago when I was researching this subject in regards to humanely killing frogs). However, the animal can feel the pain of ice crystals forming in the body while it freezes. The eugenol method as written above is far more humane since I believe it is an overdose of anesthetic which stops nerve function thus eliminating pain. We switched from freezing to using an overdose of an anesthetic (the active ingredient in Anbesol) for frog euthanasia. The below information is from BuddyHolly Preferred Method: Clove Oil and Tank Water Method Buy pure clove oil. You can get it at a health food store for under $10 for a ½ ounce bottle. Put the fish in a medium sized mixing bowl in his own water from his tank. In a small jar or something with a lid (I use a cleaned out jelly jar) mix the clove oil with tank water. Put the lid on and shake it like crazy over and over until the liquid in it is white. Then pour a little into the mixing bowl with the fish. Swirl it with your hand. The fish might fight it just a little bit and then slow down. Then pour a little more in and swirl again. He should just go to sleep and appear dead. If he doesn't, try a little more of the clove solution, always shaking very well before an addition to the bowl. When he goes to sleep, leave him in the solution for a good 10 minutes and then put him in a small cup or zip-lock baggie and put him in the freezer. Pain free death. Very humane. We should all go so easily. Clove Oil and Vodka DON'T USE!!!! The clove oil and vodka method is often sited as a humane method of fish euthanasia. Clove oil (eugenol) is used as an anesthetic in fish for surgery. The vodka is used to disperse the clove oil in the water. The clove oil/vodka mixture is placed in water and then the fish is added and supposedly dies peacefully. This doesn't work! Use the clove oil and tank water method described above. "

Yes they are. I had a female that got crushed by a sponge filter. It took a week for her boyfriend to come out of hiding and another 4 days after that for him to start colouring up again. Which reminds me I need to go to nature's Corner Store to get him a new girlfriend.

Shellies! I love them!

They look like pretty flowers.

Pretty! I am so jealous!

Prime has been recommended to me by several seasoned aquarists to remove ammonia. It only works for 24 hours though so if you are using it to control excess ammonia you need to dose every day. Prime has to deal with ammonia, because it deals with chloramine which breaks down into ammonia. Prime rocks.

That I am Sue. Also there is a very large very dominant male sword already in there and the articles say he should retard the growth of young males. Yet whenever I pop some "female" fish I bought somewhere else in there within a month they become males. This throws off my male to female ratios and I have to go buy more fish. Th only thing I can think of is that my swordtail tank is slightly warmer than my other tanks. I can't seem to get it below 80 F. Where my other tanks are usually 76-78F.

Pretty colours.

That was very cool. Go claw!

Thanks for the advice Tanker. I was planning on doing the water change the day I was leaving. That will be changing!

I am going away for 5 days. Will my fish be okay? I have 60g with 20-30 swordtails. (all babies are 3 months old or older) 1 gold nugget pleco, 5 Synodontis petricola catfish and one lonely male blue ram. 29g with 10 Herotilapia multispinosa and two Shell dwellers. 1 largish pleco (Not common I forget what kind) 1 mini pleco Henry sold me (also forget what kind) 20g with 8 Limia nigrofasciatus, 5 corycats 7g with 25 cherry shrimp and several hundred teeeny tiny baby snails and 2 adult snails. I leave early on the 18th so I can feed them before I leave. I will be back late on the 22 so I can feed them when I get home. They will be actually without food for only 3 days.

Condolences on your loss.

How are the babies doing? Are they eating their worms?

Very cool clip. I had read that the catfish do that. Neat thing to watch. I just bought some of those catfish today!

I stare into my 5g tank often because it sits on my desk. I keep finding strange critters in there. Anyone want to help me figure out what they are? 1. There is a very very tiny white dot-like thing that I occasionally see making tiny circles on the glass. It kinda looks like a very tiny daphnia that is stuck to the glass. If I look very closely I can see tiny legs protruding from the top of the circle. 2. There was a short worm-like creature I just took out of there. It kinda looks like a very small slug or an earthworm. It was crawling along the glass like a snail without a shell. When I reached in to capture it, it swam away like a snake. All I have in this tank is a bunch of cherry shrimp and some java moss. The filter is a sponge filter.

As a neophyte, I would like you to ask some simple questions and see if the staff can answer them. For example "All of my fish have clamped fins and are hanging out near the filter intake. Why do they keep dying?" or "My fish look like they have been sprinkled with salt, is that a problem?" Feel free to laugh at the questions, but they are ones that I asked during my first months of fishkeeping. A LFS (That I will not name) told me bettas love being in those tiny cups that are too small for them to turn around in! I stopped shopping there. Edited because I cannot type.

Congratulations!

Thank you for the progressive photos. I don't have the room for discus right now. I love watching yours grow up! Great pics!

Nature's Corner Store here in Edmonton sells a NLS formula that has a lot of garlic in it. It has saved many a fish of mine. Apparently the garlic will sometimes help stimulate the appetite. It's called Spectrum Thera + A.

So pretty! My occelatus are my favorite fish. (don't tell the rams) Great pictures! Hope the couple in the romantic pic are making some babies for you!