duh duh duh

I really enjoy bettas. I have had great success with them in my community tanks (except one who got beat up badly by guppies...). In any event, the one I had for about 2 years died and I replaced him with a really funky pinky white looking one - real impressive fish. However, this new Betta is stupid. A mimbo if you will - great looks, small brain. He knows that the NLS pellets are the food. I have seen him eat them from both the top and the bottom of the tank. However, when I feed the tank, he is too stupid to actually go and get it, while the velociraptor-like neons and rasboras eat so much I think they are going to burst. I have to way overfeed the tank, until every other fish is completely saturated, to get the stupid Betta to actually go and eat. Now he is starting to look skinny. No one is picking on him. Outside of a albino bristlenose, he is the largest fish in the tank, lots of plants, lots of hiding spots for him, made sure that the waterflow in the tank isn't a problem, and have had real good success with every other betta I've had. any suggestions? Can I send this idiot to a tutor or something?

I second the malaysian trumpet snails. I added a bunch of small ones about a month ago and the build up of dead materials and waste has decreased by at least 75%

A buddy has a cichlid tank that has exploded with trumpet snails. They even got so bad they caused a plug in his cannister filter. Any suggestions on how to get rid of them? He has the most impressive cichlid collection I've ever seen so he is really hesitant to use chemicals and risk mucking up the chemistry. He was told that clown loaches won't work on trumpet snails and the possibility would be for a puffer fish, but the cichlids would probably scrap with it (or vice versa). Looking for your assistance.....

In my 66 gallon tall tank I have 4 albino bristlenose 2 small ottos a couple of shrimp that appeared with my last plant purchase but I still have to scrub green algae "spots" from the side of my tank. Any suggestions?

hey, lets make this clear. I think what he is done is unreal and something that I doubt I'll ever see again outside of a zoo. But that's kind of the point. It is such a huge collection that he may as well operate as if it were a zoo. Something this big would be more than a full time job... I still shake my head at the idea that he is running into rust problems though. As for me, if I were ever to have something that big (or be in charge of his tank), I think I'd want to grow a series of giant plecos and then stock the rest of the tank with guppies, bettas, neons, and other small fish by the tens of thousands.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/s...p;highlight=000 This person has too much time on their hands. My questions are these: 1) How could he put 9 years into the project and still have issues with rust? Clearly anything anywhere near the tank would be exposed to tremendous levels of humidity. 2) If you had this tank, what would you put in it? 3) was this guy a james bond fan? Would he toss in his arch enemies to some sort of beast?

my rule of thumb with fish stores is to go to the owner/operated most of the time, but will check in the fish section of the big box stores when I'm there picking up something for the dogs. If I have a question at the big box stores I usually find the youngest person in the fish section as my theory (and experience) is that they love fish and read up a lot about them. They tend to know more than the older teenagers or adults who are just there for a job (or so it seems).

Hi, I just got a trojan horse virus notification on the buy/sell forum. I don't know how these viruses work, if someone has planted one on the site, in someone's post, or if it is nothing to do with the site at all. I just thought I'd pass it along in case it does though.

We move posts to different sections because it helps when using the search feature. Also, not everyone checks each forum. So some topics might get over looked by someone who might be able to help if its in the wrong forum. say I post something about my african having a disease in the african section. Yes its about africans but we would move it to the emergency forum. It will get more attention by people who know about diseases, as not everyone checks the african forum. I dont' think bumped posts clutter the forum but it is annoying to click the topic, thinking there is new info or an update, only to find "bump". yeah, no worries. I've moderated before and know it's a difficult job. I've never been shy to express my opinions though. just my 2 cents.

why? It's a legit question and one that I would like to know as well. I'm in the process of doing the same thing for my tanks but if it isn't that hard i can make more - depending upon how the thing sells. The price question is EXACTLY the sort of question that should be asked in this thread, so that you don't end up with someone posting in the Buy Sell forum with prices that are way too high, causing repeated bumping to adjust the prices, causing more confusion etc etc. I think you're flat out wrong to discourage the price question in a thread like this.

I don't know about the clutter argument. I think this site is over-moderated and the moderators are too keen to compartimentalize the site into different sections and move posts. It's one thing to move clearly irrelevant posts, but it is another problem all together to be too rigid in the enforcement. Clutter within a thread can be tolerated. The practical effect of someone bumping their post several times - or having to bump their post several times - will be that the terms of sale will be changed so as to facilitate a quicker sale. just my thoughts.

me too.

I picked up an absolutely beautiful male betta from Natures Corner Store today. Really pleased with his colouration and he added a lot to the colour dynamic of the tank - or so I thought. I just went downstairs and 90% of his fins are gone and he has had the crap kicked out of him. I couldn't figure out who it would be. The tank has: 14 neons 10 black neons 6 rasboras 1 cherry barb 2 male pineapple swords 5 female pineapple swords 5 female guppies 4 male guppies 2 raspbora red things 4 albino bristlenose 2 otocynclus 3 lemon tetras 2 platties 1 micky mouse platy 3 glowlight tetras and of course, what is left of my betta. When I introduced him he strutted around the tank and I watched for a good 15 minutes wanting to make sure he wouldn't tear apart the rest of my tank. No worries. In fact, it was really cool watching him go into the middle of some loose java moss, sit still, and then pop out to get some flake food floating by. He toured around the entire tank without worry. It took me about 20 minutes now to figure out who was beating him up - of all things, it was a FEMALE pineapple sword! She was about his size but spends most of her day getting chased around by the somewhat smaller male pineapple swords - who left the betta alone! I am absolutely flabergasted. If he makes it to tomorrow I'll put him into another set up because he is just that nice looking, but it will take months to get his fins back to what they were today. I'm actually really choked about this. I thought this would be the final touch to my tank as the blue in the betta really brought out the blue in the neons and the guppies and was a nice contrast to the orange, yellows and red already in the tank (with fish), and the green of the plants. RATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4 gallon betta tank with plants in the baby's room (she likes fish, like her dad). No pump, no filter, no heater, not in direct sun (temperature) but not in the shade either. Has a light that I leave on a bit for the benefit of the plants. Is there anything I can put in there to eat the algae and stuff like that? Snails are the more obvious choice, but I hate them and would prefer not to use them. I'm open to suggestions.

or possibly Alice is getting fed just fine and isn't that hungry......

Do Hara hara or raphaels eat other bottom feeders or fish? Do they eat algae? Years ago I had a raphael in a tank with some oscars and he was fine. Now I've got a tank full of livebearers that I qutie like but am having some issues with algea and am thinking of adding another bottom feeder.

I've started getting green algae in my tank. It's planted and I've got 4 albino bristlenose in it. I just added two very small otocinclus (from DADS). I'll scrub the sides but there are parts of the tank that I can't get at without really mucking things up. Anything else take out the green algae?

hmmmmmmm, interesting thanks. I did a major water change and have added some Meta-something to see if that helps. Thanks again.

you must have me confused with someone else. This is the first disease or problem I've had in well over a year. Water conditions were fine, fish bought at what I consider to be the most reputable store in the Edmonton area. Any ideas on what this might be?

I've had two neons get their eyes starting to swell and then get huge and turn white in my tank. My tank is tetras, sword tails, plattys etc so if I get a parasite infestation it will wipe out everything all at once. I removed the two fish with the eyes but want to know any advice on what this might be and what I can do to treat it so I don't end up with an infestation. Neither fish or eye burst, which I recall from years ago is a huge concern with parasites.

as stated above however, it doesn't matter what internet site you go to, they all seem to sell in US dollars. Old stock at these prices.....? I dunno...the dollar's been high for a while now and the stock seems to be turning over at most places. Call me a skeptic, but I just don't see the savings being passed on down to the consumer - not just at aquarium shops, but in any industry.

I have to admit my disappointment that I haven't seen the price of fish drop since the dollar has gotten better. Since I understand most of the suppliers are located in the USA I'd hoped to see prices drop. I haven't seen it. What drops I have seen are more a function of increased supply (see albino b/n pleco) rather than passing upon savings to consumer based on a consistant markup. I shouldn't have to pay $5.00 for a male guppy.....or so I thought... Is anyone aware of pet stores that seem to have dropped their prices across the Board since the dollar's got better?

hmmmmm I'm still intrigued by the little guy. I've had him for over a year now and he spends most of his time hiding under the drift wood unless the pleco's chase him out of there. My plants have done well in the tank thus far. The plecos should be killing them as well, but they seem to be doing ok. They shouldnt be able to grow that well in sand, but they are thriving to the point where I have to throw some out. He hasn't touched any fish and if he wanted to, the plecos and clown loach sleep most days right beside him. I dropped a super worm in there yesterday and he seemed to have found that tonight, but the fish seem to be quite safe with him in there. Besides, I'm pretty sure the boss of the tank is either a red barb or a real ugly albino bristle nose.

I'm in Edmonton and currently run a 66 gallon tank. Just switched out of Cichlids to go back to the basics. I currently have a whole wack of Neons, Rasboras (4), two pineapple swordtails, 4 albino b/n pleco, 1 zebra pleco, 6 tiger plattys, 1 regular platty, 4 white cloud, 3 black tetras, 4 diamond tip, 3 lemon tetras, a blue crayfish, a couple of endlers and a clown loach, and a whole bunch of plants that I don't know (nor care to know) the names of. Usually buy at Dads fishroom as I find their fish to be the healthiest and don't present any issues in upsetting the balance in my tank. I've also purchased at the ACE auction as well as Aquarium Enthusiasts. Looking forward to contributing and learning more about the hobby.

Quite interested in setting up a tank to house the Clawed Frogs that have started popping up with more frequency. What is the experience of those on the site? What sort of filter would you recommend? Do we need a heater? Do we need a lid on the tank? Can we plant the tank? Will they take food like superworms, mealworms, dew worms, etc? I'd just like to inform myself a bit more before setting it up so as not to put the anmal at risk. Thanks