hobbithall

Not sure where to post this question, but I figured folks in this thread would have an answer. I have a couple freshwater community tanks, and was using a liquid algicide from Big Al's to help keep the black algae under control. Last time I went to buy it, I was told algicides have become illegal in Canada. Can someone confirm whether this is true, and if not, advise where I might go to purchase some?

I'm originally from BC... Barriere (North Thompson) area. Moved out here 2 years ago for work. This is a fabulous site. There is so much knowledge here... you just have to ask the right questions! :welcome: Aboard!

:welcome: to AA !

Nice tanks! :thumbs: I like your angels... where'd you find them? Are they koi or marble? And do I see a killie in one of those pics?

Welcome! You've found a fantastic forum. I'm pretty new to aquarium keeping myself, and everyone here is really helpful. With the support of those here, you should be a true addict in no time! MTS - here we come!

Welcome! Seems you've got a lot of support for your habit. :smokey:

I haven't tried a Betta & Mollies, but have had this experience: Red Betta in 30 gallon tank. Placed him & 2 red wag Platys in tank at same time. After 2 weeks, the male Platy was dead and the female very frightened. It took us a while to observe that the Betta was the culprit as we hadn't seen him even strike at the Platys. Removed the girl to a 10 gal. About a week after that I brought my blue Betta home from work for a week. He went into the 10 gal. No problem; he didn't bother anybody, not even Platy girl. All our Bettas are in community tanks now: 5 gallon: Red/blue Crowntail with 1 cardinal tetra, 3 danios and a snail (there was a male guppy in there, too, and they were getting along fine but he's been moved in with the girls in the 30 gal) 5 gallon: Blue Veiltail with 3 speckled cats and a guppy 5 gallon: Blue Veiltail with 3 danios 50 gallon: Red Veiltail with 2 goldfish, 12 Whitecloud minnows & a redfin shark (the shark is the bully in that tank). At the moment everything seems peaceful. So it CAN be done, but there may be losses along the way figuring out which individual Betta will mix with which other fish. I would personally look at Danios, minnows, Cardinal or Neon tetras, maybe Glowlight or other tetras - small, fast-swimming fish with short fins. Good Luck!

Beautiful fish! I can imagine all of them in an aquarium... they must make a truly lovely vision! :heart:

That's beautiful! 90 gallons for one leopard - WOW! That looks like a very happy reptile. :thumbs: (My son wanted a lizard; he'd be so jealous. )

I have a large rock pile in my back pasture and I got a bunch of the rocks I'm using in my tanks from it. Anyone willing to drive to Bluffton and is willing to pick their own rocks is welcome to as many as they can take away. :flex: I scrubbed them with a nail brush first, then put them in my dishwasher and ran it through a complete cycle without soap. I've had some of the rocks in my tanks for a month and all the fish seem okay at this point.

Hi and :welcome: Bettas were what got me started - first one for my office, then one in each of the kids' rooms, then I had to expand into community tank, and now the kids are making noises about swapping out their 5 gal tanks for 15 to 30 gal! Totally addictive! This is a great bunch - lots of help, ideas and just good people. Enjoy!

Those are really cool little guys! Must make for a fun tank. Thanks for the link.

Welcome! Lots of knowledge on this forum.

Thanks for the replies! I just saw the Poll option. duh! :bang1: Very interesting to see the feedback. I've always been hands-on myself, but I have to wonder if I'm setting a good example to my kids when I have my hands in the tank till they're all wrinkled. (Incidentally, there are lots of places to get cheap shoulder-length gloves. Farm supply places sell 'em for bovine AI/preg-checking.)

There are some pretty scary/nasty things we can contract from our fishy friends and their environments. Just wondering how many of us actually use shoulder-length gloves when immersing our hands in tanks? Are s/w people more cautious than f/w? Do they need to be? What standard precautions do you take, and do you use said precautions all the time, or just most of the time? Looking forward to the responses!

:welcome: Whereabouts in BC are you? "Home" for me used to be North Thompson

Just wanted to follow-up & say that everything above seems to have worked. I was about to go out & get some anti-bacterial medicine, but Tsunami's eye seemed perfectly clear lastnight, so I'm glad I procrastinated. Still treating fishy as a convalescent (dark, quiet) for a couple of days, but I think we're out of the woods. :thumbs: Thanks, Qattarra!

OOO I can answer this one! LOL Anytime a post is replied to it moves to the top of the list. So if you want to move your post to the top to get more views (especially for selling something) you reply to your own post and hey, presto - BUMP! Did I make sense? :smokey: Awww, finaddict beat me to it. :tongue:

I'm pretty new to fish, but it sure sounds like a fungal or bacterial infection to me. I'd recommend separating the fish if possible water temperature not less than 82 F add salt (Epsom or Aquarium) to the water - I think it's at a ratio of 1/2 to 1 tsp / 5 gal add Melafix at recommended dose add Pimafix at recommended dose Go to the LFS and look for a medicine that will treat fungus &/or bacteria. There are some pretty reasonably priced brands, but I don't know enough to advise on good ones. Hope this helps!

Could it actually be a deformed fish? The colouring sure suggests jewel... I don't know anything about the JD, but that super short tail looks very odd! In mammals, I would be able to say definitively that it was a viable deformity, but fish are so strange... LOL

I'm interested in answers to this, too, as I've yet to decide what to do with my new 55 long. My personal interests lie in tropical planted community tank at the moment, so I'd love to see something with tetras killies guppies mollies otos danios minnows swordtails a betta/ female bettas? loaches (khuli / weather?) And lots of plants! But I really don't know what would actually work, or whether those are all truly compatible... I'd love to see what you eventually set up. :smokey:

Hi Qattara, Thanks! The tank is a 5 gal heated with a sponge filter. I had my daughter do a smaller water change (about 30%) yesterday afternoon as I figured something was better than nothing. She added Pimafix and Epsom salts to the water. When I got home, I did another change (about 80%), and added Pimafix, Melafix and salt. I also increased the temperature to about 80 F. The eye seemed better this morning, but we'll have to wait & see. The fish is active, feeding well and seems to be in good health otherwise. I've told my daughter to feed pellets only (no bloodworms) for a couple of days. And I will call her & tell her to turn off his light - other than that, her room is pretty dim. Counting the days till the 18th when I'll be able to get to Nature's Corner for some NLS!!! (And Prime and plants and other stuff... the list is growing!) Should I do another w/c tonight or wait till Friday?

Well, that's an awfully nice-looking result of 'neglect'! What a nice effect - that must be a peaceful tank to look at (for us plant lovers, anyway) :smokey: :thumbs:

My daughter's betta contracted ick (from my son's, I think - my fault for the cross-contamination) and I treated both tanks with Jungle's Fungus Clear (I'm pretty sure that's the product-don't have the box at work). Each tank got a half-tablet and was re-treated about 3 days later. It's been over a week (closer to two) and both bettas have been fine - until lastnight. My daughter's fish has one cloudy eye. What causes this? I plan to do a water change when I get home, add salt and a good dose of pimafix. Should I be doing anything else? Would another dose of Fungus Clear be a good idea? Don't have the water parameters on me now as I didn't test the tanks lastnight. I'm thinking that they may have gotten away from me. :boxed: Looking forward to any replies. (Sure hope I don't lose this one )

I should think an ice cream container would be just fine for a single sick betta. Or a glass gallon jar. My thinking is that the only difficulty will be keeping the water warm... you could possible have his container floating in the tank (if it'll fit). I know bettas should do okay at room temperature, but if he's unwell I'd be inclined to pamper him.