Ishkabod

DOEes anyone know the name of the lake in jasper that has the introduced tropical fish Thanks L

The salt will kill plants it bleached my hardy hornwart when i had to dose my tank a few years ago but it bounced back. UV is completely fine for plants in fact many people use it to keep algae down in their planted tanks. The salt treatment and heat is the best method but ONLY works if used properly. Most fish can tolerate more salt than you might think and the increased heat doesn't hurt either if you increase it at a slow rate. Ich is only able to be killed in a short period in its life cycle. The Ich on the fish is untreatable due to the slime coat and the eggs in the substrait and on any decorations/glass/filter is also untreatable. The stage that is treatable is the stage when the eggs hatch and are swimming around looking for a host. Salt will kill these swimmers and from what i remember it will kill the eggs too but i'm not 100 percent sure about that. The life cycle can be as long as 4 weeks but increaseing the heat can shorten that to 2 weeks which is very benificial if you want the fish healty as soon as possible. ANY treatment that says it'll work in less than 2 weeks is LIEING as far as i have been able to reasearch there still isn't any treatment that will kill the ich in all its stages but won't kill the fish. There is a form of ich that is salt ant heat resistant and you might have that one. I'd treat the tank as directed but be sure to re treat the tank 2 weeks later and again 2 weeks after that to be sure as little of the ich actually survives. salt and heat won't treat the ich on the fish but can prevent them from being reinfected aka no more additional white spots. Before you do any treatment for ich always do a water change and try to vaccume as much of the gravel as possible and to clean off as many of the decorations as possible. here are some helpful sites i have found since understanding ich is the easiest and safest way for you to treat the problem. the same goes for any disease if you can properly diagnose it. Here is a great formula for treating ich step by step treatment understanding Ignore these links if you want but if you desire to get rid of the problem and not worry about it again then read it through. Ich in my experience was really really easy to treat and get rid of but only because i read up on the basics. I have read through many articles and these two are pretty much the best for summarizing and giveing everything you need to know to kill it. The chemical reccomended in the article has been reccomended to me from more than one respected source includeing a Vet specializing in fish treatment. Good luck L Edit If you are worried about plants then remove the fish or the plants to a quarentine tank. For fish treat them and the main filter with the ich treatment and dose the tank heavily with the chemical but not the salt and increase the temp to at least 33 Degrees C SOMEONE WHO KNOWS PLANTS HOW HIGH WILL KILL THEM?

So could it be that some of the shimp are acclimatized to the water and others aren't? If so then i want some of yours. I'm hopeing to go to the auction in calgary too. L

I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not but when i spoke to a BC importer of Japanese Koi she told me a bit about the QT procedure they have to go through. First the fish are QT'd in a secret location and monitored for i think it was 2 months and once they have been given a clean bill of health by an offical then and only then can they be sold. Personally I'd pay more money for any fish that is treated like that because it means i can be more careless when it comes to QTing fish in my own home saveing me money time and headaches. Neil thank you for the heads up on the crazy agency that is now dealing with this. If it were another entity i might have hope it would go somewhere good with this. As it stands the regulations have soo many holes it them that it may as well be swiss cheeze and these holes are more obvious than an elephant trying to pass itself off as a mouse. They need to regulate QT for sellers within canada. Not only will that help the aquarium trade but it would boost the hobby to make it more appealing to the masses especially if the stores could then sell with fish setups all the gooey fish media needed to kick start the cycle and prevent new tank syndrome which causes most people to drop the hobby. For me I'll pay a few dollars more and drive an extra 20 mins both ways just to be more confidant that the fish i bought is healthy. If you want changes Mail your MP a letter. If more people became more vocal and less people got into government positions based soley on their party colours then this country wouldn't be going south like it is in more then one sense of the word. I have read both your arguments and I'm sideing with neil on this one. L

Okay you both have completely valid points. BUT i have one question. WHY if they were serious or had any idea what they were doing did they not go for something more like what the EU has done? I don't know about you but unless they get into regulation of pet stores and wholesalers to be as sure as they can be that the fish aren't sick then the whole exercise is a waste. You are right about the crappy red tape. Unless it goes somewhere completely different then the direction it's heading now it'll be useless. for now this is what i see in the future :banned: :banned: :banned: :banned: :banned: :banned: :banned: :banned: :banned: :banned: Thank you again Neil for the heads up. L

You have one odd fish on your hand methinks. Good luck and personally if the other fish are perked up by the water change then i don't see how there could be a problem with the water chemistry. The only thing i can think of is the fish doesn't like the difference in temperature that the water change creates. The buckets while sitting at room temperature probably are still colder than the tank and that could be what is causeing the behaviour. Try useing a heater in the buckets to warm up the water or even a teakettle. I have the big 3 gallon ice cream pails and i fill them with filtered water and they sit 2 at a time in a sink full of hot water for about 8 mins and that brings the temp of the cold cold water to something cloce to tank temp. Try it once. I find the sink method easiest. Once you figure out the time it takes for the buckts to warm up to the right temp using the hottest water your water heater provides(took me 1 water change) then it's easy from there. Good luck L

Hmmm Piranha 3D now that would be a funny sign to put somewhere near the tank. I nearly fell out of my lazyboy laughing when i first saw a commercial for the movie. Too bad for them that 3D means nothing to anyone with only good vision in one eye. :boxed: What a beautiful setup Congrats. I wish i could see it in person but a trip to calgary is pretty much not in the cards for a long time. Thanks for shareing L

I thought PH for saltwater is supposed to be high? or is it just a little too high? It sounds like the salt you are useing is raiseing the PH and not anything in the tank so increased water changes wouldn't change anything. Most fish products i have seen have websites with contact info and if you were to tell them your problem I'm sure they will have a better idea as to why this is happening then i do. One thing i have noticed about salt for saltwater tanks is that most have other things than just salt in them on purpose. Try a different salt in a sample and see what the result is. Good luck L

If you're educated in the hobby big als won't hire you. What do you mean won't hire Her? She is well respected for your betta knowlege at least and I'm sure that comes with years of freshwater experience so why wouldn't they hire her???? I live on the north end so i don't really know but when applying to various fish stores be sure to check to see if you are dealing with things other than fish that might put you off(I wanted petsmart when i first started but the crickets, birds, mice and now snakes put me off.) Good advice before.. Try BEFORE You Buy and get the job before you quit. but i'm sure you allready know that. Good luck L

Abyss. and if you don't like that a black garbage bag will do the job of the black background just add canola oil to get it to stick. Solid Blue just doesn't have that little somethin somethin to make it look realistic but the abyss really seems to have that aspect that is missing. L

I just treated my tank with it a few months ago with the stuff from canadian aquatics and following their directions nearly to the letter. All that i did different was i left it in allot longer than they suggested(to be sure) and there was no stress on the fish at the dosage they reccommend. Good luck L

Betta bowls can be horrible but because of their perceived simplicity it does give some people more confidence in keeping fish. Personally I have a 5 gallon tank with a little waterfall ornament that has a halogen lamp in it. I put some foam in the bottom of the waterfall container around the pump so it acts like a filter. Then i added some floating plants and on the sides i have 2 plastic lilly like things and the betta loves the tank and between evaporation and the plants i haven't had any ammonia or other build ups. I do change the water but i've givem up testing since i constantly got no readings. This is one stunning looking tank and the betta loves it. Much better than a betta bowl and much better looking too. L

I'm watching the singing mice right nowLOL But really that is interesting. thanks for shareing :thumbs:

I'm watching the singing mice right nowLOL But really that is interesting. thanks for shareing :thumbs:

Welcome back. glad to hear from you. L :welcome:

the things that melafix can cure are better cured by salt in bettas from what i've experienced so i'd skip the melafix and use salt unless it's a planted tank. When you do get a fish home the first thing i do is change the water in the container it was in and keep him or her in a very well lighted area for a few days at least to make sure that velvet or some other disease isn't present. I have found that if you do put them in a lighted glass bowl then the fish is hard to see at a glance so i don't transfer it over until after a few dsys of observation. Sorry to hear that it passed away. Good luck with your next fish I'm sure with your careing attitude it'll live a long healthy life L

that is my worry too. Just think of all those recalled toys that are painted with lead paint. Who knows what they might mix in with the clay. Sorry to be a downer but better safe then sorry but thank you for shareing your idea anyway.

I'm keeping a careful eye on the whole tank but the only one with symptoms is the chiwindi and that was only in a bite on his body. It's gone now and hopefully the salt will take care of the swimmers. Heat is good to increase the life cycle of the ich to get it gone faster but i don't need that since the ich is allready off the fish and no others are affected so i'd rather not mess with the heater and make a possible mistake. I'm going to keep the salt treatment up for the next month to be sure it's taken care of. The odd thing is that there has been no additions or changes to the tank for at lest a month other than the glass unerneith the light being cleaned of thick algae last week. I assume that there was a very very small amount of ICH in the tank but the tank conditions were such that it didn't have a chance to get a hold on any of the fish because of their immune systems or something like that. But then the stress from the bullying and the injury gave the Ich a chance. I've delt with Ich Before and have spend hours reading various accounts on the treatment and lifecycle of Ich so i really need help with a FISH TRAP. Trust me the ich is the very very least of my worries. I have Rid Ich and I will use it if i see even one of the non stressed fish showing a spot after 2 weeks is up, As it is i see no need for the chemicals)which always make me cringe) and with time on my hands a singe spot will not go unoticed long enough to cause problems. I have a total of 2 cups of salt in my 80 gallon right now(equal to double the dose that the carton reccomends for sustained use) Thanks anyway L

My Chiwindi is getting more beet up. I tried again last night after lights out to get him out but i think i really stressed him. I even used a makeshift barrier but it didn't work as planned. Someone know how to build a trap or have any ideas. I have time to wait for him to get into the trap but the sooner the better for his health. Thanks L

It sounds like in the 20 gallon you have too many fish still (maybe) and in the 30 gallon you said you had stirred up the gravel before desideing to remove it? You might want to check your filters again as cleaning like this does tend to send the debris to pile into the filter again and create another factory situation and that could be the sourse of the problem this time. Also if you are feeding more than once a day cut back to once a day, Add PRIME and Stability (both from seachem) I've tried cycle in the past and it didn't work at all but stability for me has actally, independent of added bacteria from other tanks, completely cycled a tank of mine in about a week. Good luck L

I wish the divider would help my situation but even in my 30 gallon with no decorations i have a hard time catching one fish out of the 30 that were in there. I tried the darkness method but most of the fish that i want to get out hide reeelllyyy well. In my 80 gallon i have about 7 or so fish that need to be moved to another tank for various reasons includeing a holding female. Thanks anyway for the advice and Happy Canada Day L :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: EDIT Oh and it's definately ICH I just got a better look at it a few mins ago so the salt added should help the situation for now until i get him out of there as the stress is definately too much right now and hopefully the removal of females will calm things down.

Hmmm That video conferenceing idea really has merit. We could set up something like that with webcams and a projector. Now is there anyone out there that is willing to do the techy stuff?? We could have a virtual conference where anyone can log in and view the speakers and then ask questions or we could do a LIVE CHAT with an expert or two and make a day event of it. Hmmm.... now who has an idea on how to get the ball rolling? Happy Canada Day :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml:

In my 80 gallon i have a chiwindi that has got a couple of bites on him and instead of healling they have become coverd in bright white stuff(fungus or ich?) :boxed: Anyway he needs to be removed but i'm totally inep t when it comes to catching fish in this tank it seems so a fish trap should do the trick. I tried to google but the only ones i found were the pop bottle ones that are too small for him. I need to get him caught today as i'll be busy the next three. Thanks L :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml: :ml:

Are they at the top and not breathing hard? If so the only thing i can think of is they are being stressed by another inhabitant of the tank. Watch them for a while and check out how the pecking order goes durring feeding. Be watchful of bloat and other synptoms of disease. This is all i can think of based on your information. Hope this might help but Trophs.com might be a better bet for more information. Good luck L