boomerbob

Thanks for the info , only problem is not sure how old they are when I bought them LOL . The shrimp i had ( cleaner, fire and peppermint ) lived about 3 years . They were growing ( molting ) on a regular basis and seemed fine , then over about 2 weeks they all died . So I checked water parameters and all was good so Im not sure if there was a problem or if they died of old age . They had tripeled in size over the 3 years and looked good ( Do they get gray hair when they get old LOL ) .As for the fish they seem to be happy and growing so time will tell . Thanks again for the help .

Thanks for the replys , but to late they died last night . to answer some of the questions 1- all fish full grown 2- 65 gal tank with large ehiem canister filter 3- no aggresion from any one 4- had africans and loaches togerther for years 5- no new fish 6- never had anything like this before 7- did 25% water changes 2 times in 4 days 8- checked all levels ammonia , nit , etc all came at 0 9- this tank as all my tanks is well mantained 10- aquari-sol is only med i had and it helped kill ich and other problems in another tank last year. 11- no swollen bellies, feed them NEW LIFE SPECTRUM PELLETS ( allways done good on this food ) used it for years This came out of the blue , the red patches first showed up near the tail and within 24 hours it looked like they where loosing their scales , they lost appitiet at the same time and began to float near surface , they did not show signs of breathing problems but had lost control when swimming , on their sides, power head would push them all over the tank. then this morning i checked them and the venestus and flame tail were dead , loaches are fine as well as the 5 pleco's that are in the tank , they have all been together a long time. so again thanks for the help , ILL keep close eye on tank for the next while and see what happens.

lost 2 in 6 days, now venestus and flame tail are in bad shape , red patches on body and fins , swimming eraticly , looks like loose scales coming off ,not eating , have large clown loaches in same tank and they seem fine . did 2 heavy water ghanges in 3 days but not helping . tryed aquari-sol last 4 days not helping . anybody know whats going on , checked all parrameters all is good.

where can i find info on how long saltwater fish and inverts like shrimp live

Yup same here, EBO Jager heaters , Have used them for years never had one go bad .

Hi boomer here, I have 2 of these very same fixtures 36" and 48" . The bulbs are very tight { end to end } but with a little bit of help from my wife , I pryed just slightly outward <- -> on the ends of the fixture while my wife gently turned the bulbs and in they went. make sure to turn them by holding the bulbs close to the ends so as not to break them . Good luck .

Well thanks again to you all for your suggestions , After going to 3 LFS and looking at all the canisters that were talked about on this page I purchased an Ehiem pro II 2065 . Have not set it up yet but after looking at the way it is constucted I am quite happy with the way its made . And I finally did find the source of the leak in the 405 , when I took it apart last week and gave the houseing a slight twist I could see a very fine crack that ran around the base of the of the Impeller well and when plugged in would have small bubbles form at the point of the crack . So when the unit was running it would not leak as the impeller would draw a small amount of air into the well { That is why I could see micro bubbles coming in to the tank when the 405 was running } . But if I turned { unpugged } off the 405 water would start to syphon back down the hoses and out the crack . as long as it runs with the valve open it will not leak but if there is a power loss you have to close the valve on top of the canister to prevent a major mess . So if we are not home O-BOY . so as soon as I can the Ehiem is going on line. Thanks all

This canister is on a 65 gal african tank { my wife got some off my son } and 11 differant plecos , my wife loves plecs . The fluval is still hooked up and running BUT im still going to replace it as i dont want a flood if the power goes out . As long as the power is on it works fine , but if the power is cut it starts to syphon the tank and leak out of the motor housing , still cant find the source of the leak . talked to 2 guys at LFS and they said the housing must have hairline crack , o-well i want to try a differant canister anyway so this gives me an excuse to buy one . again thank you all

So far the ehiems have the lead , Ill wait a couple of more days for the final tally and then A Shopping I will go LOL . thank you all for the input .

Here we go , got 2 fluval 405s one leaks out of head { send back to manufacture for repair , comes back with new lower half all new media, bio , floss, canister } Damn thing still leaks when you turn off power . Did little test for myself , if power fails { as we live in country it happens sometimes } it would syfone tank 3/4 empty in about 1 hour. this is a 65 gal tank , holy crap big mess lol . My other 405 works fine , turn off power NO leak . It is not o-ring or seal area have checked and rechecked this thing over and over . So do i buy another 405 or do I try a differant brand . Lets hear what you all think FLUVAL 405 EHIEM MARINELAND RENA OR ANY OTHER FAVORITE

Thanks again for the help ( can't get rid of the wife , need her to feed me LOL just like the fish ) The tank has lots of wood in it and I noticed some new growth on the swords so I'm hoping that they make a come back . but just the same I will keep an eye on my pets to see if I can catch the culprit in the act . If there's a good side to this maybe I can talk her into buying another tank (sneak,sneak ) to put her plecos and lotchs in HEHE.

Thanks I think your right as most of the swords have holes in the leaves , damn , my wife just loves all the differant plecos that we have .

thank you all for your input . I only have a few plants ( sorry cant remember the names ) purchased them at pices pets , they told me these were good begginer plants to try , i think some are swords and the other are long grass like plants ( blades about 3/8 inch wide ) , swords are doing only so so but the others are growing like crazy ( have to trim about once a week ) . using seachem flourish and it really made a big differance with in about a week . have about 2 watts per gal light , still learning ( thats why i want as close to dummy proof as i can get ) . there are fish in this tank tetras , clown lotches,and 6 differant types of plecos . it used to be my cichlid tank ( they got to big and to messy , had to do water changes way to often, damn africans LOL ) . any more help you can offer will be very nice . thanks again .

just converted 72 gal to planted tank , i have right lighting , substrate ,ferts but still having problems keeping plants happy . is co2 a worth while investment and whats a good system to get . it would be nice if it was as dummy proof as possible lol .

Thats what i had in this tank, africans ,now im turning it into a planted tank with tetras and such . they looked just like you discribed we have well water not city water . Iv tried to clean,suck,wipe and med the tank with aquarisol but nothing seems to get rid of it . they dont seem to hurt anything , they just look bad .

(1) In my 72 gal freshwater tank I have had for a long time what looks like small [ LESS THAN 1/2 INCH LONG ] white or almost clear worms. they seem to be no harm to any of the fish in tank but there seems to be several hundred of them swimming around and collecting on the glass top , if you put your finger near them on the glass they move away from you , they look like small white hairs anybody know what they are and how to get rid of them [ they make the water look hazy. (2) In my 150 gal salt water tank I have 2 problems , bubble algea ( starting to spread ) and there seems to be some kind of what looks like white cotten fuzz like stuff growing on my live rock ????????????? , best help for bubble algea and what the heck is the other stuff , good or bad .

Thanks for your help ,Im still reasurching , Running 50/50 on this subject some people hate them some love them , maybe I should buy a pet ROCK lol .

No there is no direct sunlight on tank ,Lights on for about 8 hours,No plants and yes we checked peramiters on an almost daily basis ( same with hot tub LOL ). tried turning lights off for few days and it works , but my bubble tip anenomes dont like that much ( as you know they need the light for photosinthisis ). I just thought that UV might help as we spent a lot of money to this point ( 150 gal TENACOR aqrilic tank ) so a few hundred bucks was not a big deal if i knew it would help. We have no corals ( to much work and worry , been there tried that ) I just thought that after losing a bunch of fish to ICH that it might be a way to help kill off paresites . We are setting up a quarentine tank now to put new fish in before adding them to main tank . Thanks for the input again . still don't know if I will buy one yet .

Thanks for the input , thats my problem " algae and i had a bad case of ich " lost a bunch of fish in my marine tank . I think the ich is gone [still have about 10 fish left ] I have a 150 gal tank that got ich about a month ago , used polyp lab medic for the time recomended , but I was reading net and don't know if it is worth the investment . UV seems to be a good idea as we have one on our hot tub , and when the bulb quit working the algae took hold real fast . I dont have a lot of options as to lighting right now [ long story ] so i thougth that UV was a relitivly cheap and safe way to help . do you know anyone who uses one and any idea to which brand or make would be worth looking into if I decided to buy one ??????????? . all help apprecieted . thanks

ok people tell me your thoughts on uv sterilizers and which brand you like.

Just looked up a place called BULK REEF SUPPLY they sell dry fiji rock , has anyone used this stuff before or knows someone who has, it seems like a good idea as it comes with no parisites or hangers on . I know that it is not LIVE but it can be reseeded with new bacteria . Does anyone in calgary carry this stuff ??????? . one real bonus is that its light weight while you put it into the tank , then pour in the CYCLE and wait and see .

Just want to know what everyone thinks of the good ol bio balls ( the little blue wonders ) seems every fish store uses them , some people say they are junk (dangerous in the long run ) some say they are great . lets hear what you all think just for the heck of it .

Thanks again fishy , This forum seems to be the best at finding out what to purchase as the LFS seem to each have their own ideas and products to sell even if what their selling isn't what would best suit the customer or the type of tank we have . I find that talking to other people in the hobby is the best source for info . I have been to GOLDS,ELITE,WEI'S,OCEANCITY,PISCES,RIVERFRONT just about every store in calgary and they all have their own reasons to buy their product . so I'm going to wait till the tank and stand arrive's to see how much room I have to play with . But like I said it seem's that euroreef seems to be a real favorite with a lot of people . Thank's again Another side note. I work at Red Coral aquarium. A good friend of mine bought it and recently took over. We are in the middle of a huge store clean up and re-organization. Our policy will be to provide the reefer with the most accurate advice possible, even if that means we lose a sale. LOL well I guess that I have not been to all the stores in calgary ( excuse me while I pull my foot out of my mouth ) . please tell me how to find your store .

Thanks again fishy , This forum seems to be the best at finding out what to purchase as the LFS seem to each have their own ideas and products to sell even if what their selling isn't what would best suit the customer or the type of tank we have . I find that talking to other people in the hobby is the best source for info . I have been to GOLDS,ELITE,WEI'S,OCEANCITY,PISCES,RIVERFRONT just about every store in calgary and they all have their own reasons to buy their product . so I'm going to wait till the tank and stand arrive's to see how much room I have to play with . But like I said it seem's that euroreef seems to be a real favorite with a lot of people . Thank's again

Thanks for the info guys and gals I cant find the deminsions on tenecors site for the sump that I purchased , so I will wait untill it arrives then go from their . As for the fake coral , we already ordered a reef system from living color ( but there is still room in the tank for live rock and coral ) The skimmers that you mentioned ( euro reef and asm ) seem to be the choice that most of the people seem to recommend . As we have invested a fair amount of money in the tenecor tank and sump system I dont see a reason to use a cheap skimmer . so Im going to do what I did with my cichlid tanks , more is better than not enought , in other words I will buy a skimmer that is maybe one size bigger than what i might need , just to be on the safe side . We have had good luck with our africans over the years by having lots of filtration ( good old TLC ) and good cleaning habits . The result is our africans are happy,healthy and making lots of little africans LOL . Thank you again for the help and input . BOOOOOOMER .