Willfishguy

My revised stock list is now 5 neon tetra 5 hengeli rasbora or some endlers instead 2 ottos (later) I am also now looking into adding a java fern as it will accept low light and I just need a rock or some driftwood for it to live on. Do keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite as it takes a good six months for a new tank to mature. I'd round up the the tetras and rasboras/guppies to six and only add one species at a time, waiting another two weeks before adding the next batch.

I think this would do well for a while, but other things like urea, fecal composites, silicates and phosphates would accumulate, creating an environment ideal for pathogens to thrive. I will say however that Tunze is revolutionizing equipment (filtration) using plants and bacteria to filter tanks. Their intention is to develop a system that when hooked up to a tank, water changes will not be required. They published a great little paperback on the science of this subject, if you can find it, it makes for a fascinating read.

I think Colby is on the right track here by asking what type of plants you have, as many species are naturally slow growing. Another thing that it could be is that many plants need time to adjust to the new environment, especially if they were propagated in a very chemically different type of environment then what they are in now. What is it you are doing to get the waters pH to 7 and then maintaining it there?

Oh yeah, they jump, especially if they are harassed by another fish. I always had to batten down the hatches when I'd get a shipment of common plecos in. Now I always make sure there are absolutely no escape routes for anybody to leave town.

That is awesome! What's has me puzzled though is the very bright blue fish with the yellow fins, I sure looks like a purple tang! When I worked for BigGayAls in BC, I set up a 135 archer tank the tank was half full of water and I siliconed pieces of grape vine to the top lip of the tank, criss crossing the vine into a web. We'd put crickets on the vine and the archers would fire away. Later this tank worked great for baby arowanas and butterfly fish and their little acrobatics.

Hello and welcome Nicole, whom I see is another fish, fish freak. Your sleeve looks wicked! I'll take 50 convicts off you, if you need to dump them and don't mind what I do with them?!

I pretty sure if you looked into the depths of desire... you wouldn't be so sure anymore.

When I mentioned poor water quality I was thinking along the lines of nitrate (NO3-), an acidic salt that accumulates in the tank as it matures. Performing 25% weekly water changes is a great practice, but in the long run it will not prevent nitrate from building up. High levels of nitrate provide an idea breeding ground for pathenogenic bacteria, but nitrate will not specifically harm most freshwater fish. How often do you hydro vac the gravel?

I set up the tanks with tap water, the fish where bought in Lloydminister and Edmonton. when I added the fish I let them float for 45 min the I oened the bag and added half a cup of water at a time till the bag was full then I just dumped them in. This acclimation procedure is dangerous on a few levels at best. I would personally stop doing it this way. A good way is to float the fish is with the bag open and for 15 minutes max., keeping the bag away from the lights. Test the pH of the bagged water and if it is the same as the pH of the tank then scoop the fish out of the bag and put them in the tank, or dump the bag with the water and the fish into a seperate container and then scoop the fish out of that container and put them in the tank. Do not ever add the bag water to the tank. If the pH of the bag is different then the pH of the tank water, then start a procedure of adding tank water to the bag water. Just do so by add very small quanities of water to the bag, like one tenth every 5 minutes untill the pH is the same.

Personally, I refuse to shop at walmart, petsmart or any other company that refuses to employ a Professional Aquarists to manage their fish departments. Enough said about that! Now, if your tank still has the CO2 reactor hooked up and the plants in the tank are growing well, then I am willing to bet that you tanks water is experiencing pH fluctuations. The spiral action the cardinal was doing is a common behavior for fish experiencing pH shock, which happens when the pH of the water rises too quickly. A quick rise in the pH turns the naturally occurring nontoxic ammonium (NH4+) in the fishes body into toxic ammonia (NH3-). The plants are consuming the CO2 and other carbonates that naturally exist is high pH, which will and does lower the pH. Now when you do a water change and add fresh water containing a load of carbonates into the tank, the pH will rise. If the tanks pH is 7.8 before a water change and after the water change it is 8.0, then this is definitly a large enough rise in the pH to kill a fish that has evolve from a naturally acidic environment. First what I would do is stop shopping at those American box stores, and find a local fish store. Then I'd look into heartier species of tetras or barbs. Also look into some of the smaller species of rainbows, they are beautifully coloured and the naturally occur in water with a high pH and Hardness.

A human crossed with a chimp, is this acceptable? Homochimpanacus! Is it ok to breed or allow to breed two different genus together? Is it ok to breed the same genus together, but a different species? I understand dogs are the handy work of such inbreeding, and I certainly do love dogs, but look at the mess they are in. People love their Bulldogs like they love their Parrot Cichlids, but neither one serve a purpose in todays world other then for vanity and profit and both would perish with out the lording over of the human hand; they could never live in the natural world. I sit, looking over at the Baensch Index Atlas, there are over 4000 different species of freshwater fish in that book and Mergus plans to one day have several more of these Index Alases cataloging all fish. With so many endangered fish around the world, would it not be more important spend energy on perpetuating genes from a natural species fish, then say crisscrossing a neon with a cardinal in hopes to make a prettier tetra? Look at the Red Tail Black Shark, it has been extinct in the wild for many years now, because of habitat destruction, but we the Aquarium Community keep it alive. The same fate is quickly coming up on the Cherry Barb, Black Ruby Barb and the Asian Arowana. I understand that ethics is a subjective thing, but is not our objective out of place when we deliberately perpetuate such things?

Now if I could just get one hooked up to my electric eel.

With the Jager unpluged, cooled down and out of the water, pop up the small blue round tab with a coin or a dull knife. Then turn the temperature dial to the existing temperature of the aquarium water (not the temperature you want the water to be). Push the small round blue tab back down, reinstall the Jager, plug in and away you go. Or do you have an older Jager? What is it doing or not doing?

Diatom filtration is a temporary mechanical filtration, is for polishing water and removing parasites. It's the best ich destroyer going.

Eheim Jager, Jager, Jager, Jager! Thaaaaaaaaw best!

I've used 25w and 50w Eheim Jagers in 2g tanks without any cause for alarm, also the Jagers won't melt plastic tanks.

Nope, but then I use Jagers.

Those Eheim Liberties rule! Like mentioned else where, they are very quiet. They also work far better then the Aquaclear. :boom: to Hagen and their lousy filters that are made of cheap easy to break plastic. There is a new blue cartridge out for the Liberties that works awesome! On my 20 long I have a Liberty 200, the tank with this filter has been set up for four years now and I've only replaced the media 3 times in it, the last time I did wasn't necessary but I did so to try out the new cartridge. I have not yet replaced an impeller for one of them (I have many Liberties), and I don't see it happening anytime soon. Adjusting the flow rate on them is easy and wait till you see how the impellers are removed! Another great feature about them is that the return water doesn't splash down into the water like many other filters but is silently jettisoned across the water surface. I :bow: to the Eheim Liberty, but still wish they made the Aquaboss.

Thank You Jason

Thank You sharon Hello Colby, you still remember my name discovery! I look forward to your arrival. Thank You TheGr8Blade, the Crossroads Market actually has two pet stores in it, mine is the bigger of two. I've been there for almost four years now. Hello Vapor, thank You for the greeting. I have two companies out of there, one is a manufaturing company called SHAW PET HOMES and the pet store, it's called The Pet Shop. I sell a variety of dog and cat products and a few fish. It is a very small and humble store. Thank You, you maniac! Thank You Qattarra, that's funny cuz I spent 7 months in AA 4 years ago Thank You JORG, the Market is at Blackfoot and Ogden and I sell mostly dog and cat products. Treats and toys, and holistic brand of pet food.

Hello everyone, My name is Will Shaw. I'm here because I am a fish geek through and through and I enjoy learning and helping others and figured this is an appropriate forum for me to be in. I join this community a year ago, when it was recommended to me by Tom down at Cichlid, but never followed through as I am computer illiterate and I couldn't understand then how to make things function, so I became frustrated and left. But today I have some smarts to me and have returned to be an active member of this community. I've worked for many pet stores and fish stores for the past 23 years across this great country and have finally settled in Calgary where I have open a small pet store at the Crossroads Market. At this time, besides Suriname Toads and a Bengal cat, I keep a lungfish, electric eel, jardini arowana, adonis pleco, ornate bichir and and and whole whack of other fish! I am very opinionated and I'm a little bigoted toward some products sold for this hobby, but I give my word that I'll do my best to keep such things at a low tone. It's great to be here! Will

Hello everyone, My name is Will, I have a lungfish, electric eel, jardini arowana, Polyterus ornatipinnis, Acanticus adonis and several other fish.

You'll still always think out loud though! Won't You? Welcome, and this makes it my second post in 6 some odd months now!

It's good that you separated this fish from the rest and added the MelaFix to it's water. I would Maintain the use of the MelaFix until the sores on the fish are completely healed. If the sores increase in size continue using the MelaFix and treat with a broad spectrum anibiotic like Maracyn and Maracyn 2, which you can read about here =+++++> http://www.virbacpets.com/mardel/catalog.php . You can find these product at just about any fish store. This fish certainly has a bacterial infection, but whether or not it's a gram+ strain or a gram- strain, I cannot say. I do however think that it is caused by poor water quality. That Omega One really is a great fish food, and I don't have to tell you that the little mouths of Angels deal with flakes easier then they do pellets. Do you feed them a frozen food?