FunkSolid

The lighting/focus is really bad, but my guess would be a LFS type of Rainbow fish possibly a Melanotaenia lacustris? Seems a little stout for it, but thats my guess anyway. Got any better pictures?

I saw this Scishow today about some awesome female Cichlid fertilizing itself! It got bored with life, so it developed a testicle and made some babies! Watch it here https://youtu.be/mt09lQP8JCE?t=2m32s

I setup my first Pro 3 a few months back, and I too had a HELL of a time getting it to prime. The only thing that I came up with (and with the help of people here on AA) is that there is air somewhere, and its not allowing it to flow. I opened up the cap on the intake side where it comes over my tank, poured water in through a funnel and primed it 100,000,000 times. It eventually caught and has been running fine ever since. If I could, I would have forced water through it somehow using a hose. But all I had was the hydrostatic head of that full funnel exerting a small force of water. Before I do maintenance on it, I close the valve off and it starts up fine even after major maintenance. I'm getting angry just thinking about trying to get it to prime last time. Hope that helps a bit Andrew

I am a huge fan of hard work and entrepreneurship. Of course I want to support businesses/people who are growing and improving the hobby we love. I'm hoping to drive up there tomorrow and check them out, and ideally come home with some awesome fish from their sale. I am just really fascinated by how close these stores are together, and if that will have any impact on their sales?! Hopefully the demand in Calgary matches the supply up there in the NW and some healthy competition will challenge these businesses to keep their fish healthy and their customers happy (seems like a nice symbiosis, healthy fish and happy customers). Update this thread if you go and see these guys, and what your thoughts are! Thanks Friends

1313 44 Ave NE, Calgary, AB T2E 6L5, Canada

I saw on the interwebs that Concept Aquariums is now getting into selling freshwater fish, with a sale this weekend. I looked up their location and noticed they are right in the Golden Triangle of fish stores in Calgary. We have 3 major fish stores within a laughable proximity of each other. What do you guys think about another freshwater store opening up? Location? Competition? Good? Bad? What will set them apart? Thanks Andrew

You have given it a valiant effort thats for damn sure! Using the Kana, Metro, Paraguard you have covered a lot of bases, changed water like your life depended on it, but still lost the battle. This is a touchy question, but did you buy these fish from a big chain store, local store or another AA member? Reason being that farm raised fish and antibiotic resistance are a sad reality today. My shot in the dark guess is that you had a virulent bacteria, that was resistant to common antibiotics. You may have bought some time dosing them with metro/kana, but they probably had some resistance or other virulence factors that allowed them to kill your corys. The metro should have gone after the anaerobes and protozoans, and the Kana should have selected the Gram neg aerobic population, and thats a pretty good spread to cover. People generally associate popeye with poor water conditions but yours tested fine, so probably not the case. I would treat all remaining affected fish and equipment as "Ebola Outbreak" type quarantine, and maybe switch to bleach for any further sterilization. Some anaerobic bacteria do have a shot at surviving the vinegar depending on concentration and exposure time. If you want to keep trying out options, Seachem has their Polyguard which has a interesting blend of antibacterial/protozoans and it would be acting on different mechanisms than the Kana/metro. It also contains Metros bigger brother that punches harder. Those are my wild guesses that may be totally wrong, but please keep us updated. All this saved data will hopefully help someone searching in the future :-)

You bet it's normal.

Where do you fish nuts get your DIY foams in Calgary? I have some Fluval and Eheim canisters that I want to pimp out with different PPI's. I have looked @ Big Als (fail), The Filter Shop (fail), and am looking for reasonably priced sheets that I can cut out, reuse, and experiment with. Thanks Friends Andrew

I know nothing about discus specifically, but if all fish are in same tank, same environment, and one is not happy I would go into triage mode, QT and focus on the single guy presenting illness. Obviously something is wrong with 1, and potentially with all 6. I would probably start with Metronidazole because it is readily available, and selects for internal anaerobic bacteria and some protozoans. I think it gives you a higher probability of success since it selects multiple types of internal pathogens and we are shooting in the dark most of the time with this stuff. If fish does not respond and is still alive, I would dose Flubendazole (if you can get it) next and try and select nematodes. Just my 2 cents but good luck, and please keep us updated, hopefully one of the Oracles will chime in as well.

Hopefully these are in the breeders cull tank. They are deformed version of a beautiful fish that have no business being offered for sale. Just my 2¢ ya I have to agree +1 +1

Insert failed MultiQuote attempt here

A quick update: A generous AA member gave me some Flubendazole, I gave the QT tank two rounds of it, alternating over 4 days with water changes in-between and have not lost another fish. I will re dose in two weeks and in 4 weeks to hopefully close out the life cycle of whatever was killing these little guys. Thanks for the help, and hopefully this can help someone else in the future :-) Andrew

CLR makes me super nervous because it contains Lauramine Oxide a surface surfactant (which has some very unique chemical property's considering its structure), which is highly toxic in really small concentrations. I think its LC50 is around 2.5mg/L in native freshwater fish, which might tolerate it a bit better than exotic fish. CLR requires a lot of effective rinsing if your using it to clean internal surfaces and equipment, so please use caution. Having said that I have used it on a few tanks because that was my only acid at the time, but IMO its a big risk, and maybe not worth it. Lastly its VP (Volcano Potential) is pitiful in contrast to Muriatic Acid.

I have a 30 gallon like that. I got it used and horrifically dirty and after giving it a nice acid bath it looked like crap, really cloudy... Until I put water into it and it looks fine. Howd that Muriatic volcano work out? (jk)

Sounds like Calgary is back into the never-ending debate on Fluoridation of water. Does anyone know if it has any positive/negative effect on aquarium fish? I did some searching here in AA and could find anything on it. Thanks :-)

Yeah the silicone will be just fine, and you will be too with the right PPE.

When I first setup my 120g with M. boesemani I got Ich and used Seachem Paraguard and it worked beautifully. I was worried about any treatments because of the S. petricolas I also had in there. Paraguard is a more expensive treatment but its chemistry is a safer and less stressful on the fish without compromising on efficacy. Just my 2c.

Muriatic Acid or Hydrochloric Acid is IMO the best option in terms of acids because it disassociates into hydrogen and chlorine ions which can easily be mitigated with Prime, or reacts and is neutralized into a salt which is also not a big deal. Some think using it is overkill, but its chemistry is safe for tanks, and it can make your job a lot easier :-) Just please protect yourself (dont forget your eyes) and make a volcano with some baking soda while your at it.

I recently acquired a group of Cardinal Tetras, and over the past week or so I have been losing ~ 1 fish per day. They are in a 10G QT tank with perfect water chemistry (have been doing 75% W/C every 48 hours or so). I have tried feeding them Angels Plus Deworm 3 (Levamisole) flakes over 48 hours, but are still losing them. My real concern is that I have a group of M. maccullochi in the same tank and I REALLY dont want any harm to come to them. So far they have remained healthy, and are starting to color up. All the Cardinals seem to be eating well, and dont look sick, but every morning I find at least one dead. I tried to shoot a video in 1080p60 so you experts could potentially diagnose and prescribe a treatment. Thanks Friends https://youtu.be/ektaSlDCtJ4

I saw Electric Blue Rams at Pisces on Tuesday.

Yeah doing the same for me. http://url4short.info/2a5abd7c

Thanks for the great feedback guys. Why do you think some fish tank people caution others saying "dont change too much water at once it will harm your fish"? Is that because someone told them that, and they are just perpetuating what they heard? Or someone had a really neglected tank, did a huge water change and shocked the fish with a pH swing? Stressed their already neglected aquarium with a massive water change and that harmed their fish?

When you do a water change, what % do you change and why? Additionally do you believe there is a healthy limit on how much water can be exchanged at once without causing harm to aquarium and why? I know the obvious reality exists that you cannot remove 100% of the water with fish inside tank (lets just get that out of the way), but you could do a 90% water change, fill to 50% and then do another drain to 10% full and fill again. I know it sounds crazy and excessive but it makes a 90-99% water change plausible. Thanks for your insight! Andrew

Polystyrene is very stable and is generally understood as non-biodegradable, hence the environmental concerns for it. The chemistry and the number of people using it in their tanks points me to a "safe" conclusion. It makes great bonds when it polymerizes and it simply does not break down in our atmosphere and water / soil conditions and 80F temperatures. The King of DIY on the YouTubes uses it a lot, and the number of subscribers he has puts him under a lot of scrutiny, and he still uses it :-) Hope that helps