Aquamaniacs

Bettas :: RE: Betta pale and not eating well

jaidexl — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:32:33 GMT

Author: jaidexl
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:32 pm (GMT -4)

Awesome!

Not too many, maybe two a day, fast him one or two days a week, also offer 1/4 shelled, blanched pea on another day. Just use his eye as a reference to how big his stomach is.
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!

Livebearers :: 3 Zebra Danio's swimming skidishly along the surface........

James_NYC — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:57:38 GMT

Author: James_NYC
Subject: 3 Zebra Danio's swimming skidishly along the surface........
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:57 pm (GMT -4)

Is that normal? I've had them for about a week now, and they have been incredibly hyper, until today, they ate this morning, were acting normal, now this afternoon they are swimming very skidishly across the surface. Is that normal for them? All my levels are fine, I did just introduce a CO2 diffuser a few days ago, but my CO2 level is around 10ppm which should be more than fine I assume. Any help or advise would be great!

Thank you!

Bettas :: RE: Betta pale and not eating well

Articuna — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:58:21 GMT

Author: Articuna
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 1:58 pm (GMT -4)

OMG. He ate some worms. I was afraid he'd never give them a try, but finally he opened his mouth and tried one. It was such a huge relief just to see him eat.

So I have a question...what is the recommended about of worms I should feed him? I don't want to give him too many and have him overeat, especially since this is his first meal in a week.
_________________
My Betta Buddy: Toshizo Hijikata

Aquatic Frogs :: RE: Feeding Frogs

tracelene — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:25:12 GMT

Author: tracelene
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:25 pm (GMT -4)

Oh yes! I ended up trying the turkey baster and that is working pretty well. I thaw bloodworm cubes in a cup of the aquarium water and then suck them up the turkey baster and squirt it right at each frog. They have learned what the baster is for and come right up to it, taking some worms right out of it. I squirt the rest out and let the frogs and fish fight over it. At least the frogs get some before the fish eat it all, they are quick! I've noticed that the frogs will peck at the fish that get too close and some fish peck at the frog's legs. So, it's a little battle but at least the frogs are eating.
Thanks!!

Aquatic Frogs :: RE: Feeding Frogs

AnthonyE — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:15:13 GMT

Author: AnthonyE
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:15 am (GMT -4)

any luck?

Bettas :: RE: planning ahead.

AnthonyE — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:10:50 GMT

Author: AnthonyE
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:10 am (GMT -4)

thanks trekker.

ok, I have a couple more questions regarding my little project.

1st question, i was wondering if theres any thing that makes a fully submersible heater better then a partial. other then the obvious electrocution reasons.

2nd question is regarding filtration. i am going with my better judgement aswell trekkers advise and just divide the 20 gallon from the start. i bought 2 sponge filters,which don't have activated carbon in it. is activated carbon a must have?, will my tank be doomed to be any more foggy or smelly then one with out if i kept up with water changes and maitenance?. also, if i were to add carbon to the filter?. kind like this and it work the same as if i had a H.O.B with a carbon cartridge?

General Aquarium :: RE: Fish and Cats

GiraffeMSW — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:20:24 GMT

Author: GiraffeMSW
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:20 pm (GMT -4)

I have two cats and have had many fish tanks over the years. The best way to keep them out is to have full canopies on the tanks. Not just plastic canvas, but the hard lids that hold the lights. Neither of my cats generally mess with the tank, although my himalayan, Bleu, often sits in a chair to watch the tank and has been known to drink out of my small tanks back when I had bettas. However, from my cats' early days, a spray bottle was used to teach them not to get up on tables and counters and yes, fish stands. Once they learn to hate the spray bottle, you just leave it sitting on top of the tank and they generally will look elsewhere for trouble.

General Aquarium :: RE: Koi Question

GiraffeMSW — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:14:16 GMT

Author: GiraffeMSW
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 11:14 pm (GMT -4)

I am so glad that she can set aside her own wants for the safety of this little koi. Great roommate! And kudos to you for looking out for him while she's gone.

Bettas :: RE: sick girls, update: Aoife died yesterday

Asha — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:01:52 GMT

Author: Asha
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:01 pm (GMT -4)

I'm so sorry that you've having these issues with your girls. I hope Deidre hangs in there-go Deidre, go!
_________________
My first betta, Sparkle Star

General Aquarium :: Fish and Cats

RcFionn — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:04:14 GMT

Author: RcFionn
Subject: Fish and Cats
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:04 am (GMT -4)

I'm considering getting a cat, but both my roommate and I have fish tanks. I was wondering if anyone else has both fish and cats and if anyone knows of any tricks for kitty-proofing a fish tank. Any tips?
_________________
Bettas: girls Sorcha, Aine, Deirdre, Fiona, and boy Llewelyn.
And in fishie heaven Aoife, Niamh, Aidan, Fionn, Corin, Alasdair, Mei Ling and Julie.

Also two Otto's, Thing 1 and Thing 2

General Aquarium :: RE: Koi Question

RcFionn — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:40:50 GMT

Author: RcFionn
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:40 am (GMT -4)

Talked to the roommate, I'm going to do my best to keep the ammonia at reasonable levels for the next ten days until she gets back and then she's going to find him a new home. She's even going to pay me a little for the trouble. Thanks so much for your advice.
_________________
Bettas: girls Sorcha, Aine, Deirdre, Fiona, and boy Llewelyn.
And in fishie heaven Aoife, Niamh, Aidan, Fionn, Corin, Alasdair, Mei Ling and Julie.

Also two Otto's, Thing 1 and Thing 2

Bettas :: RE: sick girls, update: Aoife died yesterday

RcFionn — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:23:50 GMT

Author: RcFionn
Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:23 am (GMT -4)

I just thought I would let you know that one of the two girls Aoife, died today. She had gotten more spots that split open and rotted away parts of her side, she lost all color and then finally got extremely bloated and pineconed. She passed away this evening. The other fish, Deirdre has one large open sore and two smaller ones. She's still acting her spunky little self, but then so was Aoife until just yesterday. Thanks for the help.
_________________
Bettas: girls Sorcha, Aine, Deirdre, Fiona, and boy Llewelyn.
And in fishie heaven Aoife, Niamh, Aidan, Fionn, Corin, Alasdair, Mei Ling and Julie.

Also two Otto's, Thing 1 and Thing 2

Bettas :: RE: Oh no....

jaidexl — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:22:15 GMT

Author: jaidexl
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:22 pm (GMT -4)

That's how I clean a lot of my questionable stuff, namely buckets, let old mother nature work on it It's sort of a quarantine, whether it be for meds that might have leached in or possible pest infestation like pond snails etc, or any other contaminant. A good long soak outside along with organic critters will basically metabolize it (couldn't think of a word, lol, I guess catabolism is the right term here).

I have to stress being careful though, don't allow any mosquitoes to reproduce in your yard. Duckweed and azolla is good for avoiding that, or simply check it regularly and change water. More often than not I do this inside under lights, my fiance hates all my little green buckets scattered around the man cave, but I swear I'm down to just one now. :D
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!

Bettas :: RE: Betta pale and not eating well

Articuna — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:02:12 GMT

Author: Articuna
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:02 pm (GMT -4)

I'm still trying with the worms. Right now he's still swimming away from them.
_________________
My Betta Buddy: Toshizo Hijikata

Aquatic Gardening :: RE: Would we have a tank reading list?

jaidexl — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:36:05 GMT

Author: jaidexl
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:36 pm (GMT -4)

I can't really recommend any because I've never used one. I believe Lammotte made one but I don't know if it's available anymore, and it was expensive. Petsolutions.com has one for $30.

Like many people, I don't test it for obvious reasons ($$), also it's said to be less critical to the balance and safe at high levels. I dose dry K2SO4 at 1/4tspn every other day for three days a week per the Estimative Index suggestion for my size tank (40-60g), then do a large water change at the end of each week to reset that value as well as the others, since they're all essentially being over dosed with the EI regime. There is also some K in my GH booster, my KH2PO4 and KNO3, so I should be good to go.

-Note to anyone reading: this is a high light tank w/ pressurized CO2, so ignore the last paragraph if that doesn't apply to you.

Those with no CO2 can add some potassium every few weeks, maybe 1/4tspn (dry K2SO4) per 20gl or so, or just use Seachem Potassium per instructions (can probably skimp on their instructions too, potassium comes from many places in the tank/source water already). Growth rate is much slower in a non CO2 tank, so nutrient uptake is slow as well, dosing doesn't have to be frequent nor does it need to be done on a set schedule. Strong fish stocking will do most of the job. I wouldn't even recommend dosing it in a non CO2 tank for any other reason than addressing a possible K deficiency or experimentation to watch it's effect on the plants. Either way, it can't hurt anything but your wallet.
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!

Bettas :: RE: Oh no....

ael_ecurai — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:26:31 GMT

Author: ael_ecurai
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:26 pm (GMT -4)

That's a good point about the heater, but the temp flux shouldn't have been that bad even if it didn't heat like it should. I only put heaters back in all my tanks this past week, because it had been too warm over the summer, but the difference in night temperature last week versus this week isn't much different. Vega had been living in a 2-gallon aquarium with no heater up until then. The tank itself was used, and the guy I bought it from said he'd had it in operation for several years. Maybe something happened to it between his teardown and my purchase. I know nothing could have happened to it here - I don't use any cleaning products, air fresheners or perfumes near my tanks. I'm thinking about sterilizing it as best I know how, and then setting it up again with a hardier goldfish occupant to see how it fares. In the meantime, I do have another divided five-gallon sitting in the basement, so I guess I'll set that up. (That would probably be better - having a ten gallon tank divided three ways, with only two of them filled, would only prompt me to go out and buy more fish!)

The algae-and-frogs idea sounds intriguing. I'm bordered by woods on two sides, so there's plenty of wildlife. Maybe I'll try that sometime. :)
_________________
Male bettas: Paris, Othello, Lysander, Orion, Aldebaran, Vega
Female bettas: Rosaline, Ceres, Lady Anne, Cassiopeia, Andromeda
SIP Tybalt, Juliet, Aldebaran

Aquatic Gardening :: RE: Would we have a tank reading list?

k-maub — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:05:54 GMT

Author: k-maub
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:05 pm (GMT -4)

J, you mention potassium levels, but I'm not aware of any commercial test for K. Can you recommend one?
_________________
My blog: http://imfishy.blogspot.com/

Bettas :: RE: Oh no....

Asha — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:52:15 GMT

Author: Asha
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:52 pm (GMT -4)

This is an odd question, but was someone cleaning around your tank, spraying cleaner or perfume, or do you have a plug-in air freshner around? I know that sometimes stuff can get into tanks that way. And if it was someone doing the cleaning/spraying you would not have even known it happened.
_________________
My first betta, Sparkle Star

Bettas :: RE: Betta pale and not eating well

Asha — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:45:41 GMT

Author: Asha
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:45 pm (GMT -4)

Yeah, good luck with him!
_________________
My first betta, Sparkle Star

Bettas :: RE: Betta pale and not eating well

Trekker215 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:19:28 GMT

Author: Trekker215
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:19 pm (GMT -4)

Poor fella, I hope you can get him to eat soon.

Bettas :: RE: Oh no....

Trekker215 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:14:17 GMT

Author: Trekker215
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:14 pm (GMT -4)

I'm sorry for your loss of Aldebaran, but I'm glad that the other two made it. I agree with jaidexl, there was something seriously wrong with your tank. Did you buy it new or was it used? Bleach will probably take care of most bad things; but I think I would be wary from now on that there could be something in the tank. A new one might be a better idea.

Bettas :: RE: Oh no....

jaidexl — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:12:19 GMT

Author: jaidexl
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 7:12 pm (GMT -4)

Honestly, for a AGA 10 gallon being so cheap, I'd replace it with a new one. All your parameters matched up so shock should be out of the question, I don't believe switching to novaqua would do it and for all I know your fish are still living in novaqua. O2 is obviously not an issue since they can breath air. It almost had to be something in the tank or in the air that contaminated the water, I wouldn't have the guts to risk it unless I left that tank out in the back yard to grow algae and frogs for a year.

Any chance the temp could have fluctuated really bad over night, is this a new heater or one you're familiar with? Sounds like a shot in the dark but I'm just trying to think of any explanation other than contamination.
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!

Bettas :: RE: Oh no....

ael_ecurai — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:09:58 GMT

Author: ael_ecurai
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:09 pm (GMT -4)

Well, there's good news. Paris and Vega have seemed to make somewhat of a recovery.

I really thought Paris wasn't going to make it. No less than three separate times did he stop breathing altogether as I watched him. I had him in only about three inches of water in the bottom of a small plastic aquarium, because there was no way he'd have been able to surface for air in eight to ten inches of water. I even kept the gravel sloped, like a "disability ramp" I remember FM mentioning.

Vega was totally limp when I pulled him out this morning. I had to physically lay him on the broad leaf of a plant about half an inch from the surface. His breathing was steady, though, so I allowed myself a glimmer of hope.

I didn't know what I was expecting when I came home this afternoon, but it certainly wasn't a feed-me dance! Vega looks completely normal. He gobbled the pellet I dropped tentatively in the water. Even Paris is swimming around, albeit slowly, so I filled the aquarium almost to a normal level. He ate, too.

I still feel horribly guilty. I lost Aldebaran, and his brilliant color will be sorely missed. I'm fighting the urge to run out right now and go find a guy to rescue in his honor. I'm out of space for now, until I solve this mystery problem. There's really no way I'm ever putting my guys back in there without knowing it's safe. I'm planning on bleaching everything. Any other suggestions for making sure this doesn't happen all over again?
_________________
Male bettas: Paris, Othello, Lysander, Orion, Aldebaran, Vega
Female bettas: Rosaline, Ceres, Lady Anne, Cassiopeia, Andromeda
SIP Tybalt, Juliet, Aldebaran

Bettas :: RE: Betta pale and not eating well

jaidexl — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:16:36 GMT

Author: jaidexl
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:16 pm (GMT -4)

I'd be persistent and see if you can get him to bite. Maybe every few hours dangle a worm at him. If he's got any inkling of hunger going on, he shouldn't be able to resist the worms once he has one in his mouth.
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!

Bettas :: RE: Oh no....

jaidexl — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:13:42 GMT

Author: jaidexl
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:13 pm (GMT -4)

Very sorry to hear this, it almost sounds like the tank was contaminated somehow. Maybe it was sitting around their garage and had something on it that wouldn't come off in the cleaning? Or maybe something got sprayed in the house without your knowing?
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!