Some cichlids need low pH though, do you know what your cichlids prefer? :)

Stunted fish tend to have abnormally large eyes for their body size.

Apparently plants can use the ammonia that the fish produce before the filter bacteria have the chance to use it up, and they prefer this to nitrate anyway, so don't worry about low nitate levels. Best bet is to just get some hardy plants and put them in then see how they go on. Many websites make keeping a planted tank seem a lot more difficult and coomplicated than it actually is.

He's definitely a fancy goldfish,you just can't tell in the pics because he's curled up a bit. I found out that that can be a sign of nitrate poisoning, his posture is like the fish in the picture here:
http://goldfish-emergency.com/viewpage.php?page_id=66

He's floating not bottom-sitting as apparently they normally do with nitrate poisoning, but he probably has buoyancy issues too which have been made worse by the nitrates. They have been fed just on flake and floating pellets.

He has faint red streaks in his dorsal fin. And he is definitely gasping for breath.

Yes, the tank is very overstocked and has not been maintained properly, months ago I started doing a w/c when I go once a fortnight because every time I went the water was very cloudy. It seems to have stabilised now, but the fish have been exposed to a lot of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the past. The ill fish is the smallest by far in the tank, very stunted and I guess it's all just taken its toll on him :(

Ah, glad to know it's not just me who's been having problems with the Juwel heaters! I thought it was my fault for keeping my flat too cool!! I had to get another heater for my 240 Juwel tank because the one that came with it couldn't keep the temperature stable - luckily I came across a brand new Fluval 200w at a car boot sale for £10! So I've kept them both in the tank, one inside the filter housing and the new one one the glass at the opposite end of the tank. The temp is now completely stable, and I don't have to worry about my fish dying if one of the heaters stops working :)

Hi all,

I was working at someone's house today (I'm a cleaner/ home-help) and noticed one of their fancy goldfish was floating at the surface of the tank, gills very swollen. I've brought it home and put it in a cycled tank with tons of aeration, anything else I can do?

The fish was in a 60 litre biorb with 4 other fantails. Gets a 60% water change once a fortnight (I do this myself every time I work there). I know I know, but these aren't my fish and there's nothing I can do. I tested the biorb water and got ammonia - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 35. I felt certain that the fish would die if I left it there, and probably wouldn't be noticed when it died and would foul up the water. The other goldies looked fine.

Photos are taken from above, looking down at the fish. It has barely moved all day. Also included is blurry video clip so you can see the respiration rate.

Video link:
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z1 ... view¤t=MOV01163.mp4

Leave the sponge floating in the tank, and put it in the new filter when you get it, hopefully a lot of the bacteria will have survived :)

It looks really good! As Cathie said, there should be a space inside the filter unit for the heater to slide in, and this will ensure a constant flow of water around the heater and hide the heater out of sight :) Just make sure you remember to turn the heater off during water changes as it sits high up in the filter, and they break if exposed to the air.

I had a couple of fish manage to jump out of the water and fall through the small hole on the top of the filter, one Golden barb was in there for at least 18 hours! They and my white clouds especially liked to swim into the current made by the filter outlet, and then jump out of the water. I think the novelty's worn off now, haven't seen them do it for a while. But I've blocked up the holes with a bit of filter wool just in case!

Have you thought about adding any live plants? They will give some cover to your fish and help keep the water clean :)

Freezing doesn't kill bacteria, it just slows its reproduction rate right down. As soon as you thaw it out it will start reproducing again.

WOuldn't the water conditioner detoxify any heavy metal traces?