Hya mate. You can feel free too email me. I have had 3 years experience and have lernt the hard way. Yes that means many of mistakes but know im re setting up a marine tank after selling my last one for over £4000. Its an amazing story but that will wait. so ask away via email at md.bassett@ntlworld.com

all the best

martin

I set up a marine tank some 18 months ago and have in that time only lost 2 fish. However, in the past week my tank has been decimated and I have lost all bar 4 of my fish. To date I have lost two cardinal angels, one fox face (second one does not look that well), 3 damsels, 1 sail fin tang, two blennies. 1 sea pen, 3 clowns two of which were a matched pair for breeding they were also the first marine fish I owned, 1 empror angelfish which had just started to transform into the adult it would become. To say I am gutted would be an understatement. I check the water quality regularly and it is allways within the permissible range. I have left 1 cow fish, 1 fox face, 1 picaso and 1 damsel. My enenome and hermit crab seem unaffected by what is happening. I started a course of Kent RXP and am continuing along this line. On inspecting the fish I can see no obvious signs for their death so am at a loss. No new fish have been introduced to the tank for the past 6 to 8 weeks

The tank is a vision 350 with an external filter plus the internal filter and heater. I have a prism skimmer as well which runs 24*7.

I am unwilling to purchase more fish and put them in the tank until I know for sure I will not just be consigning them to death.

Has anyone got any ideas at all, all help / ideas gratefully accepted. You can mail me at mick@cabcomputing.freeserve.co.uk

You should separate the injured fish for the main tank and keep it in a tempary tank and give it a pipet of methylene blue or some goldfish tonic which is availible at most main pet shops.

Good Luck

Cain Quote:

Hi.

I have just set up a new tank with two fantails (I think) could be oranda... thats what it said on the tank. 20 litre tank with under gravel filter and light. They have been in for less than a week and one of them is taking nips at the other. the four fins along the bottom of the fish are now quite badly frayed and he is starting to be inhibited swimming. What can I do to stop this happening?

Any ideas would be helpful.

Cheers

Hi,

Goes on the outside!

Fishadmin

Hi

I know this is probably a stupid question, but anyhoo.

Where do I put the nice pretty background picture that the wife bought, inside or outside the tank? And if the answer is inside, what on earth do you use to attach it?

hello can anyone help me ? I have just set up a new pond which has been running for about 2 weeks .i have just added 5 small 2" -3" inch koi .the problame is that the pond is starting to go green,i have a bio filter but no uv which i think would sort out my green water prob,but my biggest problame is power i need to get hold of a low volt uv ( 24v or 12v) as i am unable run a long distance of 240 v. Does anyone know of a low voltage uv supplier or have any other ideas which could help me clean my green water i would be very greatful



thanks danny

if you move your fishes once the water is in a bad state they will die with the sudden changes in water conditions, if you get to that stage, their best chance is to stay put and for you to undertake small water changes yourself.

Hi,

Your tank holds somewhere in the region of 240 litres (provided you don't have huge amounts of rockwork or gravel), so 10 neons and a Leopard plec (assuming it's a small one) after a week of running empty should not send ammonia levels through the roof, provided you are very mean with the food. I'm also assuming you have the correct level of filtration for the size of tank.
Personally, if the fish are swimming about quite happily at the moment with their fins erect, and are interested in food, I wouldn't panic and take them back - the extra stress of moving them again could doom them quicker than a partially mature filter. However, if you see any fins clamped down against the body, loss of colouration or lack of appetite, back they go!
Hope that reassures you a bit - "New tank syndrome", as it's called when you overload a tank without maturing it properly, is still far too common, but each system is different and the fish themselves (along with regular testing of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels) will soon let you know if there's a problem!

There are several species of Suckermouth Catfish which get called Leopard Plec, but the one that springs to mind has the latin name Pseudacanthicus leopardus, and is absolutely stunning!

OK if you tank has been up for 8 days it will be cycling
To cut a long story short during the cycle the water parimeters sky rocket and your tank is litterally toxic, the fish in it will suffer ammonia burn, and most likely although they look OK they will have a shorter life span and who knows what else - that is why your LFS has suggested neons as they are cheap.

you need to test your water regulairly and once the water parameters peak they will drop down to a safe level again, this is because your tank has built up its natural bacteria and you can now commence with regular water changes and also get some good fishes.


ummm I have no idea what a leopard plecy is - do you have the scientific name?

as for what you should do - take them back or carry on, well most people would just carry on, but if you dont want to you could take them back (but more than likely they will die or be sold to someone who hasn't got the first clue about anything and has a tank worse than yours will ever be)



What species do you plan on keeping?