thank yooooou :) x

Hello.
It's been a very long time since I posted here and am looking for some help and advise on how to find a good home for quite a lot of good quality (but now redundant) equipment.
I have a number of 3ft tanks
Filters (ehiem, flugal, etc)
Vecton UV
Un Opened bags of eco complete
RO Man unit
and so on

Leeds area
Willing to let go for a serious bargain
(or possibly charity if the intention is good)

can anyone help with where to start?

Thanks and best
Jonny

Quote:

I resent that Flapimal - 34yrs old and still doing crayons for a living .
Sounds too much like 'ard work and for that reason... I'm out.

No, thats just the thing, he looks chipper. Still defending his yard etc. He can swim if he has to and when he does you can see its buoyancy thats the problem - its as if he thinks he's a Flame Hawk! Trying garlic and peas again. Since he's on his belly and seeking shady spots all the time not managed to catch him on a toilet break but he's not bloated. Puffing away a bit though. His camo is up a bit but they all do that a soon as you poke you beak into the tank. Not overly dark in colour, no sores or visible nasties. The tds was a bit low a few weeks back so I've been brining it up slow with water changes from 80-100. I would have thought it has to do with something he's eaten and or stress related. His Mrs is keeping everyone else back so nobody is bothering him particularly (apart from her kicking around the house) and I really don't want to fish him out unless I have to. Just worried his condition is going to end up leading to something more sinister. Rams...

Got a bit of a problem with my Male Blue Ram.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5
pH 6.4
TDS - 100ppm

The little fella has had a hard time of it being a dad, they spawned and raised their babies in one of the more exposed areas of the tank and he's been working round the clock fanning, guarding etc. To look at he's fine, healthy colouration, still eating, not gagging particularly. However for a few days now he's pretty much anchored to the bottom. Nose pointing up tail down. Not clamping fins but resting upright flat on his belly. He can swim but its a struggle, tail stays pointing downward and drags in the sand. Rests on the bottom at the first opportunity. Leads me to think its swim bladder related?

Diet wise he's on a rotation of bloodworm, chopped mussel and algae wafers (loves them) but I can't seem to get him interested in blanched peas and turns nose up at prima. It's possible I may have overfed the tank bloodworms the other day. Also been under a lot of parental stress (before he was fine).

Could be bacterial infection/constipation? Med wise I have Protozin, Myxazin, Octozin, Mellafix and Pimafix at the ready. Started dosing Mellafix as a precautionary measure but in a 240ltr tank it could work out expensive. Any ideas guys - not sure on the best course of action to help the little fella.

Thanks :)

You're not wrong dood, pair two now have wrigglers and pair one have spawned yet again! Got a lot on so they are gunna have to cope on their own with these guys. chaos ensues...

Well it seems disaster has finally struck. Almost all the fry in the hatchery tank are MIA and those that are not are really flagging. I'm guessing most likely poor water quality is to blame as I did not perform ANY water changes. A little hasty with the brine shrimp too. The infusoria culture may have gone bad and a fair bit of decomposing plant matter in there too. Still, got much further than anticipated and lots lessons learnt. Been a pretty steep curve this one with almost every aspect to raising fry a new challenge to me.

Main tank parents are down to less than 20 fry from around 60-80. I can't be sure if this is due to die off or predation but the few that are surviving still seem strong so a glimmer of hope remains. Parents had been splitting them into two groups at night but now dad just does the babysitting while mum fights off the preditors.

Hope this thread has been of some use/interest and I'll keep you posted about the remaining little fellas. Gutted.

Quick update, not much to report. Fry are doing well and all a quite strong swimmers. Mum and dad have their work cut out containing them in the main tank and numbers have been reduced thanks to the pesky cardinals. Keeping an eye out and may move some of them to the hatchery if this continues. Brine shrimp begining to hatching now but microworms not happend. We'll see if the little guys are ready for their first hearty meal later tonight.

chartehouse get a thumbs up from me. Sourced some inexpensive TMC parts that nobody seems to stock. They got onto the supplier and had them to me within days at very little gain other than securing themselves a happy customer. VHR

5 days in.

Infusoria developed very quickly. I used water from my holding tank for plants for the culture which must have been rich already plus the water is slightly alkaline which also helped. All I had was some cellary leaves and half a courgette so blanched it, added to jars and bang, cloudy water after about a day and a half.

Been feeding this to the free swimmers who become active and make short darting movements when cloudy mixture added (about 15ml a few times a day). Also a put a potted Crypt into the hatchery tank which promptly melted and I guess is also forming a source of food.

Not dared do a water change yet.

Did a quick check this morning and theres probaly about 30 fry in the hatchery tank. All looked pretty dosile but after a feed perked up and went bonkers for it. Main tank Id say about 60-80 fry. Mum and dad doing a great job of collecting them up and guarding them in various pits. Difficult to see them and again were all dosile in a pit but after I dosed about 20ml of Infusoria all went mental for it.

I'm amazed how well its gone so far, great that both parents are working together too. Every time I go to the tank I'm expecting disaster to have struck but so far so good so fingers crossed pls guys. The 7 remaining cardinals are hanging around on the off chance of a live meal but the rams are keeping them in check at the moment. Amazing stuff to watch.

Sorry I can't go into more detail - just too busy with other things. Will try and find time to make a brine shrimp hatchery tonight. Not sure what to do with the main tank and really don't want to interfere with the situation. If I can keep everything ticking along on the feeding and conditions front what chance do you think the fry will have against the other tank mates (see profile) in the longer term? Should I consider moving them and if so when. Shame to split them up. I could possibly divide up the tank but would mean moving all the wood and caves causing havoc with the fairly harmonious territories that have been established.

All been on a whim and a bit of help from lady luck. However all the research is paying off and if nothing else its making for great entertainment in the unlimited household - especially as a first timer. Watch this space...