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Latest Animal Stories on Aquarium Tropical Fish (6177)

tina - 2013-04-02
I have 2 red ryukin goldfishes, one is male and other is female i got both of them last year. I didn't put any plants in the tank but everyone says she's pregnant. How do i know? I also noticed he's been following her around in a 5 gallon tank. Can someone tell me what to do?

brett - 2013-04-01
This is such a great article! its really helped me A LOT in starting my new tank and as a first time Cichlid keeper. thanks heaps! :)

Leo - 2013-03-25
Hi, it’s me again, back to the shubunkin scenario of appearing to be sleeping lots lately. On my last discussion I fail to mention about the minnows. I had about a 15 white clouds and 12 rosy red minnows for a while and removed the remaining 6 two weeks later because the shubunkin was eating them. A few days later the two oldest shubunkins seem to be sleeping a lot lately and they’re not eating all their food. Occasionally they would sleep with their heads in the back corner not moving. They appeared to be ill and I did several water changes to possibly help to the situation. One of the water changes was 80% but I made certain the water temperature was the same and kept the filters unchanged to maintain the bacterial. Sadly to say but my 7' shunbunkin died yesterday along with 1 comet and 3 cories. The remaining one 6' shubunkin, 2 at 3' and 4 cory cats were transferred to a 20-gallon quarantine tank and will be staying there until I know they get better. What can I put in the 20-gal. to help recover their illness? I’ll be cleaning the 80-gal. tank and all its components before reactivating. Is it possible one or two of the minnows were deceased when the 7 incher ate it? Is it possible one of the other fish were ill and infested others? Is it possible the cories became ill and infected others? Go ahead give heck, I can take it and if ya don’t have an answer that’s ok too.

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Clarice Brough - 2013-03-25
Gosh Leo, sorry to hear about your larger Shubunkin. Other than 'sleeping' and a low appetite, your challenge is that you haven't identified disease or infection, so its hard to say what to treat for. Checking the water temperature, and parameters (ammonia, nitite, nitrate) are usually the first things to look at. And then a water change (with a water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine) is usually the first place to start. From your description, it doesn't sound like your water changes were a problem. Still there are a number of illnesses that can affect goldfish, I'm kind of wondering if maybe they a swim bladder disorder. Also, watch for any changes in their behavior/eating since you moved them into the quarantine tank, as that could indicate a problem with the main tank. I think you may have to do more indepth research on goldfish diseases... fortunately there's lot of info available.
Leo - 2013-03-25
I can’t thank you enough for a response. Yes, I suspected a swim bladder issue, constipation, Itch, stress or even a lodged piece of gravel. However, I’ll let you know what I find out later and how the others are doing in the quarantine tank.
Leo - 2013-03-30
A follow up on the shubunkin appearing to be sleeping lots. I hope the following information will be useful to others. The result of the seven incher shubunkin that died is considered as an unknown factor. Two of the 3 ½' shunbunkin also followed the death of their tank mate and hopefully we’ll revive the others. The swim bladder disorder was a possibility and the suspicion of ichthyophthirius and/or lymphocystis being introduced by feeder comets and minnows is probably the cause. I just didn’t notice the spots on the beautiful all white comets early enough and I didn’t follow my own proceeder of quarantining the feeder fish. I was being unnecessarily cocky. A lesson well learnt to quarantine all fish prior to being introduced to the main tank. My twelve-year-old granddaughter with better eyes noticed the spots on their fins. The 20-gal. quarantined candidates are having a none raised temperature salt bath to hopefully remedy their long term issue, and it will. I’ve done this many years ago and was successful with explicit and careful instructions that are time consuming. The 6 incher that appeared to be sleeping lots the same as the 7 incher that died is now giving me the impression of getting better by being a little more active and the cories are also appearing to be doing well. I’ve stripped the 80-gal. tank and washed everything including filtration components with a bit of bleach to disinfect the unknown possibilities and of course thoroughly rinsed, washed again and rinsed, and rinsed again. Startup, decorated, water de-chlorinated and a biological cycle conducted that evening. All other feeder fish from five other tanks were transferred to the 80-gal. and we’re in the process of doing a raised temperature salt bath for 17 small comets, 6 commons and 36 rosy reds. All the other tanks will eventually be thoroughly cleaned and again, “a lesson well learnt” that created lost of unnecessary work by being foolish and/or cocky.
David Brough - 2013-03-30
Thanks for all the information. The advice about quaranteen of feeder fish is very important to understand what may happen if you fail to do it. Great Advice!

Stacey Croasmun - 2013-03-28
I have a ten gallon aquarium that I started for my son with a large fantail goldfish. A couple weeks later We added a Flame Dwarf Gourami and a very small white Gourami (I'm not sure what it's called). The Flame Gourami picked on the little one for a day and then everything was fine.Now a couple months later we bought two snails for the algea and the two Gouramis are tearing them apart! What should I do? I've taken the Gouramis out and put them in a fish bowl until I get a response...it's terrible!

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Jeremy Roche - 2013-03-28
I would remove the snail if it is an issue. Gourami's should not be left in a fish bowl.

Max miller - 2013-03-26
So I have a 60 gallon with 10 black tetras and I was thinking of getting 2 black angelfish. Will 2 be fine?

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Jeremy Roche - 2013-03-27
The tetras may harrass the angels at first and add too much stress for them unless larger angels.

kye turnbull - 2013-03-26
do the eggs go white if unfertilized and see through if fertilized

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Clarice Brough - 2013-03-26
A Betta's fish eggs are white to clear in color when they are released. A male needs to be in the tank when the female drops her eggs, as he will fertilize them. With many fish, eggs turning white means they aren't fertile. But with Bettas, because they can release white eggs it isn't the same, so its best to just wait and see if they hatch.
kye turnbull - 2013-03-26
They hatched, but they hatched 47 hours after they were put in the bubble nest, I was expecting them to hatch in 24 to 30 hours?

Lauren - 2013-03-01
Hi There, I am brand new to keeping fish, I currently have a 35Ltr fresh water tank with 3 white clouds and 2 Pearlscales. The white clouds I have had for a few weeks and they seem to be doing well. My two Pearlscales (Hansel and Gretel) I have had for 5 days. They are about 1inch long and very cute. I am concerned though as they don't seem to be eating much. I am feeding both pellets and flakes, but one of them (Hansel) seems to pick up the pellets and spit them back out again, same with the flakes. I have tried soaking the pellets before feeding, but get the same result. The other I hardly ever see hunt for food as Hansel does. I have tried feeding some shelled peas and lettuce as well, no results. Also Gretel seems to have gotten extremely fat in the past couple of days, and both the Pearlscales spend a lot of time hiding together in the corner behind my filter. I'm worried that they are either a) not getting enough food b) I'm not feeding them the correct things c) they are sick d) that one is pregnant (if she is pregnant I have no idea what I have to do to keep the babies alive!) Really hoping for some advice here as I don't want to lose my newbies! Thanks to anyone who can help. Lauren

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Jasmine Brough Hinesley - 2013-03-06
Usually if they spit out their food they either don't like that particular food or the pieces are too big. I would just keep an eye on them and see if the problem continues or if it appears they are actually not getting enough food. You may want to try a different brand of flake and/or smaller pellets. If babies do come then read here on Breeding Goldfish.
Linda - 2013-03-26
Hi Lauren! Where did you buy your pearlscales? I've been looking all over to buy some. Thanks.

Max miller - 2013-03-23
So i have a cory catfish tank it is a 80 right now and i have cory catfish and just a 3 inch eletric blue jack dempsy and at the pet shop the cichlid that is in the top is just 2 inch big will that be ok? And i have a bunch of hiding spots

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Jeremy Roche - 2013-03-24
Cory will more then likely end up getting a lot of harrassment.
Max miller - 2013-03-24
So can i keep them with him or her for a with the corys?
Clarice Brough - 2013-03-25
Coryadoras are very peaceful catfish, so if mixing them with cichlids... I'd keep a close eye out. Even though they do occupy different areas of the tank, they can still be at risk.
Max miller - 2013-03-26
So can i keep a tank divider in there like 40 gallons for corys and another for the cichlids

Ike - 2012-12-29
Hey, anyone have advice on keeping marble loaches? I need feeding, habitat, and tankmate information.-----------Help!

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Joel - 2013-03-26
Hello Ike, though this is an older question, thought I'd throw my 2cents in. We feed our BBL's Hikari sinking wafers, Cobalt shrimp pellets, and Omega One veggie rounds as their main diet. We also make sure they get snails often, and seedless cucumber as a treat. We also feed them frozen bloodworms and mysis and brine shrimp as treats. You really should consider getting a larger tank before they get bigger, maybe a 40g long ? you'll want to provide hiding places galore for any of the Botia loaches, and it's good to have some 'dither fish' as tankmates. The dithers give your loaches the 'all clear' to come out of hiding. If you only have 3 loaches, the alfa loach may pick on the others and they will be stressed constantly. I really would suggest 5 as a minimum. As far as tank mates, we've done well with peaceful tetras. We have 6 full grown diamond tetras in our loach tank, with 7 BBL's, and 7 Clowns. Just make sure your tank revolves around your loaches needs first. We are currently running 1 big canister filter, 2 'hanger' filters, and a 750gph powerhead. You really need to be turning your tank water over 10-15 times an hour for loaches as they do need pristine water. We've been doing 30-50% water changes every 1-2 weeks. Loaches can survive with less maintenance, but they won't be happy, and probably won't live a full life. They are also much more entertaining. Hope this helps.

Theresa - 2013-03-26
I have a Swordtail that I separated because she was about to have her babies. She had one that was born dead. About 2 hours later she had another stillborn. It has been 2 days and nothing else has happened. She still has the dark coloration like there are still babies there. But so did my Platty when she was done. Is it ever the case that it takes days sometimes for them to finish giving birth or can I assume she is finished at just 2 born dead?

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Jeremy Roche - 2013-03-26
I have never seen 2 days but anything possible. Any changes in water? Temp?

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