Pet Forum / Aquaria / Freshwater / June 2004

When do we need to have an algea eater?  And what type are the best?

OK, couple questions about platties.  Do they need to be fed veggies?
I have seen some cucumbers in LFSs' fish tanks.  DO I need cucumbers
in my tank?  And  I have three different styles of platie... one
female is the mickey variety another is gold wag tail and my male is a

A neighbour on hearing that I have a new aquarium being set up has told the
other half that he has some fish that he is looking to home.
Bearing in mind that I have a 40g tank and would like to have a Goldfish and
a Comet the fish he is offering are the following:

I'm hoping someone of you can help me diagnose what is wrong with my
aquarium: Tank has been set-up for about 10 months.
Set-up
20 gallon (long) tank

Having a problem with my Java Fern - many of the leaves seem to be
getting spotty and "eaten" away.  The plant is in a 2gal container
with my betta, the water levels are all right - ph 6.8 no ammonia or
nitrates... temp at 72 C.

Second batch, nearly a dozen.. They'd not been eating well, not sure why....
Last night when I went to feed them, I saw sevearal white bodies, floating
and some on the bottom... but a few were swimming... :-(
I picked up a body and examined it with a magnifying glass, and just ...

I recently moved back in with my family (my Father is ailing) and have
been given responsibility for my Dad's very fat Oranda Goldfish.  The
abridged version is:  He has had it for 6 months in a gallon tank
powered by an UGF and a power filter (which is for a 5 gallon tank).

I have recently acquired some guppies from a local big box petstore.  All
seemed to be going well until just recently. I lost one male to dropsy
(water's all OK, other fish seem(ed) to be fine).  Now I have a 2 females
with what looks like a red thread protruding from their anal ...

I'm setting up a new tank (my first, except for one I had as a kid 15
years ago) and I had a few questions.  Some details:
Tank is a 40 gallon breeder (36in X 18in X 16in)
Filter is a Penguin 330 (two wheels for bio-filter)

Question: Is it safe to mount an aquarium (20 gallons, long) so that it
rests on rails along the long sides, but not the short sides? From
eyeballing it it looks this should be safe, but a word or two of authority
would be reassuring.

My crayfish that I have had for about 4 months must have escaped! I
found it on the floor on its back about 5 feet from the tank :-(. I
put it in a bucket of water to see if might possibly have some life in
it. I am waiting to see if perhaps it might resurrect itself. (Highly

I seem to be getting conflicting info on whether to add salt to my new
freshwater aquarium.  My plan is to have a mix of platies, swordtails,
and cories.
Some of the things I'm reading say to add some salt for the

My wife and I are new to the aquarium world and setup our first aquarium a
couple of months ago.  We're having a terrible time getting the pH level
down to where it ought to be (we have a plain tropical, freshwater
aquarium - 46 gal).  It turns out that our municipal water is just ...

Male "flame" dwarf gourami has been looking a bit peaked & acting sluggish for
a couple weeks, today I noticed a 3/8" diameter fuzzy white circular growth on
his body.
I assumed fungus, and since my malachite green / formaldahyde ich med also

How much hiding space do I need to provide in my 120G.  The pleco, raphael
catfish and loaches only come out at night to play.
JOhn ><>