Goodness me. The minute we see something in the tank it's 'bad'! If you over feed then the trophic web expands or a few members increase in numbers. That's how life works. Just reduce the food a bit. Don't go reaching for poisons. The more critters you have in a tank the more stable and healthy it b...

Why UV-C? Ich has in its cycle a stadium of free swimming. In this stadium they infect the fishes and only in this stadium medical treatment is possible Metronidazole kills the trophozoite whilst still attached to the fish. The free swimming theronts are only affected by chemicals in the column suc...

>>Salt is always a good in combination with Metronidazol but not against Ich that not are a bacteria Metronidazole is an anti-parasitic. It is very effective against flagellated protozoans such as ich, hence the name Flagyl. Metronidazole is one of the rare examples of a drug developed against a par...

My BN will chase any fish in the tank, for a distance of an inch or so, then he skulks back to his algae wafer. That's about as violent as get gets. Corys wont pass up a sick fish either.
Oh yes, it's all cuteness and frolicking, but get sick just once...

Good to hear. I had one little fellow I shocked by letting him get cold. (unforgivable) Since it is difficult to diagnose the pathogen, I simply treated with Stress-guard and API's Melafix and let him fight it off. Which he did - just. He's still a bit raggedy in the looks department though.

Don't wait for it to reach 0.25ppm. Keep changing every other day. Use an ammonia binder. IMO, your tank is not stable yet. On new tanks I use Prime and Stability as directed, Water changes 5 - 10% daily and prefer to get some live matrix and some small amount of live gravel from an existing tank. T...

I've seen this behaviour in two of my three Ancistrus. If they are quite hungry after the 'scarce food days' they will appear for food drops. They are both about 12 month old. Any movement around the tanks sends them into hiding. The young one is less inhibited and can be seen on the glass etc. The ...

As Bas said, it looks like advanced tail fin rot.
I'd remove him from the tank and try and treat in a QT.
There is some speculation it's contagious.
That one might not end well regardless.

Zap over to Conamara in the height of summer. See what's in the creeks and streams. Look for gravel in the bends. See what plants grow in the sunny shallows and measure the temperature of the shallows at midday. If you find plants and flora that will handle 24C you have a great supply of stuff and a...

Wild
Cano de La Libertad, Colombia
Notice the substrate.

The benthic zone and corydoras. The substrate of rivers and stream beds varies as they descend from the headwaters. Generally, the closer to the source the coarser the substrate. The faster the current the more finer particles are carried further down to be deposited as the current slows. However, e...

It's up to you, but if you make a list of your interventions it is quite long. Corys in the wild live a fairly uneventful life. It can takes weeks for stress effects in fish to subside. Tank changes, water changes, netting and string of medications can be deadlier than the original pathology. Like I...

I've been doing this directly in the tank, not outside. That's how it should be done from what I understand. Risky. I would never do that in a live tank, only a 'treatment' tank. At 1 - 1.5ppm It would destroy the benthic zone and all the biofilm, proteobacteria, flora and biodiversity I've careful...

A few people treat with chloramine. My concern is that it may kill the bacteria directly on the fish but you need to then put it into a completely clean isolation tank. No point throwing it back in where the organism is still present. To my mind it is all a bit stressful. Like chemo, and I suspect s...

Thanks papwalker. How high should I raise it for corys and for how long? not above 30 for a few days. It's a little dependent on the species but most should handle 30 without too much stress. Scaring and erosion to fins and barbels can be long-term to permanent. So a fish may look infected when it'...

Regarding barbel erosion and high bioload substrate read this... http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/corydoras-genus Also consider that the river bed in the natural habitat of many corys is not a productive medium for plants. It is nutrient poor. Even in the flooded forests the soil is nothing to write...

A lot of aquatic bacteria don't like high temps (Myco being one) although sometimes there is an initial benefit to the organism, eventually the higher temps up-regulate a fishes inflammatory and immune response. Finn, J. P. and Nielsen, N. O. (1971), The effect of temperature variation on the inflam...

High nitrates? AFAIK this sort of thing is nearly always a water quality issue. Four weeks seems a long time for symptoms to manifest from substrate issues. I am surprised you suspect ammonia from substrate unless it has a very high bioload. The question then becomes why is your filter not cleaning ...

@lurch1000 I use peatmoss from the gardening shop. Looks a bit like potting mix. Sphagnum moss from same. Indian Almond Leaves from http://www.indianalmondleaves.com.au Two cups peat and 10 leaves and one cup sphag. I simmer my mix. A lot of guys don't. The tanks are yellow / weak tea. Worked a trea...

@bwiskered sturbai and brevirostris These little beggars are stubborn. Cold low ion water is not enough so I hit them with the full treatment. I even wait for a low pressure system and storms. (thunder gods?) I really hope I get no hybrids. Also the rotten juvenile Ancistrus has sucked some eggs thr...

The corys are in the 60L Yes the treatment has lowered ph from 7.2 to 6.6 via tanic / humic acids etc. Add more and down it goes again. My 'Orinoco tea' is pH 4.4 The addition of fresh rainwater for a 10% change will reduce the hardness as might the Almond Leaves etc. I do the 10% changes daily and ...

Can people see 'my tanks' for stats or do I need to post it all here?

I don't remember how to add pics here. LOL
Shameful for a software guy.
Ive added an attachment(s).
Can you add multiple images?

Pleased to see my regime of 'forrest flooding' has worked again. Added Aqua Master Blackwater Extract, Indian Almond Leaves (two weeks prior), my orinoco tea (simmered mix of almond leaves, peatmoss and sphagnum moss) cold rainwater, brine shrimp, increased oxygenation and some rainwater tank scum w...

Found one in the 15 gal community tank. 3/4 inch.
Possibly others hiding, its a jungle of plants and wood.
Anyone have an idea of the age at that length???

I've was told my cat is a gold marble. A claro one would think.
I've now been told it's cross between a gold BN and a Marble BN thus gold marble...
(cough)

That leaves the all new Long finned Gibby explaination.
Can't wait.

Crap! Now I have two unidentified misidentified fish. Either these dealers have no clue or don't care. I can find no ref here for longfin or "long fin" Personally I quite like both fish, but I prefer correct ID so as to know how big they get and any gotchas. I may as well close this accoun...

Roll on the day we have a 10 second DNA test kit from Sera / Tetra et al

@med90 The same guy in Sydney sold me a Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps. he's only an inch long. What I immediately noticed was the long, almost outsized fins, like little veils. Much longer fins than the alleged LDA08. He's a bit darker and more reclusive as well. The fins look much longer than the cat ...

I've posted images in What's My Catfish?