kirty

I recently bought a Jade Perch and a Tandanus Catfish for my 4ft tank. Both are doing really well (I LOVE the Perch, so much character!) but I wanted some advice on what to feed the Tandanus. Everything I've read said they are carnivorous however I'm still not sure exactly what to feed. The Perch is an eating machine and eats almost everything before it has a chance to sink, but clearly the Tandanus gets some food because he has grown. I currently feed them a combo of flakes, pellets and frozen brine shrimp. The Tandanus is very shy though and really only comes out at night, so I was thinking of getting some sinking pellets that I can drop in when I turn the light off at night. Does anyone else have these guys? Any suggestions on diet,

Thanks for the idea, but the tank houses an aggressive young perch who would have no trouble clearing the tank of snails lol! Love my perch but he views everything as food haha!

I'm having trouble with algae on some driftwood branches in my cold water tank. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get rid of it? Its brown wispy algae - I scrub it off when I clean the tank, but it comes back within weeks. I can't have algae eating fish because the resident fish is aggressive.

No idea sorry. Not sure if they are natives or weeds.

Thanks. The fish really seem to enjoy swimming through all the plants, and the plants are robust enough to withstand any 'nibbling' from the fish! It doesn't look like it in the photo, but the gravel is quite deep so once I buried the roots, the plants stayed put.

Finally did up my 4ft goldfish tank. Plants are from the local creek and seem very hardy (although only time will tell how they hold up!). Fish are very happy with the new set up. I got the idea for an open top on another forum. Before: After:

It was an ammonia spike. I didn't think to take a water sample before I changed the water that first night, but he said there was still ammonia. Weird thing is though, he said the general hardness was really high (he said normal is 7-8 drops and mine was 17) which is so odd because normally when I get my water tested I get told my water is very soft. So he said to do a 20% water change every 2-3 days for now, without adding any crystals, and to do the three-day regime with Cycle.

Good news, no more fatalities and fish all look happy. On my way to LFS to test water now. :)

Thanks for the advice. My angels have always been really healthy and they have grown a fair bit since I got them too, so it was really awful to find one dead. :(/>/> The platies were a few years old too, had them for ages. When I clean the tank, I always rinse the filter with some water from the tank. I have already ordered the test kit and I will make sure I use it regularly. I used to just get the water tested at the LFS every few months and its always been perfect. I am so scared to go home and check the tank. The remaining fish seemed much happier after the water change but who knows what 24hrs will do. :(/>/> ETA: I will definitely get the Eheim 2215 I think. From memory my tank is about 170L so that should be fine for it, especially if I keep the tank understocked, right?

I got home from work last night to find that almost half the fish in my 4ft community tank were dead. I am devastated, especially because I lost my beautiful white/gold angel. The fish were fine the day before and I only cleaned the tank two weeks ago (I normally do it every 3-4 weeks). I immediately did a 30% water change but I'm wondering if there is anything else I can do? I am at work today and I don't have a test kit, so I can't test the water until tomorrow. Should I do another water change tonight? A bit of background, my tank is an extra tall 4ft planted tank. I keep it understocked (2 angels, 2 small BNs and approx 10 platies) and the same fish have been living happily in there for over a year. I've never had any issues with the tank at all in that time, but I suspect the filter may be to blame. Its an older overhang filter and I think it may have stopped working properly because when I did the water change last night, the gravel seemed dirtier than usual and the water smelt 'off'. I have ordered a test kit and am going to buy a new filter tomorrow. Does anyone have any recommendations? I was thinking of an Eheim cannister filter? I'm so sad. :(

Any suggestions? The last one I went to is my fave by far, but I'm a bit put off now.

I'm setting up a new 4ft tank for axolotls. New filter media, new rocks, new everything. I am doing fishless cycling, same as I did with my 4ft tropical tank which has been running beautifully from day dot. Yes it may have taken a bit longer, but it worked for me. Anyway, I have taken my water in to be tested at TWO different LFS and both times I got laughed at and told to just put fish in the tank. I don't want to risk killing any fish and I certainly don't want to risk killing an axolotl! Just feeling a bit annoyed and starting to doubt myself. They also didn't want to test anything but pH and GH because they said it would be pointless. Really need to buy my own testing kit. :(

There are several different types of platies in the tank but she is by far the biggest. The other platies are normal platy size, she is a giant! There are babies in the tank and I know they are high-fins, but not sure if they are hers. She has no interest in them - well except as snacks.

Thanks guys. I did use hot water at first, but of course its gone cold now. I scrubbed off a bit of slime but otherwise it looks good. The water has stayed really clear so tannins don't seem to be a problem. It is about 75% sunk and my husband is complaining about having wood in the bath, so I'm going to put it in the tank tonight. :)

My 4ft tank is now fully stocked but I have noticed that one of my high-fin Platy girls is a right b*tch! She harasses the other fish and often 'claims' a spot which she will defend aggressively until she forgets about it. She is worse at feed time where she guards the entire top level of the tank! She is a gorgeous fish, but I want my tank to be harmonious! She is also the biggest by far and I am worried she will do some damage to the smaller fish. Should I return her to the shop? Can you return fish?