Deviedra

This is just for tonight, as for some reason my heater has blown after almost a year of use. The light flickers on and off for about 30s after it is plugged in, and then it stops completely. I have a 50w that I used for a hospital tank months ago and I was wondering if this would be able to keep the tank heated just until tomorrow. It is a 1 year old 30gal - probably only filled up to 28gal with 15 fish in (X-ray tetras, Black Phantoms and two kinds of Corydoras).

My 5 (4 now) Sterba's Corys live in a 30gal 3ft long tank together with 6 Black Phantom Tetra and 6 X-ray Tetra.

The tank was started up in June/July this year so it's been running for a while now without any problems up 'til today.

I finished stocking the tank in September so whatever killed my Cory wasn't from a newly introduced fish.

At 2:30am they visually all seemed fine, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. They were fed and all of them came out to the front of the tank to feed as usual.

At 6:30am-ish I spot one of the two females on her back on the substrate with a red circular shaped hole on her underside - though I did see two of the other catfish trying to feed off of her - and a dark orange patch on each side.

I took her out to examine her and only where the orange patches are, her scales are raised in like a chevron shape ( ^ <-- that) pattern.

My water conditions:

Temperature: 24 C

Water is half treated hard tap water, half soft bottled water. (I'm not sure on the overall hardness, I think it's about 12-16 degrees)

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 20ppm

The last water change was last Saturday (the tank's due for another change this Saturday)

I have no idea what could have killed her, but I think it might be something internal. I'm monitoring the remaining catfish just to make sure they're healthy. Any ideas?

I read quite a bit about BPT's before purchasing some; several people said they nip, more people said they don't. When I bought them, I know that only one of them had slightly damaged dorsal and anal fins. Four weeks later, two more have fin damage but it is only the dorsal fins. I've seen them chasing each other around a lot but I've never seen them nip at one another (unless it was done while was asleep). Is there a particular reason why they're nipping each other? They're in a group of six, soon to be eight, and they've only just started doing it.

They've been in a group of six since the 14th of August.

They're living with a small group of X-ray Tetra (three at the moment, I got them last week and I'm going by a 3-4 fish per week rule until my tank is fully stocked) but they don't bother the BPTs as far as I've seen (just got three more today).

They're in a 30gal planted tank with many hiding areas and I've had no problems with illnesses/diseases.

Advice would be much appreciated. I can give more details if needed.

This is probably the cheapest option I have to reduce water hardness in my 30gal. The water hardness is over 200ppm and I can't afford a deionizer and I can't have Reverse Osmosis installed in the house. The kind of water I hoped to use for softening the water is "5litre Ashbeck Still mineral water" - obviously more than one bottle of it which is something like 2 for £2.50 or something... and I only plan to alternate between tap water and this bottled water, so one week or two weeks - 20% water change with tap water, the next two weeks water change with bottled water and so on. Would this be harmful to the future fish (still cycling my tank for them at the moment, it's been cycling for 13 days) or could I do this? I really don't have another option as far as reducing water hardness goes.

I've been shopping around for something to reduce water hardness in my tank (The levels are way over 200ppm even with a lot of peat granules in the filter) and because I'm on a low budget, I'm looking for the cheapest option. I found this and I couldn't find any reviews for it. Has anyone ever used this before?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquarium-Pharmaceuticals-T...

There are very few details provided by the seller, such as how long each cartridge lasts (they're about £45 each...) and how exactly it works.

I'm looking for a water purifier/deionizer but I cannot spend more than £100 on one... nor can I have one fitted in the house.

I am using the API liquid test kit (not the strips). Four days ago, my ammonia levels were at 4ppm, nitrites at 5ppm, nitrates at 40ppm. Two days ago, my ammonia levels were at 1ppm (added more broken up fish flakes into the tank 'cause I'm cycling it with fish food), nitrites at 5ppm, nitrates at 20-40ppm. Today, ammonia (despite the amount of fish flakes I put in) is at 0.25ppm, nitrites are at 5ppm and nitrates are at 5ppm. I'm following the test instructions to the last letter and cleaning my test tubes in dechlorinated water after each use. So what exactly is happening? Is there another type of bacteria lowering the nitrate levels? Is the ammonia being converted in to nitrite overnight so that the levels of nitrite stay high and ammonia falls in 1-2 days? Those are the two reasons I was thinking of but can you tell me any different or confirm this? My tank is a 30gal tropical and the temperature is 27-28 degrees (only while I'm cycling it. I got a tip that bacteria do better in warmer temperatures during the cycle). My tank has been running for 9-10 days.

So with my stock chosen, I wanted consider a centre piece fish - perhaps two of its kind if possible. I have a planted (mostly java fern) 30gal (3ft long) tank with an Eheim 2213 classic canister and I'm still waiting on a new water pump. The tank should have soft-ish water at pH7 with a temperature of 24 degrees (25 max) if that helps.

Current chosen stock:

5 Sterbai Cory

8 Leopard Danio

8 Black Phantom Tetra (or Flame Tetra, depending on what's available at my LFS)

I cannot have a Betta fish, I'll say that now. I go on 2 sometimes 3 week family holidays and I'd be too worried about it getting fin rot while I'm away and unable to do water changes (wouldn't dare trust my neighbours to do it and I don't have any friends or family that live close).

Fish considered:

2 Dwarf Gourami

2 Rams

Yeah, my ideas are pretty limited. Could I have a few suggestions?

Tank info again:

Eheim 2213 Classic canister filter

110 litres (29.9 US gal)

Dimensions are 36''(roughly 90cm)x 16''(roughly 40cm) x 12''(roughly 30cm)

pH will be at 7 max

Temperature at 25 max

Water will be softened (due to ridiculously high calcium levels in the water, probably with peat in the filter)

Lighting 250W day bulb (I think. It has a kind of purple-ish light)

Planted tank (4 Java ferns planned, still deciding on others unless this is adequate)

5 Sterbai Cory

1 Rainbow Shark

8 Leopard Danios

8 Black Phantom Tetra

Okay, opinions? Overstocked or well stocked? Good stock idea or not? Which fish would you take out of either of those lists (based on compatibility, not personal preference) and which would you recommend instead? If it's possible for me to add more, what else should I add (e.g. more of one of the listed species or another species)?

Just to quickly add, I'm not really looking for a centre piece fish and I'm not particularly fond of Bettas.

Thanks for your time, even if it's just reading this.

I own an American Staffordshire Bull Terrier (cross I think), she's 2 years old and she's always snorting. She snorts when she inhales before barking, she snorts in her sleep (sometimes it's so loud I wake her because it sounds like she's having trouble breathing), she snorts while sitting upright, sometimes while eating and when sniffing around the floor. It pretty much sounds like she has something stuck in her nasal passages. I also have a shorter male English Staffy (crossed with a Norfolk Terrier) and he never snorts. I've never really heard a Staffy snorting before so I don't know if it's just a characteristic of their breed. I know there are dogs that are Brachycephalic and snort a lot but are staffies? Is it a problem or doesn't it affect her at all?

Here's a photo of her if it helps any: http://i43.tinypic.com/n3ofbp.jpg

Yeah I'm not big on poisoning animals or breaking their necks with traps or having them exterminated etc. My young American STB sniffed out a rat this morning (which everyone knew was in the garden and knew they were supposed to keep the back door shut!) behind one of the bookshelves and sure enough, as soon as she barked at it, it scampered out of its hiding place, across the kitchen and into the next room to hide behind the washing machine. I've blocked the only exit to this room to prevent it from roaming the house and possibly wandering into the jaws of my Staffy - who's still looking for it. I don't have any rat traps to hand (or those cages that capture them without killing them) for obvious reasons and I'm not going to poison it. How best to go about capturing it? I have a pet carrier (used for guinea pigs) to hand which I contemplated putting food in to lure it out and catch it in but any other bright ideas?

Do NOT just say that the only way to get rid of it is to kill it or put poison down. Not doing it. Nope. I'd rather release it at the lakes nearby and let it carry on living there (probably to become food for a fox or something).

So after my previous question was answered, I decided to look at purchasing an Ehiem classic 2213 for my 190 litre (40gal) Juwel tank (not a corner tank, has built in lighting in the lid). However in my area the water is classed as "very hard" (the entire city is built on chalk basically and used to have chalk mines).

To give an idea of how hard the water is: Calcium Carbonate = 383 mg/l ---- Calcium 153.2 mg/l.

(The water is only treated with Chlorine which I guess is a bonus)

After a bit of research I found out that peat can be used as a water softner, and I browsed Amazon to find something called Sera super peat (500g).

My first question, if it is suitable for the tank and filter, where in the canister filter would you put it (i.e. top, middle or bottom and what goes above it or beneath it)?

Secondly, how would I prepare/soften the water before adding more to the tank during a water change or do I just put it in and let the filter sort it out?

Thirdly, how much would I need to add to the filter for it to soften the water adequately (all the fish species I have chosen live in soft water)?

And finally will it affect the colour of the water?

I will edit this to add more questions if necessary, but that's all I can think of now.

I'm looking for a filter suitable for a 190 litre tank and I saw this one (which is said to be suitable for 100-200 litres) but I cannot find reviews for it. The tank will have 24 fish in it when it is stocked including tetras (3cms), danios(5cms), corys(7cms) and one pleco(12cms+). Have you used one? What's your experience with one? Or, can you recommend one to me that is -not- a Juwel filter?

I have a 3ft Juwel tank with the dimensions 36'' x 12'' x 16'' and I am considering my stocking options at the moment. The tank will be at 22 degrees C and at ph 7

I've come up with this one but I want to know if something should be swapped out or what would be better instead of one or more of the fish I've chosen, or if it is over/under stocked

6 rummynose tetras

4 golden barbs

3 sterba's corys

1 albino pleco

What plants should I consider purchasing for these fish?

I'm planning to purchase a 60 litre aquarium soon and I've been looking at different pet fish species in the local pet store. These little creatures caught my eye, but so did the fact that they can grow to 32 centimetres. Would a 60 litre be enough for two of them? I'm also considering purchasing three black finned sharks (which according to the store, they grow to 24 centimetres) too, and I've not yet decided on other species.

I'd also like to know which species can live together with the albino plecos and the black finned sharks and can also be fed on fish flakes.