Chaos!

Okay, as of yesterday I've been having random problems with Flash. It started when I went to a website to play some flash games. All of them work fine...except for one, which gave me an error message and told me I needed to get flash. So I clicked the link to get it, figuring I needed the latest version or something, which was 10, and downloaded it. It told me my installation was successful, although I never saw the "installation movie" I was supposed to. I went back to play the flash game...same problem. I rebooted my computer...didn't work. I uninstalled and reinstalled...still nothing. Now I've noticed that a bunch of pages that use flash aren't working for me anymore, like YouTube. I've checked my internet security settings to make sure I've got the proper things enabled, and I do.

Any idea what the problem could be, and why flash would randomly stop working in some places out of the blue while still working in others?

I know that carbon in filters neutralizes medication, but I also know that carbon only works for so long before it becomes saturated. The carbon in the filter pads of my 20 gallon filter is at least 3 months old. I'm planning to treat my tank with a combo of Maracyn/Maracyn II starting tomorrow to treat a few cases of finrot that have suddenly sprung up. Do I need to worry about the carbon? I don't know how I would take it out without taking out the filter pads themselves, which I obviously don't want to do.

I recently found a new home for all my white cloud fry. However, I have to ship them there, and I've never shipped fish before. I want to use breather bags and an insulated box, but that's all I know.

Can anyone with experience tell me, step-by-step and in detail, how you would go about shipping roughly 25 half-grown white cloud mountain minnows from Boston to Connecticut? And also where I can get the supplies I need?

Okay, two questions:

1.) I bought a pair of kribs from PetCo (I know, I know, but I don't have a lot of choice around here) about 2-3 weeks ago. The female started courting the male almost immediately, and a few days ago I noticed the female acting secretive and the male being more aggressive than normal. Yesterday I discovered that they had a small herd of fry underfoot! And on their first spawn, too ^_^.

They've both been very attentive parents, taking turns baby-sitting the little ones. It's really fun to watch. I was just wondering, though, should I feed the babies? Right now they seem to be "grazing" on the substrate, and it's a pretty mature tank--almost a year old--so they're should be plenty of micro-critter goodies down there. However, I've heard about feeding them crushed up bits of flake or fry food with a turkey baster? Should I do that, or will they find enough food on their own? If I SHOULD do it, when should I start? They're about 2 days old ATM.

2.) I just came back from my LFS with a few shrimp--two Amano shrimp and something the guy called a "whisker shrimp". Now, I know taking advice from pet store employees is risky at best, but this guy owns the place and actually does know what he's talking about. So I'm usually pretty comfortable getting info from him.

I knew about Amanos already, but I specifically asked if the whisker shrimp would be alright with Amanos and cherries, as well as white clouds, since that's what it'd be living with. He assured me they'd be fine together, and so off I went.

However, I looked up whisker shrimp online and found out my guy is a Macrobrachium species, and that they can be rather predatory. Mostly I'm worried about my other shrimp and the white cloud fry. The shrimp is about 2 inches long and does have very small claws, and looks pretty much just like this (scroll down a bit):

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/shrimp...

I tried to get some pics of my own, but I don't know shrimp-speak for "hold still, dammit" and my cameras not great. I will upload them if they're needed, though. I'm willing to give the shrimp its own tank since it is pretty neat-looking, and I do have an empty 5.5 gallon sitting around. Thoughts?

I have a pair of kribs in my 55 gallon planted tank, and I recently went away on vacation for a week. When I came back, I was startled (and amused) to see that someone had been redecorating my tank. Piles of substrate had been pushed back from the front of the glass to form a little "mountain range" in the center of the tank.

I immediately suspected the kribs, but I've heard that they aren't diggers since they spawn in caves. Still, they seem like the likely culprits--am I right to assume this?

I should probably get them some more caves, the female's been vibrating at the male for a while now...and I don't need new landscaping, lol.

A few weeks ago I bought four volcano rasboras from a LFS and added them to my 55 gallon tank. One of them looked a little iffy--skinnier than the others and a little less active--but they only had 4 and rasboras are schooling fish, so I wanted them all. A few days after I bought him, I noticed that he had developed "pinecone" scales and figured he was a gonner.

However, a week later, his scales had smoothed out and he started to gain a little weight, and is more active. He's still skinnier than my other 3, but otherwise he seems fine.

I thought pinecone scales were only a symptom of dropsy--what could have caused them in my rasbora, and why did he suddenly recover with no special treatment?

I love licorice gouramis, especially Parosphromenus filamentosus, Parosphromenus harveyi, Parosphromenus nagyi, and Parosphromenus deissneri, and I'd love to get a pair at some point in the future.

However, I've heard that they're super delicate and hard to care for. Has anyone had any experience with them? What's the "hardiest" species? If you were setting up a licorice gourami tank, how would you go about it?

I've got a few Volcano rasboras in my 55 gallon, and unfortunately I haven't been able to find a lot of info on them. They were actually labled as "Volcano tetras" at my LFS. The only pictures I could find are here:

http://www.rva.ne.jp/cogata/volcano_rasbora.htm

Mine are nicer-looking than that, which much more orange-red coloration on their fins, and are a little less skinny and more robust looking, but you get the idea.

I was watching them tonight, and I saw some interesting behavior. Two of them were hovering parallel next to each other, and their fins were spread out as far as they could go. Suddenly they moved closer until they were actually touching and starting doing a synchronized, exaggerated full-body wiggle. This lasted for a few seconds, then the two fish swam apart. It was pretty cool to watch.

Anyone have any idea what that was? Territorial display, spawning behavior, etc.? I have yet to see them do it again.

I also spotted a single fry of some sort clinging to the glass. I've got a male and female zebra danio in there, and I saw them spawning in the willow moss a few weeks ago, so I figured it must be a danio fry, although it was twice as big as my white cloud fry are when they're in the glass-clinging stage. The rasboras are bigger than the danios, though, so I wonder if it could be a rasbora fry?

I've got a well-planted 10 gallon tank that's currently home to 8 adult white clouds and a small swarm (~20) of their half-grown fry. There are also the usual army of pond snails, and 3 red cherry shrimp.

Lately, I've been thinking of moving/re-homing the white clouds and putting something else in the tank. I've been wanting some spike-tailed paradise fish (Pseudosphromenus dayi) and sparkling gouramis (Trichopsis pumila) for a while now. Would they work together in a planted 10 gallon? How many of each should I get? I was thinking 1-2 spike-tails and 3 sparklers. Will they bother the shrimp? What would be the ideal temperature for the tank?

What's the best way to catch very fast fish in a fairly well-planted 55g? Because I've got 3 CAEs in there (yes, I know, yikes) that need to find new homes. When I got them (almost a year ago), I had SAEs and CAEs mixed up and thought I was getting the smaller, more peaceful one. Ha. Yeah. That's why we research before we buy, kids! Anyway, they're now 5+ inches of sheer terror. They've kept most of their aggression between each other and even then it's generally minor territorial spats, but these guys still need to go. The problem is, I can't CATCH the little buggers. They're insanely fast. They also have plenty of hiding spots.

Is there any way to trap them? Slow them down? I don't want to hurt them or stress them out too much, but I'd like them out ASAP.

I've got two lyretailed swordtails in my 55g, a male and female. The male is fine, as are all the other fish, but the female is acting strangely. She's still eating and active, but about every 30 seconds she does a sudden, spasmodic "dart". I noticed she has a slightly strange-looking patch of scales on her side--it looks like there's a small bump covered by a clear membrane, with something white underneath it near the top. I tried getting pictures, but it's hard to see:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword0...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword0...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword0...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/sword0...

I'm thinking it's a parasite of some sort, but I'm not sure. Any ideas?

One of the fish in my 20 gallon planted tank has popeye. As soon as I saw it I did a 50% water change and added 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt. I also tested my water, which is fine: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 10/20 nitrate. None of the other fish are showing the slightest hint of illness. I want to treat him with a combo of Maracyn/Maracyn II, since I've read that popeye is often a symptom of a bacterial infection.

The problem is, I don't have a quarantine tank ATM. The best I could do would be to put him in a 3 gallon tank with a brand new sponge filter, which won't do much good. So I need to treat him in the 20 gallon.

Will the medication affect my plants? How about by biological filtration? I've heard it's supposed to leave that alone, but I want to make sure. Has anyone ever treated popeye before and can give me some advice?

The fish is a rainbow darter, BTW. He's still active and eating fine, so no worries there.

Last night, I looked into my 20 gallon tank wand was alarmed to see that my rainbow darter had popeye on both eyes. One is significant'y worse than the other, but they're both bulging. The bad eye had a small reddish spot on the bottom of it, and there was a dark mass on top. The other eye was just bulging a bit. He has no other symptoms, and is still just as active and colorful as ever. He's also eating fine. None of the other fish have any symptoms of illness.

I immediately did a 50% water change and added two tablespoons of aquarium salt to the tank to try and draw out some of the fluid. Today, the less severe eye looks a little better, although it's still not normal. The reddish spot has faded and the dark mass has gotten lighter on the other eye. They still look bad, though.

Water parameters:

ammonia - 0 ppm

nitrite - 0 ppm

nitrate - 10/20 ppm (couldn't quite tell)

temp - 73 degrees F (the temp is fine, I've got coldwater and cold tolerant fish in the tank)

Tankmates are 5 panda corys, 5 rainbow shiners, and 5 threadfin rainbowfish. I've also got a lot of live plants. Filter is rated for 50 gallons and the tank's been established for about a year and a half.

Is there anything else I should do? I was thinking of treating the tank with Maracyn II since I read that popeye is often caused by gram-negative bacteria. I do not have a quarantine tank ready ATM, so that's not an option. Will Maracyn II affect my plants or bio filtration?

I've never treated popeye before, so any info is appreciated...I really love my little darter and I want to do anything I can for him. This seemed to just spring up out of the blue...

Okay, a few questions:

1.) My 10 gallon tank is very tannin stained from the driftwood I have in there. Unlike most people, I really like this effect. However, it does present a problem--how do I test for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate? The brown water distorts the test colors, and I'd rather not use strips since they're not as accurate.

2.) This is going to sound like kind of a strange question, but...I've got 3 bronze and 5 panda corys in my 20 gallon, and they both spawn almost EVERY night, especially the pandas. They can't wear themselves out doing this, can they? Will this overly stress the females? They all look fine, are very active and eat like pigs, and I certainly don't know how I could STOP them from spawning. I know it's normal for corys to spawn all the time in fish tanks, and it's cool to watch, I just want to make sure it's not causing any stress, primarily for the females. Again, I know, weird question--I'm just paranoid about my fish, heh.

I've got a 10 gallon unheated planted tank with 8 adult white cloud mountain minnows (and lots of snails...). Yesterday I found some Florida flagfish at PetCo, and I'd LOVE to get one for the 10g. I've got plenty of hair algae in there for them to munch on, too.

The only problem is that I've also got a ton of white cloud fry in the tank as well, since the adults spawn like rabid bunnies. The parents don't eat them, but will the flagfish? I could always move them to a separate tank, but they're doing great in the 10g, with plenty of infusoria and crushed up flakes to eat. The biggest fry are about 1/2" and look like little fish, with visible dorsal, pectoral and anal fins and an iridescent streak running down their sides. The smallest fry are tiny little new hatched wigglers clinging to the glass. I'll probably have more soon, too, since I watched yet another spawn tonight. They're all still small enough to be eaten, however. I was planning on adopting them out when they were big enough.

So will a flagfish eat them?

I went to PetCo for supplies today, and when I was done I wandered over to look at the fish. In one of the tanks I found some Pseudomugil signifer, or signifer rainbowfish/pacific blue-eye.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/chelmon/Signifer.ht...

I got three males (I may go back for the other male and the lone female, since I know they're schooling fish). I plan to put them in my 20 gallon tank, but I just want to make sure they're compatible with the fish I already have in there:

6 threadfin rainbowfish

5 panda corys

5 juvenile rainbow shiners (1/2"-1")

The tank is planted and filtered with a penguin bio-wheel 200, rated for up to 50 gallons. It's been established for over a year. Here's a few pics (ignore the breeding net, I'm just using it to house some cory eggs while I set up a grow-out tank):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/tandr0...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/tandr0...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/tandr0...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/Runan/tandr0...

(It'll look nicer once the plants have started to fill in and the hygrophila compacta in the back grows taller.)

Will the signifers harass/fin-nip my other fish, or vice-versa? I do have a 55 gallon community tank they could go in if they absolutely have to, but I'd really rather keep them in the 20 gallon.

I have a group of five panda corys in my 20g tank that spawn regularly. Usually I just leave the eggs where they are, and sooner or later they become lunch. So I figured I'd never get any fry.

Well, yesterday I was moving some rocks around in my tank when I saw something tiny wiggling around on the sand. I took a closer look and sure enough, it was a panda cory fry! At least a few days old, too, since he wasn't newborn size. He vanished before I could scoop him out, and I haven't seen him since, but I did find two eggs stuck to the underside of one of the rocks. So I gently scooped them up and put them in a breeder net.

I'm pretty sure both are viable, since they have dark "crescent" looking things inside them, and a few minutes ago I even saw one twitch.

So here are my questions:

1.) How long do you think it will take them to hatch at this stage?

2.) I don't have any sort of separate growout tank set up yet. Would they be fine in the breeder net for a while? If so, for how long? Could they stay in there until they're large enough to join the main tank?

3.) I also don't have any live cultures going, so what can I feed the fry? I was thinking of using special fry food, like Hikari's first bites or something--would that work?

I've never raised fry before, so this is sort of a spur of the moment thing. I know my gazillions of white cloud fry seem to be doing just fine on their own...now if only I could figure out what to DO with them all...

I just used some aquarium sealant to glue some rocks together, which I'm going to use as a decoration in one of my tanks. How long should I wait before putting it in the water? Can it go in tomorrow, or should I wait another day?

I've got 8 white clouds in an unheated 10g planted tank. The water temp usually stays around 75-76. I figured that might be too warm for spawning, since I know they like it cooler than that.

Well, today I happened to glance into the tank and what do you know, I've got babies! At least 20+ fry, less than a quarter of an inch long. I have no idea when they hatched, but I figure it can't have been more than a few days ago. They must be eating infusoria around the plants.

Of course, now I'm not quite sure what to *do* with them. I have no room to keep them, and somehow I just can't bring myself to feed them to the bettas and paradise fish. So I'd like to try raising as many as I can catch.

I was thinking I'd go out and get a 5 gallon tank, fill it with java moss/anacharis/hornwort and the like, and pop an airstone in. However, any more specific details on how to raise them would be helpful, since this is the first time I've had to deal with baby fish! (But probably not the last, considering how plump the WC females still look...)

I just got 5 juvenile rainbow shiners for my 20g, and they're currently acclimating and pretty much ready to go into the tank. However, I have a few quick questions. First, the smallest of them is only about 3/4" long, and I currently have two danios in the tank. The danios are going to be moved (as soon as I can catch them...), but I just wanted to make sure it was safe to put my shiners in the tank now--the danios won't try to eat it, will they? I tend to doubt it, since I think it's a bit too big, but I just wanted to be sure. I also have some corys in the tank--they won't try to eat it either, will they? Again, I doubt it, I'm just paranoid.

Second, A few of them are just small enough to fit through the slits on the filter intake. I can't imagine the suction is very strong, but I just wanted to make sure my fish weren't in danger of being sucked in. I don't currently have any sponges or pantyhose handy, either, or I'd use those.

Third, I have the water temp at hair below 74 degrees right now. Does that sound about right?