andieb

I checked them today, and I think I might be seeing the start of some embryos!! I could be wrong, not really sure what I'm looking at here.

Thank you @Guppysnail, I'll keep a close eye for any that look unfertilized over the next few days, and remove them if necessary. I checked in the caves with a flashlight for any other eggs and didn't see any, I heard that males can sometimes kick out eggs if they are inexperienced. I'm considering ordering an egg tumbler if you guys think that would give the eggs a better chance of surviving - assuming they are fertilized.

Hello! A couple years ago I got some L471 Dwarf Snowball Plecos. Today, I found some eggs that had been kicked out of a cave!!! I'm not even sure if they're fertilized or even still alive. Here's a pic of the eggs when I found them: I don't have any experience with breeding plecos, but would LOVE to raise these fry successfully if possible, and would really appreciate any advice you guys have! Thank you so much in advance. I have a few questions right off the bat: I don't have an egg tumbler but I read that a breeder box can work. So I've made the following set up: A ziss breeder box, lined with a catappa leaf, an airstone wrapped in a sponge (the bubbles coming out were large, so I was hoping the sponge would make smaller, more spread out bubbles). I positioned some rocks to hold the eggs close to the airstone. I added some cherry shrimps to the box since I read that they can help eat any dead eggs before they get moldy and infect the other eggs. Here's a pic of the set up with the airstone off since the bubbles were blocking the view. Here are my questions: Does all of this sound sufficient? Any changes, omissions, additions I should make? The eggs are sitting beside the airstone, not on top of the bubbles. Will the eggs still get the benefits of the airstone or should I find a way to reposition them on top of the bubbles more like an egg tumbler? Anything I should do to prepare for when they hatch? Foodwise, I've got frozen daphnia, frozen baby brine shrimp, hichari first bites... I have a lot of different stuff, just not sure what they'll be able to eat or when to start feeding. Thank you so much!!! I'll keep you updated! My fingers are crossed and I will try my best to have these babies survive.

Thanks Colu and Fish Folk! Just an update: I did more frequent water changes and his colour is coming back. Also, Colu, I think you may be right about his scales getting rubbed off, because a lot of snails had gotten into the pleco caves and he was pretty wedged in there. He was frequently waving his tail trying to dislodge the snails, so I also cleared the snails out of the caves. Thanks for your help and sorry for the delay in my reply.

Hi everyone! I was away this past weekend and when I got home I noticed my L471 pleco had developed some grey patches on it's sides that weren't there before the weekend. I decided to watch it for a couple days and today I noticed that his dorsal and tail fins appeared to have something that looks like fin rot. I'd really appreciate a second opinion on what this could be and maybe some advice on treating it. Sorry the pictures are not the best, my phone camera is not great. On the dorsal fin its an even grey line of rot but on the tail fin it's a little more ragged so I'm thinking its a combination of bacterial and fungal. In measuring the water parameters for this post I realized that nitrates are absolutely through the roof and the temperature is really low! I had no idea and I'm thinking this is definitely what's caused my pleco to get sick. I don't know why the temp suddenly dropped (it's supposed to be at 81 F, and it's at 77 F), I think the heater might be dying. Luckily I had a back up heater. I've also done a big water change immediately to lower the nitrates. But not sure what to do to help the pleco directly. Veery much appreciate your help! Thank you in advance. pH: 7.0 (test strips and liquid test) Nitrates: 40 ppm - 80 ppm (test strips and liquid test) ** way too high** Hardness: 160 ppm (test strip) Nitrite: 0 ppm (test strip) Ammonia: 0 ppm (test strips and liquid test) KH/Buffer: 40 ppm (test strip) Water Temperature: 77 F (supposed to be 81 F) Side note (I tend to ramble so I'm putting all the unnecessary information in this side note): I'm really surprised about the nitrates however since i was away this weekend I missed my normal weekly tank cleaning. This tank also houses my pea puffer who kills a lot of snails. Maybe the dead snails is causing nitrates to accumulate really fast. In future I think I will check for and remove dead snails daily. I'm also going to add a sponge filter to the tank, in addition to the existing hang-on-back. Will just have to really keep on top of my water changes. I feel bad that I let this happen.

I think I found the stand online for sale, it appears that it is sold as an aquarium stand if that helps at all. https://www.thefishroom.net/products/tropical-iron-wrought-iron-aquarium-stand-36-x-18-50g

Awe poor guy. I wish we could trade males because I have a really timid female and two very boisterous males that scare her

When I had mystery snails, I had a hard time seeing inside the shell, so I'd use the colour of the shell to tell males from females. It worked even when they were pretty young. I had white apple snails though so it might be harder to see if the shell is darker. Image from: http://www.applesnail.net/content/anatomy/reproduction.php ^ I found this website very helpful when I was caring for apple snails.

@laritheloud maybe the submissive honey gourami went into hiding because there's no way to swim away and escape when he's constantly chased. In the wild, he might have swam away and ended up in a different group where he fits in a bit higher up the pecking order. Is the 20 gallon that you're cycling for a specific purpose? If he improved once he's by himself, maybe you could keep him in there? You could move which ever female is more submissive into the 20 gal too and see if the two shyer ones coexist better. I feel like the things that influence hierarchy and aggression are transient - like who's in breeding mode, who's paired off, who's just joined the group etc. Like maybe the addition of the new female made the more dominant male even more motivated to chase off rivals - but in a tank the rival has no where to go, he's stuck. So maybe the submissive male is in a state of "learned helplessness" cause he can't do anything without getting chased and he can't escape either so he's just hiding. I have a hunch that to some extent, the submissive behaviour (sneaking around and running away when confronted) actually triggers the dominant one to chase. I've noticed when my fish have a stand-off, one or both will flair and do a mock lunge, if both stand their ground they'll slowly turn to the side or swim past slowly, and the stand off ends peacefully. But if one of the fish turns and runs from the mock lunge, the aggressor will start chasing him. So potentially, if you take your submissive male, or better yet, the dominant male, and move him into the 20 gallon for as long as you can - like a month or two - it'll give your submissive male time to break out of his submission pattern of behaviour. And if the submissive guy has the two females and the territory to himself, it might help him build up some fish testosterone or confidence so that when you add the original dominant male back in the two males might be on more equal footing. I have no idea how honey gourami hierarchy works - this is just guessing.

Wow that Pisces Silver Pearl gravel is beautiful. I love the way it looks in a tank. I decided to go for something similar, just a smaller grain size, so I settled on CaribSea SuperNaturals Crystal River. Unfortunately, I got covid so the new tank is still empty cause I took so long to pick a substrate and now I can't leave the house. I did get this video of *possibly* my mini puff doing a mini puff? Or maybe just a bit of indigestion? Either way here's a video of my dwarf pea puffer named Viva! Viva la Puff!!

I didn't want to "bump up" an old conversation especially in the disease/illness section so I'm posting here just to say, now that you mentioned it @laritheloud, I'm noticing so many obvious signs that the brown one is male! Thank you so much for spotting that. Of course if someone suggests I get more fish I won't say no... sooo... yesterday I got a bigger tank! I may think about rehoming one of the males, unless the new tank is big enough for them to all coexist peacefully. It's a 35 gallon, 15" x 38" base dimensions. My female gold honey gourami (Cleo) is doing a bit better! She's still separated from the others with a tank divider and her fins still look a bit rough, but she is very active and eating well. I think now that she's not getting chased around, her immune system is fighting off what ever is affecting her. Meanwhile I'm still waiting for the kanaplex to arrive... oh Canada... Now I'm deciding on substrate for the new tank... my brain hurts. I'm leaning towards sand because I also have habrosus corys (only 5 left 😢) and 2 hillstream loaches who sometimes sit on the sand (I notice they come down when I feed Spirulina Bug Bite flakes). I have CaribSea Super Naturals Moonlight sand (0.25 – 0.75mm grain size) in the old 20 gal and I find it really hard to keep clean because the grains are so small. The grains weigh the same as fish poop so they don't separate out in the gravel vac tube so I'm forced to either suck up and waste a bunch of sand or settle for semi-clean. I wonder if the "semi-clean" sand is causing the barbel erosion I see in some of my corys, maybe this is part of why they aren't thriving. I find gravel that's ~2-5mm way easier to keep super clean but it's too big for the corys to sift and some claim that coarse gravel causes more barbel erosion. All this to say, I'm searching for sand that cory habrosus can sift that isn't so small that it can't be thoroughly gravel vac'ed. I did half fluval stratum-half sand in the 20 gal, NEVER AGAIN... those pesky little balls always end up on the sand 😠

Thanks so much for all the advice, extremely helpful. I will make a medicated food mix to feed to the female. I'll have to order Kanaplex online but now that the gold female is separated from the other two, she's more active and isn't hiding as much so I think she'll be fine for the week or two it's take for the meds to arrive. @laritheloud this is so interesting to hear that my wild-type "female" might be a male. It would explain a lot about it's behaviour... she/he is a very spicy little meatball. Here's one last pic (her name is Stella but maybe should change it to Stanley). I have some videos of the "mating dance" I could share, but I'm just running to work now. They chase each other in circles doing the tail biting thing it sounds like you're describing. Then they do a thing that looks a lot like mating. The wild-type's tail was completely torn up after the first time I put all three of them together but it grew back though without any issues. Good to know about the salt, I will keep that in mind. My tank is currently a 20 long and it's pretty maxed out for stocking, but I'll be moving this summer and I might use it as a chance to upgrade to a 30 long or 40 breeder or something and then maybe I could get another female.

Wait really?? I was almost certain that I have a male gold honey gourami and a female gold honey gourami (that's the one that's having problems). I'm certain they're gold honey gouramis, I got them at the same time. So the gold (what I thought was female) could be mistaken for a wild-type male... The third one is a wild-type and I was almost positive that it was a female because her and the male do a mating dance... quite frequently. Before I got the wild type female, the two golden ones would also do a mating dance. To be honest though at one time or another they've all done a mating dance in different combinations so who knows... I'm not certain about their sexes. Here are more up-close pics of each of them and what sex I thought they were: Female gold honey gourami (the one having issues): Male gold honey gourami Wild-type female:

I've only seen my guys out during the day maybe once or twice when I first got them. Now they only lurk around at night but as soon as I go up to the tank they dash back into hiding. Oh well, it's exciting when I do see them.

I also have corydoras habrosus and hillstream loaches... will they be able to tolerate that level of salt? If I use a partial dose of Kanaplex, I think my loaches and corys would be ok but would it kill off my plants? What about a methylene blue + salt bath? Has anyone ever tried this? https://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2009/07/fish-baths.html Just trying to compare all the options. Thanks for your help!

Hi there, I'd really appreciate help from some fish keepers with more experience who might be able to identify what's wrong with my honey gourami. Some background: I have three honey gouramis, and periodically one in particular gets picked on more than the others. I'm currently finishing a second round of dosing API General Cure for internal parasites that were primarily affecting my Cory habrosus. Although my gouramis didn't seem sick, they had stringy poop that has now been resolved. The problem: This gourami who gets picked on has been acting strange for 3 days now. I noticed on Tuesday night that she wasn't using her right pectoral fin as much. When she wasn't actively using her right fin she was keeping it tucked against her side, at the same time she'd still be moving her left fin. I can't see anything visibly wrong with the right fin. In the past, when the others bit at her tail and chased her, she'd "close up" her tail fin and sort of curve her spine like a submissive dog. But for the past three days she's assumed this posture all the time, even when the other fish aren't around. On Wednesday morning she was resting on the tank bottom and was in the same spot when I got home. She's also started flashing. I took 2 videos of her to show what I'm talking about: https://youtu.be/BoNpv1i47K4 https://youtu.be/B7bl9xjXKb0. Although she's swimming in these videos, she's mostly been inactive, hovering near the surface, taking semi-frequent breaths of air, but she is completely responsive and alert and she's still eating. Her tail looks a bit beat up (could be from fin nipping) and it's a bit discoloured, although this might just be pigmentation because although she's a gold honey gourami, she does get black pigmented speckles all over her body at certain times - not sure if this is stress-related or just normal but it darkens when she's interacting with the other honeys and I've noticed her getting more dark for longer in recent weeks. I'm wondering if this could be dropsy, fin rot, injury from nipping, stress from being picked on, idk. I'm about to put up a tank divider so that she's separated from the other honeys. Stuff I have on hand: aquarium salt, pimafix, kordon rapid cure, and methylene blue. Any help is really appreciated because she's my favourite fish, she's so friendly and curious, she comes up to the glass and stairs at me when I sit in front of the tank. To lose her would be to lose what I love most about keeping fish 😢 sorry for being dramatic over a fish. Water Parameters: pH: 7.2 Nitrates: 10 ppm Hardness: 160 ppm Nitrite: 0 ppm Ammonia: 0 ppm KH/Buffer: 40 ppm Water Temperature: 78ºF Thank you!!

I google imaged Hygrophila corymbosa and I think you might be right! Thank you 🙂

Update - after the first round of dosing I still counted 8 white planaria and 0 black. Today, just before the second round of dosing, I've counted 1 black and 12 white... So does API General Cure kill planaria? Gunna say that's a resounding NO at least at the recommended dose. However, I was feeding a lot the past 2 weeks to help my fish bounce back from the first round of dosing so that might have helped out the planaria population. On a good note, I haven't lost any more corydoras! Don't want to jinx it but I think the API General Cure might have zapped what ever was killing them 🙂 all's well!

Hi guys! Could you please help me identify this plant? I completely forgot what it's called. Dohh! Thank you thank you!

Happy Friday night! I've just started the first treatment of API General Cure for a suspected case of internal parasites affecting my Cory Habrosus and possibly my honey gouramis. I've lost 3 fish so far (two of them were today). I also have a bad case of planaria. Some sources say that API General Cure might kill planaria but other sources say it doesn't. So since I'm dosing API General Cure anyways, I've decided to test this out! Day 1 - I dosed two packages of API General Cure for my 20 gal long tank. And I counted 9 white and 2 black planaria on the front of the tank. I'll count again at the end of the first round of dosing in 4 days, then I'll count again in 2 weeks before I start the second round of dosing, once more after that round, and then one final count a week after the second round of dosing. Have a great weekend!!

As for my main tank - still waiting for the API General Cure - more stringy poop from the grouramis but so far not seeing anymore corys swimming erratically with concave tummies. - I'll monitor the tank closely and if I see any with the same sickness I'll be ready 🙂 Here's a pic of the hospital tank and my recovering cory - same fish as the one in the pic above where he's lying on his side! Pretty remarkable eh!

Sorry to bump this topic back up but I wanted to give an update because my cory habrosus is actually recovering! In so many other disease posts, you never hear back from OP about whether the treatment worked, so I wanted to share exactly what I did. Hospital tank: Exo Terra "Faunarium" (15.5 x 23 x 17 centimeters) - useful because it holds 10 cups or 2500 mL ~ 0.5 gallons of water, which makes calculating the dose easier. I added a thin layer of sand substrate. I also put in plants for cover to give hiding spots to lower his stress (I used small clumps of subwastertang and java moss and a leaf from a broad leaf plant to make a hiding spot). I also added in a sponge filter (for 7 gal) and a small heater (50 watt) to keep nitrites and ammonia at zero and the water at 78 C (the upper range of optimal for cory habrosus - my thinking was to keep his immune system strong). Medicating: For the meds, I used Kordon Rapid Cure - which is for external parasites but it's all I had and it seems to have worked. The bottle says one drop per 1 gallon or 1 drops for 2 gallons if you're treating tetras. Since corydoras habrosus usually require half dose I used the 1 drop for 2 gallons recommended for tetras. I think in the past my mistake is to overdose - this time I was very precise with dosing. I started by filling the Funarium with 8 cups (2000 mL) water from the tank the fish lives in. Then I filled the measuring cup to 200 mL with tank water and added 1 drop of Rapid Cure, and mixed it until it was uniform. Then I poured out 100 mL, and then topped it back up to 200 mL with more tank water, and then poured out 100 mL again - this gave me 1/4 drop of Rapid Cure in the measuring cup. Then I topped up again to 500 mL and poured this into the hospital tank. At this point I suggest marking the level of the water on the side of the hospital tank so that you can top-up the volume to 2500 mL if water evaporates. This'll prevent the meds from getting more concentrated over time and it'll ensure your dosing stays accurate. Day 2 morning I added frozen baby brine but it went uneaten. Day 2 evening, I syphoned off 500 mL from the hospital tank, and used the syphon to remove uneaten food. I wanted to keep the sand as clean as possible. Then I repeated the dosing I described above - EXCEPT once I reached the stage when I had 1/4 drop of Rapid Cure in the measuring cup, I topped up to 500 mL and then poured out 400 mL, then topped up to 500 mL again with tank water. This way I can replace only the dose of Rapid Cure that I removed. Day 3 morning, I actually left for the cottage - I added some sinking northfin betta pellets in case he came around and ate something. When I left he was on his side looking pale and dead but when I nudged him he moved just barely. Day 5 evening - I came home expecting to have to flush a dead fish... BUT he's recovering!!! He's upright, swimming with coordination, energy back to normal level, even nipped up to the surface for air like corys do. I repeated what I did on Day 2 evening - I want to make sure he's really cured. I added some fresh northfin betta pellets and now he's started eating again!! I'm very happy to say that his stomach isn't concave anymore.

I got planaria in my tank about 2 months ago, not sure if that's related to my current problems. This weekend, one of my cory habrosus was swimming erratically and his stomach was concave. I'm thinking it's internal parasites. I moved him to a hospital tank. I'm in Canada so all I could find was Kordon Rapid Cure, which I gave a half dose of but he died the next day. Then my honey gouramis (all three of them) suddenly started having very long, hanging, brown/white poops. One of the honey gouramis looks bloated and I'm worried it's the same internal parasites affecting the corys. Although, I had been feeding mostly protein, so I thought that could be causing the poops. I fed shelled green peas unsure what else to do, and since have been feeding more spirulina flakes and omega algea wafers. The poops have actually stopped so maybe it was just too much protein but the one gourami is still bloated looking. Tonight I have another cory habrosus dying the same way as the other, he's in the hospital tank now getting treated with Kordon Rapid Cure. I also have him garlic infused brine shrimp, which he hasn't touched. I've put in an order for API General Cure that'll arrive Nov 23 - Dec 2. Is there a treatment available in Canada I could give in the meantime that wouldn't hurt my tank inhabitants: 12 corydoras habrosus, 3 honey gouramis, an apple snail, and then a bunch of animals that hitch hiked in (cherry shrimp, ramshorn snails, trumpet snails). - I could remove the snails into a snail tank but the shrimp would be impossible. I know that feeding medicated food is recommended but I'm worried that it's be difficult in my tank because it's not a feeding frenzy situation where all the food gets eaten. Will API General Cure also kill the planaria? That would be a bonus. It's a 20 gal long. pH: 7.0-7.2 Nitrates: 0 Hardness: 140 Nitrite: 0 Ammonia: 0 KH/Buffer: 60 Water Temperature: 77 Please let me know if you think this is the right course of action, and whether there's anything I can do until the General Cure arrives. Thank you for your help!

She was just swimming frantically at the surface, and was really uncoordinated, and now she's lying on her side at the bottom and her gills aren't moving anymore so I think maybe it was too late for her 😞

Thanks so much @Colu for identifying what it is. I quarantined the fish in a large Tupperware with water from the main tank, sand substrate and an extra sponge filter from a cycled tank. Unfortunately the fish store was closing so I had to make a decision before I got to read your response, so my apologies for seeming to not take your advice, I definitely would have if I could have. They didn't have much available and nothing with kanamycin. I ended up getting methyl blue and I did a 10 second dip at 50 ppm then returned the fish to the QT. If he's still alive tomorrow morning, should I do another dip? Thank you for your help @Colu and sorry again for not being able to take your advice, I hate to ask for advice and then not take it.