Freshwater Archer 9/7/11 Hi- We purchased a Toxotes blythii yesterday. <Nice fish!> It has white stripe on tip of its tail (caudal) fin. I am concerned that this may be a fungus of some type, but I am having trouble finding pictures of this fish at this age. All of the high quality images online seem to be of younger fish, that have somewhat different coloring than my fish. I have attached a picture of the fish, but could not get a picture on any setting to accurately show his white stripe. This picture does show it, but it just appears the same blue as the background. I don't know if you will be able to determine anything from this picture. I am trying to determine if this is just the coloration of this species of fish, or if there is a problem. <Very hard to tell from this photo. Need a close up of the tail. But for now, here's some tips for telling Fungus and Finrot: Fungus will look like obvious white or grey fluffy threads. It used to be called "Cotton Wool Disease" and that's a good descriptive name. Finrot tends to start with cloudy patches or pinkish blobs on the fins. It often, but not always, is associated with fin damage. As the disease progresses, the fin erodes from the trailing edge inwards towards the body, with the fin membrane dissolving a bit faster than the fin bones, so you see a characteristic ragged edge to the fin.> The fish is currently in a 55 gallon tank that has been set up for about 2 years with 0 ammonia or nitrites. He did have a fairly long drive home, so he presumably was quite stressed while in his bag and was exposed to some ammonia. Since he was a fairly expensive (and NEAT!) fish, I am somewhat paranoid about potential problems with him. He was eating frozen food while at the store (he had been there for about a month), but he has not eaten tonight. (I am not totally surprised by this because he has only been here for 24 hours.) Thank-you very much for your time. -Lindsay- <Archerfish are sensitive to travel and new aquaria, but they do settle in quickly. My specimens always enjoyed Hikari Cichlid Gold but live crickets are an especial treat. Don't worry about feeding too much in the first few days. Watch water quality, and don't do anything to spook your fish. Archers are notorious jumpers, and when stressed, may jump about, damaging their snouts. Cheers, Neale.>

full size pic

Re: Freshwater Archer 9/8/11 Hello Again- As of yesterday, (2 days after bringing this fish home), he appeared to be doing better. <Cool.> The line at the end of his tail was mostly gone, I think it was a little bit of Finrot. But this morning, he has apparently taken a turn for the worse. He does have Finrot very slightly on one pectoral fin. He also has a fungus on one eye. <Fungus, or merely damage to the cornea? The latter is quite common with Archers because they tend to jump into the hood of the tank.> I did a water change, and tested the water. There is 0 ammonia or nitrites. However, the nitrates are quite high, (around 40?). <High, but not dangerous for these fish.> We are in the process of switching to pure RO water with Replenish added. Our tap water has VERY high nitrates, and is very hard and alkaline. <Which the Archer shouldn't mind. These fish really aren't that fussed about water chemistry.> We were using 80% RO water, and 20% tap water to deal with those issues, which left the pH of the water at 7.0 and the water was somewhere between moderately soft and hard. (I can only get test strips, as opposed to the kits, for gH and kH locally.) This mixture also still left the nitrates at about 20. I also tested the pH of the water, and it showed about 6.4 or less. <If you use too much RO water, you will have a pH that drops quite quickly because there isn't enough carbonate hardness. By default, a 50/50 mix of tap water and RO water should provide excellent conditions. I keep most of my fish that way, and my water is also very hard and very high in nitrate.> (Maybe I am colorblind, but I have a hard time determining which color the water in the test tube compares to on the chart for some of those test kits.) After the water change, the Archer began swimming upside down. There was a small temperature change due to my rush to do a water change, about 2 degrees F. (A mistake, I know.) He is obviously weak, but he can still swim, and seems to stay upright when he is swimming forward, but drifts upside down when he rests. <Not good.> I used some of the tank water and put him in a separate container, where I have a heater. I am slowly changing out all of his water to clean RO water with the Replenish. (A cup out, and a cup of clean water in about every 20 minutes or so.) He did not eat last night either, so I don't think I can medicate him that way. Am I correct that I should use a furan compound to medicate the water in this instance? <Possibly, but I'd be loathe to medicate simply because a fish was failing to thrive. I do wonder the low pH is part of the problem. The freshwater Archers are riverine rather than blackwater fish, and so far as I can tell, don't really want soft water. Toxotes blythii is sold periodically in England, and seems to thrive in "Liquid Rock". In fact hard water is far less problematic than many assume, and soft water with a pH that bounces about will cause far more trouble.> Unfortunately, the types of medication I can get locally is VERY limited. I have on hand medicated food (furan), expired furan medication for the water, and Praziquantel. I had a couple of other medications that apparently grew legs and walked off, as I haven't had to use them. I think I have covered everything, I apologize for the scatter-brained nature of this query. I am a bit stressed about losing such an expensive fish. The cheap fish all settled in just fine.... Thank-you for your time. -Lindsay- <Hope this helps. Cheers, Neale.>

fish are sick/sad but water quality seems fine 5/27/2011
Hello,
<Hallo!>
luckily I stumbled across your website while trying to find help for my sad / sick fish online.
<Indeed.>
I have had a 10g tank for a few months now (aqua one with filtration and heater and aquasoil=liveplants) in which there used to be 3 Bettas, 3 swordtails, 6 cardinal tetras and one algae eater.
<Hmm'¦ one problem here is that 10 gallons/37 litres isn't much water. It would be okay for a school of 6-10 Cardinal tetras, perhaps with a Betta, but the Swordtails need much more space, and the Algae Eater probably does too, assuming that it's something like Ancistrus sp. The cheap and cheerful Algae Eaters such as Gyrinocheilus and Pterygoplichthys have NO PLACE at all in an aquarium this small. Another problem is that Cardinal tetras need warm, soft water. Swordtails, by contrast, need cool, hard water. Yet another problem: Bettas need still water, whereas Swordtails need fast-flowing water. In short, a mishmash of species that won't work in the long term. There are some excellent aquarium books in German (and arguably the best freshwater aquarium books are written in German) so getting the information you need should not be difficult. Otherwise, just peruse this website!>
It took a very long time to cycle in the beginning but then after weeks of waiting I added the swordtails and suddenly it was good. It has been going fine ever since. In the beginning there wasn't too much algae so I bought special pellets for the algae eater.
<Hmm'¦>
I only added one once and he didn't eat all of it, but all the other fish had some as well and their excrements turned white.
<You shouldn't see much/any faeces in the tank. The filter should remove most of it, and water changes the rest.>
After a couple of days everything was normal again. I never added any more algae pellets after this, since there was always plenty of natural algae for the fish. Other than that I feed daily 3 bio gold pellets per Betta (I have to crush some up for the smallest one, she cant fit a whole piece in her mouth) and some crushed flakes for the other ones. I have a piece of wood in my tank that is showing a lot of algae-like growth that I washed off before but it comes back within 2 days (the local fish shop guy said this was normal and will stop eventually).
<Hair Algae (actually, red algae, despite the colour) is common in overstocked tanks with medium to bright lighting and not enough fast-growing plants. Few, if any, fish will eat it, and NO, it doesn't go away by itself!>
I do weekly partial water changes. PH tends to be a bit on the lower side,
<Below 7.5 will stress Swordtails. They need hard water, 15+ degrees dH. Cardinals will NOT do well in such conditions though; Cardinals need 2-10 degrees dH, pH 6-7.>
but I have a test and treatment to keep it up. Now the other day the algae eater was suddenly going crazy and swimming around very abruptly (usually he is calm) so I thought, well maybe he is hungry and I fed 1/2 an algae pellet. He didn't pay attention to it at all and went back to behave normally after a few hours, only some of the fish were nibbling at it.
<As it happens, fish rarely behave "hungrily". If you see fish hyperactive compared to normal, there's much more chance the fish are stressed. At most, hungry fish swim to the top of the tank when they see you, begging for food. But random swimming backwards and forwards does not mean they're hungry.>
Suddenly the next morning I found two swordtails dead and one cardinal was missing.
<Oh dear.>
The other fish seemed fine, I did another water change, tested the water, all good.
<Yet they can't be good. You can't be providing "good" conditions for both Swordtails and Cardinals in one aquarium!>
So I had two theories: Either they ate the cardinal and got sick or it was the pellet.
<Neither of these is likely.>
The next day one of my Bettas became lethargic, it used to patrol the tank all the time, suddenly it would just hang out near the heater or at the bottom of the tank, the other fish were fine. A day later it was only sitting under the wood and then suddenly sitting vertically in the tank. I panicked but couldn't find a good solution on the internet so I tested my water again (fine) and took some tank water to the fish shop so they could test it in case my tests were not accurate, and help me. He said the ph was to low, so I got that up higher and added some powder to stabilize it.
<What powder?>
Nothing changed. Yesterday the other two Bettas started looking sad too so I went to the pet shop again and he said maybe its the temperature.
<Two male Bettas in one tank? Or females? Males Bettas will not share one aquarium. Females may do.>
Even though my heater is on 26°C the thermometer only shows 24°C.
<22-24 C is fine for Swordtails, but Cardinals and Bettas need 26-28 C.>
Now I turned up the heater to 30°C and the tank is currently sitting at 26°C.
<Far too warm for Swordtails.>
When I came home from work tonight even the cardinals were sitting at the bottom. I don't know what to do, my fish are eating normally except the Betta that looked sad first of all, it hasn't eaten in about 3-4 days.
<Stop feed; start reading!>
When its feeding time it comes up and has a look, but either swims straight past the food or has some and spits it back out. None of my fish are bloated or showing white spots, no pop-eye, no scales sticking out. They are just really sad and don't move.
<Don't feed at all until you UNDERSTAND the problems here.>
Maybe its the aqua soil causing water problems that don't deal with ammonia or nitrate? (my carbon cartridges are always dirty as soon as I put new ones in).
<There are unlikely the problems. A new aquarium, overstocked with too many of the wrong types of fish are causing problems here, together with a mix of species that need fundamentally different environmental conditions.>
Or it was the algae-eater food?
<No.>
I was going to get some aqua salt but the fish shop guy said to look at the temperature first.
<No need for salt. But yes, temperature is an issue here; see above.>
Now that all the fish are at the bottom it looks like time is running out to try this or that or that since nothing is working.
<Return all the fish save the Cardinals. If you have soft, acidic water, they should do well. Keep them on their own in a group for the next 4-6 weeks, and then bump up their numbers to 8 or 10. Do water changes of 25% at least ONCE, and ideally TWICE per week for the first 3-4 weeks; afterwards once a week. Feed every SECOND day, a very small amount. Keep the temperature at 26-28 C. Once you're happy the tank is stable and healthy, write back, and we can discuss additions to the tank.>
I cant find any good tips since everyone sais its the water quality but mine is fine.
<It can't be. You're keeping animals that need different conditions, like trying to keep Polar Bears and Lions in the same habitat!>
Thank you very much for your help. Yours Susanna
<Do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwset-up.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_3/stocking.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwlivestk.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Cheers, Neale.>

Red ear slider with irritated mouth 5/27/2011
<Hi, Sue here with you.>
I have had my red ear slider for several years now. It is housed in a 125 gallon aquarium with a couple of growing goldfish that survived getting eaten (I'm thinking their pals now).
<Unfortunately, when you try to feed fish to turtles, you often instead only land up with more pets to take care of!>
I introduced several ghost shrimp day before yesterday on advice from pet store I frequent.
<I wouldn't feed him ghost shrimp. Though they're less likely than other "feeder fish" to carry diseases, we recommend against feeding any kind of feeder type fish because of the diseases they so commonly carry.>
Yesterday I gave the turtle a meal worm.
<Feed him earthworms instead; they're healthier for him -- but only as an occasional treat. I give mine only 1 or 2 each, just once every few weeks.>
He took a bite, let go, took another nip at it, let it go and left it. I thought that was strange, but figured maybe he wasn't really hungry at the time. Today tried the meal worm again. Same thing happened, but he swiped at his mouth a few times with his foot.
<Have you fed him worms before to see how he normally eats them? Do you think it was his mouth he was swiping, or was he just using his claws near his mouth to try to break apart the worm (they often do that)? Aside from the mealworms, how has his the rest of his appetite/eating in been? What else do you feed him? Is he eating pellets or other food OK? When was the last time he ate ANY food?>
I wanted to try and open his mouth and inspect, but not sure how to go about that safely. He's a friendly turtle and can touch him, not sure when pain involved. Rubbed the side of his mouth with my finger, he swiped again with his foot. I don't see anything externally. Do you think he may have a piece of shrimp shell stuck or just a coincidence?
<I'd be surprised if he had a shell stuck in his mouth, and even if he did, I would expect you would have seen him going after his mouth right after he ate the shrimp, not 2 days later when eating the worms. If you feel he really was swiping at his mouth and not at the worm, it's possible he might have some sort of irritation or even an infection in his mouth that bothers him when he tries to eat.>
He has been basking a lot more than usual also.
<How much more? Have you noticed any other sudden/significant changes in his behavior or activity level? Has his activity level also changed when he's in the water? Does he seem a lot more lethargic than normal?>
The question I really want to know is how do I handle him to get his mouth open without too much distress on his part?
<You might try using a (blunt) foreign object such as a tongue blade or small medicine dropper (something that's less familiar to him than your finger). Try to either annoy him into biting it by gently poking it around his mouth area; and/or slowly work it into his mouth until you can gently pry his mouth open. Often once a turtle bites down on an object, they usually continue to hold their grip on it long enough to allow you some time to get a better view!>
<I'd also suggest trying to find someone to shine a flashlight into his mouth for you, while you try and look inside, if/when you do get his mouth open!>
It's got to be possible right?
<Getting any animal to open their mouth can be one of the more challenging tasks for sure, especially if they're experiencing some discomfort there. If gentle poking and prodding don't work, you may have to invest more time into it, and continue to gently poke or prod him enough times until he reaches the point where he becomes SO annoyed at you that he does finally try to take a bite!>
The vet would be doing it I would assume. Any advice you can give would be much appreciated, even if it's "Go to the vet now".
< If he's suddenly stopped eating altogether and you suspect it's something involving his mouth, and/or you start to see obvious other sudden changes in his behavior, then you might want to consider taking him to an (experienced) vet and getting him checked out.>
Thank you.
<Good luck with him, and let us know how you make out with everything. If you write back with some more info, we'll be better able to advise you re: next steps.>

Minimally disruptive way to introduce new CA/SA cichlids to established tank 5/26/11
Hello Crew
<Hello Tim,>
Currently, I have an Oscar, Jack Dempsey and Texas Cichlid in my established 6x2x2 tank.
<Not a very sensible mix for all sorts of reasons, not least of all the differences in water chemistry requirements. Plus, Oscars are fairly gentle fish outside of spawning, whereas JDs and the Texans can be unpredictably violent. Yes, the Oscar is much bigger than the JD, but that would stop it getting harassed.>
I would like to add a few more SA/CA cichlids (undecided which ones yet).
<Would not do this. Concentrate on one region, and provide either soft water for the South Americans or hard water for the Central Americans. Then choose compatible species.>
My tank is heavily decorated, including a very large piece of driftwood, which would be very difficult to remove and/or re-arrange.
<'¦>
I would like to avoid doing any major rearrangement of the tank. What would be the minimally disruptive way to introduce the new cichlids?
<Adults? There isn't any. All three of these species, if sexually mature, meaning about half-grown in terms of size, is territorial. Any new fish added is likely to be viewed as a threat of some sort, and the resident cichlid(s) will act accordingly.>
Would taking out the existing cichlids and holding them in buckets for a short period of time help? If so, for how long would they need to be held?
<This can work with small cichlids, but for adults, the practicality of holding adults safely and then keeping them out of the tank long enough for them to "forget" their territory will be questionable. Do read Paul Loiselle on this topic in particular, e.g., in his excellent "Cichlid Aquarium" book.>
How about total darkness in the tank for a certain period of time after adding the new inhabitants?
<Nope.>
Many thanks for helping avoid casualties.
<Do, please, think carefully about what you're trying to do. In terms of water chemistry this aquarium can't possibly be housing both Central and South American cichlid species well; at best, either the Central Americans or the South Americans are happy while the others are stressed. Throw in social behaviour issues and you're priming yourself for a disaster. An Oscar, a Severum, perhaps one of the more docile Pike Cichlids would work fine as a South American community, while the options for Central Americans are varied and could include the species you have alongside an Amphilophus and a Parachromis of some sort. But your mixing both CAs and SAs? Nope, not a good idea.>
Cheers
Tim
<Cheers, Neale.>

ADF query: 5/26/11
I'm not sure how to ask this or search, so far Nada. (so far)
I have an 2 yr old African dwarf frog who's starting to look like a shark :D he's got a pointed back.. two spikes (one each side on top) and one near the back.. very shark like fin to describe it.
his color is good.. weight is good, diet is varied and seems particularly healthy. now I know I'm not the only one who's seen this occur with an ADF but so far I must be inquiring inaccurately.. for I've not found
anything (so far) on this phenomena.
help?
thanks,
LJ
<Without a photo, it's hard to be sure. But this sounds like some sort of metabolic bone or growth disorder. The problem with these small frogs is that often they're given just a very small variety of foods, perhaps even just the one type of pellet. The lack of vitamins and minerals (such as iodine) can cause all sorts of growth problems including bone deformities, and my assumption is that is what's going on here. If the animal is basically healthy then you shouldn't worry too much because you can't really do anything to "fix" things. At best you can review the size of the aquarium (deformities do seem more common in cramped quarters), water quality (including the use of water conditioner to neutralise copper in the
tap water), and of course diet. Sorry I can't offer anything more concrete, Neale.>
Re: ADF query --- thanks :D 5/26/11
ok, so bone issues are a norm for these frogs?
<No, not at all. Very rare.>
if so.. well, the tank is a 20gallon.. with 5 other mates.. two reasonably sized caves for them to hide in... sleep.. away their time.. some bamboo and gravel.
<Sounds okay so far!>
their water is bottled.. (deer park and/or Poland spring) sorry, the tap water is so nasty in the wash. d.c. area.. would KILL an atomic bomb it's that bad. (filtration of any sort is a failure, even with the aquarium professional series.. you should see what it does to those poor devices) I cycle the water accordingly and have a marineland c-160 for all my tanks.
<You do need filtration in the aquarium, regardless of what you might think about your tap water. Please understand that tap water is fine for fish and frogs if treated with water conditioner, but this is a whole different thing to how the animals in the aquarium pollute that water over time. You must filter the aquarium to remove ammonia (and then nitrite) on a constant, minute-by-minute basis. In a small aquarium like this, a plain vanilla sponge filter powered by an air pump will work just fine. Now, drinking water may be usable if it isn't too soft, but do understand that some drinking water is so free of minerals it isn't healthy for fish or frogs. Let's accept your comment about the tap water is hyperbole for the most part. Provided the tap water is medically safe to drink (as opposed to subjective issues like flavour and colour) then it will likely be safe enough for your frogs. In chemical terms, you're aiming for about 10-15 degrees dH, and a pH around 7.5. If your bottled drinking water matches these sorts of values, then that's fine. But if the water is much softer or more acidic than that, you're going to cause problems. Deionised water would be extremely dangerous.>
I should have more 'natural foliage' in the tank but I'm afraid of them getting stuck and drowning... (the bamboo roots are challenge enough)'¦
<They won't drown. They naturally cling onto floating plants and actually enjoy being able to bask at the surface among floating plants. Indian Floating Fern would be ideal.>
he just looks like he's wearing a shark fin with the same formation on his sides.
he doesn't seem unhappy...
I was thinking of putting algae tabs in the tank every once a blue moon?
<Why?>
would that not be a good idea?
<Randomly adding tablets to tanks without any understand of *why* will cause problems.>
and someone told me powdered egg yolk?
<Again, why?>
their diet does range.. sometimes even to bits of meat I salvage from here and there from the grocer, sandwiches, other things.. chop them up finely and even pasteurized tuna/salmon/oysters.
<Yikes! No, you need to be feeding them stuff closer to their natural diet. Wet-frozen bloodworms and fortified brine shrimps can be kept in the freezer for months and make good supplements to standard frog pellets used as a staple diet.>
that's about it... I do have some pics but I think you've covered the possibility. (I know these poor guys are prone to many issues, this was one I didn't find much of anything about.)
thanks,
:D
<Do read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/FrogsArtNeale.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Cheers, Neale.>
Re: ADF query (RMF?) --- thanks :D 5/26/2011
i do have filtration for my tanks.. i just ain't going to use the tap water'¦
<Well, I do understand that not everyone understands the science behind making water safe to drink. So if you have some phobia about using tap water, then that's fine, don't use it. But do make sure your alternate water supply provides water chemistry within the parameters outlined in my previous e-mail. Skipping the tap water because you don't like the taste and then using bottled water with the wrong water chemistry would be throwing out the baby with the bathwater! Cheers, Neale.>
Re: ADF query (RMF?) --- thanks :D
Please run your English through spelling and grammar checkers and resend.
Your messages have been deleted. B

Quick question re: dipping 5/25/11
A few weeks ago, I lost a batch of cardinal tetras to ich. Thankfully, they were new arrivals and in a quarantine tank, so they were the only fish I lost. This is not my first brush with ich, and most likely not my last.
Though it may have been unnecessary, I bleached the whole tank (easy to do with a bare-bottom tank) and then cycled it. I am about to order some rummy nose tetras. I've read a lot about dipping new arrivals before placing them in the quarantine tank, mostly related to marine fish. I have Rid-Ich+ (which I used a year or so ago on a case of ich before I was instructed on the salt/temperature treatment), and was wondering whether this would be valid for a dip when I receive the rummy nose tetras. I browsed your site re: dipping, and the closest I could find was instructions for dipping with malachite green and formalin separately. In this article (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/malachitegreen.htm) Bob suggest a dip of a stock solution of malachite green at 16 ml/l for 10-15 seconds. And in this (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/formalinart.htm) he suggests 2.70 ml of 37% formalin solution for an hour for marine fish. But what about the doses for freshwater fish dips? I can do the math to figure out the dosages based on the percent of malachite green and formalin in rid-ich + and the instructions that give the mg/L for each after correct dosage in a 10 gallon tank. But I'm not sure if the marine dip dosages carry over to the freshwater dosages. Am I being too paranoid? Should I not worry about dipping my new arrivals and just treat if it happens in the quarantine tank? (The cardinal tetra outbreak happened 2 weeks into quarantine when I left for 4 days and didn't notice the ich until they were completely covered.) I love this hobby, but I get frustrated when something like losing an entire purchase of cardinal tetras happens. I am still reading and learning, though, most especially thanks to your website. This is my first outbreak to happen since I started quarantining all new arrivals, and dealing with an outbreak in a quarantine tank is much easier then dealing with an outbreak in my main tank and moving it to a hospital tank, I can testify to that.
Thanks very much in advance,
Celeste
<Celeste, with Cardinals I would use either a plain vanilla heat/salt treatment, or else a reliable Ick medication quoted to work well in soft water. One medication I've personally used in soft water is eSHa EXIT, widely sold in the UK and Europe. As you presumably realise, Cardinals won't do well in hard water (anything above 10 degrees dH) and Rummynose Tetras are much the same. Assuming you have water chemistry 2-10 degrees dH, pH 6-6.5, you should find raising the water temperature to 30 C/86 F works as a good preventative during quarantining; should Ick make an appearance, then you can use salt as described elsewhere in this site. Done properly, at the right dosage, around 2 g/l, this *will* work. Dipping freshwater fish is not nearly as useful as dipping marine fish, so I wouldn't plan on using that approach for anything. Cheers, Neale.>

Thanks!! 5/25/11
Hey Crew!
<Hello>
Darrel answered some of my concerns the other day about my turtles and I want to thank him so much.
<I'll pass it on>
When I stressed my concern about one of my turtles not eating or basking, he suggested that something might be wrong with the terrain. Well boy was he right.
<He's often savant-like that way.>
I went through everything in the tank, trying to figure out what it was and finally decided to take out the pebbles I put in the bottom of their aquarium (I wasn't sure to get them in the first place, but the pet store,
which I will no longer go to anymore, suggested that I needed plastic plants and pebbles in the bottom.) Like I was saying, I took the pebbles out and voila! They were fine, they are now basking together and eating happily and I'm very excited.
<Glad we were able to help solve the mystery>
I any more questions come up I'll be sure to consult here before even thinking of going to a pet store that doesn't know what they're doing.
<Thank you - and be sure to tell your friends about us!>
Thanks again!!
Anja <<I swear Darrel wrote this whole thing! B>>

Re: My Red Ear Slider Turtles 5/25/11
I won't be able to provide a nice, dry warm basking area without moving them to another plastic bin and wouldn't moving them always put them at risk?
<Turtles are extremely hardy as far as handling and moving as long as you don't drop them>
<As far as stress is concerned, the real stress they'll be feeling is not having the right water, temperature and foods '¦ so again, please read the care link and make sure they're getting what they need>

Holiday Care. 5/25/11
Hi,
<Hiya - Darrel here>
I have looked on this website and others for the answer but I have not found it.
<Well, lets see if I have the answer hidden away somewhere>
Firstly, a bit of information, I have two Yellow Bellied Sliders around 3 months old, one is an inch and ½ diameter the other is an inch diameter. I feed them King British Turtle and Terrapin complete food every other day (after reading this site I will be changing to pellets when the food runs out).<Thank you>
I also give them greens, though not a lot as they seem to not like it much at the moment and the occasional frozen Blood Worm block (about once a week, slightly less).
<Earthworms, if you can obtain them, are better>
I do a 50% water change every week and a full water change every month (not sure if this is the right thing to be done).
<It's perfect!>
The water temperature is about 24C (about 75F) and the basking temperature is about 30C (about 86F).
<The water is a BIT warm '¦ should be room temperature. In other words, no heaters for Sliders and other terrapins (that's for you, Neale!!)>
They have a separate UV and heat lamps.
<Again, excellent!>
They are currently in an 8 Gallon (UK) (9 1/5 US) tank, with the water is 4 inches deep. This will be changed for a larger one when I move in a few months. Is this care plan okay?
<So far, it's just wonderful!!>
My main question is, I am going away on holiday for a week and I was just wondering what my sitter could do as minimalist care. I want them to be looked after properly, but the person caring for them has never cared for turtles before and I don't want it to be too daunting and too much work for them. Can I get away with leaving the basking lamp on all week, but having the UV turned off (or will this have to stay on also, I heard it can be bad to have too much UV).
<What I'd do is go to your local hardware and buy an inexpensive timer with settable on-off tabs. Set the ON tab for 7:30am and the OFF tab for 6pm and you can leave that permanently>
What about feeding, how often should they be fed?
<If they've been eating regularly and eating well, have your sitter feed them just once. They'll be just fine, trust me>
I read in a different post that putting plants (Elodea, Myriophyllum or Cabomba, though I have no idea what types these are) in the tank would be enough, though I'm not sure if that applies to this type of turtle and for the length of time that I will be gone.
<Live turtles + live plants usually equals a messy tank, so I wouldn't do that>
I have a powerful enough filter that the water will not need changing between the times that I am away so the water cleanliness will be fine. I'm mainly just worried about the feeding. Is how I'm currently feeding them okay for their age and will it need to continue for while I'm away or can it be less?
<They can go two or three weeks with nothing to eat '¦ and merely be hungry>
Please help me.
<I hope I did!>
Thanks and sorry for the long letter, I just want to be sure.
<We appreciate the opportunity to help>
Caralyn
< http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/RESCareBarton.htm >

Turtle at the bottom of the tank 5/25/11
Hi,
<Hiya - Darrel here>
I recently bought two RES from Chinatown, there about an inch and a half long. I've had them since this past Friday and I woke up this morning to find one swimming fine and the other on the bottom with his eyes and mouth open without any movement.
<That's very bad>
I even picked him up and he didn't react. I placed him on the rock under the light to see if the heat will help him out, but nothing. I even placed him in a smaller tank away from the other one with warmer water and still nothing. I am guessing he is dead, Can you confirm it for me?
<I'm sorry to agree with you Jenn, but it does appear that's passed on. It's unlikely that you did anything to cause that, since you only had them a few days, but please read here - and learn everything you need to know to keep the other one happy and healthy. Turtles don't need MUCH care '¦ but they absolutely MUST have what they need.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/RESCareBarton.htm >
Thanks.
<On behalf of Bob, Sue, Neale and the rest of the crew, we're sorry for your loss>

Re: Question about my new cycling Platy tank 5/24/11
Hello,
<Elizabeth,>
I am going to be out of town for a long weekend and I am concerned about how long my Platies can go without eating.
<Couple weeks.>
I usually feed them once a day or sometimes twice a day. I plan on leaving on Friday morning (I will feed them at 9am) and will not be back until Tuesday around 4pm. Do you think I need to arrange for somebody to feed them for me?
<No.>
How long can they go without eating and still be ok?
<Two weeks in the case of small fish; a month or more in the case of large carnivores.>
I should mention that I have one tank with females and one with males. And I believe two of the females are pregnant.
Thanks,
Liz
<Cheers, Neale.>

Cloudy water in 20G freshwater tank 5/24/11
Hello, I set up a 20G freshwater tank using 50% gravel from established tank over two months ago. No live plants. It has a 150 Penguin Biowheel filter. I also added some floss from established tank behind the charcoal cartridge that came with the filter to help in the cycling of the tank. After 3 weeks ammonia was zero, nitrite was zero and nitrate was 5 ppm.(added fish food to cycle) We live in an area where our water is soft and neutral to acidic. I added five Cory cats and kept eye on numbers. After another 10 days I added five zebra Danios.
Kept my eye on numbers again and just a few days ago added five neon tetras. Then the water got cloudy.
Here are the numbers today ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0 ppm, nitrate 5 ppm, pH 6.8, temp 76 F, hardness 25 ppm, alkalinity 40 ppm. The floss and Biowheel have not been touched. I have lightly cleaned the gravel during the previous water change, a week ago about 15%. The charcoal has not been changed since set up about 9 weeks ago. Feed daily flake so far, pretty sure not too much.
Every few days sinking pellets for the cats.
So here is my question, the fish seem happy and not acting at all strange but I wonder if adding the final five fish might have caused a bacterial bloom even though the tank was cycled?
< Even thought the numbers look ok it is a possibility.>
I will watch the ammonia twice daily just to be sure nothing scary happening but I wanted your opinion. I do not think this tank is over loaded so thinking its just a bloom due to added load?
< The additional fish may have temporarily overloaded the biological filtration.>
I have had other tanks in the past but never noticed a bloom like this unless there was new cycling due to problem with filter. Thanks for your help.
Oh, I also have an airstone going full time right now in the opposite corner from the intake of the Penguin filter. With this size take, would a bigger filter be a good idea?
< Your filter should be fine.>
or maybe add a second 150 Penguin?
< Not needed.>
there is room to do so.
Thanks again, Carla
< Cloudy water can be caused by many things. You used 50% old gravel, but you did not say what the new gravel was. Did you thoroughly was the new gravel to remove any dust? It is a possibility that the new gravel may not be suitable for the aquarium and is breaking down as it soaks. Clods of soil or lightly cemented sedimentary rock could be dissolving in your acidic tank and releasing minerals into the water. These minerals would not show up on any test kits. Take a sample of the new gravel from the source and place in a jar of water and see if it changes the water chemistry or clouds the water. If it does then the new gravel is the source of the problem. If it doesn't change then maybe check any new rocks you may have added to the tank. Smell the top of the tank. If there is no odor then dissolving minerals may be the problem. If there is a fishy smell then it may be a biological filtration problem. Check the numbers again with a test kit that uses dry reagents. These can be more accurate because the test chemicals are least likely to break down as a dry reagent rather than a wet one. Do a water change to see if this improves the clarity of the water.
Give it a little time. It may be something a s simple as the binder in the pellets you are using to feed the catfish. The fish are the true indicators of what is going on. As long as they are healthy and it is just a aesthetic issue I would check out the gravel and the rocks first.-Chuck>

Cobalt Blue Lobster, sick? 5/24/11
Dear WWM representative,
<Hello,>
I have a Blue Cobalt Lobster (Crayfish) for about 4 months. She has undergone 4 moults. I feed Tropical fish flakes twice a day and frozen bloodworms every other day (3 days of 7 days/week). I do simple tank maintenance every 2 days (clean glass, stir up gravel; gently, and rinse the filter). Every 10 days I change 10% or so of the water in a 30 Gallon tank.
<Sounds good so far, but do lean towards plant and shelly foods rather than soft or meaty foods. For example, algae wafers are a good staple, together with unshelled crustaceans such as krill. These animals are scavengers but a significant part of their diet is decaying vegetation, so green foods are important. Unshelled animals will provide useful calcium, as will small pieces of lancefish, bones included!>
I have black lyretail molly, red wag swordtail, and algae eater (3 inches) in the same tank as the Blue Cobalt Lobster.
<Hmm'¦ the usual warning here that fish and crayfish don't mix.>
For the past 3 weeks, I noticed that my Lobster has somewhat red streaks in his tail (they appear as arteries). The tip of his tail is what I would described as "clear: due to lack of coloration. Today, a small white "cylindrical" spot appeared on his side near his "neck". The red streaks are what concern me for she is suppose to be Blue. The majority of its tail is somewhat blue, but the red streaks are indistinguishable. Do you guys know what this may be due to and what I must do?
<Do start reading here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_3/crayfish_basics.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/crayfishdisfaq.htm
The most common diseases with Crayfish include various bacterial and parasitic infections of the shell (indicated by erosion of the shell, starting with small spots) and various fungal infections (similar, but with tufts apparent in advanced cases). Neither is particularly easy to treat, but both can be prevented by providing good care. There is also the infamous "Crayfish Plague" that has nearly wiped out some wild crayfish species, but it isn't particularly common in aquaria.>
Sincerely,
Ozzy
<Treatment of Crayfish is virtually impossible. The best approach is to optimise living conditions, provide a balanced diet, use marine aquarium iodine supplement (at 50% the dose on the bottom) and hope for the best. While it is normally best to let Crayfish consume old moults, in this situation you may want to remove infected moults as soon as you can, and instead provide an alternative source of calcium, e.g., an unshelled shrimp (with the meat removed, so it eats the skeleton) that is about half the size of the Crayfish. Cheers, Neale.>

re: Redtail Shovelnose Cross... still not reading 5/24/11
Hi, I read one of your previous threads about possibly using a laxative if there is a blockage but I was hoping to ask what you thought first. I live in CT and have a new outdoor tropical pond. It is 250 gallons about, so 8 feet long, 5 feet wide at the widest point, and 20 inches wide at the narrowest point.
<I recall>
Right now I have a 5 inch bullseye catfish
<Horabagrus brachysoma, or other species in the genus? Not really compatible...>
and a 10.5 inch red-tail shovel-nose hybrid in there. The pond is new, about a week and a half. I have 1800gph of water flow in there and 1050 watts of heaters in there and the heaters are keeping the temperature fine.
At night I keep a plastic top on the tank to keep the heat in
<And fishes>
like a greenhouse but it has enough openings to allow air in. The ammonia is between 0.25 and 0.
<Has to be 0.0>
The Nitrates are about 5 and the nitrites are 0. I used a product called Cycle
<Sometimes works...>
to hasten the cycle of the tank and I have plenty of filtration on the tank. I also have 3 water hyacinths in the pond. I am treating the pond with Melafix and Pimafix
<Please don't write us (again) w/o searching first... these products are worthless>
because I am having a fungus problem. The Redtail shovel nose cross who doesn't have fungus and the bullseye catfish who does have fungus are not eating. Neither of them have really eaten significantly in the week and a half they have been in there. Do you guys have any suggestions?
<Yes. See WWM re Ammonia... DON'T feed while there is any ammonia present.
USE a real bacteria cycling product (see WWM re...)>
I'm really worried. The hybrid was eating beef heart and feeders
<Last time I cautioned you against these... Sigh. Read. BobF>>
before he went in there every other day. I tried to feed him a silver-side while he was in the house and he took it and that was his last meal. Now I have tried frozen silversides, live blackworms, frozen blood worms, chunky frozen squid, shrimp pellets, feeder fish, and earthworms and he is turning them all down. He has a slight laceration on his nose, I do not know what it is from and he has a broken whisker. Do you have any suggestions to try and get either of them to eat? I also just put about 50 tablespoons of aquarium salt into the pond to help with the infection. The liner of the pond is a black
PVC liner. Thanks

Ick question... reading 5/24/11
Hi. I've read through the postings on your wonderful website regarding "Ick"/White Spot Disease, but there's one question I still need answered. I introduced a new Balloon Molly to my fish tank without quarantining it first (my bad!). I also poured a little of the store's aquarium water in when I added this new fish (my bad again). Well apparently the new Molly brought Ick disease with it, as soon thereafter, all of my fish were covered in white spots. Despite my increasing the water temperature to 84 degrees and adding salt, I sadly lost my Black Molly, my Platy and my two Tetras within 3 days. So here's my question - the new Balloon Molly never showed any signs of Ick and it is still alive and well in the tank (one week after losing all other fish).
<It ha/d/s "acquired immunity">
The water temp is still at 84 degrees. I've actually purchased a brand new tank and plan on putting in all new gravel and plants (I don't want to risk bringing the Ick into the new tank!). Is it possible that the Balloon Molly is a carrier of Ick and will pass it on to any new fish once I get my new tank up and running?
<Yes>
I'm concerned because it never had any signs of Ick, but it clearly is the only variable that could have brought the disease into my tank? Unless the Ick came from the store's aquarium water?
<Not likely the latter, but a small possibility>
In that case, could the Balloon Molly just be immune to Ick?
<This particular "strain", yes>
I want to make sure that my new tank and new fish are safe, and that the Molly won't continue to spread the disease. ?
<Might>
Oh, - I also have a snail that seems completely fine. Are snails immune to Ick?
<Yes>
It couldn't "harbor" Ick inside its shell, could it??
<On the outside, yes>
Thank you!!
<... read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Tiffany
Re: Ick question 5/25/11
Ok - thank you!
<Do write back after reading... should you have further concerns, questions. BobF>

Dwarf Gourami, lack of hlth. 5/24/11
After reading through all the FAQs, I'm afraid this question (or at least your answer) may be redundant, but I'm compelled to ask anyway as I couldn't find an exact match to my situation.
<Oh?>
One male Dwarf Gourami ("flame" color morph, to be specific)
<Largely a junk species not worth buying.>
was added to my established (8 months) 20 gallon aquarium five weeks ago. It took him about a week to settle in, things were fine for a couple of weeks, and then he developed ulcers around the mouth. Initially, they were raised and red and over the last couple of weeks have vacillated between "angry red" and "not so angry red" with a little white around the edges. The closest I've come to a representative photo is actually in one of your FAQs and is located here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Anabantoids/Gourami%204.jpeg
<Really? Do review both Columnaris, sometimes called Mouth Fungus, and the two Dwarf Gourami plague diseases, Mycobacteria infections and Dwarf Gourami Iridovirus. The two latter are not treatable, but Columnaris is treatable if caught early.>
On the advise of the local LFS, I bumped the temp from 78F to 80F and increased feedings to 3x daily a week ago in an attempt to jump start (their words) his immune system.
<Hmm'¦ not terribly helpful advice.>
Initially things seemed to improve, but he's taken a turn for the worse over the last couple of days. Feces had appeared normal, but are now transparent and "stringy".
<A bad sign, though even healthy fish can do this from time to time.>
His appetite and color are still good, but his activity level has dropped considerably and he's now spending a significant amount of time facing into the rear corners of the tank near the surface and not moving much. I feed TetraMin flake and substitute frozen blood worms and/or brine shrimp every third day.
Water parameters:
GH: 6 (dGH)
KH: 8 (dKH)
NH3/4: 0 ppm
NO2: 0 ppm
NO3: 30 ppm
PO4: 0 ppm
pH: 7.8
Tankmates: 3 adult female Platies, 5 Pristella Tetras, and 1 Bolivian Ram. All appear unaffected by whatever is ailing the Dwarf Gourami.
<No surprises there, the other three species being generally good all-around fish species.>
I change 25% of the water weekly.
After 8 months in the hobby, this is my first experience with a sick fish. Attempting to diagnose one via the web is an exercise in futility, for me at least. It doesn't look like a fungus to me (but what do I know), so I'm guessing it's bacterial in nature. Whether it's gram-negative or gram-positive is outside my scope of expertise. It definitely doesn't match the symptoms for Iridovirus.
<I see.>
So, with all the background out of the way, on to my questions. Assuming it's bacterial, and knowing everything I now know about Colisa Lalia, is it even worth treating?
<If Columnaris, yes; otherwise no. Do read WWM re: Euthanasia.>
If so, am I likely to see recurrence given the hard, basic water I'm providing?
<Certainly won't help; Dwarf Gouramis need much warmer water than your other species (indeed, hot enough to stress Platies) as well as softer, more acidic water than your other fish need or tolerate.>
Finally, if treatment is viable, any thoughts on an appropriate medication?
<Columnaris is usually treated with antibiotic or antibacterial medications.>
Thanks in advance for your help. You have a great site, and you can be sure I'll be back before I make another livestock decision.
<Cheers, Neale.>

Sciades seemanni and Mono Questions. Acclim. to BR from FW -- 3/3/10
I currently have a 125 gal marine tank with 2 lionfish, a snowflake eel, and one Sciades seemanni Columbian Cat.
<Mmm, this last is a social animal. Much happier w/ some of its own kind>
I almost bought a trigger until I read that the triggers hate the cats clicking noises. I am contemplating selling all bought <but?> the cat and converting to a brackish environment. I read that the cats do better in groups.
<Many species do>
My current cat is 7 to 8 inches. I want to get 1 or 2 more but cannot find them large enough. If I buy a 2 or 3 inch cat, will the larger one be aggressive toward it?
<Not likely, no>
My second question is about acclimation. I wish to add Mono argenteus and Sebae but these are almost always sold in freshwater. I was told that you can almost take them directly from fresh and put them into a marine environment. Is this true?
<Yes>
Can I do the same with archers and the cat?
<To a lesser extent, weeks instead of days, yes>
Or am I safer to set up another tank to slowly convert them to marine or brackish? Thanks for the help!
<This last is a much safer, better approach. Bob Fenner>
Re: Sciades seemanni and Mono Questions, more re acclim. to SW, impt. notes re Toxotids, ID and sys.
Hi Bob,
<Neale>
I just saw your reply to one brackish one about monos and catfish.
<Yes... responded as it was over a "day" back/old>
Would just add this: You are quite right that (subadult to adult) Sciades catfish and (any age) Monodactylus can be converted to marine conditions quickly. I'd use the drip method across an hour, as if they were swimming through an estuary, but yes, you could in theory dump them straight in.
<Ahh, please do send your input to the querior as well>
But Archers are a whole other kettle of fish. There are three species in the trade, each equally widely sold, and one of them is a freshwater to low-end brackish species, Toxotes microlepis.
<Rare in the U.S.>
It will die kept in marine conditions for any length of time. Frankly, it's unhappy above about SG 1.005. The other two species, T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix, will tolerate marine conditions though they're best kept around SG 1.010.
<Definitely send this along as well>
Diagnosing the three Archer species is tricky, but there are some drawings that should help on my web site, here:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/FAQ/3c.html
Cheers, Neale
<Thank you. BobF>
Sciades seemanni and Mono Questions
<<By way of a follow-up to Bob's reply. I would just add this: Bob is quite right that (subadult to adult) Sciades catfish and (any age) Monodactylus can be converted to marine conditions quickly. I'd use the drip method across an hour, as if they were swimming through an estuary, but yes, you could in theory dump them straight in. But Archers are a whole other kettle of fish. There are three species in the trade, each equally widely sold, and one of them is a freshwater to low-end brackish species, Toxotes microlepis. It will die kept in marine conditions for any length of time.
Frankly, it's unhappy above about SG 1.005. The other two species, T. chatareus and T. jaculatrix, will tolerate marine conditions though they're best kept around SG 1.010. Diagnosing the three Archer species is tricky,
but there are some drawings that should help on my web site, here:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/FAQ/3c.html
Bob believes that Toxotes microlepis rare in the US market, but German author Frank Schaefer argues it is the most widely traded. My own experience is that all three species occur roughly as often as each other,
and I've seen specimens of all three species on both sides of the Atlantic.
So do check which Archerfish you have before acclimating them to saltwater conditions. Cheers, Neale>>

Re: Sciades seemanni and Mono Questions 3/3/10
You both gave me great info. Thank you.
<You're welcome.>
The next step is convincing my wife to let me get rid of the lions and eel and replace them with monos...she likes the salt water fish more than I do lol!
<Why not keep the Lionfish and the Eel, add the Catfish and the Monos, and rehome the Archerfish? Cheers, Neale.>

Archer fish won't eat -- 12/15/09
Hi, This is a great site. I'm so happy to have discovered it. It's been very helpful to me.
<Cool.>
I inherited a 75 gallon cichlid tank a couple of weeks ago. The person who gave it to me was a stranger and moved out of the country so I couldn't follow up with him on certain questions regarding the tank.
<Okay.>
He transported the tank and 50% of the original water along with the filters, etc. to the new set-up in my home. I've had a freshwater (soft water/acidic) for over 3 years now. The cichlid tank is new to me.
<I see.>
There were a number of fish in the cichlid tank that I found questionable:
2 fiddler crabs (I've made space for them to crawl out of the water onto bog wood), algae-eating goby, Australian desert goby, kuhli loach, 2 clown loaches, red-tail shark, zigzag eel, puffer (since died), 2 Bateo (sp?) sharks, and about 10 assorted cichlids (I think mostly from Lake Malawi) and a Brichardi cichlid.
<Quite the mix! Not textbook by any standards. I'd concentrate on maintaining moderately hard (say, 15 degrees dH) water with a stable pH around 7.5. That should be fine for this mix of fish. That said, if this was me, I'd be rehoming some of these fish and concentrating on providing optimal conditions for a specific selection of species.>
And...an Archer Fish (about 2 in)--the most common kind, not the spotted or the 6-banded.
<Now, this is where we get into hot water. There's no "common" Archerfish.
There are three species, two that must have brackish water, and one that does well in either freshwater or slightly brackish water. The problem is all three are widely traded, and all three are EASILY confused with each other. To tell them apart you need to look for two things: Firstly, whether there are two spots on the back end of the dorsal fin. If there are, the fish is (probably) either Toxotes microlepis or Toxotes jaculatrix. The two dorsal fin spots on Toxotes microlepis are discrete (i.e., they don't connect to anything else) but on Toxotes jaculatrix they merge with the last two vertical black bands on the flanks. Toxotes chatareus tends not to have spots on the end of the dorsal fin, but instead a single large blotch.
The next thing you look for are spots in between the black vertical bands on the flanks. These are usually absent from Toxotes jaculatrix. Toxotes chatareus and Toxotes microlepis both have them, though not necessarily evenly spread out, one spot between each pair of vertical bands. Toxotes chatareus do differ in having a more "sooty" colouration, more gunmetal grey than bright silver, but stressed archerfish of all three species will turn grey, so you have to be careful with this characteristic. There are some drawings of the three species on my web site, here:
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/Projects/FAQ/3c.html
I'll make the point once again that all three species are very similar, and that all three are sold as freshwater fish. While all will tolerate freshwater conditions for a long time, only Toxotes microlepis will do well in a freshwater aquarium permanently. Actually, there are some truly freshwater populations of the other two species as well, but they are not traded.>
About a week ago, the eel seemed stressed.
<Do read about Spiny Eels; commonly problems are caused by using gravel instead of sand, or offering them the wrong sorts of food. See here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/spinyeelsmonk.htm
>
He had been swimming around very actively and then one day hid inside a shell and didn't come out for about 3 days. He seemed lethargic. I moved him to a 26-gallon "hospital tank." The LFS hypothesized that the ph of 8.2 was probably creating the stress.
<As I say, for the mix of fish you have, medium hard water around pH 7.5 is what you want. Quick check on how useful your pet shop is. Did they mention hardness at any point along the conversation? As is crucially important to understand, you don't change the pH; you change the hardness. There's a lot of ignorance about this, with people buying things like "pH down" and "pH up" potions and think these make their fish happier. More often than not, they end up stressing their fish. Do read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm
Malawian and Tanganyikan cichlids don't need especially hard water, contrary to popular belief, but what they don't want are soft/acidic conditions. Provided you have moderately hard water with a basic pH (7.5 is fine) that stays put day-in, day-out, they'll be fine. This will be well
within the tolerances of most community fish species.>
Since he's been in his new digs he seems much happier. I don't plan to move him (at least, not until he outgrows the tank). However, my problem now is with the Archer. He ate frozen bloodworms the first couple of days, then stopped eating altogether. I have tried everything: I even caught two big juicy flies in December in a Manhattan high-rise (quite an accomplishment) and put them in the tank. The flies disappeared, but I don't think the Archer got them. I tried dried bloodworms, dried Tubifex--anything that floated--and he still wouldn't go for it.
<My Archerfish enjoyed Hikari Cichlid Gold.>
I put 10 live crickets in the tank yesterday and all the other fish loved them, but the Archer wouldn't show any interest (followed them around a bit but wouldn't bite). I got dried grasshoppers. I stuck some of the fresh frozen bloodworms on the side of the aquarium just above the water line because I read this worked for someone (I think on your site). I've tried brine shrimp and beef heart. I'm so frustrated and the Archer looks skinny.
His underbelly is turning dark and I'm pretty sure that's a sign that he's very stressed. I thought maybe he had too many aggressive tank mates who intimidated him (they don't go after him, but they do go after the food with a lot of gusto). I tried to distract the other fish with algae wafers on the bottom of the tank so that he would have the entire top (and the food on top of the water) to himself. I don't know what to do at this point.
<My gut feeling is this Archerfish is a brackish water species and has had enough of being trapped in freshwater. In the wild they move between fresh and saltwater habitats, and the brackish water species never do well cooped up in freshwater tanks. A good salinity level would be SG 1.005, about 9 grammes marine salt mix per litre (1.18 oz per US gal.). That would be within the tolerances of all three Archerfish species, making identifying the species less crucial.>
I've been changing the water once a week (maybe a little more than that)--about 30-50%. Ph has been pretty steady at 8.2 and the nitrates and nitrites within safe range.
<What's the "safe" range of nitrite in your opinion? The correct answer is zero. If you have a non-zero amount of nitrite, you have a problem.>
I added aquarium salt for freshwater tanks according to the instructions on the package.
<Useless. Let's be crystal clear on this: aquarium salt is sold to people 99% of the time without any practical purpose. Indeed, most people who buy aquarium salt have no idea what it's actually for. So a quick pop quiz.
What do you think aquarium salt is for? The correct answer is this: as a medication to treat Ick in freshwater aquaria, for making dips for shifting flukes on pond fish, or else to detoxify nitrite and nitrate across the short term. Among the wrong answers are: to raise the pH, to create hard water, and to make the aquarium safe for brackish water fish. Aquarium salt does none of these things. Indeed, it's worse that doing nothing because it creates an illusion you're doing the right thing. So let's get down to brass tacks here. Archerfish need MARINE SALT MIX, and they need more of it per litre/gallon of water than your freshwater fish will tolerate. In the off-chance you have Toxotes microlepis, then this isn't absolutely essential, though it helps; but if you have one or other of the two other species, then you must move the fish to a brackish water aquarium.>
I don't know for how long the person I inherited the tank from had all of his fish. Most of the fish seem young, though one of the zebra cichlids is about 5 inches long (the biggest fish in the tank).
Thanks in advance for your help.
Best, Laura
<I hope this clarifies a few things. Bottom line, try moving the Archer to a brackish water aquarium. If it peps right up, problem solved. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Archer fish won't eat 12/23/09
Hi, Neale,
<Hello Laura,>
I just wanted to give you a follow-up to my last email. The archer turned out to be Toxotes jaculatrix.
<Ah, the plot thinnens.>
I moved it to another tank (brackish, with one tank mate). He started eating within a couple of days--frozen brine shrimp, frozen blood worms and freeze-dried bloodworms.
<Great!>
I've even seen him spit twice to get food off the aquarium glass!
<Yes, this is great fun. I would do this during water changes. Half empty the tank, leave the filter running, stick some prawn on the glass, let the fish spit for their dinner, and then fill the tank bank up again. Made water changes something to look forward to instead of a chore. Could even make them events to share with visiting friends! Not many people can say that about water changes!>
I've named him "Mark Spitz."
<!>
Thanks for your help, and Happy Holidays!
<And likewise, to you, happy Christmas too.>
Laura
<Cheers, Neale.>

Archerfish, and marine tanks... sys. 1/6/2008 Crew. <Bob,> I was having discussion on whether archerfish could tolerate full marine salinity. Not being any kind of expert with any knowledge of archerfish I found this link: http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/verts/archer_fish.htm <A nice page, but do note this page is talking specifically about Toxotes jaculatrix. There are something like half a dozen or so species in the archerfish family Toxotidae, and the majority of species are strictly or mostly FRESHWATER fish. Only two are euryhaline brackish water fish, Toxotes chatareus and Toxotes jaculatrix.> Which stated: "Breeding: It is believed that only the juveniles are found in brackish water while the adults are more solitary and swim out to the coral reefs to breed. 20,000-150,000 eggs are laid. Only a few reach maturity in 1-2 years. Young fish have iridescent yellow patches on their upper body between the dark bands, which perhaps helps them to school together in the muddy waters. As they get older, patches disappear and the black bands get shorter and eventually only seen on the uppermost part of the body" <Hmm... the breeding behaviour of all members of the Toxotidae is very obscure. The story that they breed on coral reefs, or at least in the sea, has been around for a while and may well apply to Toxotes chatareus and Toxotes jaculatrix. But field observations are lacking, and it certainly isn't true for the freshwater species such as T. blythi that live far inland.> So I guess so. Another person posted this from WetWebMedia page: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracsystems.htm_ <This would be me.> "Low salinity brackish water can be defined as water with a specific gravity (or SG) between 1.002 to 1.005. Two sorts of fish can be kept in low salinity water: true brackish water species that need slightly brackish water, and species that are really freshwater fish but happen to be tolerant of slightly brackish water. Among the true, low salinity brackish water fish are orange and green Chromides, figure-8 pufferfish, pike livebearers, and knight gobies. Freshwater fish that happen to tolerate brackish water include spiny eels, Kribensis, glassfish, the archerfish Toxotes microlepis, and Florida flagfish. Bumblebee gobies and mollies are difficult to place in either group, because in the wild both occur primarily in fresh water. However, in aquaria, they seem to do better when kept in slightly brackish water." <My article there refers to Toxotes microlepis, a species that enters slightly brackish water in parts of its range but is otherwise a true freshwater fish. It tolerates low salinities, but as salinity goes up, becomes distinctly nervous and stressed.> There would seem to be some inconsistencies between these two articles. <Nope, not at all. They're talking about two different species. Simply because they're in the same genus, Toxotes, doesn't mean they have identical requirements. Indeed, what these archerfish effectively do is "divide up" ecological space between them. One species (T. jaculatrix) inhabits mangroves and river mouths, and the other (T. microlepis) lives in the river proper.> Perhaps because the WWM article was aimed at people keeping brackish tanks. I know from experience that mollies do better with brackish water but the article is silent on full marine tanks. <On the whole, Archers do not like to be kept in marine tanks. Toxotes chatareus and Toxotes jaculatrix can be kept best at SG 1.010 or thereabouts, and all the other species at less than SG 1.005, in some cases preferably in straightforward hard, neutral to alkaline freshwater.> Mollies in my experience thrive and breed at marine salinities. Some aquarium shops even use then to keep the bioload up while awaiting shipments. <Indeed. But this is different, because Mollies are hybrids, while Archerfish are rather a selection of species that come from different habitats. Toxotes chatareus, Toxotes jaculatrix, and T. microlepis are all widely traded but rarely identified correctly by retailers. Telling them apart is important if you want to optimise living conditions, though SG 1.005 will suit them all just fine if you can't separate them.> I just wondered what your thoughts are and whether archerfish can be kept at marine salinities. <There's no real advantage to doing this, and unless you can securely identify the specimens in your tank, I wouldn't risk it. Stick a freshwater archer in a marine tank and you'll probably kill it. At the very least, it won't be very happy.> Bob <Cheers, Neale.>

55 gallon saltwater setup, & Archer sys... 4/15/07 Hi, I currently purchased a used 55g bowfront aquarium. Also included were 2 powerfilters (1 filters 60 gallons and the other I THINK filters 45), 1 undergravel filter, a DE filter (I have never heard of these filters for aquariums, it looks like my pool filter but on a smaller scale!) <Ah, this is what it is... a Diatomaceous Earth filter... for periodic (non-continuous) use... See Vortex Products site on the Net, WWM re... > several heaters, air pumps, and other accessories. What I would like to do is setup a saltwater aquarium for a Spot-finned lionfish (Pterois antennata) and a green wolf eel starting now and finishing by the end of the summer. Is my tank big enough for the species I have selected? <Mmm, not really indefinitely...> Which filter would you recommend using? <All the power filters, likely the undergravel... but you need much more useful knowledge... http://wetwebmedia.com/marsetupindex2.htm> I have been told to use a mix of live sand and crushed coral for the substrate, is this ok? <Can/could be> I really don't want a lot of fish that will overcrowd my tank so I think I will most likely stick with the two I already mentioned, but, to keep my options open, are there any other fish that would suit my setup? <... many> What is a good online retailer to get them from? <Posted...> Also, I have a 30g brackish aquarium with a puffer* and a needle nose gar that has been setup for 1 year. I would like to add a couple of archers and a screen section to the top for feed items like crickets for the archers. the puffer is 4 inches and the gar is 6 inches (neither have grown in several months). Would this be a suitable setup? <Not likely room enough... Toxotids need more "running" room than this arrangement> Thank you for all your time and help. K. Sned * The puffer was given to me by a friend who bought him from a LFS as a "black river puffer". She kept him in a 2.5g freshwater tank (YIKES) with a couple of Monos (DOUBLE YIKES) as she was told this was a "more than suitable" setup by the LFS. When I got the puffer he was very dull and had cloudy eyes. I put him in a 10g hospital tank for several weeks and began to gradually add instant ocean. I had to entice him to eat with ghost shrimp which he started taking after a week when he refused all other foods. He is now a bright brown-almost-gold with spots, a white underbelly, and yellow on his sides. His eyes are clear and they are a bright blue surrounded by a reddish orange. <Read my friend... learn to/use the indices, search tool on WWM... MUCH related material is organized, archived there for alls perusal, growth, sharing. Bob Fenner>

Puffers & Archers 10/10/06 <Hi Ben, Pufferpunk here> I am setting up a second tank and I would like to try brackish. I have been looking at figure of 8 puffers and archer fish such as Toxotes microlepis, a small scale archerfish which grows smaller than the rest. I have a 125ltr second tank but could upgrade my second tank up to 190ltr, if I did upgrade what stocking could I expect to keep if compatible. T. microlepis is hard to find, so if I got the common archer which is larger, would this also cause problems in a 190ltr tank? <Yes, since this fish can grow to a foot, it would not be happy in that size tank. I would stick to 3-4 F8 puffers & BW gobies.> Thanks for any help you can advise <Please try proper capitalization in your next letter. Good article on F8s: http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/puffer/f8puffer.html Check out the other articles there & the forum also has more info. ~PP> Best Regards Ben

Archer in Freshwater With Lip Fungus 1/25/2006 Hello, my name is Ruben, <<Hello Ruben.>> I've been trying to get back into brackish aquariums, and started by purchasing a juvenile archer about 12 days ago and placed it in a 29-gallon freshwater (converting to brackish soon) tank. <<Increase SG no more than .002/week to avoid crashing your bio-filtration. Also keep in mind that you will need a bigger tank in the future, preferably sooner than later.>> The tank has been running for well over a year, but it had a trio of salvini cichlids until I removed them when I brought the archer. My pH is 7.8, ammonia is 0 and nitrite is about 0.<<?>> The water quality seems fine to me. However, I noticed the archer had a slight injury on its lower lip, as if it ran into the aquarium side or something like that. But on 1/25 I noticed that there is a piece of skin or something threadlike hanging from the injury and the appearance of the fungus-like fuzziness. The archer is still eating, it's been eating frozen Hikari ocean plankton (krill?) quite vigorously. <<Good.>> I'm still concerned about how to treat this, because I've done my water changes and kept the water healthy, and I assumed the injury would have healed itself, not gotten worse (unless it re-injured it, which I guess isn't that likely?). I've considered raising the salinity, but I'm not sure if that really would cure the infection. <<This is exactly what I would suggest, as per amount stated above. Be sure to keep water as pristine as possible.>> I assumed the freshwater disease couldn't tolerate salty water. Do you guys recommend any specific treatment or medication? I really need assistance on this, thank you! Have a great day. <<You too. Glad to help. Lisa.>>

Brackish beginner - 12/11/05 Hi, I'm an slightly experienced freshwater owner. <Hello... John here this evening> After quitting the hobby for four and a half years, I'm ready for more! I was planning on making a freshwater aquarium with tetras, platies, and all the skittish fish. But I read a really neat article about Archer Fish. It appealed to me, and now I am seriously considering turning a 36x12x21" (40 gal) tank into a brackish aquarium. Is keeping a brackish fish difficult for a person like me? <I don't know you ;)... but, no, it shouldn't be.> Some other fish I'd like are monos, bumblebees, scats, and puffers. <These can't go in together... a 40g is too small for monos or scats. Most puffers are best kept alone.> If they grow too large, then I won't get them, but I'd really like Archer fish. <I would recommend a larger system for archers... 55 gallons minimum... even larger is better, due to their size and need to be kept in groups..> And one thing: I'm an 8th grader with a $10 allowance weekly, so tell me if I could afford it, too. <I suggest you look into smaller fish - a couple of figure-eight puffers or a few bumblebee gobies for this system.> Thanks ahead of time for your valuable response! <You're welcome! Best regards, John.>

New Archer / Brackish or Salt tank? Hello all, thanks for your time. <And you for yours> New to WWM, but have been reading here for some time. I have experience enjoying various African FW species of fish. 10 yrs ago I had a 39gal FW tank with a "BioWheel" and "Magnum canister filter", also under gravel with lots of plants and natural cover. Interested in getting back into it again, but I am ready to move to a brackish / salt setup. I have been diving for 15+ years and now I live in Florida and want to set up an archer tank. I am inspired by the Waikiki aquarium for their reef display, while also reading all I can find about growing mangroves. <Have seen, admired this tank, system many times. Have some pix of the fishes in there on WWM> WWM and elsewhere have been good resources so far regarding research for setup of a new brackish / marine system for our living room. However, now I am stuck, and request your assistance estimating setup. Ideally a 220-450 gallon saltwater tank incorporating mangroves, sea grass, live sand, live rock, driftwood and eventually archers. <Neat!> I have considered a flatter style acrylic tank 60x60x30. The idea is to simulate a "standing in water" perspective for the viewer, looking toward a planted shoreline with the back of the tank open above the sand bank for the mangroves growth. I plan to suspend them for root growth initially and then plant them partially submerged. I have read in various areas on WWM and other websites that 4-6 inches of sand is recommended for live sea grass, and that the mangroves will grow in the same medium. Also, that the archers are primarily brackish water fish, <Mmm, as young... more full marine as adults> but after speaking with the Waikiki aquarium manager he stated that they are now doing fine in full salt at the new setup they are using at the aquarium, hence the idea to go salt instead of brackish. Imitation is the finest form of flattery. I would like a similar setup. Admittedly, I lack the knowledge, on my own at this point, to set it up alone. I would like to use a "recommended" WWM staff step by step method for starting this project ideally. I am not afraid of DIY projects and would like to contribute the findings of successes / failures to your readers. Here are my questions: What is the most ideal, low maintenance, natural filtration that would support this system? <A living sump outside the main display... with the addition of an easy to clean canister filter (Eheim, my choice) for easily adding chemical filtrants, mechanically "polishing" the water> I would love to set up something with live rock, but don't know about size of refugium for water quality, filtration issues? <Live rock (with lighting) is excellent, refugium as large as possible> Other thoughts include necessary lighting, <Lighting can be of a few sorts... Boosted fluorescents, possibly with one, two metal halides, all on an arrangement that can be raised over time...> and how and where to drill/plumb this orientation of tank. <Likely stand pipes (sleeved) through fittings from the bottom will be best here... easiest to modify, service...> How to imitate circulation of water if the tank is only half full for feeding the archers. <Discharges can be fitted over, through the sides, even the bottom if you'd like... circular water movement best> I am waiting for delivery of "Natural Reef Aquariums" and Anthony Calfo's book on "Reef Invertebrates" that I think will address many of these issues. Right now I'm trying to get a jumpstart on where to look for areas that many not be addressed in this book. <Mmm, you have a good set of ideas, beginnings here... the place where you will situate this system... strong enough, perhaps overhead natural lighting? Electrical, water, drain access? Maybe an adjoining room to place mechanicals, controllers?> Please give me your suggestions. Thanks in advance, great resource, keep on keepin' on you guys/gals are great. I also posted some of this question initially in the brackish forum, in hopes others might help. <I do hope they will chime in as well. Jeni/Pufferpunk of our crew likely has many worthwhile suggestions. Bob Fenner>

New Archer / Brackish or Salt tank? Hello all, thanks for your time. <And you for yours> New to WWM, but have been reading here for some time. I have experience enjoying various African FW species of fish. 10 yrs ago I had a 39gal FW tank with a "Biowheel" and "Magnum canister filter", also under gravel with lots of plants and natural cover. Interested in getting back into it again, but I am ready to move to a brackish / salt setup. I have been diving for 15+ years and now I live in Florida and want to set up an archer tank. I am inspired by the Waikiki aquarium for their reef display, while also reading all I can find about growing mangroves. <Have seen, admired this tank, system many times. Have some pix of the fishes in there on WWM> WWM and elsewhere have been good resources so far regarding research for setup of a new brackish / marine system for our living room. However, now I am stuck, and request your assistance estimating setup. Ideally a 220-450 gallon saltwater tank incorporating mangroves, sea grass, live sand, live rock, driftwood and eventually archers. <Neat!> I have considered a flatter style acrylic tank 60x60x30. The idea is to simulate a "standing in water" perspective for the viewer, looking toward a planted shoreline with the back of the tank open above the sand bank for the mangroves growth. I plan to suspend them for root growth initially and then plant them partially submerged. I have read in various areas on WWM and other websites that 4-6 inches of sand is recommended for live sea grass, and that the mangroves will grow in the same medium. Also, that the archers are primarily brackish water fish, <Mmm, as young... more full marine as adults> but after speaking with the Waikiki aquarium manager he stated that they are now doing fine in full salt at the new setup they are using at the aquarium, hence the idea to go salt instead of brackish. Imitation is the finest form of flattery. I would like a similar setup. Admittedly, I lack the knowledge, on my own at this point, to set it up alone. I would like to use a "recommended" WWM staff step by step method for starting this project ideally. I am not afraid of DIY projects and would like to contribute the findings of successes / failures to your readers. Here are my questions: What is the most ideal, low maintenance, natural filtration that would support this system? <A living sump outside the main display... with the addition of an easy to clean canister filter (Eheim, my choice) for easily adding chemical filtrants, mechanically "polishing" the water> I would love to set up something with live rock, but don't know about size of refugium for water quality, filtration issues? <Live rock (with lighting) is excellent, refugium as large as possible> Other thoughts include necessary lighting, <Lighting can be of a few sorts... Boosted fluorescents, possibly with one, two metal halides, all on an arrangement that can be raised over time...> and how and where to drill/plumb this orientation of tank. <Likely stand pipes (sleeved) through fittings from the bottom will be best here... easiest to modify, service...> How to imitate circulation of water if the tank is only half full for feeding the archers. <Discharges can be fitted over, through the sides, even the bottom if you'd like... circular water movement best> I am waiting for delivery of "Natural Reef Aquariums" and Anthony Calfo's book on "Reef Invertebrates" that I think will address many of these issues. Right now I'm trying to get a jumpstart on where to look for areas that many not be addressed in this book. <Mmm, you have a good set of ideas, beginnings here... the place where you will situate this system... strong enough, perhaps overhead natural lighting? Electrical, water, drain access? Maybe an adjoining room to place mechanicals, controllers?> Please give me your suggestions. Thanks in advance, great resource, keep on keepin' on you guys/gals are great. I also posted some of this question initially in the brackish forum, in hopes others might help. <I do hope they will chime in as well. Jeni/Pufferpunk of our crew likely has many worthwhile suggestions. Bob Fenner>

Can archerfish be kept in seawater? I just read your very nice web page on archerfish. I'm wondering whether you know how well they fare in 100% seawater, 100% of the time? I know they can be found in full strength seawater in the wild, but I don't know whether they can live under those conditions continuously (my guess is they can, but I don't know for sure). <I have seen Toxotes joculator kept in all-marine water, but this was not a permanent placement... and as far as I'm aware all archerfish species are either freshwater or tend from fresh to brackish. Not totally marine> I'd love to add a compartment to my large reef system (in my teaching lab) especially for archerfish (an extra tank plumbed into the main system...this would make life much easier since I would not have to worry about maintaining water quality in a separate system, and the extra tank could function to some extent as a refugium for some very small creatures that the archers would likely ignore). Thanks, Bill Capman <Worth trying, but I don't think this will work out long-term. Am going to send your message to Ananda (much more versed at brackish topics than I) for her input. Bob Fenner> Bill Capman