Bravo2zero_sps

LOL Has she been for her scan yet?

Bravo2zero_sps

Hi Clare this is quite normal for these fish. As I mentioned in an earlier post the reason these fish are used as 'test' fish, ie they are the first ones in to get the cycle going, is because they are hardy fish which aren't expensive or flashy if you like. But they suffer with genetic issues from massive inbreeding at fish farms as these wont have been taken from the wild such as your clown loaches.

Zebra Danios and White Clouds are the most commonly used fish for getting the tank cycle going because they are seen as expendable. They are the ones who go in, kick off the cycle and have to put up with the high levels and fluctuations in water chemistry. This will ultimately have an effect on their lifespan with some survivng better than others. I started off with 10 Zebra Danios back in September time, I have two left now. There wont be anything you can do for them other than maybe put them out of their misery and removing them from the tank before they are eaten by the healthy fish. Fish are canabalisitc and clean their tanks and that involves eating sick and dieing fish.

Bravo2zero_sps

I would disagree with this on the basis that if there was any infection in the tank it would most likely hit the less hardy fish first and would spread rapidly to other fish.

This sounds more like what happens to Zebra Danios after they have been used to kick start the water cycle. They have experienced big fluctuations in water chemistry and this can result in poisoning the fish basically. They then go down hill gradually over weeks and months just like my Zebra Danios did and my White Clouds in my previous tank setup.

Bravo2zero_sps

Firstly never flush a fish down the toilet. Remove it and hit it over the head or with something as small as a zebra danio put it in a carrier bag and just hit the carrier bag hard on the floor. This will kill the fish immediately.

These fish aren't diseased or ill with anything they can pass on if its down to them being poisoned from the initial water cycle. To be 100% sure ask your local fish shop and take a picture of a sick fish showing the visible signs of illness. They will be able to tell you if its disease or basically natural causes.

None of my fish were affected by the deaths or illness of my zebras or white clouds because it was down to the fact they were used for the tank cycle.

Bravo2zero_sps

lol if you hit a zebra danio over the head you'd need to use a pin they are so small. anything else you'd splatter it everywhere. Just scoop it out in the net, drop it in a carrier bag and give it a couple of swings then straight down hard onto a hard floor, job done and fish doesn't suffer.

Bravo2zero_sps

lol. by the time you get home you may find that you can't actually find the sick fish in the tank, they will have been eaten by the others. They don't always eat everything though so may find a bit of fish guts floating about or a couple of bones in the gravel

Bravo2zero_sps

Only way to avoid this happening though is to do a fishless cycle when you set your tank up which i've never tried. To me you need fish in the tank to get it going properly but many people use the fishless cycle successfully.

Bravo2zero_sps

Never kept goldfish but keeping cold water fish in a tropical tank doesn't sound a good idea to me. Was it a pet shop or a proper fish/aquarium supplies shop that told you you could keep goldfish with tropical fish?

Additionally you can only keep one Siamese fighting fish in a tank, add another even if of the opposite sex and they will fight to the death.

Oh and Siamese fighters are a pain in the ar$e to keep. They either attack other fish over territory or other fish nip their fins and they die from the constant stress of being nipped at. I had one and experienced exactly that and will never have another in my tank.

Bravo2zero_sps

Yes be very careful buying plecs, do your research first as I have learnt from experience.

However some like the sailfin/common will be fully grown in 2 years and that can be upto 18"! I made the mistake twice. Firstly I was sold a sailfin when I started fish keeping and was told it was suitable for my tank. I still have my plec but its fully grown to only 9" so hugely stunted in its growth. I then got a Broken Line Panaque again being told it was fine for my tank only to find out they grow to be a lot bigger than I was told, fortunately they do grow slowly.

The best way to research plecs is by their L number. Their L number is a code for the type of plec they are and will give the plecs details of its potential size. Any shop selling plecs should be able to tell you the plecs L number they are selling, if they can't then don't buy from them.

I've also had mollies and never again. While colourful they are prone to disease such as bulge eye and live for only a couple of years. They are also live bearers and eat their own babies unless you manage to seperate the adult fish as soon as the babies are born. The bulge eye in mine was common and not worth the hassle in buying more of them.

My favourite fish are Clown Loaches, Rams (especially blues/Bolivian) and Ruby Barbs.

Also stay away from Silver Sharks, they are a member of the carp family and not a shark at all, they produce a lot of waste and dirty the water very quickly, are very jumpy, need ideally to be kept in shoals and grow very big. The London Aquarium has a huge shoal of them which is very impressive. I don't believe fish shops should sell them or the larger plecs as they just aren't suitable for the average fish tank, only very large expensive setups. Also as you have a fighter don't get a Red Tailed Black Shark either.