# Fish Care



## snakelover

This thread is a care thread about all fish, any help, care, water levels, ph levels etc can be posted up here, as many people, including my self struggle to keep our tanks at there best! Also, aggresive and non aggressive community tank fish, can be posted up here in there section, agreesive, not etc!


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## snakelover

Think thats ok, got it of a site!


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## Guest

i got a goldfish


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## snakelover

go you luara! anyway seriouse fish keepers! fish care, and any problem solving post up here, also fishh behaviour!


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## snakelover

marine fish chart








of marine. com i think.
​


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## fattifish

*help*

I have mollies and guppies. I use to have platies but they all died over the last week and the guppies fins seem to be rotting away. What can I do. Will the mollies get infected too?


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## mike515

those charts are alright to begin with, but i wouldn't use them myself. Mainly because i don't need to anymore. But thats just an experience thing.

Best thing to do is join a specialised fish forum. Or find a decent fish store (nowhere like petsathome) try to avoid maidenhead, in my experience most of them aren't great places to go, but there a few i know of that are good.


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## mask-of-sanity

please dont diss maidenhead ,theres good and not so good people in all shops


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## mike515

im not dissing maidenhead. Just saying use a bit of common sense in there. I have found them in the past to be a bit more sales orientated rather than caring for the fish. Its in all of them, i've been to several, and found the majority to be alright, but there a couple of dodgy ones. The problem is thats its a big company, they don't rely on customer support to survive as much as a little single shop does. This just means that the staff aren't always the best that could be found. Its the same thing that has happened to pets at home. While a lot of the staff are helpful, some just see it like working in any other shop.

Its just something i've found over the years. I just feel that you get a much better service in a small shop where every customer is needed.


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## mask-of-sanity

which ones are you on about yes maidenhead are a big company but my local one is great the bloke that runs it cares about his customers and his fish i have known him to refuse a sale if customers tanks not ready or not suitable he wont make a sale for the money if something is not right


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## fantiquitous

i think mike has a valid point that you should be wary and not rely on what the guys and gals selling them have to say. and he's only talking from what he's noticed in his experience. and he did say they weren't all bad. just said to be wary. (atleast thats what i got from it anyway).

though i will say i've even found petsathome to be helpful. they answered my lobster questions (food) better than maidenhead aquatics, where the man sold me mussels and said thats all they needed. but it never ate a bit of one. but in general i've found maidenhead aquatics friendly and helpful. it just depends on the staff, rather than the shop. but it probably is easier for smaller places to monitor their staff better.

so i say always double check everything by looking on the web. and using forums like these.


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## mike515

cheers for that. Its exactly what i was saying lol.

i work in a small fish shop and i know exactly how important decent staff are with that sort of shop. The slightest little thing and my boss goes mental. Customer service is key.


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## snakelover

*Colour Changing*

*Colour Changing:*
*My Johanni, the smaller one has no changed to a dark blue- black with strips, with a Lab type fins! the black strip with yellow :? any suggestions on what this could be. Also i have a bigger Johanni that is a blue colour if that helps :? *


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## mike515

its the adult colour of male johanni

keep an eye on them, they can be quite aggressive in small tanks.


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## snakelover

he used to be orange, is that there small/jouvinile (sorry about sp'ing) colour. Dark Orange-Brown.
And oh yeh, one of my fish has become absulutly gorgeouse! Think its a zebra. It has dark blue strips, Light blue background colour and face like zebra+johanni some where in there! pics if wanted, hes BEAutiful.


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## mike515

send me pics!

lol, depending on the type of zebra, depends if you can keep him or not. Some of them get big and very aggressive


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## snakelover

ok 1 min


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## snakelover

Sorry.
Bin on holiday and camera has zilch battery  plus hes well fast lol,
but managed to get a pic. more later if no good


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## snakelover

bump!


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## mike515

yeah he's a male


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## snakelover

and i have 2 more! a realy pink one, and one i gt today! want picks. they chase each other! well the pink and the one above!


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## snakelover

my new one is nothing compaider to these, energetic wise! they swim round the tank all day, my new one is just calm and quiet.


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## snakelover

Think my krib and johanni are getting alittle friendlt :?


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## snakelover

bump.
​


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## snakelover

blue liquid! Went to local shop today, and noticed a tank with blue water! and i mean BLUE!, brings out the colours, as she put a tiny bit in the malawi tank to show me the colours! what is it called?


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## Mujician

Can i just say that that chart is a load of rubbish and so is the book that its from - I've had a lifetimes experience with fish and you can never tell what is going to happen. Just use common sense and seek some1's advice thats been doing or in the trade (but don't go to the hollybush garden centre for advice coz they know nothing! - their fish are good and very cheap tho) thats the sort of place you'd go only if you were 101% sure you knew what you are doing


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## sami

blue stuff in the tank sounds like white spot treatment ! 

sami


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## snakelover

think it is to give it colour or something.


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## snakelover

give it= THE FISH!


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## emski

whitespot treatment is blue and so is the water safe that turns the water a blue type of colour.

Back to maidenhead aquatics, i myself have experianced bad times with them, one shop in perticular. They knew nothing, sold me a african clawed frog as a dwarf then told me it just lived on bloodworm, where is the calcium in bloodworm?? Also the advice i got was shocking and the tanks were not clean,dead fish etc.. there are 3 near me and 2 of them are terrible would never buy anything from them. There is a good one out of them all tho, where everyone who works there knows there stuff and the fish are great, they even have a small reptile section that sells live food etc.. 

Where do you work mike515?


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## DaveM

Snakelover, blue stuff=white spot treatment

and there is a MAidenhead aquatics near me that is great, well, 2 actually, all the animals are really healthy and the staff extremly helpful, I suppose it's just lyck with the shops


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## Mujician

Methylene blue will stain the water. If it is in the water for too long it will be detrimental to the health of the tank. The best whitespot treatment is Waterlife's Protozin. This should'nt colour the water if it is used properly


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## mike515

nah king british WS3. Possibly the best stuff i have ever used. Its also the only king british product i will ever use


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## Mujician

then you are an idiot sir. the only KB product worth using is safe water, and even then there far better products available


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## emski

Mujician said:


> then you are an idiot sir.


Bit harsh isent it??:shock:


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## mike515

whats that all about. Have opinions been banned on here now?


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## snakelover

Mujician dude, you dont come on a forum, ne member and call other members isiots, if you do, why dont you go and find a diffrent forum! I have been a bit of a t***** , but you dont come on a forum and saying stuff to people like that!


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## emski

mike515 said:


> whats that all about. Have opinions been banned on here now?


Oh well never mind dude, I use intrapet white spot treatment , i guess you just go with what works for you, nothing is set in stone!! But then again you have allways got people out there who think they know better then anyone so just leave them to it :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## gumsplums

cheers them charts were helpful.


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## HABU

goofy me, did'nt know we had a fish forum. love my fish. this expands my horizons. and by the way that one guy IS the real idiot. that was terrible.


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## njp

Hi All

Thought i'd post some marine/reef stuff you will need if you want to start.

REEF TANK= Tank containing Liverock, Corals, Inverts and fish

FOWLR= Fish only with liverock (Usually contians fish that are unsuitable for reefs, Triggers, Angels ect)

FO= Fish only (Same as FOWLR but no liverock, Uses normal filtration methods ie External fiters ect (Not reconmended in marine aquaria)

Stuff you will need
A good book (New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta and The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner are good books)

Tank (The bigger the better)
Liverock (1kg for every 2 gallons of water)

Protien skimmer

Lights (Depending on what you are keeping, Either T8, T5 or Metal halides)

Reverse osmosis unit to purify water

Hydrometer or preferably refractometer for measuring salt levels

Powerheads for water movement (Minimum of 20x tank volume per hour)

Test kits for Ph, Nitrite, Ammonia, Nitrate, Phosphate, KH and also Calcium.

Salt

Heaters, Themometers.

But the most important thing is Research, research and more research


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## Register

You will also need to re oxygenate the water after it has been through the ro and also re mineralise it


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## leahsfitness

*koi fish*



njp said:


> Hi All
> 
> Thought i'd post some marine/reef stuff you will need if you want to start.
> 
> REEF TANK= Tank containing Liverock, Corals, Inverts and fish
> 
> FOWLR= Fish only with liverock (Usually contians fish that are unsuitable for reefs, Triggers, Angels ect)
> 
> FO= Fish only (Same as FOWLR but no liverock, Uses normal filtration methods ie External fiters ect (Not reconmended in marine aquaria)
> 
> Stuff you will need
> A good book (New Marine Aquarium by Michael S. Paletta and The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert M. Fenner are good books)
> 
> Tank (The bigger the better)
> Liverock (1kg for every 2 gallons of water)
> 
> Protien skimmer
> 
> Lights (Depending on what you are keeping, Either T8, T5 or Metal halides)
> 
> Reverse osmosis unit to purify water
> 
> Hydrometer or preferably refractometer for measuring salt levels
> 
> Powerheads for water movement (Minimum of 20x tank volume per hour)
> 
> Test kits for Ph, Nitrite, Ammonia, Nitrate, Phosphate, KH and also Calcium.
> 
> Salt
> 
> Heaters, Themometers.
> 
> But the most important thing is Research, research and more research


Hi do you know any insurance companys to insure koi fish ?


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## retri

With regards to maidenhead, be very weary, try them out a few times before you listen to them, do some of your oen research on something you are interested in then test them a bit....

Alot of the guys at my local place are useless and dont have a clue, are more about getting you to leave with fish,

But there is one guy down there that does know what he is talking about, and will admit when he is not sure of something, he does his research, and listens to what you have to say also.

I found the best thing to do is like I said above test them, when you find a member of staff that seems to know what they are talking about and will admit when they dont know, stick with them.


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## fatratsandcheesekk

i went to my local maidenhead and they seemed more interested in all standing behind the tll chatting even when i was looking at the fish they didnt seem interested. The same with southern aquatics in poole we got a silver shark and the bag was so smal with hardly any water we said it was a bit small and needed more water they said it was fine when we got home he was dead due to stress

when looking to buy fish check the tanks for illness or dead fish


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## sylar

Best thing to do is join a specialised fish forum. Or find a decent fish store (nowhere like petsathome) try to avoid maidenhead, in my experience most of them aren't great places to go, but there a few i know of that are good.[/quote]

Good point, i went to the pets at home in coventry a couple of months ago and i was disgusted!! There must have been aboout 15 dead fish floating around in the tanks and then i told the shop assistant she just looked at me like i was stupid. :bash:


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## DRACONODON

sylar said:


> Best thing to do is join a specialised fish forum. Or find a decent fish store (nowhere like petsathome) try to avoid maidenhead, in my experience most of them aren't great places to go, but there a few i know of that are good.


Good point, i went to the pets at home in coventry a couple of months ago and i was disgusted!! There must have been aboout 15 dead fish floating around in the tanks and then i told the shop assistant she just looked at me like i was stupid. :bash:[/quote]


I know what you mean. And do you know what i got "We are very busy and we dont always have time to remove the fish straight away"
Surely they should as it is how they gain bad reputations if customers see them GOD:devil:


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## mike515

REPTAREXPERT said:


> Good point, i went to the pets at home in coventry a couple of months ago and i was disgusted!! There must have been aboout 15 dead fish floating around in the tanks and then i told the shop assistant she just looked at me like i was stupid. :bash:


 
I know what you mean. And do you know what i got "We are very busy and we dont always have time to remove the fish straight away"
Surely they should as it is how they gain bad reputations if customers see them GOD:devil:[/quote]


dead fish in tanks aren't always a sign that the shop is crap. Sometimes in bigger shops you do get the odd fish that was missed by accident or had died since the last check. Where I used to work we were importing well over a thousand fish a week. even with the best handling and care you're gonna lose some. Depending on the species, quality when shipped etc this could reach up to 15 a day. If the tanks are checked every half hour (which they were) there's a good chance that once will die in between checks at some point.

The attitude of the staff was a sign that the shop was crap. As was the massive sign saying 'Petsathome'. That sign should be a government issued warning sign for crap petshops. If you can, avoid using it at all. Not saying that all the staff are shite, just the vast majority seem to be as they either lack suitable training or have to deal with too much, as in they are expected to know about everything in the shop and not many people could do that without years of experience. Aquatics staff alone take years to become any good. No matter what fish they keep and how much they have read. No one can pick it up in a few weeks. Years of keeping fish (properly) is the best training, as is being prepared to accept new ideas (something alot of fishkeepers don't have).


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## Frogmad

again I would personally avoid using PAH for my fish, its not the fact that the staff are shite or anything like that its just that they aren't trained properly, there are a few stores (generally the larger ones) who do have very knowledgable staff who have kept fish themselves for many years.

I am kinda sad that I moved away from Stockport as there was a fab reptile/fish store in hazel grove (not sure how good they were on the reps but fish knowledge was 100000%) Always recognized regular browsers and welcomed and questions and answered truthfully, if he didnt think you were mixing right fish he would say so. 
I have found a farily decent place near where i work now and have just bought a brand new 130litre tank, it is gonna be sooooooo good!!!!


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## ianb

:notworthy::2thumb::notworthy::2thumb:


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## CornSnakeLover

I think Bettas and Guppies should be a no or cations... 

Other then that brilliant charts


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## Roxy89

*fish*

have u got any pics on lager catfish


thanks 
roxy89


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## MJ75

What type of catfish? Or just large ones?


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## The_Real_Moreliaman

mike515 said:


> cheers for that. Its exactly what i was saying lol.
> 
> i work in a small fish shop and i know exactly how important decent staff are with that sort of shop. The slightest little thing and my boss goes mental. Customer service is key.


Sorry i resent comments youve made too...and to the others that slate maidenhead aquatics in general.........not all maidenhead shops are they same & they DO employ people with experince, infact most managers also get sent to sparsholt college ! which im sure would be a higher level of knowledge than 95% of its customers !.
A few years after closing my own aquatic & reptile shop i worked in maidenhead aquatics for several years and never gave the wrong information, sold the wrong fish or just wanted to make money from the customer......And just as in my shop, customer service is a priority & was always praticed in the maidenhead store i worked in...so its not just little shops that care about customers.........the implication that maidenhead do not employ decent staff is offensive, just because someones been given poor advice or poor quality fish in 1 shop that doesnt mean the rest will be the same.
Dont avoid maidenhead aquatics....go there and decide for yourself !


Anyway..this threads meant to be advice for people!!...so..WATER CHANGES !!...people MUST do their regular water changes...they are very important for both fish & plants.....Water changes reduce nitrate & phosphate levels, both of which are toxic to fish in high levels & they can also cause algae growth...........regular water changes also replace minerals & vital trace elements that the fish and plants have used to grow and remain healthy (just like every other animal that needs them to grow).
They also replenish the aquarium water with minerals that help stabilize the water chemistry, A lack of these minerals which get used up could cause a PH drop which isnt good for both fish or plants.
The water changes must be regular & preferably around 20% once a week would be an ideal amount to change for the average stocked aquarium.....ideally it would be better to change some of the water everyday....but this is extremely labour intensive...so most do the weekly change.
The reason why water changes must be regular is because of the reasons above and also the toxins & PH levels....believe it or not but theres a VERY big difference between water of 6.8 ph & water thats 7.2 ph ...if you change water once a month the levels will have built up to an extent that when you do a water change you can shock/stress the fish, in pretty much the same way as sudden temp changes will shock too ! Stressing fish can lower the fish's natural defensive systems which can allow parasitic & other infections to attack the fish (pretty much the same as we can catch colds usually when we get stressed or are feeling down)
The above of course will depend on the stocking levels in the tank...if its heavily stocked then the water changes should be slightly more....say around 25% every week, less if theres a fewer fish.

So there.....DO YOURE WATER CHANGES LIKE CLOCKWORK !! They are more important than you realise !!

(let me know if ive missed anythin, & no i dont give a :Na_Na_Na_Na: about any spelling mistakes, punctuation or grammer inaccuracies)


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## goldie1212

those charts are rubbish IMO. no goldfish, fancy or common, should be housed with cory catfish for a start, they are small enough to be eaten, but because of the catfish spines they get stuck in the goldfish throat and both fish will more than likely die. also, guppies and bettas should never be mixed.

as for fish shops, i use maidenhead, but i never ever listen to any advice any fish place gives me. i research all fish im interested in before i buy, so i know they are right for me. 

petsathome told me not house fancy goldfish with commons/comets/shubunkins as the fancies would be eaten :yeahright: what a load of rubbish, but they never mentioned anything about the feeding (making sure the fancies got enough to eat) or the spawning (commons tiring out the fancy females too quickly) which are the true issues with housing them together.

maidenhead have had lemon fin barbs in that they have had listed as maximum size 12 inches and under a totally different name (considering they were already 15-18 inches each in the tank they were in!!!) but some members of staff do seem to know their stuff. i go for the members of staff that i know wont stress the fish more than neccessary when catching etc. i only really go to maidenhead as their fish are usually disease free at the one i go to.

tank advice, well as already said, i think the most important thing is water changes, regular water changes,with gravel vacs. my tank gets 60-70% every weekend. if your fish arent used to such large changes and you want to begin doing so, gradually build up each week. always remember to use dechlorinator.

try to add live plants to you tank, it will help keep the water quality up between water changes, and the fish love them too. even a small bunch of pond weed is better than nothing, and cheap to replace if the fish eat it.

dont use tons of chemicals to treat simple diseases such as white spot, they can be just as easily cured using a temperature increase, or a temp increase with aquarium salt. much easier on the fish, and works just as well.

research the fish you are wanting to buy before going out to buy them. you can usually put a fish on hold in a fish shop if you want to, and pick them up later on. it gives you time to go and research before you are landed with a 12" bala shark or 24" common pleco 6 months down the line shoved into your 30g aquarium, or find out that the beautiful baby oscar fish you bought 6 months earlier is actually a little killing machine and wipes out all your stock. 

you need to research-
adult size (stock your tank according to the adult size of the fish you want not the size you buy at)
dietary requirements
temperature requirements
compatibility
minimum tank size
schooling or solitary

try to give all fish a mixed diet, based around a good quality pellet food (flakes tend to lose all vitamins etc within seconds of them going into the water) then add either live or frozen foods such as daphnia/brine shrimp/bloodworm as a treat a couple of times a week. 

make sure all fancy goldfish have sinking pellet foods as they can suffer bouyancy issues with any floating foods. they will also need greens in their diet, i tend to feed mine cooked shelled peas twice a week,but they also enjoy orange and broccoli.

cant think of anything else right now, apart from the obvious, research the nitrogen cycle, this is extremely important in keeping a happy healthy aquarium.


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## dogkennels

Hi
This is very good thing to care their pets there are the various designs of the fish aquarium where you put their fish and care.Bits for pets have latest collection of fish aquarium where you care their Fish.


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## dogkennels

Really Very good discussions
Thanks.


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## mrhoyo

How come this is a sticky? I came on looking for advice on general fish care and its just a load of people saying that maidenhead is rubbish. 
Can we have a proper, clean sticky on general fish care?


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## DonDonP73

warm water or cold water


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## mrhoyo

DonDonP73 said:


> warm water or cold water


Warm water


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## Cleopatra the Royal

snakelover said:


> image
> Think thats ok, got it of a site!


I'm sorry, but I totally disagree with a lot of these on the table. I can't remember all of them now that the image has gone, but a couple i remember : tetra and angelfish are fine? so long as the tetra are feeder fish....and malawi cichlids and tanganican, only caution required? malawis are much more agressive and take up the space that the tanganicans would require. Tanganicans are so much more shy that they wouldnt get any of the necassary food.

those are just two. just a word of warning to double check anything on these tables prior to purchasing - im sure there are a few more mistakes.

Harry


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## brittone05

I am totally new to cichlid keeping and while I know of people who have successfully kept mixed tanks ( cichlids from diffient lakes together ), it is not something most keepers would advise.

There is always an exception to the rule though - I have an angel with my parrot cichlid, 2 gourami, 2 red tail black sharks, a clown loach, a betta and a little tetra. All do great together and no aggression etc whatsoever and been like that for 3 years


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## furryjen

I thought this might have more actual information on fish care but now I really feel I must stick up for MHA as our Woking branch has an EXCELLENT team of guys they all know loads about the fish and will all refuse sales if they don't think they will be cared for etc properly.
I have been given so much help and advice from them since we got our tanks a few years ago and trust them completely. I know that there sadly are many other MHA And the equivalent shops that have rubbish and useless employees but seriously ours is 100% not one of them you can always buy with confidence and to boot many if not all of them have tanks and take a large interest and practice in the hobby themselves :2thumb:


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## mariober

I was afraid of snakes:notworthy:


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## dogkennels

Nice Info.
Really Very good discussions
Thanks a lot.


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## Loach Dragon

This is the 1st time I've came across this part of the Forum  I love my Fish. 

We have 2 tanks 1 4ft cold water tank and 1 1ft and a bit Tropical tank they contain.

Cold Water tank: 
2 Weather Loache's 
1 Dojo Loach 
3 Hillstream Loachs (Butter Fly Pleco's)
1 Giant Gold Fish. 

Tropical:
Figure of Eight Puffer Fish (baby)


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## JoPwerks

Hi I have tropical fish and they are all good, what I'm looking for is some information about my lobster shrimp, can't seem to find any when I google, it doesnt tell me anything. He seems to be doing fine just would like to know a little about him.
Anyone know anything 
Thanks.


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## JoPwerks

Ignore the above post, I've found out now he's a Bamboo Shrimp and there's plenty of info on him.


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## jarry

*hi animal lovers*

Friends I am new to this forum & I joined this forum because i found it very interesting & it is based on all sorts of animals reptiles snakes & amphibians..before viewing this community I always thought that it is very difficult to handle animals & make them pets..but i didnt that take so much care of reptiles lizards & snake also..i never knew people do rescue work for snakes & dangerous reptiles..i say dangerous because i thought they are always this way...

Please accept me as team member & get me updated about how people help animals & what should i do if i want to do something like this....

thanxx & have a great day...


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## akky123

hi,
for carrying fish we should have clean the water daily and also change the sand with fresh send


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## akky123

hi,
clean the water daily and add fresh sand so that fish can survive in better way as compared to the past.
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## macy

hi
i have a gold fish in my fish tank.
But his health is not good right know..
how would i care him to get healthy?
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## zeeq

hi,
welcome to this forum i do not have any idea about this please consult with your freinds FOR FISH CARE
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## goodgood12

hello,
welcome to this forum site .................
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