Fish Thread

[Ilovemychicks08]

I think another really cool thing about the gourami is their croaking!

Yes it is!

 

[fluffycrow]

Important stuff I forgot to add: I have experience with anabantoids. The water here comes out neutral, maybe a 7.5 at the harder end. Lowering my PH is easier for me to do. Making it harder is...well harder

 

[fuzzi]

What kind did you have. Always heard the non dwarf ones were bullies, never looked into it though

I got a couple Dwarf with my first aquarium (I was about 18). They didn't last very long, and I have read since that they are prone to disease. The next one I got was a powder blue, not sure of the variety. I didn't know that Bettas and gouramis don't get along. My betta kept bullying it, and it died within a few days.

My last gourami was orange, a Flame gourami I believe. He got along with everyone in the community tank. I don't recall how long I had him, probably at least a year.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Update on my bloated betta:

He is starting to pinecone, would it be best to euthanize him with clove oil now?

 

[fuzzi]

Important stuff I forgot to add: I have experience with anabantoids. The water here comes out neutral, maybe a 7.5 at the harder end. Lowering my PH is easier for me to do. Making it harder is...well harder

Our water here is extremely soft, and the pH will crash if I don't use buffers. I tried using bits of coral, cuttlefish, nothing seemed to help. Then I started using Neutral Regulator (by Seachem) with every water change. The pH stays around 7, but I have to watch for algae growth. The nerite snails help, but breaking the light cycle into two with a period of darkness in the middle really fixed the algae problems. The theory is that regular plants do fine as long as they get a total of 10-12 hours, but when you break it up into two 6 hour cycles the algae don't grow as well.

 

[fuzzi]

Update on my bloated betta:View attachment 3663165He is starting to pinecone, would it be best to euthanize him with clove oil now?

Does he appear to be suffering? Then yes.

I've never used clove oil, read pros and cons.

 

[fluffycrow]

Update on my bloated betta:View attachment 3663165He is starting to pinecone, would it be best to euthanize him with clove oil now?

I'm so sorry. I have no experience with fish euthanasia. My boy is worse right now. He's pineconing quite a bit, but he's three, maybe older. He isn't bloated, and his activity has dropped for quite some time. IMHO mine is just old, and at the end of his life. Yours might actually have dropsy. I am very conservative when it comes to euthanasia. If he seems comfortable, I'd keep him around

 

[fluffycrow]

I got a couple Dwarf with my first aquarium (I was about 18). They didn't last very long, and I have read since that they are prone to disease. The next one I got was a powder blue, not sure of the variety. I didn't know that Bettas and gouramis don't get along. My betta kept bullying it, and it died within a few days.

My last gourami was orange, a Flame gourami I believe. He got along with everyone in the community tank. I don't recall how long I had him, probably at least a year.

Huh. That's not good to hear. Honestly I'm not looking for another disease-ridden fish. Will have to look into dwarf gourami illnesses

 

[fluffycrow]

My LFS is tormenting me. They just got some of my favorite fish in stock

 

[fuzzi]

My soft water is also extremely low in calcium. My snails used to die, their shells would disintegrate. On Wetwebmedia.com there was a shrimp aficionado who recommended using iodide (NOT iodine). They sell it for use in marine aquariums. You use one DROP per 10g of water once a week or at water changes. My shrimp get really red and breed like crazy, and I don't lose my snails.