Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
I was so stupid and my fish payed the price :(
- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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Saying that, I didnt go there to buy fish. But I saw some juvenile Harlequin Rasboras and bought 4 plus 3 tiny, tiny Cardinals.
I know, 7 fishes are a lot. But they were so small and I figured as long as I keep a really close eye on the water readings it will be okay.
Then I did the most stupid thing ..... I added them into my established tank with my 4 Cardinals, the 2 Black Neons and the 2 Penguin Tetras. Yes, I should have quarantined them, but as I said, I never had trouble with that store.
Making a long story short, within 24 hours one Rasbora had showed up with a big Cotton Mouth growth on his mouth and 2 baby Cardinals were dead.
I tested the water parameters but they were fine. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5 (like my tap water)
I euthanized the fish that had the growth, changed 30 percent of the water and treated the whole tank with Melafix.
I have been testing parameters, doing water changes and treating the tank every day since. But since Sunday everything except 3 Rasboras have died. My Cardinals died first. Then the Penguins turned up with Cotton mouth growths and lastly the Black Neons lost their stripe colour and developed saddle bag lesions so I euthanized them.
I feel so stupid, how could I be that foolish


But thats my guilt now .........

What I need to know now is, what do I need to do from here ? My brave guess is that I will loose the last 3 Rasboras too. The Melafix dont seem to stop it, just drag it out.
Is there any other treatment I could use ?
And what about the tank ? How do I clean the tank and especially the filter so that I can wipe out the disease without wiping out the cycled filter ?
One thing is full sure, I am setting up and cycling my small quarantine tank tomorrow because that wont happen again

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- Valerie (Valerie)
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I also find eSHa really good for treating tanks when needed (luckily haven't had to use it in a long time). The eSHa 2000 is for fungus, finrot and bacterial issues whereas the eSHA Exit is for white spot.
Though I never tried it, Melafix doesn't seem to have very good reviews - it seems it's not powerful enough to cure some of the bacterial infections.
Hope this helps.
Valerie
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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I know I made a huge mistake

Will every petstore stock eSHa ? I dont think I ever saw anything with that name.
Will this clear/disinfect the filter too ?
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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I thiink Melafix sucks big time, it is an extract from a plant called Melaleuca a relative of the Eucalyptus Tree.
Saddleback is Neon Tetra Disease and is lethal, it spreads via infected fish being eaten by any live Fish.
Remove fish before they die to reduce the chances of it spreading.
As Valerie says eSHa 2000 will help.
As far as I know, Petstop has a branch in Cork, they usually stock it, i always.keep a large Bottle on Hand.
It is a Bacterial Dise and near impossible to cure, eSHa 2000 will stifle the transfer of it in the Tank.
Kev.
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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Okay, going to dump the Melafix (I didnt know any better and thought I was doing the right thing

Will see if I can find this eSHa 2000 tomorrow.
Thank you.
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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You should inform the Shop for their sake as well as that of their other Customers
Kev.
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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When I bought them on Saturday the Cardinal tank was pretty full. By Tuesday there were only 3 left in the tank. I really dont think they sold so many so I guess they died there too.
I didnt say anything tho

Will go and search for it, thank you once again

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- Valerie (Valerie)
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Will this clear/disinfect the filter too ?
As per their website : "Under normal circumstances eSHa products pose no threat to filters or bacteria"
Happy eSHa hunting

Valerie
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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Really glad I found this forum.
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- grgeorge (George Rahmani)
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Really glad I found this forum.
Me too. Everyone on here is really nice and so helpful. Nobody talks down to me when I'm asking for advice, even if its very basic beginners stuff.
Really sorry about your fish

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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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- BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
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sean
Sean Crowe
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Location: Navan
Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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- Mike53 (Michael)
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I don't know if it makes much difference but I always pour the fish into a net over a bucket to avoid the water going into the tank.
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- Melander (Andreas Melander)
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Melander
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- fergusq (Fergus Q)
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Also one of my local lfss compensated me for losses before (and they often would at least replace the ones you bought)
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- BlueRam (Sean Crowe)
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if it can get them to cop on and sort things out ya never know ya could be saven it from happen someone else but sure nothin can happen if u dont say it to them
sean
Sean Crowe
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Always Remember Surviving Is Not Thriving
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- Jambomac (James McConville)
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Really glad I found this forum.
Me too. Everyone on here is really nice and so helpful. Nobody talks down to me when I'm asking for advice, even if its very basic beginners stuff.
Really sorry about your fish
The reason why we don't talk down to anybody is because we've been there before its all about learning.
Sorry to hear about the fish, as for quarantining its always a good idea but in saying that i don't tend to do that as i can spot a good fish in petshop from a bad which doe's take longer.
Their has to be a decent fish shop in cork minus chips,
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”
quote Bruce Lee
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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And yes, I guess I should have said something. But the last time something like this happened to me was 2 years ago. I went back and explained the shopkeeper what happened and I wasnt treated very nicely for it

As for my tank right now .... another one passed away today


No luck tracking that treatment either. I was handed a bottle of Interpet treatment instead. Is that any good ?
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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2 tanks and neither next or near ready for fish .... I could cry .....
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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If your Tank is Cycled etc and you were very happy with it, it would be a shame to have to go through the whole process all over again. If you just allow whatever is happening to just keep on doing it's worst, two things will happen, one, the Fish die off, a shame , yes but inevitable and two, the Tank can be allowed to continue to mature and Filter etc, the "Bug" should die off and if you wanted to guarantee that it did, you could then add the Medication, if you give me your Address, I will send you some of what you need.
Kev.
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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Yes, the tank is fully cycled and it would be such a shame to destroy it all. But I am on my wits end and feel I have ruined it all anyway

All I know is that I am tired of euthanizing or fishing out dead fish. Its heartbreaking

Gonna PM you. Thanks for all your help.
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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Took out another dead one this morning so left with just 1 lonely Rasbora swimming through 55 liters.
Kev, talk to you after dinner. Thank you.
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- ger310 (Ger .)
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Ger
What do you call a three legged Donkey?
A Wonkey....duh ha

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- Pat (Pat Coogan)
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Sorry to hear about the losses but dont get disheartened. Kev will steer you right.Its happened to us all at some stage.
I am not in a position to quarentine fish but have only bought from sources that I know I can rely on.
I have had to walk away from beautiful fish in local pet shops because I dont know if I can trust the shops fish. Only advice I can give is use one of the sponsors from here if you can and stick with them. They get to know their regulars and look after us. Also if you have any issues you can PM them and not have to go into the shop if you dont feel comfortable with telling them face to face.
Good luck with the tank.
Pat
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- katie (Kathrin Guenther)
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Felt better after the chat with Kev and with his help I am hoping to get this under control >fingers-crossed<
Its heartbreaking alright

On the other side, my last little Rasbora is still alive and busy checking the tank for his dissapeared mates. Fed him this morning and he was hunting down his food happy out.
I put in the second dose of Anti Fungus and Finrot this morning too (figured I might as well do something rather then just wait for the poor little bugger to die)
Not expecting him to make it because they all died but lets face it, there is nobody in the tank left to eat him if he does. And as long as he looks happy enough, he might as well keep the filter going with his bio load

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