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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

EMERGENCY ony my snowball pleco L 102

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08 Mar 2007 05:04 #1 by Tetra (Tetra)
I recently bought a L 102 and it has fit into my 100 litre tank quite well so i taught i have never seen him eat any algae wafers or any veg put in the tank. Iv only ever seen him on the glass sucking away at night (roughly every night)

a friend told me that the algae on the glass is not enough and he may not be eating as this is a comon prob with snowball plecos. So i tried some carrot , brussel sprout, water melon and finally sone egg which made the water really cloudy to no avail but was swimming grand an no probs till.
:( i woke up this moring all my fish were up at the top of the water as if they were trying to breath i checked all water stats and they were fine.The thing is my pleco was the worst when i did a water change my other fish seem to slowly go back to normal but my pleco still had its sucker mouth at the top of the water. I think he may be dying as he is very slow moving and even lets me touch him help please.

any advice please much appreciated.....

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08 Mar 2007 05:10 #2 by ChrisM (ChrisM)
Replied by ChrisM (ChrisM) on topic Re: EMERGENCY ony my snowball pleco L 102
For now get as much surface disruption as you can,it seems youre fish are being starved of oxygen and even though your water is clean its not everything.Any fish hanging near the surface in the morning is a sign they need oxygen.

Do you have any sort of surface disruption?An air stone?

Tilt a filter upwards to break the surface to let C02 out and oxygen in.

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08 Mar 2007 05:18 #3 by Tetra (Tetra)
thats the thing i have an air pump on for 4 hours every night as plecos need very good oxgenated water . just checked my pleco and he seems to have a lot of air in its belly as its kind of balloning.
Wots happening
the water is still kind of cloudy after the egg would this be it......also iv just noticed my pump is slightly pumping slower than usual even though water stats are fine still filtering though

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08 Mar 2007 05:39 #4 by ChrisM (ChrisM)
Replied by ChrisM (ChrisM) on topic Re: EMERGENCY ony my snowball pleco L 102
What other fish are in the tank?
Disrupt the surface constantly in your tank,4 hours isnt nearly enough.
Place your filter upwards.
Do a 50% water change.
Add some epsom salt to the tank to clear out the fishes systems. (A couple of pinches or 1/2tsp)


By the looks of things water clouded by egg should appear as nitrates on your readings?

Your filter needs to be cleaned but dont so it just yet!

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08 Mar 2007 05:51 #5 by Tetra (Tetra)
will do now

1 angel fish
1 rainbow shark soon to be moved
5 neon tetra
1 hacthet
1 guppy (minded for the moment)
1 crab
1 snowball pleco


epson salt were would i get this

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08 Mar 2007 06:05 #6 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: EMERGENCY ony my snowball pleco L 102
My guess is that the protein from the egg is decomposing. Never mind 50% water change, go for 80%. Clean the filter with the old tank water. You can bet your backside on it that it will stink like hell. Add an activated carbon sponge to get the nasties out and throw away after 48 hours. I don't think Epsom salt will do much if anything at all. It's used when fish have intestinal blockages to flush their system out. Unless your plec is full of food and can't shift it, it will do no good. Ballooning can have several reason. Can you post a picture?
I do agree with Chris that you should get more movement into the surface water. An air stone would be ideal.

It might just be the case that your plec has overeaten and will be OK.

Holger

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08 Mar 2007 06:11 #7 by ChrisM (ChrisM)
Replied by ChrisM (ChrisM) on topic Re: EMERGENCY ony my snowball pleco L 102
IME when a fish lets you touch it there is a major problem.Any pleco I have ever had wouldnt let me go near it!!!Then again I have the same problem with girls. :cry: :cry: .

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08 Mar 2007 09:51 #8 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
I would definitely do a major water change as suggested. The egg may also cause bacterial problems which won't help your pleco. Do you have a quarantine tank that you could move him to temporarily?

It may be wise to do 20% water changes over the next few days to ensure you get all the egg out of your tank.

Egg and warm water aren't a good mix. It will most likely stink for a while. It will be like your own mini Liffey.

Regards,

Ken.

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08 Mar 2007 14:46 #9 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: EMERGENCY ony my snowball pleco L 102
Never put egg in a tank. I would not use water melon either.
Cannot add anything extra but deffo think it is a water problem.

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08 Mar 2007 14:51 #10 by serratus (Drew Latimer)
I would say poisioning of some sort, do the w/c make sure its up to temp. same water chemistry etc. get a polyfilter by underworld will absorb whatever "nasties" are in your tank could pos. be if the veg/fruit has been treated with insecticides?

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08 Mar 2007 15:24 #11 by Acara (Dave Walters)
Drew has raised a good point there.Our bodys are used to the amount of chemicals pumped into and onto our nice "healthy" fruit and veg.I spent 10yrs doing it myself on orchards.Pesticides,fungicides,herbicides(spraydrift),ripening agents,etc,etc,etc.Look on the packet of your pre-prepared salad,"packaged in a protected atmosphere"usually means its heavily dosed in the likes of chlorine to combat e-coli,etc.Our fish wont be as used to these,even in small amounts they could well have various effects.Granted chances are slim,but they're not impossible.

always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!

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08 Mar 2007 15:33 #12 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
Tetra-fry, what's the update on your snowball?

It's been a week now, hopefully he is still with us. Assuming he is, don't try egg again, try a slice of courgette or cucumber. Also is there any bog wood in the tank, mine seem to spend a lot of time browsing on that. They dont go for pleco tabs very often but are growing fine, so bwtween algae, ocassionaly cucumber and bogwood they are doing fine.

Daragh

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08 Mar 2007 17:39 #13 by KenS (Ken Simpson)
Make the veggies organic. Otherswise you risk exposing your fish to pesticides.

Regards,

Ken.

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08 Mar 2007 19:10 #14 by JohnH (John)
This is just a thought...
You have been removing all the uneaten carrots etc which you fed unsucessfully? This should be done regigiously as decomposing food of any type (even vegetable) will soon sour your tank.

I'd be inclined to do daily water changes until symptoms cease.

John

Location:
N. Tipp

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.


ITFS member.



It's a long way to Tipperary.

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09 Mar 2007 03:30 #15 by Tetra (Tetra)
all fish are now better and much happier did a good clean of the tank 80% water change gravel vac.......water is crystal clear.....

yes have bog would also have an air curtain, live plants

my pleco is moving more but still is not eating will try some cucumber today.....also is there a reason why he is much more active a night and in the day he just hangs onto the side of the filter are snow ball plecos knocternull

just bought a 60 litre quartine tank there yesterday still have to get a filter and heater for it will try and get this up and running asap

anyone have some spare heaters lying about would be very interested in buying one

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09 Mar 2007 05:54 #16 by Sean (Fr. Jack)

all fish are now better and much happier did a good clean of the tank 80% water


Of 24C water with a small bit of dechlorinator hopefully not taking water from the hot tap (to avoid copper heavy metaL traces)

That would be a ecumenical matter!!!

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09 Mar 2007 07:11 #17 by arabesque (Mick Veale)
ive a spare small eheim filter you can have.
and possibly a heater.. yours for free.

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09 Mar 2007 16:20 #18 by Anthony (Anthony)
Replied by Anthony (Anthony) on topic Re: EMERGENCY ony my snowball pleco L 102

all fish are now better and much happier did a good clean of the tank 80% water change gravel vac.......water is crystal clear.....

yes have bog would also have an air curtain, live plants

my pleco is moving more but still is not eating will try some cucumber today.....also is there a reason why he is much more active a night and in the day he just hangs onto the side of the filter are snow ball plecos knocternull

just bought a 60 litre quartine tank there yesterday still have to get a filter and heater for it will try and get this up and running asap

anyone have some spare heaters lying about would be very interested in buying one


He is nocturnal.

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09 Mar 2007 17:50 #19 by Acara (Dave Walters)
Just a wee observation unrelated to your water problem,you say you have 1 hatchetfish.These are a schooling species and prefer to be in groups,it would be a lot happier with a few mates.
Glad your getting on top of the water prob.

always on the lookout for interesting corys.pm me if you know off any!

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09 Mar 2007 18:16 #20 by Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
Most if not all plecos are more active at night, but some, like the snowball will put in an appearance during the day once they are settled in and happy with their surroundings, it is not unusual not to see a pleco for days on end.

I think I saw a 300w heater in the for sale section, may be too big for your needs though. Check it out.


Daragh

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12 Mar 2007 04:26 #21 by Tetra (Tetra)
yep 24c water put in but not from the hot tap warmed it up beside the rad while i was taking the water out.........
had 4 hatchet fish in the tank but they were transfered to a friends tank this is the last one but will transfer him to another tank with looads of mates soon

pleco is so much happier now hes even eating algae wafers and cumcumber thanks for all the help folks much appreciated
:D :D
oh and arabesque pm sent to ya

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