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FRESHWATER FISHM

I'm glad to see this kind of help on the Internet. As far as I'm concerned, THIS type of thing is what the Internet is all about...getting people connected with the individuals who can truly help. I'll be signing up for your club as soon as I can. I'm glad to see friendly knowledgeable help on the internet, as the number of pet shops here are limited, as are the species of fish available. ' Speaking of which, I am compelled to ask: do you know of any mail order companies (internet or otherwise) that carry a good selection of healthy tropical fish at reasonable prices? I do believe that paying a little extra to get quality fish is worth it in the long run, but some of the stores around here are really gouging the customers.     Scott Scott.... Check this out, WORLD PETSTORE.COM For Supplies at Discount Prices "The Aquarium Doctor" Question.........Hi,  I am writing to ask you questions on breeding goldfish and I don't know what I am doing at all. I was wondering how you can tell the sex of gold fish. This is probably one of the most stupid questions that you have ever received , but I honestly don't know, so please reply. CDR Answer..........CDR .....Goldfish are difficult to sex. They are non-dimorphic. The best time to tell sex of a goldfish is during breeding time. The female shows abdominal swelling as the eggs develop inside her. The way breeders breed goldfish is to keep large groups together. They often have large group spawning where several males will fertilize the females eggs as they are scattered randomly. "The Aquarium Doctor" Question............I recently purchased a pair of gourami, well.. I purchased two. I can not tell the male from the female. The larger of the two has been such a bully towards the other. I decided to get a third, which was equal in size to the larger one. No better luck. He chases them both and nips at them constantly. He has even graduated to bulldozing most of the other inhabitants of the tank, algae eaters (2), tiger Barbs (2). My last resort is to return him to the pet store. I've kept gourami before in a larger tank. They did occassionaly chase each other, but not this constantly. Any suggestions. Thank you, Peter Answer.........Peter..... Gourami can be very aggressive at times. I have noticed the Blue Gourami and Gold Gourami most often being aggressive. If this behavior persists I would remove this fish in any way possible. Maybe he can be graduated to a tank with tougher inhabitants. If you do want to try to keep him with your fish, it might be a good idea to give all the fish more plant coverage for protection. The Male will have a longer dorsal fin and many times a longer anal fin, check out this species on Andre's pages. Page 7. A Special Species Of Fresh Water Fish. "The Aquarium Doctor" Question.........Hi, I have a 3 inch Gold Severum in a 10 gal. tank along with a pleco. This is a gravel less tank and the water is cycled and maintained. Five days ago, the Severum stopped eating and has become reclusive. There are no physical signs of illness. This fish normally eats flake food, lettuce leaves and occasionally black worms. Since it has stopped eating is has passed two small quantities of translucent white waste; which has the appearance of balled up filter floss. However, under magnification, this waste material is definitely not filter floss. I've been putting antibiotics in the tank for three days. Any idea what this condition could be and how to treat it? I've had this Severum for about a year and would hate to loose it. By the way, this is a very nice Web site. Thanks Don Sobbe Answer..........Don..... It sounds like an internal bacterial infection. Tetra products makes a medicated food that helps cure internal bacterial infections. Try some new foods with a little more consistency like Cichlid pellets or Krill. A higher protein diet may help your severum since they are primarily a carnivore in the wild. Insects, worms and crustaceans are its natural prey. Severum will eat much vegetation as well, but at this time stay away from too many green foods for him. "The Aquarium Doctor" When most of us started keeping aquariums, we went into the hobby blind. We read outdated books and listened to the self-serving advice from our local fish shops. Only after the death of many aquatic animals and the purchase of expensive, useless equipment did we accumulate the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully keep these creatures. Looking back on those years of “trial and error” aquarium keeping, I’ve often wondered why someone never guided people through the setup and maintenance of the aquarium. Well, finally someone is. If we understand the basic physiological requirements and assume the very serious responsibility of caring and maintaining these delicate creatures, it is possible to enjoy a very interesting and rewarding hobby. Members may ask questions on any aquarium related subject and look for information returned on their own personal email faster than most can look it up. If you are really serious about this hobby, check out Andre's Aquarium Club's SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP Click Here

Question.......I have a question about breeding fish. I have a 90 gal tank set up with some of the following: 1 1in Pink kissing gourami, 1 1in Paradise gourami, 2 1in tiger barbs, 2 1in Blackskirt Tetras, 2 1in Buenos aires tetra, 2 1/2in serape tetras, 3 1in rosy barbs, 3 3/4 zebra danios, 1 4in Arowana, 1 2in Red-Tail Botia, 1 Large Pleco, 1 3in Jack dempsey, and 1 large catfish. The fish that I have more than one of, swim paired together. How do I breed them? Do I need another tank? Have they reached maturity? My blackskirt tetras always swim together and one of them have a really fat belly and the other doesn't. Are they the opposite sex?    Thank You,Chien V Nguyen Answer.....Chien..For breeding it would be best to create a tank especially for that purpose. Tetras and barbs are egg scatters and can be difficult to breed. Breeders use something called a V-trap. The pair is placed in this trap where the female scatters her eggs while the male simultaneously fertilizes them with a cloud of milt. the eggs fall through a small slit at the bottom of the V-trap where they are away from the parents that show no parental interest and will eat them without hesitation. In the wild the eggs float downstream and lodge in shallow water safe from their parents. In your aquarium there are many fish that can eventually eat or kill some of your other tank mates, such as your Arowana, which can grow very large and your Jack dempsey which can become very territorial. Keep in touch if you have any other questions let me know! "The Aquarium Doctor" Question..........If I put a male and female Betta together to mate, & leave them together, will the male eat the babies? Answer..........You should remove the male betta as soon as the babies are free swimming.  For more information on Bettas spawning behavior checkout Andres page 7 on special species of freshwater fish, then click on betta in the boxes further down the screen on that page. It is a great pictorial of bettas in their spawning mode. Page 7. A Special Species Of Fresh Water Fish. "The Aquarium Doctor"   Question.........My Jack Dempsey (JD) has failing rear fins and redness near the fins. I am new to raising fish. I have a 10 gal w/ 2 JDs about 3 inches, one just recovered from a cottony fungus. now the other is sick. The tank is 40 days old and had an ammonia problem that was fixed. All else is fine. Only Ammo-chips and cotton in the filter. PH 7.2, temp is 78 - 80, water change 25% 10 days ago and 1 tsp of ammo lock, 2 tsp of stresszyme, and 1 tsp of aquasalt, were added, feeding was resumed after one day, am not overfeeding 2-3 pcs of floating JD food each mourning. After, fungus fish recovered and this one is now sick. The other is perfectly fine, good color and movement. Both have good appetites. Sick one is the submissive in the tank. may be losing scales in back as well, dark color, other is lighter and more active. May like to know that an overly aggressive turquoise Garamy was taken out of my other tank, because he was attacking the other fish (4 Tetras, 2 Swords, and one of his own) and killed off his own. I placed him in with the JDs to see if that would change his attitude. He now lives with the JDs, swims the middle of the tank, and picks on the JDs when they are sick, he knows his place and stays out of the way, but seems not to be stressed at all. what do you think? Thank You, Walter Answer.........Your Jack Dempseys are in need of more space. They are very territorial fish and at three inches each probably would require 10 gallons of space each one. The symptoms you mention sound like aggression related problems. The gourami is not of interest to two territorial Jack Dempseys, they are either fighting for breeding rights or in a prespawning tangle. Cichlids are very aggressive with one another before they win the right to mate with one another. Most likely you have two males or two females though. The reason I say this is because, a mated pair will do anything to clear out a safe haven for their fry and this means the Gourami would be in the way to raising fry and thus eliminated. In a bigger tank these aggressions can be spread out and territories can be established in hope that a mate will pass into them. Jack dempseys will only tolerate one another if they feel their space is not being invaded. It would be best to try to get them to a bigger tank for the sake of their well being, because eventually you will only have one. "The Aquarium Doctor" List of Members go to The Aqua Net, Eliminate algae Growth Safe for fish, plants, animals and humans Degrades and dissolves organic bottom solids and scum. End result is carbon dioxide releasing through the top of the water after BI- AQUACULTURE consumes the nitrates & phosphates. Other products require the tank or pond to be vacuumed creating excess maintenance Improves water clarity and quality; no more green water Will work in fresh and salt water Cuts and eliminates odors Converts nitrites to nitrates Oxidizes Ammonia to nitrite BI-AQUACULTURE