Recent content by FishNewbee

I have the 30g going now, just need to get some fish in there and start cycling. I also have a 5g with 5 harlequin rasboras in it. I've been moving some of the sicker barbs that have been getting picked on in there with the rasboras, who are now also showing frayed fins. Since the whole tank is...

My tank does not seem to be cycling. I've been checking the water at least weekly, sometimes more. There have never been any ammonia or nitrite readings and nitrates have always read under 40ppm, usually 30ppm or less. I set up a 30g tank about 4 days ago but don't want to use the babies to...

My 55g is currently very over-crowded due to an unexpected and successful mating of my two jewel cichlids. My tank went from 14 fish to about 50 and I have been doing water changes every 2 to 3 days (about 30 to 50%) for weeks now. Apparently this was not enough because my male jewel became...

Thanks for your support. I'll let you know how it goes!

That's exactly what I just did!! I took my regular cartridges out and used batting from Walmart, folded them in half, stapled the sides, threaded some thin wire through the sides to make them stand up better, and so far, they seem to be working! Update: my male jewel who looked like he had...

After reading the Fish Disease Guide that came with the MII, it sounds most like Dropsy and fin rot. I have seen fin rot firsthand and his fins are not red or bleeding, but he is a red jewel whose fins are normally red anyways so it's tough to tell. However, they are badly shredded looking and...

Unfortunately, I just replaced two of them yesterday so they are new. So, where do I get the foam? Is this something that I would purchase at a fish store or is it just regular foam I might find at Walmart? I have been using expert.com and corresponding with a person on there regarding my...

I have some disease issues cropping up in my tank. I am going to treat with Maracyn II and Coppersafe. I know I'm supposed to remove the carbon from my tank but not sure how to do that. I have a Penquin Biowheel 150 and Penguin Biowheel 200 running on this 55g tank. I use the corresponding...

I used pantyhose and had no issues, but I turned the flow way down on my filter so there was very little suction when they were first free-swimming, and their smallest. As they've gotten bigger (they're about a week and a half old now) I have been able to turn the flow on stronger because they...

I have a male and female jewel cichlid who just had their first batch of fry about two weeks ago. They are amazing parents and I have been so impressed with their parenting. My dilemma now is I'm not one to let the babies get eaten so I'm taking on the responsibility of raising them (and...

You can buy tank dividers at the larger pet stores. I have baby jewel cichlid fry right now in my 55gal. They've been free swimming for about a week and a half now and my parents are acting the exact same way. Up to today, they were switching off, taking turns looking out for the babies, but Dad...

I actually have two filters running on my main 55g tank. One is a penquin 150 biowheel, and the other is just some generic filter for a 60g that came with the 55g set up. So, I could theoretically take the penguin off the 55 and put it on the 26g. So, now my question is, do I take all the...

My jewels just had babies about two days ago. I think they'll be up and swimming freely by tomorrow or so. I think I would like to try and raise them if it's not going to be too expensive or difficult to do so. I do have another 26g tank out in the garage. I have a heater for it, but no...

Thanks so much for helping me! I can't believe how hard it is to get advice, sound advice anyways! Unfortunately, I think a lot of fish die because of lack of information. I feel like my lfs should have told me all of this in the beginning. So, should I take the female jewel out of the tank...

That's what I was thinking, but meanwhile, they are chewing up my other fish pretty badly. No fatal injuries yet, but from what I've read the aggression increases once the fry are free-swimming. I really don't want any of my other fish killed for nothing, esp. when these fry probably won't...