The corys are in a very peaceful SA community tank with mostly small tetras. I also have glass catfish and a betta who are never nipped at.

The nitrate reading seems reasonable due to the water changes and the plants. I have Java Fern running amok plus lots of floating plants. I have to thin out the plants every few months because the tank is overgrown.

The substrate is CaribSea Eco-Complete Cichlid Sand. The stuff is almost like powder and is supposed to be "soft belly safe".

I have a 90 gallon tank that has been running in its current configuration for over 5 years. It is filtered by an Eheim canister filter and I perform 35% water changes every week. It is very heavily planted with Java Fern, Anubias and Cryps. The substrate is very fine cichlid sand. (it used to be an ...

Thanks. I figured that with its low slung mouth that it wouldn't be a problem.

I hope he is still alive when I get home. What is their normal lifespan?

I have a S. Brichardi that is somewhere between 15 and 20 years old. I've found that Brichardis are pretty mellow, and I've had to rehome 2 S. Angelicus over the years because they were beating up on the Brichardi. My Brichardi may not be alive when I get home today. He has either reached the end of ...

Thanks for the advice. I really need to find room for a quarantine tank. It seems like Ich has become much more resistant to antibiotics. The only problem is that I cannot keep an empty tank.

Mike

I had 5 Glass Catfish and my tank was stricken with Ich. I used standard Ich medication containing malachite green. However, the Glass Cats did not stand the treatment well, and I lost 2 of them. I'm not convinced that the tank is Ich free, but I don't want to kill my remaining Glass Cats. What ...

Thanks, I'll try the Pimafix.

I have a very reclusive Queen Arabesque pleco that I have had for about 3 years. I can go months without seeing him. I turned on the lights in my bedroom last night and finally got a good look at him. What I saw I didn't like. He was swelled up with a band of fungus growing from his body. As I don't ...

I finished my 1st round of treatment with 1 Ram dead. A surviving Ram has 2 nematodes on its side.

Does anyone have a recommendation?

Mike

I'm hoping that someone here can help me with my problem. I have a 90 gallon mostly South American community tank (cories, cardinals, rummynoses, etc.) This tank has all of my favorite fish, including 3 Ram cichlids. These fish have a reputation for being sensitive, but I have 1 pair that breeds ...

Adolfoi because of their orange shoulders. I have a shoal of six right now.

Mike

Well, I switched to a sand substrate over the weekend (what a hassle) and I have been doing partial water changes (30-35%) twice per week. At some point in the near future, I plan on setting up another tank and will transfer the cories and maybe some other fish. I run 2 Eheim 2028 canister filters ...

I have a 6" Black Ghost Knife in my tank for about a year. I have noticed over the same period that all of my cories are missing their whiskers. It may be my imagination, but it seems like the tubercules on my bushynose cats are shorter than they used to be. My nitrates are very high, and I have ...

I've been considering a UV unit for a while. Is there any particular model that you recommend? Is this something that should be run constantly or only during an outbreak?

Mike

PS Are cichlid and pleco dirty words? What's up?

Also,

Can an UV sterilizer prevent future outbreaks?

What treatment should I use? Unfortunately, it is a 150 gallon tank and other bottom dwelling fish are flashing: cories, Blockhead Cichlid, Flying Fox, so I have to dose the entire tank. I also have scaleless fish in the tank (Clown Loaches, Black Ghost Knife) which are sensitive to medications. Mike

I'll check my nitrates tonight. I haven't measured them since I started twice weekly water changes. I'm beginning to suspect that the yellow spots are normal and that I may have a flukes problem. Some of my other fish are flashing. I have had problems with white stringy feces in the past and have ...

I have a Gold Nugget pl*co which has been acting unusually lately. Normally he hides during the day and only comes out to feed. However, lately he has been going up and down the glass and all around the tank as if he is distressed. Today I noticed a cluster of elliptical yellowish dots on the ...

I have a school of mixed Cories, mostly Adolfoi, in my 150 gallon community tank. I have noticed that most of them are missing their barbels. I have never noticed any fish picking on them and the substrate is flourite. What is causing this problem, and will the barbels regrow. My fish include a ...