Ideas on what would have given him ascites? I thought that was just a sign of organ failure (as in kidney or liver), not a sign of infection? He was continuing to eat even after it developed. It was a cyclical process: one day it would be fairly pronounced, the next day almost gone. I actually ...

2 weeks ago, I consolidated 2 tanks by adding a royal panaque and a leopard cactus pleco to my angelfish tank (also had 3 corys, a gourami, 2 congo tetra, whiptail catfish, bulldog pleco). I've since lost the two smaller corys and the gourami. The gourami's death I saw coming as he had ascites for a ...

My Royal and leopard cactus do this if one comes into the other's territory. They flare their fins and quiver/vibrate. Kind of interesting to watch. If the intruder doesn't get the hint, the next thing is a good lashing with a tail! They've worked things out to where the display usually takes care ...

Oh, well. It sounds like the big guy will have to go at it alone. Thanks for the tips, I wanted to know what would be best for ALL critters involved and there's no point in putting a fish in there if they won't get along. Too bad, 'cause I thought it'd be a way to squeeze in another catfish without ...

Re the bristlenose, that's what I was afraid of. Any other suggestions? And, yes, the guppies could end up as a snack. :P In fact, there were a couple of adults and several baby guppies in the tank with him at the lfs, 5 of the babies got transferred in the move with him. Maybe I'll just get a big ...

I just set up a tank for an axolotl (a completely aquatic salamander--biology grad student left town and passed him on to the lfs who then donated him to me). I would like to find a nice calm, non-aggressive fish to put in there with him. I'd like to put a pleco or group of cories in there, but I ...

A friend of mine had a pleco do this too--stopped hiding, was listless/just floating along the bottom without being attached. Her nitrates were way too high. The biological filter converts nitrites to nitrates which must be removed by regular partial water changes. In her case, she never did water ...

Is this for all plecos or just adults? I feed mine daily. Is that TOO much?? I do weekly water changes, nitrate/nitrite kept at/near zero.

edited to add that mine are all juveniles (<1 year)

Nothing? Has anybody ever done this or is it just such a basic question that it's not worth answering? I understand (and have treated) animals with heavy metal toxicity so I REALLY want to be sure that I'm using the right materials (bolts, screws, etc) before I do this. Maybe I'll use a non-metallic ...

How do you get the driftwood to sink? I've boiled for HOURS, weighted it in the tank for WEEKS, and still...it floats. I have some slate that I'd like to bolt to the driftwood but want to be sure I'm using the right materials. I was told that I need to avoid using galvanized steel bolts as they ...

So how about sending a link to the animal welfare folks? Maybe the Humane Society? I can't believe the cruel mind that would do something like this.

No advice? Anything?? Cypress, bogwood, malaysian driftwood, or just plain ol' any kind of driftwood?

I have at least one piece of driftwood in each of my pleco tanks, but would like to get more since it appears that it's the preferred hiding place for mine. I'm going to have to order it, since only one store here in town has it and I'm having a horrible time getting it to sink. Can I use wood that ...

Did you treat them in your main tank or move them into a hospital tank? Just wondering since I'm considering doing the same.

Glad this got bumped up--now I know what kind of cories I have! The LFS gave them another name (can't remember now what) but I was surprised at how much they've grown. Now I can look up more specifics on them.

Christy

I'm very interested in getting a leopard cactus, so I'm doing my research first. How well do they do with other plecos? (Specifically, a royal and/or L177?) Or how about in a community tank with angels, gourami, cories, and a whiptail? Should it be in a tank alone due to its territoriality? How big ...

Gold nugget doing great! He's really taken to the spinach and is going through a leaf a day. I've been leaving the tank lights out all day. He's coming out to forage after the room lights go out (I've sneaked in on him with a flashlight to see what he's doing) and is looking fine. Is it ok to offer ...

Didn't end up bidding on the tank after I saw it. It obviously had sat in storage for a long time and I was unable to get any info as to it's condition (short of what I could see). I did learn that I really want one though! Maybe not right away, but sooner or later I'm going to get one. I've been ...

There's a local auction tomorrow, mostly building materials/contractors' supplies. For some reason, there is a large aquarium and stand also on their schedule. I did a keyword search ("aquarium" of course!) on our local paper's online classified ads and dug it up that way. I'm really hoping that b/c ...

Thanks for the confirmation, I was guessing L177 but wasn't confident. He WAS the most gorgeous fish there (she had a small spot gold nugget too), now he's one of my favored fish. :D He's given me a scare this week--I think he's doing better now. His color was a bit blanched and he wasn't feeding ...

I've used salt in my community tank from time to time. Is this something to avoid in the pleco tanks?

Christy

No, still acting strange--absolutely reclusive (even more than usual). When I went home for lunch, he hadn't budged since I had left that morning. His colors seem a bit more vivid though, I'll take that to be an encouraging sign. I also increased the air flow into the power head, hoping to increase ...

Vik, thank you so much for the quick reply! I'm sneaking online to check for help every chance I get today--glad to hear a little feedback. You think the tank was going through a cycle even with all of the cycled substrate, etc? If so, it's finished with that phase judging by the ammonia/nitrite ...

Thanks, Tim!!!

I got a 3" gold nugget (I think L177) in December. He had been in a 55-gal community tank and doing well, eating bogwood, algae wafers, sinking catfish tablets. I tried providing fresh veggies but he never seemed to take to them, so I stopped. 4 weeks ago, we moved to a new house and I relocated him ...

Just a follow-up: I'm pretty sure that my fish is L177, which means he's going to be larger than I had been told. Not a problem as it gives me an excuse to get the larger tank I've been wanting! The lfs was calling him a "yellow seam" and I did finally find some references to L177 with that name. He ...

Filter recommendations? The tank is an Eclipse 29, I just checked (thought it was bigger) with the built-in Eclipse filter and biowheel. It does run a pretty good rate (350 GPH, I think). How will that work? I know they are a river fish that do best with a current, just not sure how much flow is ...

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it! I don't care much for the bare-bottom tanks either, but they ARE much easier to keep clean. The tank is sitting on a black, solid-topped aquarium stand so it's as if it were painted black on the outer surface. There would be less reflection if I painted ...

I've been wanting to get a larger pleco ever since I returned to the aquarium world 3 years ago. I sold a tank full of baby angelfish to my lfs yesterday, drained their tank and moved it to our new house. Seeing it filled with water but empty of fish had me chomping at the bit to get a fish to call ...

Mine has yellow spots as well as the yellow seam. Do they lose the spots as they get older? It looks like the orange seam lacks the spots that mine has.