Long-time lurker, new member, nervous contributor!
Posted: 22 Aug 2013, 10:01
My name is Daphne. I am a 44 year-old computer forensics student.
I have a few aquariums, all live-planted, with Asian or South American rain forest river species. The species that have come to capture my heart have been the gentle kuhli loaches and the armor-plated cats -- hoplos, portholes, callys, and corys. The pets I have that might be of interest to this forum are the following:
- one nine year-old striped Raphael cat who looks like he swallowed a lime (no, he's really that fat);
- a nine year-old spotted Raphael cat;
- a nine year-old hoplo (litterale most likely);
- a few otto cats;
- a nine year-old, "basic" pleco (?);
- two newly-acquired porthole catfish; and
- around 40 basic, bronze corydoras, most of whom I, at one time or another, picked up as eggs and placed into an open-mesh, four by four, basic breeding net that hung inside my 75-gallon Amazon tank.
All of the tanks are live-plant filled and populated with Asian and South American rainforest fish solely.
Why am I joining now? Realistically, I doubt I have anything to donate to the forums, geek-wise; however, I have had great success with breeding corys, and the armor-plated cats in our tank thrive.
My possible contributions? This forum is so packed with information; I do not know if I could contribute anything! If I could, however, I would cite these things: I have had some success in fighting some crazy bacterial infections that most likely originated from the horrors of living in a community that suffers power outages and a private water source that is routinely treated for "coliform" (poop water). The nine year-old hoplo in the big Amazon tank, Monica Lewinksi, has survived two horrific infections that I suspect were flextbacterium. One ate her entire mouth, barbels, and caudal fin. I hand-fed her garlic-soaked red worms and other types of foods and treated her with negative and positive stain antibiotics, all while she lived in a five-gallon tank on our kitchen counter. She and I have been through a great deal together; maybe we could donate something to those who might find themselves facing such an infection in the future. I also have had eight years of experience of "ghetto" (amateur) cory breeding. For what it's worth, I would gladly share what works.here.
My deficits? With living in an area that has a private water source that seems to be routinely infested with "coliform" (poop), and with not having an RO system, I would love to learn from others who could help me protect my catfish (and tanks, in general) from future changes in their environment. More specifically, I would like to learn about medication and treatment for different cats, those who cannot handle salt (corys), or those who do not have scales. I would also like to learn more about this wonderful hobby (love!) in general.
Thank you so much for reading this introduction. I love my cats, and I'd love to be a better guardian for them. I hope I will fit in somewhere and be able to contribute to these forums.
Daph
I have a few aquariums, all live-planted, with Asian or South American rain forest river species. The species that have come to capture my heart have been the gentle kuhli loaches and the armor-plated cats -- hoplos, portholes, callys, and corys. The pets I have that might be of interest to this forum are the following:
- one nine year-old striped Raphael cat who looks like he swallowed a lime (no, he's really that fat);
- a nine year-old spotted Raphael cat;
- a nine year-old hoplo (litterale most likely);
- a few otto cats;
- a nine year-old, "basic" pleco (?);
- two newly-acquired porthole catfish; and
- around 40 basic, bronze corydoras, most of whom I, at one time or another, picked up as eggs and placed into an open-mesh, four by four, basic breeding net that hung inside my 75-gallon Amazon tank.
All of the tanks are live-plant filled and populated with Asian and South American rainforest fish solely.
Why am I joining now? Realistically, I doubt I have anything to donate to the forums, geek-wise; however, I have had great success with breeding corys, and the armor-plated cats in our tank thrive.
My possible contributions? This forum is so packed with information; I do not know if I could contribute anything! If I could, however, I would cite these things: I have had some success in fighting some crazy bacterial infections that most likely originated from the horrors of living in a community that suffers power outages and a private water source that is routinely treated for "coliform" (poop water). The nine year-old hoplo in the big Amazon tank, Monica Lewinksi, has survived two horrific infections that I suspect were flextbacterium. One ate her entire mouth, barbels, and caudal fin. I hand-fed her garlic-soaked red worms and other types of foods and treated her with negative and positive stain antibiotics, all while she lived in a five-gallon tank on our kitchen counter. She and I have been through a great deal together; maybe we could donate something to those who might find themselves facing such an infection in the future. I also have had eight years of experience of "ghetto" (amateur) cory breeding. For what it's worth, I would gladly share what works.here.
My deficits? With living in an area that has a private water source that seems to be routinely infested with "coliform" (poop), and with not having an RO system, I would love to learn from others who could help me protect my catfish (and tanks, in general) from future changes in their environment. More specifically, I would like to learn about medication and treatment for different cats, those who cannot handle salt (corys), or those who do not have scales. I would also like to learn more about this wonderful hobby (love!) in general.
Thank you so much for reading this introduction. I love my cats, and I'd love to be a better guardian for them. I hope I will fit in somewhere and be able to contribute to these forums.
Daph
I see you are located in the Pacific Northwest, I am located in the Inland Northwest along the Idaho Washington border. Sorry to hear you are struggling with water quality...yuck. Gosh I would think even a holding tank with chlorine would be helpful, also I would seriously take up rain collection as rain is most available here in the Pacific Northwest. I'm betting you could store some serious rain water 