bottom feeding fish for the aquarium

I currently have an up and cycled 15gal tall aquarium (20x10x20 I believe). The floor of the covered with a mixture of river stones, natural-colored sand, and black aquarium rocks (all pet-smart bought). There are also tons of fake plants lining the back of the aquarium (no real plants at this time). My biggest concern is that the tank must be transported to and from my college dorm every year. I have posted a few pictures of the tank here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/elves117711/Fishy/100_3986.jpg (there are a few pictures, and the filter isnt dirty -that is loose carbon on the top from the bottom of the package). Housing: 7 zebra danios (2 male 5 female I believe) ; 1 male betta (veil tail, very very passive) ; 2 mystery snails (1 gold and 1 blue) all of the creatures in the tank for the most part ignore each other. I could not be happier with the set up! Heater: Constantly on; used to keep the tank at about 80*F (it turns itself on and off) Air Stone: There is a 12in (??) air stone along the very back of the tank. It helps to move air into the water but is blocked by lots of large plants. The betta does fine in the ?current? bc there is literally no current moving through the whole tank bc of all the plants breaking it up. Filter: A combo lid/light/carbon-biowheel filter. The monster is an Eclipse 1 system by Marineland running 150gal/hr (so, 10x my tank size). You can read up on it here: http://marineland.com/sites/Marineland/products/productdetail.aspx?id=2054&cid=3243&mid=3227 Maintenance: I change the carbon filter about every 2-4 weeks (i.e. whenever it turns black) and perform about 30% water changes every week to every 2 weeks with a gravel vacuum. The replacement water sits overnight and is conditioned before use. Feeding: The little fellas are fed a combination of Topfin color enhancing pellets and Topfin freeze dried medly and/or Tetra Tropical Crisps? and there is usually one little algae wafer in there for the snails. The ?Rule?: Sure, there is the whole rule about 1in of adult fish per gallon or 3in of adult goldfish per gallon (I have 1.5 in of fish left over by this rule), or some say to use this rule based on the standard size of the aquarium (so mine would be a 10gal for stocking reasons because you would ignore that it is a tall). ?but then, if you do regular water changes and have a super filter (like my 10x my tank size one) you have much more room for bioload reasons (I not discussion swimming space in this thread). ?but then other people say that the more stuff you have, the less bioload you have (makes some sense bc there would be less water). Does anyone have experience on this? I have quite a bit of middle swimming room going unused, my fish are content in each other?s company, I do regular water changes biweekly at a minimum (although could probably do it once a month)? do I really only have room for one little 1.5in max fish? As a science major, MY bioload story does not add up. The tank is fully cycled and the filter works wonders on it. I really think I could add more creatures. Thank you for any comments, Sarahbeth

Okay I recently started my first aquarium. Its a twenty gallon freshwater tank with 3 small angels, 3 swordtails, and 1 mystery snail. I feed them fish flakes daily and bloodworms every other day, along with a small piece of an algae wafer for the snail. All the fish are getting along great with each other, but I was wondering if there were are interesting non-fish type of animals I could add. Something along the lines of a crab, small lobster or shrimp maybe? Basically something that's more of a bottom level walker instead of a swimmer. Any suggestions, and info on the suggestion would be very much appreciated! :D thanks!(: Okay so one person says shrimp and other says no shrimp? More feedback please? :)

Hi! I have a male Betta fish. When I got him, (about 6 months ago), he was so healthy and colorful. But lately he hasn't been eating. He stays on the bottom, sometimes with his head in the gravel, or just on his side. (I know he does not have Ick though because he isn't scratching himself on things and does not have white spots on his body). He doesn't eat either, and has a hard time swimming. He swims up for air, but swims back down really quickly because it seems that he can't swim and something is pulling him back down. The color on his face is also fading from a bright dark blue to a dull gray. By the way, he is a Veil Tail Betta fish and seems young. I also don't have a filter in the tank. I clean his water and I have been adding aquarium salt to the water as well. Is there anything I can feed him to help him get better or something I can add to his tank to help him? And what is wrong with him? What disease does he have, cause I know there are a lot of different Betta diseases. I found this website: http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm If you take a look at the website, you'll see all those different types of betta diseases. My betta has something that looks like Betta Fungus. He sounds like he has Swim Bladder Disorder too. Also, I have another Betta Fish. Him and the one with a problem both look shiny under light in the dark, and that sounds like the disease Velvet. But they had this when they were healthy too. What do you think? Please, any suggestions? Thanks so much for reading my long question and Thanks!

I bought a new goldfish a few weeks ago. After I got him home I realized he had white spot so I placed him in a smaller quarantine tank and put GoldMed (a general tonic) in to cure it. I also used water from the main tank to help customize him to the water before he moved to the larger tank and used a filter above the water and oxygen tablets to help with aeration. As it neared the end of the two week course the fish started breathing quicker, although wasn't gasping at the surface and showed no more signs of white spot. I put this fast breathing down to the medicine in the tank (maybe slight lack of oxygen) and a slightly high ammonia reading (1ppm). So, when the two week course finished I placed him in the big tank with the others. After a week in the big tank he was still breathing fast but showed no other signs of illness apart from keeping one gill closed. He does open both when feeding and occasionally when swimming. He's extremely active for a fish who seems like he can't breathe!! He eats well, eating so enthusiastically he sometimes gulps bubbles which come out through his gills. He does seem thinner compared to the others, but I don't think he's loosing any more weight, the other fish are also possibly slightly 'podgy'. His where abouts in the tank varies; sometimes he's near the bottom, sitting in the hiding pot or hanging near the surface (in front of filter and behind). His fins are slightly clamped but don't stay that way all the time, if he's swimming to see me or feeding his fins are erect. While he has been in the big tank I gave all the fish a weeks dose of "Disease Safe" (a different general tonic) then a week later (after using carbon to remove the left over medicine and a 20% water change, as recommended by my local Aquarium Shop) a 3 day dose of "eSHa EXIT" but the gasping fish has shown little, if any, improvement. I think I will be continuing the dose for another 2 days, tomorrow will be day 4. But if anyone has any other ideas about what can be wrong please let me know!!! The tank is a cold water tank containing 5 Goldfish (single tailed) and 1 Algae Eater The other fish are all fine, fit and healthy. The gasping goldfish is eating fine and moving often, but breathes fast and keeps one gill closed (always same one) He doesn't gasp at the surface Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 ppm Nitrate is about 10 ppm PH is about 7.5 or 8 There is aquarium salt in the tank at the standard dose (half tea spoon per 3.4 liters) We have tested for all different types of chemicals and done all tests possible for aquariums (phosphate, KH, PH etc) No sprays, deodorants, scented candles etc are used in the room

The bottom of my tank has rocks i got from the store. I noticed that there was gunk, maybe poo and food. I feed my Betta once every night just a little bit of flakes, that the guy at Petsmart recommended. The tank is a 10 gallon Top Fin® Aqua Scene Desktop Aquariums. I know that you can put other fish with Betta's. So if you can help that wold be great!!! Thanks alot!!! :)

I came home, and fed my fish 3 small round pieces of floating fish food. I had fed it 24 hours before this, (3 pieces). It looked fine when I came home but it ate one piece then starting sinking to the bottom and floating to the top whilst it was sideways. I have moved it to a new tank with clean water. Its body seems to be bent abnormally and it is breathing very fast. Could this be from overfeeding, or inflation of the floating food after it had been eaten? Is this swim bladder disease? Is the fish in pain? I head feeding it peas is a good idea, or just not feeding it at all for a few days. What should I do. Please help now. it really looks like it's in pain. :( Also, its scales are getting whiter (discloring) Its originally a red fish.

hi i have a black moor, recently i noticed he has been sitting at the bottom of the tank, quite still.. he still swims occasionally... i have not been over feeding him, (a pinch every two- three days) he has a whole 40 litre tank to himself with pump and filter, i moved him to an identical tank as soon as i noticed him doing it, still no change, i did a 40% water change made no difference, added some salt and fed him a cooked peeled pea. His friend died from what looked like swim bladder disease about a month ago.. i have read as much as i could find on the net, but not sure what else i can do hi i have a black moor, recently i noticed he has been sitting at the bottom of the tank, quite still.. he still swims occasionally... i have not been over feeding him, (a pinch every two- three days) he has a whole 40 litre tank to himself with pump and filter, i moved him to an identical tank as soon as i noticed him doing it, still no change, i did a 40% water change made no difference, added some salt and fed him a cooked peeled pea. His friend died from what looked like swim bladder disease about a month ago.. i have read as much as i could find on the net, but not sure what else i can do.... my aqua one tank, has excellent filtration and oxygen. Also according to the 1 inch per gallon rule.. it can hold up to 5-7 goldfish for its size, my moor is only 1 inch source; advised by the aquarium store and http://aquadaily.com/2009/01/23/how-many-fish-can-you-keep-in-your-tank/ Just thought i'd let you guys know i had the water tested, ammonia, nitrate levels were all 0, ph was normal, so its not water quality... what else you guys got?

i bought my betta fish last friday and i havent seen him eat much he was on his own for a few days then i thought he wasnt eating because there where no other fish in the aquarium so i added to black mollies and swordtails they get along fine but he still isnt eating hes just lying at the bottom of the tank breathing quite heavy.i have tried feeding him bloodworms, daphnia, brine shrimp and flake food but still no joy, was going too buy some betta min off amazon tonight see if this works. what else could i try??? i have cycled my tank its been set up for 1 1/4 year i dont see what the problem is...

I have a comet goldfish, who've I've had for about a year and a half. He's kept it a Baby BiOrb tank with gravel and a constant bubble filter system. I feed him twice a day, about 4-5 flakes each time. I change his water at least once every three weeks. Recently, there was an outbreak of brown algae in his tank, so I got AlgaeFix from a local aquarium and in a few days, about 80% of the algae was gone. Around this time, I noticed that his behavior was a bit different. He wasn't as active as he usually is, and he wouldn't come up to the glass when I put my finger up to it (which he normally does). He didn't swim as much, and kinda just floated in the water, but not on his side or anything like that. I decided to change his water, clean his tank, etc etc. I cleaned out all the algae, which for some reason was green now, and did my normal routine for the tank business. It's been about, 2-3 days later. I walk out to check on him, and he's floating on his side about half way in the water. I FREAK out, and I tap on the tank, and he swims *straight up* to the surface, than darts back down to the bottom of his tank where he just sits in the gravel. He's breathing fine, and his eyes seem clear. But he's not swimming, and he's at just at the bottom of the tank. He doesn't react to me, or anything in the water. Every now and then, he'll spastically dart about the tank, then settle back on the bottom. I'm really worried. Is he sick? Are these his final days? Is there anything I can do? I'm really desperate to keep him alive! He's about 2.5" long, I'd say. He's in a 4 gallon tank too.

hello all i was wondering what kinds of food i could feed my fry i have guppy and molly fry i currently feed them tetra color tropical flakes these fry are in a 10 gallon bare bottom tank with an aerator , filter and heater with aquarium salt if there is any food or anything i could do to try to accelerate their growth please let me know thanks. havent had a problem at all with the filter but thanks for the heads up

This is a follow up question to my other one I asked a while back... After 30 mins of chasing my only black molly with this problem... This is the best picture I can conjure. http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a35/psychoninja911/IMG00008.jpg See the white clump behind the eye? He has 2 more on the other side on the base of his dorsal fin. I know this looks like a lot but it's just a lot of spacing. I find spacing easier to read. __________________ A little more detail than before. - I got aquarium salt. - I'm NOT running carbon filters as I am treating ich. - The infection does stick out and is not flat with the skin. - The infects have never been any other color - other than white. - Common growth spots are close to gills, base of fins, and beside eyes (ouch). - A million times I must have read don't pour pet store water in your tank - yes I did anyways when I received my fish (won't do it again after this - I swear). - I have several other platy/molly, 2 plecos, and cory fish that are NOT infected. - It's a 90 gallon tank. - No life plants at the moment. Plecos feed on zucchinis. - I do not have a quarantine tank. - Heater was on but hot weather is already returning to Texas... I turned it off. Tank carelessly made it to 88 degrees when I turned it off (this morning). Tank is at 83 at the moment. - No tank algae. - My PH, ammonia, and nitrate? levels all came back today from the pet store. They told me everything was balanced. I have the actual paper still I think. - Aside from treatment, recent tank changes include breeder grass (placed at bottom of my tank), and carbon filters were removed to treat the ich. But I don't think this stress would do much to the fish. -The black mollys get no more than 3 or 4 spots on them at one time. On that note they're small (smaller than the platys). Only about an inch and a half long. - I've been using ichaway. Is this product okay? Does it even work? After this molly loses the infection, I'm almost sure another molly will pick it up. And the black mollys swimming behavior/tank areas is not really different from the other live-bearing fish. They all do about the same things. School of black mollys hang around the school of redwags and sunsets. I've been examining my other fish very well. ONLY the black mollys are getting it. If it were visible, I'd have noticed it by now. IS IT POSSIBLE--- You guys told me the cluster things on my fish aren't the actual ich. It's like a sore type thing that builds up from the fish. Is it possible the ich is gone and these are still bubbling up on my fish? PS. the mollys are NOT rubbing on the rocks. I had ich (or so I thought) before in a previous tank and this was the typical behavior - before I treated it. The problem, then, was solved. This disease looks exactly like the ich I thought I had before. I'm going to the pet store tomorrow night - I'll probably read this several times in between now and then. Thanks much I know that when I get over this, a great sense of victory will overwhelm me!!! (But not without your help of course)

i have a 55 g aquarium wit an 8-9" needlefish(the dwarf one[10" max]) a 4.5" senegal bichir and a 4" severum, i would like to add a green terror and/or jack dempsey, or see which 1 of them wins first and return the winner to the store as they are both the exact same size( i saw them in the store already about 2"), i know severums are peaceful cichlids but mine really isnt last time i bought a GT he got along with it and if the smaller GT nipped him which was only ONE TIME, the severum would chase it back and the GT never foughtt it back as the severum was 3x bigger than him but the gt is now gone my NF attacked it all of a sudden as i stopped feeding him(didnt eat it), so my concern here is my severum also killed an oscar in the past, but it looks like as if my severum only harms fish that look like him such as my 3.5" male convict he would get chased non stop, HOWEVER my smaller firemouth always remained untouched by my severum, and barely got chased by it when eating time. they told me JDs are more of a territorial species meaning they will usually go straight to the bottom and take over a cave only which i doubt my severum will let it do that.. the sev even attacked my pleco and the jd and or gt im buying is gonna be at least 3x smaller than the severum, and i doubt my severum will attack them as he is pretty peaceful towards fish that dont look like him and is only aggressive to them if 1 of them tries to take over him which im 99% it wont happen is like saying a smaller GT beating up a bigger texas cichlid, so i just want some answers not criticizm... i switched the pleco to senegal bichir as it seemed like the pleco was getting more harmed by my severum/ other cichlids which are now in different tanks. currently the bichir lives in the 55 and no1 has ever harrased him including my convict/GT/F/Sev to the point of ripped fins, etc. EXCEPT my gourami he is a psycho

How necessary is it to check pH of water? I remember as a kid, my family had a large 30 gallon tank. All we did was add distilled water to it with rocks on the bottom. We had some decorations and about 10 fish. One of the fish was a sucker fish and the others were small transparent fish. We really didn't do much but feed them. The sucker fish took care of cleaning the tank and maybe once every six months we did a water change. Hardly and fish died. Were we lucky? What should i do when starting an aquarium.

I have 4 gouramis, 15 CRS/RCS and a guppy in my 44L tank right now. I decided to feed them some black worms so I bought them and the little cone thing which floats on the water for the fish to pick at. I put the worms in, and they just went straight through the holes, and went right to the bottom. My gravel is about 3 cm deep and they seemed to burrow after an hour of being introduced. I always hear about them doing bad things to the water, holding bacteria and all, but I'm worried that the black worms hiding in the gravel might breed, and become an infestation. Will the worms breed like crazy, and cause a problem or will they just die off (that could still be posed as a problem)...? And if they do survive in an aquarium, what can I do to safely kill the worms without harming my fish or the shrimp? they've burrowed into the gravel where the fish can't get them. The gouramis did eat some of them, but they all disappeared into the gravel really fast.

I have a 55gal aquarium With 2 hatchets, 2 platys, 1 swordtail,and 2 roseboras also some bottom catfish. I do a water change every two weeks. I have tested the water it's fine also I feed them tetra flake food.

I want to get a snail for my aquarium. What do they eat? I went to one pet store, and the girl working the fish tanks said that they eat pieces of zucchini cut up and put into the tank, and I went to the other pet store in my town, and the guy there said that putting cut up vegetables in the water will harm your fish, and that you're supposed to give them algae tablets (which I already know foul up the water anyway.) Some people say that they don't feed it anything, because it eats the stuff off the bottom of the tank, like a suckerfish. If you have a snail, what do YOU feed it? By the way, the snails they sell look like this: http://bit.ly/bnK0kO

We went to to a creek about 2 hrs from here and brought back 14 crawdads, 9 large ones (2-4 in.) and 5 small ones (.5-1 in.), currently, I have them separated into two groups, small and large. The container is a sterilite drawer, but I drilled plenty of holes in the side for ventilation in each one, and the are larger (footprint wise) than a 10 gallon. I have about 2 in. of water in each. For decor and hiding I have slate (which they LOVE to hide in in creeks) and plenty of rocks, then I have aquarium gravel in the bottom, and a few plastic plants in each one. Now I know this is too much, and I have a creek down the road to let them go in, how many should I keep? Should I let all the small ones go and keep the big ones...also it has three drawers, so, if needed, I could separate them again into a third group. BTW: I have been feeding them fish, but upon researching, I have discovered they'll eat anything, so, I'll feed them fish occasionally, and feed vegetables daily.

I buy plecostomus and then they hide in the aquarium until they die. I clean and test the water regularly. Some of my fish--mostly Tetras-- have been with me forever! I have tried feeding the plecos algae wafers, boiled zucchinis and bottom feeder foods, and still they don't survive.

Ok, so i've had my betta fish for about 1 1/2 weeks, he's in a cycled tank, with filter, but no heater. Yesterday he was swimming around as happy as larry, but today, he's just at the bottom of the tank, he's fins look crimpled, and not as flowy as they were yesterday. I feed him in the morning and night, 2 granules each time. He is is usually really active, every time i come in the room,off he goes, whizzing around the tank, and when i open the lid to feed him, up he comes, staring at my finger putting the granules in the tank. But today when i opened the lid he didn't budge. I've got him in another smaller tank, with is normal aquarium water, and he's become more active, right now he's swimming slowly to the top, then down he sinks again. Could it be bladder disease? I read, that You take out out 50% off there water, and put new water in, then not feed them for 2 days, after 2 days, put a pea without the husk on it cut into littl bite size peices in the tank. Is this right? I can tell he wants to swim around, and he's trying too, but he can't. Please help! I love my little buddy, and i don't want to lose him. You don't understand, i can tell he's not relaxing, he leaning to the side a little bit

Hey my male betta Sapphire is in a unfiltered 2.5 gallon tank right now and I am upgrading to a filtered 5 gallon tank. Im getting it Saturday I think....but before I get it I have a few Q. First of all this is my first fish and I didnt think I needed a filter at first, but now I see its best. I dont know a lot about the filter stuff, first question is do I like need to change the filter ever? How often and how would I do about this? (sorry if it seems like a dumb question...) Also, can I put anything in with him? Can I put one of those dwarf frogs or bottom feeder fish? What would I feed the frog....? And last question is (this might be another dumb one) but people say clean the tank every 3 weeks like 20%. How often do I clean it and how much and what do you mean clean 20% How would I clean only 20% or whatever percent. Sorry for so many questions, and dumb questions but this is my first fish that Im getting a filtered tank. Right now I clean the tank 100% since its small. Thanks!!!! Btw this is the tank im getting: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752369&lmdn=Aquarium+Size

We bought a couple of tetras, 2 ghost shrimp, and a snail last Friday. so far, 2 tetras are dead! What am I doing wrong? I know there are a lot of chemicals that they sold, to add to tap water, but we dont have tap water, we have a well. I didnt know if the water would be ok so I have been buying bottled water for them. (Like the gallons you buy in the grocery store) Was this wrong?? Could I have been over feeding them? most of the food went to the bottom of the tank, and wasnt eaten. It has just been the tetras that died, the shrimp are alive, and I am guessing the snail is still alive? Any advice? Also, the aquarium was a cheapy, it didnt have a filter, just the air. dont most aquariums have a filter?? My kid is 10, and she is taking this really, really hard. She thinks its her fault, and is crying. They were walmart fish. Could they have been sick? Any advice would be good. Thank you!

i just got a Red Tailed shark yesterday and i had this castle already in my aquarium i know they are shy fish but he very rarely come out should i take out the castle i haven't even seen him eat yet i give him Nutrafin MAX bottom feeder sinking food tablets . well i guess i say him eat one time before but that was fish flakes for my other fish that sunk down oh and ps. i feed him the the tablets 3 times a day however many he can eat in 2 minutes but i never seen him eat them so i put in 3 oh and he is a baby

He hasn't been acting normally for the past three days. At first he was having trouble keeping his balance when swimming, but today he's gotten really lethargic and just lays on the bottom of the tank, on his side. His gills are still moving, but he seems to be gasping for air. I changed the water and lowered the water level to make it easier on him. His belly's quite swollen, so I was thinking he may have a swim bladder problem and/or constipation. I've always fed him flakes, once a day. I've fasted him for the past 3 days, and today I tried to feed him a cooked, peeled pea, but he wasn't interested in eating. Does this sound like constipation or a swim bladder problem, and if so is there anything else I can do? I've heard about using Epsom salt...how does one go about that? Other info: -Lives alone in a 2.5 gallon tank that has been cycled; tank has gravel and fake plants -Has a heater; temp at 78 Fahrenheit -I do add a pinch of aquarium salt to his water when I change it -I've had him for 10 months and this is my first major problem with him

I have a 10 gallon aquarium for my fry, I currently have 5 Platy fry in there, I try to feed them at least 2-3 times a day, and they don't eat much so there is always little pieces of food on the bottom of the tank, is there any kind of fish that will eat the little pieces of food, but not the fry so that I don't have to vacuum out the bottom of the tank every day and replace that water every day etc... I have a Pleco that I got from pet smart, he is almost 4 1/2 inches long (measured him when he was on the side of the glass, so he is probably a little smaller since water makes stuff look bigger than they really are) I wanted to put him in there... But his mouth is way big and he will probably suck up the little fry. So is there anything I can do to help with my excess food problem...? Also whatever it is it needs to be small, and not produce a lot of ammonia and waste, the tank isn't cycled so I don't want to overdo the bacteria... Picture of my pleco: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3954163 Thanks in advance! =)

Okay, so my shmancy fancy goldfish lives in an aquarium with Koi and janitor fish. While I was feeding the fish, i saw my poor fishy gasping like the human equivalent of running a marathon. It's tail was split and looked nibbled on (which is sad, since the tail was like a little dress). It's propping itself at the bottom of the tank near the filter and away from the others seem to enjoy poking at it's tail. It can still swim a little, but not that much. It usually just swims a few inches, then retreats after the koi go in it's way. Should I seperate the tank so it will heal without disturbance? The fishes have been living together in peace until a few months ago, when a similar goldfish got chewed to death. What should I do to let my goldfish heal? Will it survive? And what should I do to stop this from happening to my other fish? i need all the help i can get.

I recently bought a small aquarium (5th march), Its 40L (not sure how many gallons that is). I was told at the petshop to run it for 3 days before adding fish (i've since found out its supposed to be run for a week or MORE) So we added our fish after 3 days as thats what we were told to do. My fish all seemed happy and healthy (i had 4 platys and 1 very small suckerfish) I was told to feed them regular tropical fish flakes. About 3 weeks later i noticed my suckfish was extremely skinny and was just sitting at the bottom of the tank. I did some research and found out they feed off algae, so we bought some algae chips, i put half of one (about half the size of a 5cent peice) in the tank twice a week, it eats it all in about 12 hours. The rest of the time he feeds off the waste and left over flakes. He now seems happy and healthy BUT about a week after the first algae chip one of the platys died, I diden't think much of it, did 1/4 of a water change and added water conditioner. The rest of my fish seemed healthy, But today a week later another on of the platys have died, i noticed it had white slime all over it after it died, it also diden't look at brightly coloured in the 24hours leading up to now. I do a 1/4 water change every 2 weeks. Add water conditioner. I don't have any water testing kits, But i am going to invest in some ASAP. I think its unfair that we were so mislead by the petstore, they diden't tell us how to care for our fish or anything. Could it be the algae chips that are killing my platys?

Hey everyone, I used to own a Pleco and he would always eat any uneaten food in my tank, it was awesome. Unfortunately he became aggressive and would go after my fish, so I rehomed him. Anyway, I feed fish flakes to my fish(silver dollar tetras, congo tetra, blood parrot), and shrimp pellets to my ACFs. Unfortunately the shrimp pellets sink to the bottom and break apart so my frogs can only eat so much and they are unable to eat the particles because they eat by shoving food in their mouths with their hands so the small paticles stay on the bottom of my tank, getting moldy. So I'm wondering which kinds of fish are scavengers that would eat off the bottom, I would need them idealy to be 4inches or bigger, and no Plecos. Thanx.

I started my tank at Christmas and have 8 flame tetra's currently doing just fine in there. I have been looking for something for bottom feeding since then and have come across 2 corys I like, I saw a pepper cory at 1 store last week and now after finding pictures online, the julii cory on sale at my local aquarium store, kinda looks the same to me. I know most fish are better in pairs at least. But I have read the Julii does well in 3+ but better in 6+. I was only planning to get 1 to start last week, but now after reading the info I have gotten now, can I put 3 together in my tank or will it be too much? Right now I am adding water due to evaporation every few days, but changing the water 25% every week. I have flake food and granual, but the tetra's don't seem to be able to fit the grans very well and miss about half given. I know corys can eat pretty much anything, but if the grans are for colour enhancing are they still okay to use for corys or should I get something different? This is what Wiki has to say about the active time. I thought I remembered reading they weren't nocturnal. Where investigated Corydoras sp. have been shown to be diurnal and crepuscular rather than nocturnal and activity can even peak at twilight.[9] Corydoras are very good choices for a community aquarium,

Ive had him for about eight months or so and up until about a month ago he was doing fine. All he does all day is sit in the little house thing in his aquarium. When I get a net and prod the house he comes out and just sits at the bottom, wont even look up at the surface. Water temp is fine and everything. Whenever I drop food in, he just ignores it or doesnt come out of his house. I feed him freeze dried blood worms occasionally and food pellets... He doesnt seem sick but he hasnt eaten for ages and Im wondering why hes not dead yet.

I did a 25% water change and noticed these little worms in the bottom on the bucket. They are a browny-red colour and compress their bodies and then stretch out to move. They looked to me like leeches but everything I've read says you will only find leeches on the fish. I can't see anything on my fish. I don't feed live food and haven't added new fish for at least 6 months. The only thing I've added is plants and I seem to have an endless supply of snails appearing. The snails stragely appear to be see through now but the ones I used to get appearing were dark in colour. I'd really appreciate any help! Thanks, Lauren

I have a 15 Gallon tank. There are 2 (2inch) fantail goldfish, along with 6 guppies (beautiful fish i might add) and a plant. I have a power filter that goes through 600L/H and also a shower. For the past few days one of my fantails has been sitting on the bottom a lot. When i got her (im assuming its a her) she had a bit of her top fin missing (just a wee bit). Recently on the advice of my LocalFishStore i introduced 6 tiger barbs into the tank and they damaged her rear fin too - (i removed the tiger barbs and put in 6 guppies). The fish is eating fine. i feed em pellets and bloodworms alternately. I asked me pet store guy and he said to put some noniodiesed salt in the tank just to be safe. I have a thermometre in the tank and the temperature stays in the 'green zone (acceptable)' the whole time so its not that. I turn the light off at night. im getting a bigger tank in a years time, but i want to see them make it to that. Q1 - what i would like to know is whether the fish is ill or just resting? Q2 - How much aquarium salt should i be putting in if any? (just to be safe) Q3 - Also should i leave my filter on the whole time or cant i turn it off at night?

My guppy has a huge stomach and it seems to get bigger every day. It's a male so its not pregnant. I have him in a 10 gallon tank with 2 danios and I plan to add more. The guppy just hangs in the left-hand corner of my tank right about where my filter is. He stays there the whole day. Every time I check he's there. I bought him almost a month ago. He has been this way for about 2 weeks. He sometimes swims to the bottom and stuff like that but that's really rare. Well, he's never been very active compared to the danios who are always swimming around. So I don't know If I should be worried or not. I know that aquarists have an extra tank to put sick fish or new fish, but I can't buy another tank right now. I don't know If he has a disease at all, and if he does will he end up killing my other fish. And if I get new fish? Is that a good idea with my situation happening. Im a beginner at aquarium. I just started the hobby about 1 month and a half ago. I have everything a tropical fish tank needs: Air pump, heater, filter, Water conditioner, etc. The only thing I don't have and I don't know If I absolutely need is aquarium salt but other that that I have everything. I feed my fish tropical flakes with a very little amount of gold fish food I had before ( They told me it was ok in the petstore). I already had my water tested about a month ago in Petco and everything was absolutely perfect. So I have no idea what could be wrong with my Guppy. PLEASE HELP!!! He is a male 100% sure because I looked up how to tell the gender of a guppy and my guppy is male. Male guppys have something that looks like a fin on the back and female guppys don't have that Im also doing 20% water changes so I do not know what's wrong

ok so, i bought 2 white mountain clouds, one betta, 2 zebra danios, a golden algae eater and 2 albino (something something) and the guy at the store told me to put in a food tablet so i did and one of the zebra danios eats it and fights off anyone who gets near it? i tried other pellet foods put they just kinda fall to the bottom what can i do? is this normal?

Hi, Im worried i might be doing the wrong thing. My fish are in a 26L freshwater tank with a 450L/hr filter, the tank has gravel and a few plants. Ive got 2 medium sized goldfish, a fantail & a black moor(which is now orange), as well as a small speckled fantail (not sure of the exact type), a small bristle-nosed catfish, a sucker fish, and in the last week i've had to add 3 small silver dollars, as my other tank is in a bad state from my brother over feeding them while i was away for 4 days. My problem is the larger fantail has a white fungus growing beside his eye, he had this a month ago and i used multi cure at the reduced rate and it cleared up in 24hrs. I used the same dosage today and havn't seen any improvement yet, BUT im worried even at the reduced rate this may be harmful to my black moor who hasn't been his normal self lately. He has clamped fins, which i first thought was from a molly that was nipping his fins, but after removing the molly to another tank 2 weeks ago, his fins are still clamped. In the last 3 days he has been spending all his time laying on the bottom in the corner of the tank. Poor water quality seems to be the issue, as i hadnt cleaned the gravel as often as i should, as well as the tank having an excess amount of food waste recently from my brother over feeding them. I've changed 20% of the water each day, as well as vacuuming the gravel regularly since noticing the deterioration of the 2 goldfish. By using multi cure am i over-stressing my sick black moor? Can i add aquarium salt to help the black moor, even though there is multi cure in the tank? Any advice is much appreciated. -Woops..Its 36Litres not that it helps much

My betta fish is always at the bottom of her aquarium and now he always like on his side too. He never comes to the surface anymore so I can't feed him! He hasn't even in a while I don't know what to do! He looks fine though he's really colorful and no bulgy eyes, overblown belly, discoloration, etc. Although he used to have fin rot, it's better now he doesn't have it anymore. He lives in a 3 gallon tank with 2 heaters (which don't seem to work real great cause the temps like 76 now and sometimes 72 when its cold..) What's wrong with him? How do i get him to eat? Should i get a filter or something do those help

Well, I got 2 Guppie yesterday, a female and a male. They are both in a 10 gallon aquarium with a Betta and 2 African Dwarf Frogs. The betta is kinda a pussy, so he is not bothering them. Well the male guppy seems all well. But the female is not feeding and is at the bottom of the tank having a hard time swimming. She also has a little white patch. I know I should quarantine my fish but I just don't have enough money to get another tank. So can some one diagnosis this, should I take her out immediately and return it or try to treat it? I don't think it's ich, because the spot is too large for a ich spot. There is only one spot.

so i got everything i need for a puffer and its not eating all it does is lay on the bottom of the aquarium.I did what it said put 1 t spoon in 5g water and feed it fish flakes like at walmart and why is there so much dead fish in walmart?

I have had my betta for two years and a few months (so I realize that he is getting old), and for the past month and a half he has been having tail problems. At first I thought it was tail rot because his tail was being eaten away, but then whitish lumps developed at the site of the rot, sometime speckled with pink or red. It seems to be the tail itself that has swollen into these lumps and not some outside things attached to it. I tried treating with BettaFix (melaleuca), and then when it wasn't going away, I purchased Maracyn Plus, hoping it would solve the problem. I've been doing regular 100% water changes (weekly) and multiple rounds of the Maracyn and it's only gotten worse. After the latest round of Maracyn I've switched to 100% water changes every three days but it's too soon to tell if that's doing any good. My biggest issue is that I cannot find any instances of this particular problem on any fish forum or betta site. The lumps look terrible. They doesn't look like fungus and they don't look like normal fin/tail rot. The only thing that gives me some hope is that other than his tail, he has been eating and behaving normally, and the rest of his body/other fins have been unaffected. I'm hoping that if I can find the right treatment, he'll recover. Other details in case they're helpful: I condition my water (from the tap) with BettaSafe and aquarium salt. I feed my betta TetraBetta floating mini pellets and make sure to feed him slowly so that there isn't too much food dropping to the bottom. He has rounded stones and a small plastic plant from a pet store in a slightly-less-than-one-gallon bowl. And since pictures are probably more useful than anything else: http://tinypic.com/r/1622rkg/3 If anyone could tell me what this is and how I can treat it I would be extremely grateful.

Okay, so I got a new 10-gallon tank, a filter and a heater about two months ago. I filled it with de-chlorinated water (using tap water and commercial de-chlorinator) then added several cups of water from a pre-existing tank. I waited several days, then had my water tested. The pet store people said it looked good. So, I bought three glofish (the really brightly colored Danios) two harlequin rasboras, two Corydoras Catfish, and one snail, along with several fake plants and a decoration for them to hide inside. I added the fish. For the first week or so, everything seemed fine. The fish were lively, the water temperature was about 80 degrees, I fed them flake food, but ensured that only enough went to the bottom of the tank to feed my catfish, and I did a partial water on the week mark (using, again, dechlorinated water). My water testing showed almost perfect conditions, as far as nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia goes. It's soft, and the ph is a little high, but I was told that was normal, and shouldn't be an issue. Anyway, a little more than one week in, one of my glofish started acting crazy. It would swim upside down, then right itself, and swim under the rocks at the bottom of the tank. I assumed it had swim bladder disease, and fed the fish a couple shelled, defrosted peas. However, it died the next day. A few more days passed, then one of my glofish was showing the symptoms of gill flukes. I added freshwater aquarium salt in a yogurt container with holes in it, as the pet store person had suggested, removed my snail to another dechlorinated dish of water, and treated my aquarium with Lifeguard, an all-around tablet treatment. I removed my carbon filter for this process, (it takes the medicine out of the water) and followed the directions given on the medication, and on the day after the medication was through with, I did a partial water change, then put my carbon filter and snail back in. My glofish died one day into treatment. Then, a few days later, one of my rasboras was doing the same thing my first glofish was doing- swimming upside-down and under rocks, then directly under the surface of the water. I figured maybe the oxygen level in my tank was low, so I did another partial water change, and aerated the water. He died in the night. I keep doing water testing, but I don't see anything abnormal, and I tried to buy hardy fish to begin with, but I feel like I'm having an abnormal number of deaths... Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? Thanks a bunch... Hmm... My fish are in a room with windows, but all of them have blinds pulled down. The main source of light they have is their tank lights. Could too little light be the problem?

okay so i bought 4 fish, all of them started turning black slowly... i went to like a pet place and talked to them. (there not very big fish stores where i live and the one big one near me they don't speak english). the pet place gave me like medicine to pour in the water... and it made them a lot more lively... but after the medicine ran out they started to die one by one... they just start breathing slowly and fall to the bottom and lay there for a period of time and still breathe... its really depressing. now this fish tank hasn't been used in a good 5 years and maybe the way i cleaned it out was wrong.. a few questions. 1. what is this black stuff, i read that it could be some type of burn? but the medicine for it didn't work 2. can i have a good list of things that help a good fresh water aquarium, if not at least a website about maintenance. 3. the fish i bought i got from a vivarium and they were turtle feed so they obviously sell them, but my weird liking for fish made me want them. one of the guys who worked said he had a few in a fish tank and home and they grew well and never had problems, but could one of the certain fish i picked out be diseased possibly?

I asked a question earlier because I wasn't certain what was wrong with my betta fish. I always sits at the bottom of the bowl, hasn't been eating. It only swims up for air. It was suggested that I buy aquarium salt (which I did tonight) and put a tablespoon in the aquaview tank. I bought a water heater but not certain as to how to use that. The tank is only a 3 gallon tank and it's gravel filtered. Anyway, before I went to go get the salt I noticed that he was a little bloated, and was having trouble swimming. Tonight he was hinging upside down, and sometime he just rests up high on top of one of the plants in the water. I have tried the salt and am waiting for a little change, however do I have to change his water more often than normal to keep him comfortable? Normally I change it once a week. I changed it a little earlier than planned two days ago to make sure the water was clean, and it was also suggested that I feed him a pea? I will feel bad if the little guy was to die, however if so, I know what I need to do next time, for there were certain things that I was unaware of after asking questions when I got the fish. I was never told that you were supposed to fast them for a day. Had I known, I would have done that as faithfully as making sure his water was cleaned and conditioned. Any suggestions?

My betta fish just died. Where I live, I had to buy my fish and my plants from Petco (Petsmart?), so it's anybody's guess what killed the fish. The filter (whisper 1.5 gallon) hasn't been pushing water through the filter, although it is still generating air in the tank. I haven't had the time to fix it. The fish was almost a year old, but the plants were only about a month or two old. 2 gallon tank. Since I bought the plants, I have been having problems with protein film forming on the surface of the aquarium. Now, my fish, who was perfectly active and (seemingly) healthy yesterday at feeding time, is dead on the bottom of the tank. After I scooped her up, I looked in the tank to see if I could see anything out of the ordinary. There are lots of little tiny white round things scattered on the bottom. I would estimate that there are any where from 20-50, possibly more. They look like large grains of sand, but white. I have kept various aquariums over the past 12 years, and I have never seen these things. I WOULD guess that they are tiny tiny fish eggs, but I cannot imagine they are, because there are no other bettas around to put her in heat. Also, don't bettas only lay eggs if there is a bubble nest available? There certainly wasn't one in her tank. There are seemingly no other animals in the aquarium (and certainly none that I added). 1. Do you know what these are or how they got there? 2. Is it safe to reuse this tank after a water change, or do I need to scrap everything and start over? THANKS!!!

I have been reading about these frogs on several websites and people keep saying their ADF's will not come to the top of the aquarium so they use aquarium tweezers to feed them. Mine (I've had them for 4 months) come to the front of the aquarium and stare at me. When I lift the aquarium hood off, they come to the top like little puppies and let me hand feed them. I was just curious if anyone else's frogs had done this. Also, these websites say that these frogs will not eat fish flakes and they only eat things that sink to the bottom. My frogs do not seem to scavenge the bottom much. While it is not their main food, my frogs love fish flakes. Will your frogs eat fish flakes? By the way, I'm very sure my frogs are African Dwarf frogs. Thanks for any answers!

I recently (as in 10 minutes ago) got a Betta fish, and I've been reading on how to take care of them. If someone could double-check to make sure everything is in order I would feel so much better, because I've never cared for one of these before. I have a 1 gallon tank with decorative aquarium pebbles (the glass kind) in the bottom. I have an artificial plant as well. I washed all of them thoroughly with a little bit of mild soap and I'm about to introduce the fish. It is out of the sun, away from any heating or cooling vents, and in a generally stable area light and temperature wise. I have well water, which isn't chlorinated, so I will be using water from my sink to completely replace the tank water once per week. I have freeze dried pellet food, and I will be feeding him 3 times a week (the amount it says on the food package.) I have a couple questions as well. The tank I have is a little decorative, and the opening is not directly on the top of the bowl, it is off to the side a bit. As in Northwest instead of North if the bowl were a compass. Will that affect the fish? And I was wondering how I would regulate the water temperature, because I've read that it must be warm. Should I get a thermometer to make sure the water is the correct temperature? Thanks for any help in advance =)

I bought a betta fish 4 days ago. He's a blue crowntail and quite spunky. He lives in a 10 gallon filtered tank (it causes some current but he doesn't seem to mind) and has water changes of about 5 pints daily. The water is at room temperature. I originally tried feeding him pellets but he wouldn't eat them so now I feed him freeze dried bloodworms every other day. There is a plant and a black mystery snail (introduced yesterday to help clean up some of the uneaten pellets that sunk to the bottom) that shares his home. He has a brown spot on the top of his head but I'm not completely sure if it's new or if it's natural. My concern comes here. I found what seems to be some of his skin or scales (it's clear with black) floating at the top of his aquarium. He acts the same as he did before but it seems odd that this would happen. Is it just the stress of moving into a new home or is it something serious? haha false alarm, the "scales" seem to be just a little bit of the gel from the plant that I must have missed (although this still doesn't explain the brown spot). I'm not sure it's septicemia seeing as there's been no loss in apetite (in fact, there's been a gain). Yes, the tank was cycled and it already has a filter. I have a some gravel and the plant isn't too sharp although he does like to hide between the leaves... Thanks for the advice but I think I'm just going to wait a couple days to see what happens. Since he refused to eat the pellets for four days, it's probably just stress.

i have a 32 gallon tropical aquarium. holding 7 neon tetras 2 algae eaters , 1 male / female guppy (pregnant) . and lastly 2 fire belly dwarf gouramis. now the problem is when i go to feed my fish the first few seconds the neons and guppys eat most of the food in a matter of minutes. and the gouramis don seem to be eating as much . maybe nibbling on a piece or to but i dont really see them eating much?? why is this ? are they shy because they are always hiding inside the drift wood or at the bottom behind some plants. also i notice that the neons are eating so much that there belly expands it looks as if they ave these 1 or 2 bumbs under there belly. and some time my fish eat the food then spit it out then eat it again then you guessed it is this normal ?? thanks for any advice.

Im not quite sure if my fish are growing some I know are fully grown and some are not. My two bolivian rams don't seem to be growing as with my bristle nose pleco over the 2-3 months we have had them the pleco has increased in all dimensions by not alot, but by enough to notice and question it. My bolivians maybe 0.5-1 cm in length. I feed my fish so that they can eat whatever in 2-3 minutes. My ammonia is 0 and my nitrites are at 0 the tank has been cycled for about 5 months now. I don't have a nitrate test kit but I do change the water ever week and I have 4 plants. The aquarium is a 45 gallon one and has 2 platys, 2 bolivian, 2 guppies, 4 neons ( 2 died I cant and don't have time to catch them with my study they are sick but my other fish haven't been affected for some 4 months) 1 kuhli and a bristle nose. ( I know odd stocking dont ask). Oh and there is not chance in hell that Im going to buy special pellets for my bottom fish it costs 18 per packetand that would last about 2 weeks where I live. The bolivians are both males is the dominant releasing growth reduction hormones? What could it be? One more question If I remove the platies and neons will I be able to get 6 congos and one centre fish but which one? Sorry about spelling and punctuation but I dont give a damn after having my nose in a study book for 4 hours.

okay, i have a 9 inch jack dempsey in a 55 gallon tank with 4 convict cichlids... (one is 6 inches, and the rest range between 3 and 4 inches.) recently, my jack dempsey stopped eating after i moved her to another tank because my Algae eater died.... i did a complete water change and added aquarium salt today to see if it was a problem with ammonium in the water. Still, she's not eating anything. i feed her Hikari Gold Cichlid Staple and she used to pick up the shrimp pellets I'd feed to the Convict Cichlids since they enjoy being bottom feeders. She used to eat the floating pellets but now all she does is come up to the top, look at it, and swim away... she seems excited when she looks at it. do you think it's time i start feeding her feeder fish?? can somebody help me with this?? I tried moving her to another tank but she ended up floating on her side till i moved her back into the 55 gallon tank. I'm becoming worried. please help :/

I'm a beginner, and after doing hours (quite possibly over 24 hours total LOL) of research, I thin I'm ready to start up my freshwater aquarium. Also, I have a 25 gallon aquarium. First off-- Can/should I put my plants in before I put my fish in, or do I need the fish to supply the proper nutrients to the plants? If I DO put the plants in first, will that speed up the nitrogen cycle and make my tank healthier? Second off-- What should be my starter fish? I'm going to build up slowly and just get a school of either Cherry Barbs (preferably, but I'm not sure if they're a very good beginner fish... some sources say they are, others not.) Harlequin Rasbora, Zebra Danios (rather not get these, but they seem to be the best choice) I also want a bunch of cory cats but I'm not too sure if they should be what I start out with. What kind of filter should I get? Apparently undergravel filters are the worst, and bio-wheel filters are the "best." Does it really matter? What are some good invertebrates to be added to my aquarium that won't consume plant life? I'm leaning towards Glass Shrimp and maybe Amano Shrimp when my tank is more mature and there's more algae around. Possibly some nerites as well-- I'd like a few apple snails but I don't want them eating my plants! Also... Seeing as Glass shrimp and Cory cats are both bottom feeders/scavengers/whatever, would it be okay to have a school of cory cats (probably 5-7) as well as a few Glass shrimp or would there not be enough food for them? (Though, I suppose I'll still be feeding them daily...) Alright, sorry for all the questions, lol. I'm just a nervous new aquarium keeper who's a perfectionist :) Thanks for reading and your answers in advance! Also, if possible, please answer each question individually... Sorry about having so many, haha. :(

i have 5 goldfish in my aquarium and i know they are known to eat a ton. whenever i feed my fish they ear whatever is floating in the top and then spend the next 10 minutes scanning the bottom for any food. they're like vaccum cleaners! my algae eater doesn't have enough to eat so i bought thsese special "algae disks" they sink straight away and they dissolve slowly. the algae eater is supposed to suck on them but my goldfish are eating those too! what can i do?