Your new fish should be kept in a separate, bare, isolation tank for 2 weeks.
If you do not have a separate isolation tank, any other large container, such as a bucket or tub, that is free of chemicals may be used. Make sure that you put a heater and bubbler (a new sponge filter is best) in the temporary tank. Remember, this is only for two weeks. The temporary isolation tank should be a bare bottom tank with nothing in it other than the aeration and a heater (no plants, snails, fake plants, gravel, driftwood, decorations or other fish). Make sure everything in the isolation tank is completely sterile or new. After two weeks, When the fish are showing no signs of stress or disease, they can be moved to their permanent aquarium.
CHANGE 40 PERCENT OF THE WATER DAILY FOR THE FIRST WEEK AND THEN EVERY OTHER DAY FOR THE SECOND WEEK. MAKE SURE THAT YOU USE TREATED TAP WATER, DISTILLED WATER OR SPRING WATER. DO NOT USE CYCLED WATER OR WATER FROM OTHER TANKS.
It is urgent that you unpack your fish as soon as possible. Float the bag in the isolation aquarium where they are going to stay. DO NOT open the bag at this time! You may find that you need to remove some of the aquarium water to prevent it from overflowing when the bags are placed in the aquarium. If necessary, remove some aquarium water into a clean plastic bucket or other food safe receptacle. Be sure the container for excess water does not have any reside from household cleaners or other potentially toxic chemicals, as you will use this water to refill the aquarium later.
Allow the bags to float in the temporary tank for at least 45
Introduction: Columnaris is a very common type of bacterial infection in Discus. It responds differently than other Bacterial Infections and affects the skin, gills and sometimes it also infects the internal organs causing sepsis. It is always associated with fish that are very stressed. The most common origins of stress are shipping, overcrowding, low oxygen, poor water conditions (improper Ph, Hard Water and water that is too cold). Most fish have the disease in a dormant state. It will occur in fish that have their immune system weakened due to stress or that are exposed to high levels of the bacteria from other infected fish. As it is dormant and can become inflamed when stressed, it is very important to quarantine newly shipped fish in a sterile tank after the stress of shipping. If a healthy, but newly stressed fish from shipping is exposed to other fish in an established tank that does not have pristine water conditions, the tank can quickly become infected. A healthy fish that it is exposed to an infected tank, even if it is dormant in some of the other fish, it will quickly become infected.
Pathology: Columnaris starts as a bacterial infection of the skin. Within 14 hours, it will often move to infect gills and within 24-48 hours it can infect the inner organs. Columnaris can become lethal as quickly as 18 hours and untreated it will be lethal in 50-90 percent of the fish within a week. The most common cause of death is infection of the gills, making it impossible for the infected fish to diffuse enough oxygen through the gill membranes. It is like the fish getting Pneumonia and suffocating. These seriously infected fish will usually die within 72 hours of becoming infected. Fish that are able to ward of
The Flowerhorn Cichlid is a result of hybrid between different South American cichlids. The Flowerhorn was developed in Malaysia during 1990s, and exactly which South American Cichlids that was used and in which combinations is still a secret. This secrecy has of caused a lot of speculation and a number of more or less reasonable theories have been put forth. One of the more unlikely theories suggests that the Flowerhorn Cichlid was artificially created in a Malaysian genetics laboratory by combining genes from a Goldfish with genes from the Trimac Cichlid (Amhilophous Trimaculatus). This theory does garner a little credibility as the Trimac Cichlid has the same basic shape of a Flowerhorn (albeit the hump is much smaller and is very colorful. A more reasonable suggestion is that the Flowerhorn Cichlid is the result of crossing many different types of South American cichlids with each other, and that different forms of Flowerhorn Cichlids can steam from different South American Cichlids. The most likely ancestry is a crossing between the Trimac cichlid and other South American cichlids such as Midas Cichlid (Amphilophus Citrinellum), Red Devil Cichlid (Amphilophus Labiatum) and Redheaded Cichlid (Vieja Synspila). This theory we believe here at Somethingsphishy.com is correct.
The look of the Flowerhorn Cichlids available in fish stores today is however not just the result of selective breeding. You can affect the appearance of a Flowerhorn Cichlid by adjusting environmental factors such as the water chemistry in the aquarium. The food you feed your Flowerhorn Cichlid can also change its look. The single most important factor behind the look of the fish is however the genetic makeup formed by selective breeding. Only males develop the signature Hump. Flowerhorn respond to color enhancing food dramatically and we recommend you use it with
This article describes in detail how to artificially raise Discus Fish.
Step 1: Give the parents a 2 inch PVC pipe 14-16″ long to let them spawn on. You can attached it to a 4 inch converter to give it a base. pH must be below 7 with 6.5 being ideal and water used throughout this process must be soft (around 200 ppm TDS).
Step 2: Make sure that the males is fertilizing the eggs, otherwise any attempt is futile. You will see making a breeding run after the female lays eggs.
Step 3: Wait four hours after spawning is finished. This gives the eggs time to fully fertilize.
Step 4: Using a 2 gallon glass beaker, fill it with the tank water the parents (& eggs) are in. Put the PVC in the jar (quickly and calmly). Then put the beaker into a 5-10 gallon tank. So you will have the eggs inside a beaker which is inside a 5-10 gallon tank.
Step 5: Then quickly remove the PCV pie and put it into the beaker filled with water at 84f (50w heater is required). Also put a small Sponge Filter in the tank and turn it on. This will keep the jar warm and allow the tank to cycle.
Step 6: Turn the air flow in the Sponge Filter on so that there is a good current in the tank (don’t blast the eggs though). The current will help keep the eggs from growing fungus.
Step 7: Add three to six drops of methylene blue. Other people may recommend more, but I believe that it may cause fry loss. Six or less drops works well and allows you to observe the eggs.
Step 8: They will begin hatching (if they are fertile and the correct water parameters/hardness/uS
