On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 20:31:40 -0500, "NetMax"
wrote:

"humBill" wrote in message
. com...
Apparently the 'pros' need to express an opinion (no disrespect
intended). Maybe this is just for livebearers, but I though I had read
it is as much as 1 tablespoon per five gallons or even as much as 1 tea
spoon per gallon.
Bill

"Starfish" wrote in message
...
About the epsom salts....i thought it was 1/8th of a teaspoon per five
gallons.....thats what i did...
"Dick" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 02:56:41 GMT, "Peter Demski"
wrote:


I am new coming back to the hobby however I always had an aquarium
when I was younger. Although back then I knew nothing about the
nitrogen cycle. So I got a 28 Gallon tank for xmas and got it all
setup and
running. I did a lot of reading to try and just prepare myself since
it is
a lot
more complex than I remember. I ended up purchasing two Zebra Danios
to start the tank cycling since I have ready they are fairly hardy
fish.
Now
that my tank has cycled I have added 2 more Zebra's. However when I
first got the second pair of Zebra's home I noticed one was a little
more
pale than the other one. I didn't think much of it at the time
however that
fish had died by the next morning. I didn't notice anything special
about
it
however I don't really know anything more than the most common
diseases
which I didn't notice. I have since replaced it with an additional
fish
however
I have noticed that there seems to be a long(1-2inch) white string
hanging
out
of the back of the fish. Then it seems to have disappeared by the
time I
get home from work. This has happened on different fish for the last
couple
days and I am a little concerned that they might have caught
something.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Peter


Hi Peter, I had the same opinion of Zebra Danios, that they are
hardy
and ordered 4 via Internet to start a new 10 gallon tank I bought via
eBay. Three died within months and the 4th died after a year. I
have
5 Harlequin Raspora Cyprinids in the same tank that have had no
problems what so ever.

"White string" is normally ****. It may be that you are over
feeding,
a very easy thing to do. Fish are really gluttons and it is so
satisfying to watch the rascals feed, but that is not to say they
need
all the food. They are just as bad as humans about over eating.

Fish do get constipation. I don't know if any of my fish have been
constipated, but others report this condition. Epson salts, 1
teaspoon per 5 gallons (so I have read) is recommended.

dick



Regarding Epson salts (magnesium sulphate, a purgative), it's a teaspoon
per 5 gallons, but the fish is not constipated. Long white stringers are
an internal bacterial infection.

My thought, Netmax, was that the stringers were **** and this might
indicate some of his fish were constipated. I rarely see any ****
coming out of my fish, but when I do see some, some of it is white. I
assume it is the diet. I feed nothing but "TetraMin, Tropical
flakes." As I mentioned in the first response, so far as I know, none
of my fish have been constipated. If there has been "internal
bacterial infection" I have not been aware ot that either.

dick

Regarding aquarium salt (sodium chloride) or marine salt (sodium chloride
and calcium carbonates), the concentration can be much higher for
livebearers, especially Mollies. hth