New Tank advice possible disease question

"humBill" wrote in message
om...
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.

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

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

"Dick" wrote in message
news
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:
snip for brevity


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

It is normal for the feces to take on some characteristics of the food,
green with algae wafers, reddish with bloodworms etc. It's more the
consistency that is a red flag. Very thin long, sometimes with air
bubbles in it, typically indicates internal bacterial problem. It's
usually clear to white in colour when in this state.

If it breaks off relatively quickly, then this is normal, so you might
not notice it. Also the type of fish makes a big difference as some can
be very obvious about it (ie: Plecos, large cichlids) and others not
(Monos, Zebras etc).

Also overfed fish have no choice but to pass the majority of their food,
so they are more obvious and more prone to problems.
--
www.NetMax.tk

On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 09:51:09 -0500, "NetMax"
wrote:

"Dick" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 20:31:40 -0500, "NetMax"
wrote:

"humBill" wrote in message
y.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:
snip for brevity


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

It is normal for the feces to take on some characteristics of the food,
green with algae wafers, reddish with bloodworms etc. It's more the
consistency that is a red flag. Very thin long, sometimes with air
bubbles in it, typically indicates internal bacterial problem. It's
usually clear to white in colour when in this state.

If it breaks off relatively quickly, then this is normal, so you might
not notice it. Also the type of fish makes a big difference as some can
be very obvious about it (ie: Plecos, large cichlids) and others not
(Monos, Zebras etc).

Also overfed fish have no choice but to pass the majority of their food,
so they are more obvious and more prone to problems.

Thanks Netmax for the additional information. I guess I don't see all
that "passes" in my tanks. I noticed yesterday, my beautiful black
angelfish was passing some red poo.

dick

My fish normally pass light brown poop. I have only had then
for a few weeks but that's always that color when I notice it. I
did notice a increase in appetite since I added the other 2 fish
however the origional two also stopped hiding and I figured they
were just more comfortable with a larger group. I noticed the first
'string' about 2 days after I got the new fish. It was about a 1/4 in long
and I though it was strange but I'm still fairly new to this so I didn't
know if something was wrong or not. By the time I got home it was
gone and I didn't think much of it until a few days later I saw another
fish with a very long thin white string(1-2inches) and couldn't watch him
or do anything since I had to go to work. By the time I got home it was
gone. I was away this weekend and when I got back I noticed that one
of my fish had a little white nub on it where the string was that the other
three fish don't have. Anyone have any suggestions besides put it in a
hospital tank(don't have the room or the money to set one up)

Thanks!

Peter


"NetMax" wrote in message
.. .
"humBill" wrote in message
om...
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.

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