OzzyFan

I've got a few questions:

1. Is algae harmful in an aquarium? Over the past several days, the smooth granite rock that breaks the outflow of my filter has been growing brown spots...and this coincided with my turning down the filter speed from "+" to "-" on my AquaClear 50. Did the algae grow because the current slowed down? Whatever the reason, algae has been growing on the glass and other rocks as well, and I'm wondering to what extent it's robbing the fish of oxygen...and of course, if it's dangerous, how to prevent it.

2. What does it mean when a guppy, down near the gravel, quickly sideswipes himself against the gravel? It's in a U or J motion...down, scrape, and up again. Several of my guppies have done this since I started my tank in early January.

3. One of my leopard danios looks like it's pregnant, with a fairly squared-off belly. I know they're not livebearers, but I'm wondering what I should do if I want the eggs to survive (assuming it's eggs and not that the fish has simply eaten too much)? I have a breeder box that I bought for my guppies (who look like they've gotten LESS pregnant in the past two days), but I think that would be too confining for a danio.

4. Finally, just out of curiosity, what do you think of my tank's stock? I.e. whether this is a bad combination, or whatever:

5 neon tetras
5 leopard danios
4 black phantom tetras
5 guppies (3 male, 2 female)
1 highfin swordtail
1 dwarf gourami

SereneReyn

well, i looked up your guppies behavior in axelrod's mini-atlas, and here's what it says...

behavioral symptom - glancing off rocks or plants ; probable causes - velvet or white spot or toxins...

not that this is definitive or anything, but first i think i'd test your water, to eliminate the possibility of toxins... then i'd check into a more in depth disease description and see if i could pinpoint the exact cause and recommended treatment.

i've never bred danios, sorry.

edit - i think that algae produces oxygen, btw... i think it's only a real problem when it bothers you, or obstructs the light or filter... just my opinion tho. it is unattractive tho. =P

susitna-flower

Your fish behavior is called flashing and is a symptom of parasites, probably ick. You need to look closely at the fish and see if they have little white "salt" spots, they show up best on fins. These may not show up until the infestation is quite sever, they can be in the gills and not very noticeable.

The first thing to do is get those nitrates down, high nitrates stress fish and make them susceptible to any opportunistic infection that might be in your tank, parasitic, bacterial or fungal.

Next slowly raise your temperature up to 82.5 f , hold it there for AT LEAST 2 weeks, this is a common and very effective cure for ick. If it is some other infection the warmer temperature will not hurt, but before you try any medication you need more evidence of just what it is. Continued water changes, and gravel vacuuming will help rid the tank of the parasite.

angelfish220

THe danios might be pregnat maybe not. I find that my danios are more prolific than guppies!! They are egg scatterers if you have a thicket of densly planted plants then more than likely some will survive in the tank. If you want more than some to survive then put the fat one and a couple of skinny smaller ones (males) in a tank with a single layer of marbles on the bottom. When the female drops the eggs the males will go crazy eating them while they fertilize them. Most eggs will survive though by dropping down between the marbles. Once the female is skinny again then put all the adult fish back in the original aquarium and take care of the babies, when they hatch.

HatchetHaven

OzzyFan

Wow, I had no idea aquariums had to be so lightly stocked...just about every aquarium I've ever seen, therefore, has been overstocked.

I won't be taking any fish back, but one guppy died today (he was hovering in one spot last night), and when more die, I guess I just won't add any more.

HatchetHaven