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The gouramis seem to be doing very well. The sore near the mouth on one of them is just about completely healed and the other one is getting there. The poos seem more normal and they do still look nice and healthy in every other way. I'm still only treating with frequent water changes, extra salt and the temp stays at around 80F (when I remember to put the lid back on after feeding and fussing :rolleyes: )

I think I may soon be able to place them in the 29. Just playing it safe and waiting for that sore on the other one to completely heal and to be sure thier digestion is working properly.

thank you for all the advise. And HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I have been out of town for the past couple of weeks so haven't had time till today to see what you all said. I think I will get the two pearls for the tank, I think I'm going to have to order them by mail though. the local fish stores here either don't carry them or have had not so healthy fish.

I'll work on the pictures I'm not much of a photographer though, and all you can see right now are the Dwarf Gouramis- everyone else has a hidey hole they stay in. Oh and one funny thing, Jilly mentioned a tube for the Knife and I had one but he quit using it and now stays in a castle in the corner. I know when he grows out of it I will need a tube, but I still have the old one.

well as usual I have been long winded sorry, but thank you for the help.

Lol....

I lost a fish today. I don't mean he died, I just lost him! I did my regular check of the tank and realized there was one missing so I checked again all through the tank, no fish. I thought, hmm..maybe a jumper, so I checked the floor around the tank, no fish. Gee, maybe he did hit the floor and the dog ate him <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Then I got to thinking...that decoration I have in the tank has a couple of holes in the back and side...hmmm..."dang!"...that would mean I would have to move the thing. Now, I had gone to alot of trouble to set that in there just right, it's no small object.....anyway, to make a long story short...that's exactly where he was, silly fish, He came out swimming in circles and all shaken up but seems fine otherwise. Maybe the little finster learned his lesson and won't be going back there again....I HOPE ! :rolleyes:

Now, to fix that dang thing and get it back to where it was...the things we do for these guys! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

don't i know it. You can't even imagine with the 75 gallon tank and all those nocturnal fish, I just assume they are there. they can hide in some of the darnedest places. :rolleyes:

I actually thought the Knife had died today- he gets so still and just lays there on the bottom of the tank- anyway i guess our fish decided to give both of us a scare :devil: little devils.

good luck on the search tomorrow.

OOHHHHh....75 gallon tank....I saw one in the paper 'With filter', for $100.00....hhhmmmmm......

stupid question...what exactly is a 'cycle' in a new tank and how long should it technically be. I've had a continuous fish tank for nearly a decade, just monthly wanter changes and the like, this is the first time I've actually dismantled the thing and started over.

Hello Wendy,

Here's an article you can read that explains what the nitrogen cycle is in an aquarium.

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

well i guess the way to look at is that now i can put just about anything in my 75. the knife died. i dont know why, ihave had him for several months. he has not been as active lately and i thought he was just finally getting used to the tank, I guess he was sick though. If anyone has info on the black ghost knife fish that might help explain his unexpected death it would be appreciated. I would love to have another one, but i am trying to be cafeful that it wasn't something i did.

I would get that tank you saw in the paper for a $100. we got ours used too and it has been wonderful. we call it our experiment tank, because the first large comunity tank we set up was from the suggestions in the book Simple Guide To Freshwater Aquariums. we found this book extremely helpful for starting up the first tank and for suggestions of stocking schemes. It also explains cycling and a bunch of other stuff thatif you have a tank that is successful you know but if you are starting out it prevent goofs and frustration.

lol ks...too late, boy that thing went fast !! <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Well, Haha..

I picked up two blue rams today. Put them in the 15 gallon I had my female bettas in..(transfered them to a 10 gallon)..I kicked up the temps to about 80 since these fish like warmer water and cleaned out all the gravel and put some in a nylon sack and put one sack in each back corner of the tank..easier to keep the tank clean as this is a quarenteen tank setup. I did all this over the weekend, to get it ready for the rams.

Boy, they weren't kidding about how sensitive these fish are and how careful you need to be when acclimating them to new conditions. I was as careful as I know how to be..took me about an hour of carefully adding a little bit of tank water every couple of minutes to the store water..and they still stressed out..poor things. I let the bag float and adjust to the temp difference first before I even did that.

Both of them sat on the bottom and just breathed for half a day..before one of them..(the female, of course <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )..finally started to venture around a bit. I popped a black worm in for her and she went after it and snapped it right up..so that's a good sign.

The male on the other hand wasn't looking so good for a bit there..and didn't even seem to notice the worm I put near him. I shooed him over near where the female was thinking maybe if he saw another it would snap him out of it...seemed to work. He's at least looking like he notices something now. Will just have to wait it out and see how they do over the next couple of days.

These fish are beautiful...if these two pull through ok I'm going to go out and get a few more..lol. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />