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If there is sediment (fine suspended material) in the water it can coat the fish's gills and make it more difficult for them to breath. Once the water clears the sediment washes off the gills and the fish go back to normal. In an aquarium with good filtration and aeration, it shouldn't make any...

You can use plastic plants with lead weights on the bottom.

Move to Perth in Western Australia. We don't get snow and we get less rain every year and it only rains for 4-5 months during the year. The rest of the time it's hot and dry and unpleasant. :)

How quickly did it get fat? It could be a well fed female with eggs.

Are you sure it's a young ember tetra and not one that is stunted and deformed? It appears to have a curved spine and the muscle tissue looks a bit cream coloured. The curved spine is probably genetic but the white muscle tissue could be a microsporidian infection that will eventually kill the...

Is the fish eating normally? Does it still have the pale patch? If it doesn't, try turning the filter back on and see if it comes back. As long as the fish is eating well and acting normally it should be fine but it's not normal so monitor and post more pictures if it returns.

How long has it been skinny for? It probably has intestinal worms but could also have an internal protozoan infection. I would try deworming them and see if it helps. You should feed the fish 3-5 times a day for the next month to help it regain some weight. Do more water changes and gravel...

What do you feed him and how often do you feed him? How long has the tank been set up for? How long have you had the fish for? How long has he been acting unusual? What sort of filter is on the aquarium? How often and how do you clean the filter? How often do you do water changes and how much...

That looks like a wound too. It might be a bacterial infection but they usually go red around the edges. The fish does have a red nostril and red under the skin near the mouth on the left hand side. That can be from poor water quality or an infection. Cleaning the tank and adding salt usually...

Do another dose. Most catfish don't have swim bladders.

You can build metal or wood stands or buy them from a hardware store. Just get something that has adjustable shelves and each shelf should be able to easily hold the entire weight of the aquarium. I like stands to be able to hold double the weight of the tanks. Our local hardware chain has...

Lake Malawi Rift Lake cichlid probably from the Mbuna group (species unknown). It's a bit skinny and probably has worms. Mbuna are grumpy scumbag fish. If you want a nice cichlid get peacocks (Aulonocara sp).

How long have you had the plants for? If the leaves are soft and mushy they are dying. If the leaves and stem are firm, they aren't dying. Some plants produce copper coloured leaves under certain conditions (usually bright light and lots of iron fertiliser). Have you changed anything with the...

I'm with GaryE on this one and it's not just electric blue fish. How many different species of balloon fish appeared almost overnight. There was one species of balloon fish and then bam, there's a dozen species of balloon fish. Apparently it is all line breeding (cough cough bull poop). Someone...

Post a picture of the second lemon tetra. Black markings on the body like in the video are normally bruises or chemical burns. Chemical burns are normally from chlorinated tap water but can be from other chemicals (medications, fertilisers or something from outside the tank) that get added or...

The tap water is only 160ppm, which is at the top end of soft and the bottom of medium hardness. It's suitable for a wide range of fishes from soft water. What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

@Magnum Man you need a few more containers for the Tilapia. If you set up 5 or 6 more, you could have a pr (or 4 or 5 females & 1 male) in each of those and get enough young so you didn't have to buy them in. You could also let the young grow indoors over winter and they would be a bit bigger...

Being a discus it's probably an internal protozoan infection caused by too much meat food and not enough plant matter in its diet. Metronidazole is the normal treatment but the fish needs to be treated for a week. You normally add the medication to the water so the fish get it in their system if...

Are your health issues making it more difficult to paint? I wrote a piece years ago for a friend but haven't written anything since besides "the night before Xmas" when someone here had a leaky tank on Xmas eve. Linked below for anyone who didn't read it. I need a muse and a clear head, neither...

It reminds me of the herpes virus. When people are stressed it breaks out. This could be something similar. There is a Koi herpes virus but it produces different symptoms to what the loach is showing. The Gourami Iridovirus produces different symptoms again. This might be a new fish virus or a...

Need a picture. It's unlikely to be too much oxygen. Water only holds a certain amount of dissolved gasses (nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide). Aeration/ surface turbulence simply maximises the exchange of these gasses and you have a higher level of oxygen, but it will never oxer oxygenate...

Try it on both sides and see which one works best for the fish.

Look at the clown loach at the front of the picture. It is covered in red sores. That isn't normal or from old age.

Do a water change on Saturday

It's either the start of an ulcer or a wound from swimming into something or something attacking the fish. For normal wounds, cleaning the tank, filter and gravel will usually help. If it gets worse then you need something to treat bacteria. You can try adding a bit of salt too but that...

That size bubble is better for the fish than small/ fine bubbles, which can adversely affect the fish if the bubbles are too small. If there is too much current from the airstone, try moving it to the side rather than the back and see if it helps. If it doesn't, get a small plastic...

You would probably have more money if you stopped buying fish, but wouldn't we all :) And if you bred the fish you have in separate containers, you could sell the young and use that money to invest back into the fish. That's what I used to do. breed fish and use the money from them to buy more...

greenhouse them for an extended growing season. it will reduce your heating cost too.

Lots of fish change colour during the day and night. They have nocturnal colours and diurnal colours. Nocturnal colours often involve a darkening of the entire body, or grey or dark patches on the body. Diurnal colours are what we normally see on fish in aquariums.

Have a look online at your water company's website and look for a water analysis report or email them and ask them for a copy of it.

My guess is he is dying but I don't know what from (probably an internal issue). The heavy breathing is characteristic of a fish with a major internal problem. The choice is yours if you want to try more medication but I don't think it's going to help. Normally if a fish is going to respond it...

Pictures of the algae so we can identify it? A picture showing the entire aquarium can help us see how many live plants you have vs the light they get.

No, an African butterflyfish will not do well in that tank. The butterflyfish come from slow moving water and sneak up on their food. They occur in soft water and it usually has a pH below 7.0. Rainbowfish are fast moving surface feeders and will eat all the food before the butterflyfish gets...

When he panics and takes off it could be he is frightened by sudden movements. Bettas normally live under floating plants so they are protected from attacks from above the water. You don't have any floating plants and he might be thinking you are a bird about to get him. This is probably more...

Go to a pet shop or online and make a list of fish you like. Post the list here and we can go through it for you. And provide the pH, GH & KH of your water. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website (Water Analysis Report) or by telephoning them. If they...

Floating plants might help reduce the nitrates.

We had hot easterly winds in winter and we still have them now in spring. Before 2010 we only had easterlies in January and February at the height of summer. Now we have them from August to April. Hot dry dusty wind blowing in from the desert :(

Most Cories prefer cooler water vs hot water. Cooler is 16-26C, hot is above 26C.

It doesn't look like a contagious disease, it looks more like physical damage.

I would remove anything that is sharp or has rough edges and see if it continues to happen. Maybe move the other species of loach out and see what happens too. It has to be stressful to the fish whatever is causing it. You need to get the nitrates down to as close to 0ppm as possible and under...