A selection of Questions and answers from the WetWebMedia database.

Daily Q&A replies/input from the WWM crew: Ian Behnk, Sabrina Fullhart, Benjamin Kratchmer, Michelle Lemech, Scott Fellman, Mike Irving, Merritt Adkins, Eileen Ridgeway/Yunachin, Andrew Nixon, Scott Vallembois, Lynn Zurik, Sara Mavinkurve, Rich Dietz (Mr. Firemouth), Darrel Barton, Neale Monks, Marco Lichtenberger, Brenda Furtak, Chris Perivolidis, Eric Russell, James Gasta (Salty Dog), Chuck Rambo, Pufferpunk (Jeni Tyrell), Bob Fenner, are posted here.

Panther Grouper/Feeding/Systems 4/15/09
I have a Panther Grouper. He is about two to three inches.
<Just hatched:)>
I have had him for about a month and he has not really grown. I am feeding him half a cube of frozen mysis shrimp almost every night and he is eating like a madman. He is in a 40 gallon tank.
<Will be the same as locking a German Shepherd in a closet. Are you aware these fish grow close to two feet in length?>
The only other thing in the tank is an unhatched shark egg. I am fairly sure that the levels in the tank are fine because I do a four gallon water change every week.
<Yep, I gas up my car weekly and I'm fairly sure that in doing so, all my other levels are just fine.>
I know that I will have to upgrade in tank size and I am looking at an upgrade now.
<Yes, more like a 240 and upwards.>
Do you have any ideas to why he is not growing?
<Proper nutrition likely, and soon, too small a tank. These guys will eat anything that won't eat them, try soaking foods in Selcon or a similar vitamin complex, vary the diet.>
Could he be a dwarf panther grouper?
<No such thing but do read here and related articles/FAQ's.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/basses.htm>
Thanks for your time.
<You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)>

Flame Hawkfish ill :( Help?, Ich, 4/15/09
Hello to My All-Knowing Fish Keepers,
<Ha, hardly, I did achieve total enlightenment once, but then found a bottle of Tequila and it has been all down hill from there.>
I'm new to saltwater. I've been referring to your site often these past couple weeks in an effort to save my fish. And, I've learned the importance of a QT, so please no I told you so's. : (
<Well we did...>
As soon as I am able to find a job, I'm all over it! I've learned my lesson. I don't want to go through this again, but without any other alternative, I had to treat the display tank this time.
<Often can be worse and not treating at all.>
So now I am trying to save my last remaining fish. My beautiful Flame Hawk. He's my buddy and still hanging on. Any help you can offer, I would gladly appreciate.
<Will try.>
I have a 120 gallon fish only saltwater. It's approximately 6 months old.
Everything was perfect, and then I added a tang, who I believe to be the culprit in this nightmare. Anyway. I had a Scopus Tang, (who I returned to the LFS about 10 days ago after 5 weeks, because he was mean as hell believe it or not and used to chase/terrorize my Hawk all the time, but the night before I took him back, I noticed a few spots on him) a maroon clown, two yellow tailed damsels, a choc chip starfish and my Flame Hawk. The starfish and the flame are all I have left now. : ( My water appears to be perfect, nothing registering on ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, my PH is 8.2 and the salinity is 1.020. (I'm gradually lowering it)
<I would not, will definitely kill the starfish and any life remaining on your live rock/live sand. Also numbers please next time, "perfect" tends to mean different things to different people.>
It used to be 1.023.
<I would maintain a more natural level of 1.025-1.026.>
Oh, and I've been keeping the temp around 82. I've been doing water changes of about 15 gallons every other day.
<Ok>
Anyway, I'm fairly certain that I have crypt/ich. although, to this day, I've never seen it on my Hawk. But he did the whole flicking/glancing thing for about a day and a half and has had rapid respiration. My damsels
were covered in little white dots the day after I took the tang back.
<Could very well be.>
I went to my LFS and they recommended Greenex of 1 drop/gal since I didn't have a reef tank, but had the starfish.
<Not a treatment I would have gone with, in fact not a chemical I really like to have around the house if I can avoid it, pretty toxic stuff, Malachite Green and Quinine HCL.>
I removed the Chemzorb from my filter, turned the light off and began treating the tank with the Greenex every other day for six days. This was Tuesday, 4/7. 4/8, my hawk and all other fish stopped eating. LFS told me that on Saturday, my hawk should be better.
(I read about the Greenex and the importance of not using too much malachite green for fear of poisoning, so i used 110 drops for the 110 actual gallons in my tank to account for the sand (1 lb per gallon, about 2
- 2 1/2" deep) and rockwork/decorations.
<Yes, very toxic.>
Now, he has stopped glancing, and his color has returned, he was for a couple days, pretty pale, struggled to move and didn't leave his little home under a rock cave.
<Probably more due to the treatment than the cure to be honest.>
On Saturday, he still did not look great and is still breathing rapidly.
But as I said, his color has returned and he is on his 'perch' at the top of the tank near the filter. When I contacted the LFS they told me that the Greenex is a weak medicine so the starfish/invertebrates can withstand the treatment and that I needed to begin another course of treatment 3 days after the last one.
<I would never consider GreenEx a weak medicine, in fact quite the opposite, one of the stronger medications available.>
I treated again with 110 drops last night after changing out 15 gallons.
How long will I need to treat the tank? And is the advice they are giving me good in my current situation?
<At this point I would just stop all treatment, I think here the treatment is worse than the disease. Good water quality and feedings will do more for this fish than the Greenex. When you are able to get a QT you can remove this fish and treat in there while allowing the main tank to go follow and the Ich to die off before adding new live stock. I would also think about finding a new fish store, Greenex/Malachite Green is about one of the least desirable treatments for what you are trying to achieve here.
See here for more http://www.wetwebmedia.com/malachitegreen.htm .>
My starfish appears fine. He's been active and roams the bottom of the tank picking up food that my flame is not eating. The actual reason for this e-mail is the food. I haven't been able to get my hawk to eat for 8
days. He used to eat like a champ before he got sick. Mysis shrimp, brine, live brine, marine flake, and New Life Marine Formula pellets. How can I get the poor little guy to eat? I don't want him to starve, he
appears to be fighting this mess.
<Stop treatment and improve water quality here and see if that does not get him back on track. Perhaps some live brine or garlic soaked foods many entice a feeding response.>
Please let me know if you need any other information.
Help. :( & Thanks,
~ Jen
<Welcome>
<Chris>

URGENT: My red eared slider water temperature problem 4/16/09
Dear Crew
<Hiya Wicky -- Darrel here>
Okay, I need to a solution and some information , I have a Red Eared Slider who is 2 inches . He/she eats daily. I feed him pellets which he/she loves to eat and is always begging for more but the problem is I read on various sites that Red Eared Slider need 80F temperature but its so hot here that my water temperature is 86F now is that dangerous for my turtle?
<It's not the best, but it may be a bit much to say "dangerous." Typically I like the water in the low to mid 70's and the basking area in the mid to high 80's and let the turtle choose which temperature is best at any given time. 86 degrees is quite high for the water temperature, but not necessarily life threatening>
And how can I prevent this?
<Prevention depends on cause! Is the basking lamp so powerful and so close to the water that it heats it? Is the air temperature actually 86 degrees or is there sun hitting the tank and heating the water? Can the tank be moved into the shade? Or a cooler room? Even in Canada, people have been known to keep Sliders in large plastic tubs in their service porches (sealed from the weather, but not heated) as long as the basking lamp is on. Look around for ALL the factors leading to the high water temperature and write back so we can consider each one.>
And another problem is when my turtle basks I notice his skin gets dry like on his nose and face I can see some dry white patches like we humans get on her skin in winters when we don't use lotion. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here I don't have any VET here and I really love my turtle and am doing everything I can for him.
<You sound very concerned and I hope we're able to help. The whitish coloration can be a fungus, usually due to poor water quality and VERY possible given the high water temperature, so search this site (we have a Google Search Bar on the home page) for Turtle and Fungus and you'll see lot's of possible solutions. Two things: 1) If the water temperature is really that high, the water QUALITY needs to be perfect. Make sure the filter is good, changed frequently and do a 50% water change every week.
Remember, if it's just your turtle, you don't need any kind of water conditioner ... just old water OUT & new water IN. Now, remember I said TWO things? The other thing is this: Sometimes the white is nothing more than water spots!! Just mineral deposits from the water that show white when the skin or shell is dry. For the moment, focus on the reasons for the water temperature and what we can do about that.>
He is in a 15-20 gallon aquarium please reply me ASAP! Will be highly appreciated!
<Hope this helps>
<read here for other care info:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/RESCareBarton.htm >
with best regards
Wicky