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Thanks everyone! I was expecting to be roasted on here for not being better prepared, but luckily people are a lot nicer here than they are on facebook! has anyone had any experience with the floating plastic web things you put around the edge? They seem to have mixed reviews

Hi everyone! We've just had a pond put in, and the guys building it gave us some free fish. We weren't expecting them until May, but they turned up today with a load of bags and long story short we now have a pond full of fish. I've never kept pond fish before (although I have had temperate fish...

Thank you! I think I'm going to go for a filter, will definitly be getting a net for the top as well - there are herons around.

Hi everyone! We were thinking of adding some fish to our pond, but I don't know what the difference is between a pond filter and a pond pump. Do pond goldfish even need a filter? The pond is about 2000L and its approximately 4m x 1m x 0.5m. It has been there for years and has supported newts...

Thanks Lockman! I've done a 60% water change today and I'm going to do a 25% water change every day for a while. I'll try and nag my parents about getting a test kit again but it's unlikely maybe I'll just have to use some of my GCSE money. I stupidly threw away my old filter and its sponges...

Hi! I was checking my fish today and I noticed that one of my leopard danios has swollen up quite nastily. Generally there are three that are fatter than the other two, so I've always presumed that those were the females. Anyway, she is much fatter than all the others and seems to have trouble...

Hi, my sisters goldfish has been lying at the bottom of the tank. He'll lie there for a few minutes then swim around for a few minutes then lie down again. I'm not really sure what type of goldfish he / she is, he has a body shaped like a common goldfish but patterns and a double tail like a...

That's fine Akasha72 the idea is that the central heating keeps the tank at about room temperature but I guess I'll do some more research. And thanks Ch4rlie it's 90cm x 30cm x about 37cm (l x w x h)

Thanks for replying Akasha72! I just like to know that people are reading my questions I guess! The idea of a temperate tank is that it is unheated but kept inside so the water temperature never really drops below 18C. Normal platys are tropical but variatus platys are sub-tropical of temperate...

Tactical bump? If no one replies I will have to ask the petshop and I'm not sure I trust them!

Hi. I am about to start restocking my temperate fish tank. It was previously filled with variatus platys, but most of them have passed on after about 2 years with me (their lifespan is 2-3 years isn't it?). Anyway, it is a 90l (20 UK gallon) tank with a filter, lights, a few plants and other...

Thanks for the advice do you think I can get some bags from the petshop and use them or do they have to be topped up wit hair or something??

I was wondering how to go about moving house with fish. We have: 160ish litre with 4 goldfish 90 litre with 8 variatus (temperate) platys, 2 loaches (possibly hillstream) a few million snails and any fry that may be lurking around, even though i took all the males out months ago (they keep...

Don't kill the poor little things. Would you kill a human child with autism or another disability? No, so why would you do it to a fish? Put them in a nice tank where they can't breed, and they can live out their lives like a healthy fish.

Can i just say great name choice!!!!!!! I have a spotty gold mickey mouse variatus platy called minnie,  and she has a brother called micky!

She seems normal width and i just saw her like that yesterday. the only thing i can think of is that shes broken it somehow. she doesnt move past the bend (which is sideways not upwards). shes about 17 months old and one of my first fry (ive stopped breeding now)

I looked in my fish tank today and saw one of my variatus platys with her face on the gravel and a bent back. She has a few scales sticking out near the bend but I think that it is the bend not dropsy, she literally looks like someone snapped her spine. im in the uk so all shops closed but i...

Could you try and post a picture? Everyone always says it helps (though my fish never stay still long enough)

I think the fry would be ok with being moved if you can catch them, but I have heard that hydra can kill fry. I think they eat them or something (you might want to check that). Hope I've helped!!!

Ok thanks :)

Hi Long story short I've accidentally / on purpose bred some really pretty variatus platys that I think are unique (according to a google images search). I've set up a tank to move the males into (to stop them breeding with their daughters / sisters / half-sisters) and I'm going to buy a...

Hahaha funny!!!!!! I was in there today buying a new harness for my rabbit (she gnawed through her last one) and bought one of those cool ones like dog coats. Five minutes later she got it over her head so the guy swapped it for the normal harness style. Even he thought the lead that came with...

For variatus platys you don't need a heater (not like other platys) they are happy at room temperature I've always added 1 at a time but that's with goldfish but platys are shoal fish so they want to stay together. I've got them just be careful none are pregnant when you get them or you'll have...

You should probably buy a test kit to keep an eye on what's happening, saying that I never cycle a tank, I'm just carefully how many fish I add at once normally 1 a week till full and I don't test either, my mum won't buy me a test kit and I can't afford one. Keep an eye on the splodge too, my...

It couldn't be a platy mollie they can't breed - platys and swordtails can and guppies and mollies can but not platys and mollies (at least that's what I've read here)

I fed mine 3 times a day when i got up, got home and went to bed I don't know if they'd be able to eat feeding blocks how long are you away for?

If mollies are like platies they can hold sperm for months so one of the females could have decided to give birth and the fry could have been hiding?

I love platies  i have a tank of variatus platys they are adorable, and platys and guppies cant breed like Ny82 said.

They are probably just to young, with platys they all start with anal fins and then some develop into boys. i had one fry who i was convinced he was a girl he was  about 6 months old, i looked one day and he was a boy. he was the only one in the fry tank so who knows.

If you can get a small tank, like a starter tank (or a bucket) from your lfs or petshop fill it with as much water from your tank as you can spare (then top up the tank with dechlorinated water) If the little tank needs topping up use declorinated water like you'd use in a water change, also get...

I dont really know how else to put it than there seems to be hair algae or something sticking out of one of my variatus platys throats. its clear with a greenish tinge and she stays near the botom of te tank, mouth opening and closing aimlessly. she seems a bit more swollen than usual, but she...

I used to have apple snails.3 were eaten by my sisters goldfish (grr) and the 4th died for no apparent reason. he just floated and when he began to smell i took him out.

My lps and lfs sell fish for the size they are now, not how big they grow. And now my dad has banned any more large fish tanks, so I dread to think what will happen to my sisters goldfish (they are currently quite small and live in a 36 litre). Even my other sisters bigger goldfish only live in...

When you get £13 pocket money a month that seems quite a lot... I'll take a water sample to the pet shop tomorrow and see what they get. I'm slowly adding salt to the full dose, whenever I put a bit in the fish all hang around it - maybe they know it's good for them!!!

Ok will do the water sample thing. Have dosed with aquarium salt, and no-one else has died / is acting weird. Tanks been running since april and wasn't really cycled (had almost no experience then, just added the fish one each week till all 3 were in)

thanks anyway. at least you answered.

I think one of my female variatus platys is dead. When I found her was just lying on the ground in front of an ornament. Now she's in a breeding net. She has a swollen belly but she could be pregnant as there is a male in the tank with her. I don't have a test kit - can't afford it and pets at...

They seem to be doing ok at the moment the lighter coloured one (Spotty) is always zigging all over the tank but the darker one (Stripy) hides a lot more. Whenever I put in algae wafers my platys eat them, but last night I left a bit on top of the filter where they sometimes go but the platys...

I think you should leave the fish where it is if possible, you don't want to stress it by moving it.