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I am an expert on cichlid fishes, particularly New World cichlids. My broader expertise includes the behavior, ecology and reproduction of fishes in general. (I am NOT an expert on Goldfish). Please do not use abbreviations, such as "my GT has a swollen eye" because I don't know what a "GT" is. The more clearly you can explain your question, the better chance I have of understanding what it is that you seek. I keep fishes both as a scientist and as a hobbyist and I currently maintain about 140 aquariums.
I am an Assistant Professor at the California State University, Sacramento in the Department of Biological Sciences, and I run a website, called the Cichlid Research Home Page
Cichlid News, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, Science, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Copeia, Canadian Journal of Zoology, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, AUK, Environmental Biology of Fishes
PhD (Toronto, 1993) MSc (Simon Fraser, 1986) BSc (British Columbia, 1983)
I find all fish fascinating, particularly their behavior. Besides questions about the fish themselves, I can answer questions about the study of fishes as a career.
Even though I work with fish everyday, there are still tons of things to learn!
There are over 28,000 species of fishes and they are incredibly diverse in how they reproduce. Surprisingly, many of them take wonderful care of their kids, ranging from guarding the eggs, to mouthbrooding and even to live birth in some species.
Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there, both in pet stores and on the internet. Too often people reach for medicines to treat "sick" fish. Often the fish is not suffering from disease, rather it has been attacked by another fish. Only use medications as a last resort -- they can cause as much harm as good!
| User | Date | K | C | T | P | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| katie | 02/09/10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | thanks 4 ur good advice |
| sylvia | 02/08/10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Thankyou so much for such a quick ..... |
| katie | 02/08/10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | thank u soooo much for getting back ..... |
| Fran | 02/08/10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| Fran | 02/08/10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Hi Fran, Given that he is the only fish in the tank, banging his eye on something is a very likely explanation. The solution would be to give it time to heal. -- Ron C. rcoleman@cichlidresearch
Hi Fran, It sounds like a fungus. Could he have bashed himself against something? I would try one of the anti-fungal treatments. I use a product called Paragon II, but that is really hard to get
Hi Katie, The one with the larger breeding tube is most likely the female. The good news is that you do not have to do anything. They will take care of the eggs. Be prepared, however, that eggs of
Hi Sylvia, When you say "10% on a regular basis", how regular is that? Ideally you would be changing 25% of the water once a week, every week. If you don't do that, the water quality can slowly decline
Hi Karyn, That is hard to say but my first guess would be to suggest that maybe the angelfish attacked the catfish. Is that a possibility? Are there lots of hiding places for the catfish? -- Ron
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