Extremely distressed newbie

[Cichlid Woman]

Sorry for the long post, guys, but I've got some more info for Nischint that I couldn't send by private message because it was "too long." It will help him get his test kits, though ...

Hi, Nischint,

Wait, before you thank me (private post)--I have both Good News and Bad News.

The Bad News: shipping from here to India costs a lot! Check this link to see the postal rates.
http://ircalc.usps.gov/speed.asp?Country=India&Pounds=.5&Ounces=0&cmdSubmit=Continue&Contents=1

Oops, why isn't that highlighted like a link should be? Try pasting it into your address bar and it should take you there. Anyway, I found that it could cost over $40 to get the test kit to you in a matter of days. Otherwise, it could be weeks. I'd be happy to do that, but I might need you to pay the shipping (my funds are limited ...)--check out that link and let me know what you'd like to do, okay? (If you can't get the link to work, search the www.usps.gov site for "international" rates.) But FIRST, keep reading!

A BETTER IDEA: The Good News. I did a search for supplies in your area, and here's what I found:

http://fins.actwin.com/dir/stores.php?c=31

Just in case the link isn't working, here's the page reproduced:


Country India listings:

Aquamarine, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, getfishes@yahoo.co.uk.
An exclusive Marine Fish and Livestock store, dealing in exotic Indian and Imported Saltwater fishes opening soon in Chennai. Details to be published very shortly. All the enquiries shall be mailed to: getfishes@yahoo.co.uk

Aquatic Exotica, , Inderbhavan,Dahanukarwadi,kandivli(west), Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400067, phone 91-022-8673727, fax 91-022-8657730, aquatic_exotica@yahoo.com.
Freshwater water fishes, accessories, dry food, installation and maintenance of fish tanks.Imported airpumps and filters.well-maintained and clean .I simplly love the service

Chennai Aquarium Club - Beta, Venket, Annanagar, Chennai, TamilNadu, phone 6215061, 6460739, val2k@vsnl.net; beta@eth.net.
Catch up with the tide guys!!! U can know more on the fish keeping and Fish suppliers in Chennai.

Fantastic Discus, 16/55 New Thillai Nagar, PN Pudur Post, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, 641041, phone 98422-71852, precequip@satyam.net.in.
Quarantined discus, tetras, livebearers and aquatic plants. The best part is that he sells only good healthy fishes and plants. He specializes in great discus (including breeding pairs) all kinds of tetras, and bettas (fighters). He also takes orders. If you need any exotic fish (arowana, exotic catfish varueties etc) you can ask him and he will get it for you. And yes he does plants too!

Gulmarg Aquarium, No.474, 1st Cross, 5th Block, Koramangala,, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560034, phone 5525703, gulmargbangalore@hotmail.com.
A one stop shop for all your requirements of fish, fishfood, aquarium hardware, medicines, decorative pieces. Stockists of ornamental fish both freshwater and marine. Expert manufacture of glass and acrylic aquariums of all sizes for freshwater and marine use. Aquarium consultants. We welcome queries regarding all aquarium related problems. We specialise in corporate orders and aquarium maintenence contracts. We are experts in this field for over 25 years. We meet all your requirements. Contact: Mr.M.Kaleemulla Tel:91-(0)80 5525703. email: gulmargbangalore@hotmail.com

nellori vari aquarium fish retailers and exporters, 49-27-17,madhura nagar, visakhapatnam,Andhra Pradesh, india, 530016, phone 091-091-625211, nellorivari_aquarium@rediffmail.com.
we are interested in the export of ornamental fishes from india. any interested customer contact us.

Prakash (Mukesh Aquarium), New Panvel, New Mumbai, Maharastra, 410 206, phone 7451471, fax 745 1471, kashh_in@yahoo.com.
We breed angelfish, black moors, goldfish, and all live bearers (sword tails, mollies, platties, guppies, etc.). We also trade other varieties. Aquarium fish available at reasonable prices.

Tresbon Export Pvt. Ltd, 3/9F Gouri Bari Lane, Calcutta, West Bengal, 700 004, phone +91 33 555 0486, fax +91 33 554 7239, agsmaniam@vsnl.com.
Supplier of all kind of freshwater tropical fishes to Singapore, quality guaranteed, price offered is the most competitive. Fishes are packed in double plastic bags in corrugated cardboard carton with thick thermocol sheets. Meas: 38cm x 38cm x 40cm. Person to address: Mr. Buddhadeb Patra. Detail price list will be sent on request for different sizes.

Tropical Industry, 33, South Mada Street Kolathur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600099, phone 91-44-6440821, fax 91-44-5502900, iaff@vsnl.com.
Wholesaler of Aquarium Accessories, Filters, Heaters, Air Pumps. Contact iaff@vsnl.com for additional details.

World of Fish & Pets, Shop No:5 LandMark , Aundh Road, Kirkee, Pune, Maharashtra, 411003, phone 91-20-5690042, worldofFishandPets@hotmail.com.
Wholesale and Retail Dealers in FreshWater Aquarium Fishes, Fish Food, Plants, Accessories, Filters, Heaters, Air Pumps. Contact us @ worldoffishandpets@hotmail.com for additional details.


Two of them, Aquatica Exotica and World of Fish & Pets, are right there in Maharashtra. Cool. (Of course, I don't know how physically close they actually are to you ...) Either of these stores should definitely carry ammonia test kits in addition to others. And if they're still too far from you to travel to the store (where you'd get to see LOTS of types of tropical fishies!), maybe they would ship to you--perhaps for a lot less than shipping from here.

Well, that's all I've been able to find out. Let me know what works for you, okay? And, again, I'd be happy to ship from here if we can just figure out a way to pay for timely shipping. (How ironic--the kit itself is, I think, only $4 or $5, which I can handle. It's only the shipping that's beyond my means.)

Let me know!!

-- Pat

 

[Cichlid Woman]

About your filter: I'm not familiar with that brand, but look to see if there's a little lever or control somewhere where you can reduce the water's rate of flow out of the filter. If you can find one, turn it down a bit and the water current will decrease. If you don't have one, then yes, putting it on one of the back corners might work better. (That's where mine is.)

-- Pat

 

[pinballqueen]

Keep up with the water changes as normal. You're doing fine.

Also, don't worry about soaking your worms. The fish can chew just fine, thanks....

 

[Nischint]

Forgetaboutit...

Cichlid Woman, thanks, but forget it, it's too expensive, even for me, to get it shipped to India. Most of the sites you gave me are out of state, thereby too far. One of the ones in Maharashtra is 200 kilometers from me, and the other one, although 45 minutes away, doesn't have the test kits, even though they seem to have everything else.

There's no lever or control on the filter, so I guess I'm gonna have to turn the head a bit.

The water is definitely milky now, exactly like someone dropped chalk or milk into it, so am gonna do the 20 % water change. Thanks pinballqueen!!

Let's just pray all goes well with Asgard.

Atlantis is displaying some problems though, that too when I feed Hades & Phera freeze dried worms. The flakes and pellets, they nibble on, but it's the worms they relish. Live ones are hungrily swallowed but the dry worms give the bowl a slight whitish colour. Even after I did a water change last night, after feeding them worms last night and today morning, the water has become a little hazy. Think I'm gonna change the water again.

 

[Cichlid Woman]

Hi, Nischint,

I forgot to mention--you can buy all types of test kits off the internet and have them sent to you in the mail; that might be much cheaper, too.

Re: the cloudy water in the bowl. I wonder if your bowl is also cycling?!

No more fish deaths? I hope not--sounds like everything is beginning to stabilize.

-- Pat

 

[Nischint]

Cichlid Woman, I doubt that my bowl is cycling. In fact, normally, I change the water every week and it's never very hazy, just slightly discoloured, either very light brown or very light white. But after I started feeding live worms, I had to do two water changes a week, just coz the water would become dirty and would stink of those Tubifex worms. Now, with the dry worms, sometimes if Hades & Phera don't eat them, then they float around in the bowl for a while before settling either in the gravel or the plastic fisherman.

Looks like I'm going to have to stop the dry worms, and stick to flakes and pellets everyday, and live worms once every four days.

The problem with getting or buying stuff online is that most of them require credit cards, a concept still in its infancy in India. People don't trust plastic yet and the credit interest rates are very high, so you end up paying almost double for the amount on the card. In other cases, money orders or pay on delivery, they handle things well, but that means I or someone resposible has to be home constantly, which may or may not happen.

Anyways, Asgard is doing very well, no deaths yet, so I think I can do this. Just waiting for the haze to go away. Do I have to wait for a month?????

 

[Cichlid Woman]

Maybe not, it's already begun. Just keep up regular water changes until the water gets crystal clear. Then your cycling should be nearly over.

In the absence of an ammonia test kit, I'd do the partial water changes (20-25%) every day, just to be on the safe side, until the haziness clears.

Anyone, should he keep it up after that, too, for awhile, due to nitrate spikes? (I'm not an expert on cycling.)

-- Pat

 

[pinballqueen]

In my experience, the cloudiness should clear up on its own in a week or two, tops. After that, you can resume a normal pattern of weekly water changes (or more often, if you like...it's not going to hurt anything).

I have kept tanks without access to test kits in the past, and I only use them for diagnosis of problems now, so I wouldn't be too worried about it. It's good to have one, but by no means absoultely necessary to keeping a tank. Take your time and find testing equipment in your price range, surely one will fall in your lap before too long.... just keep up with your maintainence in the meantime, and if any problems arise, take a trip to your fish store and have him test your water (since you would probably go anyway if you were having a problem....)

Also, you might try only feeding your fish every other day to keep your nitrates down, since you can't test your water quality yet. It'll save you a little bit of work, since fish that eat less, "go" less. Don't worry, they won't starve or anything from doing this....