Faran

Ball Valve? May as well just turn the needle valve off and back on every morning... the point of a solenoid is to have an automated system to do it for ya. Yes, solenoids save half the CO2 but my advice is don't try and half-arse it. The solenoids you need for CO2 systems are more expensive cuz CO2 needs non-corrosive materials like chrome and brass or whatever aluminium composite that the fire extinguishers use or you're gonna end up with something going "BOOM" or "POP" somewhere down the line. Same goes for tubing. More expensive as regular tubing will end up leaking all your CO2 before it gets to your tank. Best go with tried and proven systems rather than being a pioneer your first time out. I experiment with different stuff and test everything that I sell and trust me, you want the real thing or things can go real badly real quick!

The flow gauge is in L/min so there's no PSI value. If you know how to do the math; one of mine is at 6L/min and the other is at 3. Keep in mind that your setup will have no gauges at all so you're pretty likely to rip up one of those little guys. Just go without a solenoid for now and have an air pump on at night. That's what I've been doing in one of my tanks and it's sweet.

Pretty much! Oh, spoke with JayCar about those solenoids and they're NOT recommended for pressurized applications, but I think I'm going to use them for a central air pump and turning off the bubbles during CO2 hours. Thanks for the idea!

Thanks for the heads up fishboi but I already e-mailed them and confirmed that the regulator doesn't have a pressure gauge any more. Shame, really. I would have been keen to get a few as I have a couple empty soda stream bottles laying around from when I tried to make a DIY CO2 system out of an old soda maker. Not recommended, btw. Very dangerous.

Those sodastream bottles and regulators used to have a pressure gauge but the sellers have gone with a cheaper one now. Still a good price, tho. How long will it last? Depends on your rate of flow, etc etc. Off the top of my head it's a 250g bottle and rough estimate - you should expect it to last 2-4 weeks at 2 bubbles per second. Actually surprised that the $100 regulator isn't gone yet. Just saw a bidding war on one go up over $150 but I suppose both of those guys now have one! A budget under $300 for a system isn't too unreasonable if you're willing to bargain shop your butt off. The 2.5kg bottle mentioned above for $100 is a GREAT bargain as the local guys charged me $150 for a 1.8kg bottle. Guess that's the bennie of being in Aucks, tho. Oh, and a sodastream bottle won't fit on a normal regulator.... trust me, I've tried

It's also better for plant growth... as you may see from the pic of Caryls tank. Pretty amazing.

Has anyone ever seen any GBAs on the wholesale lists? As far as I can recall (been fishkeeping for a whole year now in NZ!) they haven't been imported so we're all interbreeding the same stock and need to keep them going and make them as common as BNs to make sure that they never die off. So who has all the bloody females?? :lol:

And if you REALLY want to do it on the cheap - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... d=56285337 - $125

Oh, just found this on TradeMe. Not a bad deal for a regulator alone! http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farmi ... 299986.htm

We have a place pretty local that does 3.5kg bottles with new tap, cert and fill for around the $200 mark. As fatdog said, getting the taps is the hardest part as they're not sold any more.

/me perks up. I'll be on that bus when it starts movin, Caryl (if you let me on). Yeah yeah, I already have one.... but I'll be the first one on my block with 2!!!!

Wow, at least I'm not the only one to have two disasters in a row. First there was a tank of guppies... and my breeding colony of GBAs (with about 100 babies). Followed by a heater malfunction that lost a tank full of bettas. I'm still waiting for the third one to hit but may have been when the tank overflowed a few weeks back. Here's hoping. So Caryl, sorry bout that and next time you're up this way stop by and I'll give you something to restock the tank with. Good news is you didn't lose all the fish and can rebuild pretty easily, aye? "Just be sure and get all the dead bodies" and a friendly e-pat on the shoulder is all I can do for now though!

Discus seem to be generally priced at $10 per cm body length. Therefore, 3.5cm juveniles will cost approx $35 and 10cm young adults $100, etc. Imported and special colour strains extra. As you're in ChCh you'll be dealing with mostly imported fish as most of the discus breeders are up in Auckland so you can expact to pay $100+ for a 5cm fish. Just a note - shipping discus during winter can be risky - specially to the South Island - even with heating pads. I drive as far as Auckland to pick up my fish to prevent any shipping at all.

Nope, they'll be happier in a planted tank just harder to keep spotless. I keep most of my discus in planted tanks. If you keep up plenty of water changes and don't let your tank get dirty there should be no diff between planted and bare bottom. Congrats and good luck. If you need any other help down the live feel free to ask.

Simply put, the more work you put into discus the better the results that you will see. They will grow faster and into larger fish if you keep them in optimal conditions. Quite literally, the cleaner the better.

You need to have good filtration of 4-5 the volume of the aquarium every hour and always have a backup heater and a temp alarm (Aquaminder) but most importantly you need to do water changes of at least 20% at least twice a week. Some people do 50% water changers daily. They are truly a high maintenance fish. When small you can have half a dozen in a 100L tank but as they grow they need room until adults, where 50L per fish is recommended. So your tank is suited for 5 adults or a dozen juveniles. Keep up the water changes and go bare bottom if you're serious about growing them out as quickly as possible but they prefer a well planted tank.

Importers pay THOUSANDS of dollars to get those meds licensed in NZ for resale, which is why we have such a sad range compared with the "rest of the world". For instance, I have a small pile of Fluke Tabs over here as I bought out the stock from a LFS when I heard the license wasn't going to be renewed by the importer/wholesaler. True to form I haven't seen it on the shelves since.

My guess would be cyclops. Small (1-2mm long) and zip across gravel and glass. Never know though, could be anything. If it is cyclops you have nothing to worry about. Consider it free food.

For a vet to dispense without a consult risks losing their license so you would really need to have a friend of the family that would risk all that to save you $45. Never hurts to call around, though!

I have some but I had to pay consultation fees and dispensation charges on top of the cost of the pills so they're not cheap by any means. How many do you need?

Hey bud, nice pics! Have to say, it olooks even better in person! Good luck with the breeding, lots of people rooting for ya!

Like most cichlids a change in environment will cause a reestablishment of dominancy. They're just sorting the pecking order. Give it a few days and they'llbe fine. If you feel that one is being damaged too severly separate them, let them heal and reintroduce them. Danios and target fish are not really any use. Good luck!

An he's still a baby. Wait til he grows into a decent size and starts leaving some SERIOUS poos laying around. All catfish are a bit messy (even BNs and GBAs) but if you aren't constanty feeding them specialized foods they clean up more mess than they make. Gotta run, have a big set of new tanks to set up!

I've never seen any, but a similar cory - adolfoi - is available here.

Remember that that's only 150L after you add gravel and even less after you add rocks and decoration. Nice little tanks, let us know when/if you run into problems setting up the filter. Did you get a stand with it?