Faran

With Spriohexol you don't have to raise your temps or play with your filtration at all, according to instructions. I didn't have carbon in my filters, though. Just do a 75% water change before medicating if you've previously used other meds, and 75% water change at the end of the week. Has saved two very sick adult discus over here. Couldn't be happier.

You can get a packet of 3 glass coasters at the $2 shop. You can also find a cheapy glass cutter there and make your own. Just use a sharpening stone to sand down the edges after cutting. Saves the fingers and makes the glass much stronger. This thread has finally taken care of my mite problem in my WW cultures, thanks!

discus and a syno cat (still not sure about the syno) were the only ones affected. I had pretty much all the other fish she had listed in the tank(s) and they didn't have any issues. Should just keep an eye on the fish for a few hours after dosing and do a 50% water change if there's problems. Same as any other treatment. Good looking out, sharn

Hey Fingol, The long stringy algae will probably be a direct result of too much phosphate in the water supply. I recommend a double dose of Flourish Excel and don't foresee a problem with the fish that you have being affected. This will kill off the algae but not fix the phosphate problem.

All you can do at this point it to create as stable of an environment as possible for them and let them relax as much as possible. It helps if you leave them in the dark as well as they're able to relax easier. Remember, all the symptoms you're seeing are a direct result of stress so go easy and give them time. Best of luck! Oh, I'd probably make sure there wasn't anything in the tank they're currently in to raise or lower the pH right now... steady as she goes.

along with heaps of gear and a chinese fire belly newt...

I don't think any of us have a problem with you doing it at all, and bless ya if you do, cuz we need more importers out there... but I think everyone here knows that even to get off your fett with importing you'll need an investment of about $40,000 dollars, which I doubt a student with a part time job has access to unless mom and dad want to put a second mortgage on the house. Good luck with all your endeavors, but please don't expect the whole community to get behind you and start placing orders. There's people here that have lost thousands of dollars trying to accomplish this exact same feat and 'they' were licensed importers with almost 30 years of experience under 'their' belt so as you can see we all have good reason to have doubts.

That's one heck of an interesting statement. Would love to know what softwater is Shane - Depending on your lighting setup there's a lot of plants that I can recommend. Will this be a high light or low light setup? If it's a small tank then I recommend a lot of lighting as you'll find that 'small' plants such as Glosso and the small swords require quite a bit of lighting. If it's a low light setup then some of the smaller crypts would be your best bet. Saw your query about breeding rocket pencil fish on the chatroom last night. I breed golden pencils and suppose rockets would be much the same. They require a tank with low light and curved leaves to spawn under. I have mine in a tank with a top layer of Riccia with a large amount of crypts and anubias below. This allows them to spawn and I get a decent amount of youngsters constantly growing out. This isn't proper "breeding" for selling purposes, but my pencils have increased from 6 to 30+ in the last 3 months. The oldest offspring are near adult size now.

Actually, the under the house idea is exactly what I plan on doing. Better than the deck as it's more protected from the elements. My main reason for putting it under the house is to keep fresh air blowing in the fish room during the winter months when I have the door closed and the window sealed up. Air gets stale rather quickly and it's an idea I got from seeing a breeder friends setup. He runs one of "The Pumps" as well.

I'd be getting it straight from the manufacturer and I should really check on warranty info and stuff, didn't even occur to me. Parts are readily available as these are a current model and haven't changed in YEARS though they did change the model number from A-60A to LP-60A. Same pump though. As for being noisy - you'd just have to ask people like Alan for reviews but the manufacturer states that the 30A makes about 30db and the 60A 35db. This is a VERY quiet ticking. Alan - completely agree. I've seen these things run rooms and rooms of tanks. 60lpm means 3600lph. Pretty impressive.

The pump name (even on the ReSun site) usually tell you the output. LP-60 means 60lph a minute, etc. A 60lpm output can run 14 outlets, 100 can run 33 according to the resun specs. Oh, it actually states the lpm on the pump specs on the resun site, btw. If anyone is keen to get a Yasunaga LP-60A like Alans I've been priced at $275 inl GST. They have smaller pumps available from 30lpm to 60lpm. There's only a $25 difference between the 30 and 60 so I'm pretty sure the 60 would be the preferred choice of most. Please keep in mind that the pumps weigh 6kgs each, so shipping will be $15 NI but SI Freight will be more.

MAF can give new importers a REALLY hard time about the inspections and run you out of business very quickly (bankruptcy from fees due to repetitive inspections) if they want to. It's a high risk investment as you never know what is going to happen with the many many many variables involved. You also have to build reputations with the exporters as they will tend to send you the lowest grades of fish in the beginning and you'll have high death rates which MAF will give you a hard time about. If it's something you're seriously thinking about, go down to MAF and have a sit-down and ask them to explain all the fees involved. It'll make your head spin.

You're going to need to fan-cool the pump as well provide enough air for the tanks you're supplying. I really don't think putting it in a box that small it feasable or even safe. Best shell out the $300+ for "The Pump" as most of us end up doing in the end. FYI, The Pump is the one that we spoke with Graeme about at Hutt Pets that day. It's what he uses on his tanks - sits on top of the first row. Quiet as a mouse and worth every penny was a unanimous review from everyone I've known that has one. Problem is, I'm not sure who makes them or if they're even available any more...

so I moved the second pair of discus over to the breeding tank after pretty much giving up on the first pair ever getting it figured out. The second pair had ALMOST gotten it right in the comm tank and the fry were eaten shortly after going free swimming and I thought mom and dad were to blame. Well, they've gone all the way this time and I have a nic batch of 20-40 fry on mom and dad going on 48 hours since free swimming. VERY exciting. Now that I see how far the little buggers wander around the tank I'm not blaming mom and dad at ALL. Just wish they'd be a little more wary of the yunguns during feeding time. Looks like a Roadrunner cartoon with mom and dad dashing to the front of the tank leaving a cloud of fry behind. So hoping things are going well for you, rather stoked over here. Oh, the parents are these fellas - - and both have coloured up since then a bit but mating colours have wiped that out at present. Mom is a RSGT X Royal Red from Dogmatix and dad is a "Red Turq" from Discusguru. Wonder what the kids will look like... here's dad with a shoal of fry -

Either way a bit pointless for aquaria.... specially with the copper pipes. Even if used for freshwater it'd kill catfish so - in the kitchen it goes!

Ran across this nifty little unit on TradeMe and wanted to share it with y'all salties that might actually be able to do something with it. Opinions, please. Feel free to buy it if you want. Not my auction and I can't do anything with it unless I find some odd freshwater discus or fancy plec that loves ice water Then again, might buy it for the kitchen... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... d=53005506

You're talking about dumping a big load of CO2 into the tank all at once, which will cause sudden pH changes and possibly even a crash if you don't have enough buffer in your water. A real CO2 system is a much better smarter and safer way to do it. On the same line of thought, Amano originally 'injected' CO2 into his tanks by pouring bottles of Perrier into his tanks and saw the results. If you're more interested in happy plants than your fish, go for it!

Acquired some Tennelus today finally after a long search. The person I got it from could only spare a few plants but was a real sport about parting with what he could. My plan will be to grow it out for interested FNZAS members first before offering it to the general public. Already 4 people on the waiting list so if anyone else out there has some extra Tennelus - share it! Here's a pic of what I got. Will take some pics of it planted in the grow-out tank once it's settled a bit. FYI - I paid $10 per plant. A high price, but this stuff is hard to get these days.

My best guess is that your tank has never "Cycled" which means building the bacteria in the filter to turn your ammonia into nitrites then into nitrates (plant food). Ease up on the water changes and add a product called Cycle or Stress Zyme. If a nice local fish person is willing to help out they can contribute some filter media to add to yours to get it sorted. Good luck!

As recommended above, and crypts.

How did I get a clown pleco when I hit the link earlier? Must have taken me to a saved page, sorry. You're completely right, the reply above is talking about Clown Plecos. Nice Ancestrus, btw. The fine speckling make it a beautiful specimen. Have you checked with Phil Collis of NZ Discus? He has some speckled BNs that aren't as finely mottled but I don't know anything more about them than the picture on his website.

These are currently on the Brooklands stock list with a very very nice price. Saw them while looking for Ancistrus Claros yesterday and was really really thinking about ordering some, then I saw your pair on TradeMe and had second thoughts. Why are you selling them if you just got them?

My pleasure Caryl, fishy friends are welcome any time for a tour and a cuppa. Just hope I don't have an embarassing tank with cloudy water or green glass when people come by. LOL. Funny how no matter how spotless your tanks may be and how clean they may seem - when experienced fish keepers come around you see so many things wrong. Like looking through brand new (and slightly perfectionist) eyes And with all the new toys I have coming in from overseas I'll prolly have a lot more to show you than just the FX5! Lynda - good choice. suphew makes a valid point about dual smaller filters but value for money the Jebo 819 would be my choice and very handy as it's fairly local to you... mught want to check what price Grant will give you first though. Wet Pets sells them for $175 but there's no 10% discount for FNZAS members....

Hi Lynda, I recommend the Jebo 819 from Wet Pets. 1200lph means your tank will be filtered about 4 times an hour and they're really great filters. Highly recommended by me and I got one after recommended one by Caryl.

Elmo, as discus aren't much for enjoying currents or fast-flowing water I highly recommend pointing the outlets towards the glass rather than into the tank. This is my tank with filter underneath: And a shot of the output directed into the corner - my CO2 diffuser is directly beneath it and the bubbles get blasted throughout the tank - And an angle shot of the tank... as you can see, my discus aren't shy at all and the tank has purposely been set up with lots of medium height plants to discourage them from hiding. This makes them friendly and sociable.