Faran

Congrats on the octuplets! Best of luck with the next few days, after that you should be worry-free. On the sunny side, you should have another spawn shortly! So are you planning on selling the bubbas when they get big enough?

Damn, that man has Mantis Shrimp! Anyone in NZ have those?

Reminds me of the massive aquarium I visited when stationed in Okinawa, Japan with the Marines. Only time I've ever seen a whale shark in captivity, though I'm sure it's done elsewhere. It was originally built for the World Expo of... 1982 or something. They've done a LOT of work on it since I was there 10 years ago, check out the site below. http://www.chample.tv/churaumi/index_en.html

PJ, have you looked on TradeMe for Java Fern/Moss? That's where I got most of mine and I'm trying to get some Frilled Java Fern that's on auction right now (just don't bid against us, k?)

Yup, a piece of driftwood in my tank came from a pond. I suppose it's free food for anyone that catches them... Since I took that pic last week I've taken the fish off food twice and planaria and cyclops have disappeared (as far as I can see, that is).

Googled it and cyclops seems to be dead on the money. Seems that they must have survived the freeze and thaw process.

Can anyone identify the beasties in the pic below? The one on the right is the typical worm "planaria" that results from overfeeding, but the one on the left is a new one for me. I was thinking fish lice, but looked it all up and it's not a match. Image is a 5MP macro shot blown up to viewable size. Sorry about lack of detail. Actual size of beasties is approx 1-2mm.

Yer, schools of 10-25 in the wild.... think you'll be fine with a few of them by themselves

Could be perhaps from another batch? Sounds too developed to be newly hatched... dunno though, really. Are they in their own tank?

Nitrates in tank being 20 would be a cause for lots of problems, brown algae being one of them. How often do you do water changes? If you have a healthy tank with regular weekly 20% water changes and a few algeae eaters to clean the glass, you won't even need to scrape the tank anymore.

Yep, found that out with WCMM the other day, have now moved on to mesh from the hardware store. I think the sun-mesh I got has holes that are too small, but will trial and error. At $2 a meter, I wasn't fussed to try.

big difference between running hot water and letting them sit in boiling water. While your at it microwaving marbles you can try some glass art. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tr ... 31984.html

1 level teaspoon to every gallon (4.5 litres) is advised for taking care of skin and fin problems.... from elsewhere on these forums. That's for discus, as well. I'm doing this with my tank this evening and will let you know how it goes.

Yer gonna end up with 3 headed snails. Go for it!

Not without some actual scientists getting involved and figgerin it out... then again, mebbe guppies are like frogs and they are going to slowly disappear as the environment gets deteriorated. Hard to imagine with the speeds that guppies breed at... mebbe it's an STD?

Hi again chicky, Well, when you bought the discus you got some of the more sensitive fish in the trade. They can only handle a 0.2 pH change at a time (7 being the rpeferable pH) and about a 2C temp change at a time. They stress out easily and will display a different colouration when happy then when upset. Babies are kept at 30C, juveniles at 29 and adultsa can be kept easily at 28. As for water changes, you'll want to do a 25% water change twice a week with discus and make sure you have VERY good filtration. Water temp should be as close to the tank temp as possible (I use a large bucket with cold tap water, followed by adding hot water until correct) and make sure it's been de-chlorinated using water ager or aqua clear or stress coat what have you. I use a de-chlorinator called "Prime". Good luck with the discus, they're amazing fish! Oh, DON'T keep them with angel fish as they'll get worms from them very quickly and you'll need to get worm tablets (the kind you use for cats and dogs). Be sure and get lots and lots of books on discus and do your research!

For a discus tank you want temps between 28 and 30 degrees. A 200W heater should be plenty for 143ltrs, so no need to go out and get another, just turn it up another notch. A secondary heater in a tank that size would just provide backup/redundancy and provide peace of mind. We have thermometers on the tank that give off alarms when water temps are too high/low.... which is pointless if no one is around to hear it!

The ribbon grass (valliseria) is a real nice plant, if that's what you found. Grows as long as you need it to and sends out offshoots pretty quickly. Great background for rocky cichlid tanks. Ormali just brought some over for us the other day when we were setting up a new cichlid tank and it's da bomb.

Erm... yer... but, no... but, yer.... I brought up the Ozzie thing as GeeTee is from NSW and I'm not sure if he needs to go burn it up or face the same charges we would here-abouts in kiwi land. Personally, I'd refrain from getting plants from local streams unless you're planning on putting them in a pond. Everyone has their own ideas of "beauty" though, so no one can dictate taste for others!

Hey Warren, good info on the pest plants. Do those same rules and penalties apply in Australia?

I think nitra-zorb can be dangerous as the natural cycle of the tank would be inhibited by using this too soon and your filtration system would become dependant on the constant presence of this material. I assume that it would run out of absorbancy at a certain point and unless you're watching it carefully (and recharging it on a regular basis) you'll end up getting an unexpected cycle later on n the life of the tank and the usual problems until you figure out nitra-zorb is the culprit. I think if you use it occasionally to treat the tank for high levels then it'll be okay, but use it in moderation. Sound right?

The amount of oxygen in the water of a tank (and how many fish are able to be sustainied by that) is calculated mainly from the surface area of the water. Ripples in the surface of the water fromthe powerhead should create aeration enough for the proper amount of fish. Just watch your fish and keep an eye for gasping fishies and you should be sweet!

Umm... most old railway sleepers I've seen have been tarred for weatherproofing... I'd stick with driftwood but if you give it a go and everything is okay let us know!

Hey Gary, We got a large yo-yo with a tank we bought off TradeMe that sounds about the same as yours. Interesting character and so amusing we went out and got two more to keep him company. The two little ones (about 3cm when we bought them) cost us $15 each so $20 for a 10cm one is a good deal. Things to watch out for - they have a small spike under each eye that can leave a nasty cut if you get caught. They're a social creature that enjoys having the company of other loaches, though you won't see much interaction with smaller yo-yos until they get a bit bigger. They also have no scales so are succeptable to white spot. Just treat with white spot cure and you'll be fine. Another interesting bit of trivia - they're called yo yo loaches because if you look at the pattern on the side of the loach you'l make out (possibly with some imaginiation) Y O Y O.... Welcome to the site and hope to see you in the chat room around 9pm! Blue and Kim

Funny, I was about to recommend java fern flax and ambulia. You already figured out two of them though. Aside from that you can try Indian Fern...