madcookie

Co2 is all good - heaps of cheap'n'easy ways for a temp fix too. But even quicker is a couple (or four) of Siamese Flying Foxes. They LOVE the stringy algae!! My SFF's are quite often shunted from tank-to-tank as a quick and easy (and lazy?) fix to algae problems as the pop up. Cheaper than fish food too!

Gidday Lance and Debbie, Good to have you onboard. -Shippers.

Hiya Lynda....One of the 'basic ingredients' is out of whack here I think. Its either fertiliser (food) light or co2/oxygen. I reckon you might be right in thinking fertiliser/food.....I dont know the brand you are using, but it seems like a lot for once a week 'top up / maintenance'. What is your lighting and co2 situation like?? Do you have fih in the tank....and what are you feeding them with? .....and what substrate are you using? Oh one more question I guess.....What plants are in there???

Is there a trend here.....? After 'We', -oops I mean *you people with the fish 'problem'* move on from 7-8-9-10 tanks, do we (I mean "do you!") move straight into the 'oh my gawd!' zone of over 25 tanks - it seems theres not many of us in the groups between 12 and 25 tanks.....is it 'we may as well 'go the whole hog'' kind of thing?

Agreed, I should have started a new link... Not as specialised as the German shop, which is what this link was (originally) all about. Having said that, 'what a shop'! Would love to see it next time in Canada.

Been trawling thru Pegasus webpages (Nice stuff Bill!), and found this link (via a link via another link....) Now this is a Shop! Not just corals either... http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/tra ... S_VIb.html

Nope not quite. It seems to me that there IS something seriously wrong here. The Jagers which are for a 600-1000 ltr tank are 300 watt jobs. Very long and extremely well built. Are these the older Jager ones, or the newer 'eheim-jager' ones? Regardless of older model or newer one, only one heater is required for that volume of water (Assuming the tank is inside a house, room temp above ~18%), the second heater is there as a backup only. If both these heaters are 'always on' and still not heating your tank to 28C then the heaters are at fault. Time to get tough with your local LFS - or whoever sold you the heaters. Finally, you have depressed the 'calibrating' button back in havent you? At the top of the heater neaest the cord...this button must be pressd in for them to work correctly.

Pegasus, awesomr thread- reply. Complete agreement with Caryl - this should be stickied.....Imagine how many fish will have a less stressful (and sometimes fatal) shipping experience due 90%, or solely, to this thread.? Well done.

Tank has sunlight all day!!

Very nice - The large open tank is awesome....one day I would like to be at that stage..

Hi Vimmer, I think 6mm is pushing it a bit with this size - however your message implies the galss is fine its the silicone thats failing. How old is the tank? Might be most cost effective to re silicone. either way, immediate (tonight!!) action required if you dont like risks - reduce the water level. Even 25% will make a big difference. 50% plays it safe till you find alternative home for fishies while fixing their tank (could take a week tho!) Hard luck mate - had it happen to me too and I know its not nice!

Would Oscars fit in a 4Ft tank? Depends on the tank size (width/depth). One would, two maybe - depends. Three is pushing it unless 4x2x2. Also depends on who you ask. Best link I've come across so far... http://www.oscarfish.com/portal.php

Hiya Misnoma - Awesome looking rocks dude, they look great. Whered ya get them and a ballpark $$ figure?

Two foot long?? 60 cm?? Faaar out, I was about to get some to keep my Oscars comapny. I didnt knwo they got That big! Darn, if they get that big, I guess they arent fed (cheapish) normal fish flake food. LoL. I agree with Caryl 100%. Try Oscars - excellent pets, still big, but with a huge character. Kind of cute while young too...

Hi Kardinaaltje, Welcome to the forum! Now I guss you must get asked this often in foreign forums...being from Holland...but is your tank a Dutch tank - ie fully planted out with a minimum of fish? If it is, would LOVE to see some photos. No rush, just at some stage whenever suits. And yes, I do understand the chances of your tank being a 'dutch' tank are slim - but thought I'd try.

Argghhhh. For a minute I was seeing $1200 and thinking YES. Then I thought you must have accidently added one zero too many. Then it dawned on me - I am not getting one of these tanks. Twelve thousand dollars for the four foot version? Would love to see photos of one if it ever gets set up in NZ- surely someone out there (here!) is getting one. Actually, dont get just one, get two. Hell, get four. 8)

Argghhh, how did you know I was going to ask "how much"? Okay then, can you give us a link to where we can read up on it? Looks FaaaaaaanTaaaastic!!!!!!

Hi Caper, not sure if we have all understood your question as it was intended?? Are you asking about how deep you should vacuum? Depends on how deep your gravel is, if you have a UGF, and how thck/dense the gravel is. One other thing to consider is anaerobic waste. Fish poo that has rotted and deposited itself in the bottom layers of gravel may not have contact with water (oxygenated water), and gets highly poisonous. In fact, it can be toxic to humans. Hydrogen Sulphide (h2s) is produced by decaying organic matter, and if you disturb this (deep under the gravel) you are likely to kill your fish, and create a bad 'egg smell' in your room, and possibly even endanger your own health. Hey...Thats pretty scary stuff aint it. Luckily I've never heard of anyone getting h2s poisoning like this - but it *is* a possibility.

Hi, not sure about feeding guppies to Jewels - I didnt think their diet was that critical (and only feed fish to other fish if its "required"), but two points. 1. Dont feed blood worms to Jewels, it gives them gut problems. 2. Dont let your jewels get toooo used to being fed by hand. They may one day be someone elses fish, and starve (or get sick at least) cos most people dont hand feed.... :-?

Whoa, sounds like you have had a, ahem, 'rocky' start to the hobby. Good to see you are going to persevere! Many simply give up - and never learn what they missed out on. And, you've visited the right place to learn how it all works. Have you read the threads at the beginning of the 'Beginners corner' section? To put it simply - Did your tank "cycle" correctly...as described somewhere in those two articles? I will give a provisional "yes" you can use 'some' of the rocks around Auckland beaches....but there is quite a few checks you must do first. Basically, not only must the rocks be clean of 'contaminants', but they must be of a particular type so as not to leach 'harmfull' (to freshwater fish) minerals. Am not an expert here- someone else will jump in to offer advice I'm sure. Some petshops, or LFS (local fish shops/suppliers) give excellent advice, and some leave a wee bit to be desired. Can also depend on the particlar salesman on duty on a certain day too tho. No one wants to "bag" the shops giving "odd" advice, but theres no harm in piping the shops well known for giving good advice - Petplanet in Whangaporoa and Hollywood Fishfarm in Albany and Mt Eden give great advice. Have you used a test set of sorts to check your water for PH, Ammonium, or NitrIte? What temp is it at? And a reasonably obvious suggestion if I can - dont buy any more fish just yet!

Gidday slash. More info would help us give advice...ie, what size tank are you looking at, what type of fish would you like in there, and probably most importantly, how many (if any) live 'real-mccoy' plant would you like. Oh, and what beach/bay area are these rocks from?

Nah, its suggested that the 21st century began over five years ago, and UGF's were old news even then.... Some people have had UGF's in for 10+ years and still swear by them. Many others tho, have had to redo their whole system after 2 to 3 years, you sure arent the only one Craig. Get a cannister or sump (wet/dry type setup), and sell off the air pump. 8)

snowman, do you move your tanks with or without something supporting the glass underneath? And...what thickness glass is it? Personally, have been too chicken to move tanks (with gravel etc) without using plywood support. Oh, and if you moved a 3 and 4 footer around - Im gonna have to assume thats not your current photo you have up under your name. (Avatar). 8)

PeneJane, Carefull moving a tank that size on your own. With gravel etc it will weigh upto 30kg, be difficult to hold correclty (weight spread underneath), and break/crack if you bump it the wrong way. Much better with two people!!! I wouldnt even consider moving it on my own. Another thought is slip a piece of plywood under it to take the weight - the glass bottom cant break then.

Awww, am truly sorry to hear this. Not a nice way to start anyday, let alone a Sunday. Hopefully some of the fry will survive tho! It sounds to me like something has polluted / poisoned your water. Had it been stiing around empty for a while before you filled it up? The driftwood you put in last was out of the four foot tank? Was the tank cleaned with a bad cloth? If the tank was empty, had fly spray been sprayed in the room at some stage? Other than some kind of contaminant being in the tank (and standard tests are unlikely to pick it up), I have no idea. Sorry.