madcookie

Hiya Devon, I have the other problem, they wont stop breeding. By 'normal' ph, what do you mean? I have a Co2 (Yeast and sugar) input in my tanks which lowers the PH slightly. Lots of floating cabomba, three or four flat rocks, and off they go. I had ten jewels in one medium tank, then pulled them out two at a time and put them in their own tanks....no other fish to eat the eggs. Are yours a bright red colour yet? Most noticeable egg laying time, is 12 hours after doing a 20% water change - my fish are religious and lay eggs on Sunday mornings. (Water changes Saturday). Also running tanks at aprox 25 degrees, up and down 1% depending on plant growth / time of day etc. Hope this helps.

Woohooo, great to see I dont have problems. You all have tank problems, not me, and you all need help. (I can help you by finding a new home for your tanks....my home.) 8)

Hiya Clarkey - 160 Ltrs is not very much for a (big) 4.5 foot tank - whats its dimensions? If going four foot, 300 litres is great, 250 litres will do, and 210 litres minimum... 160 litres is a good three footer size..Thats my three cents worth.

Hi everyone - great idea here. My name is Richard, and I have a Mad case of MTS. I have nearly 30 tanks, of which 8 are "currently" set up in various rooms around my house. A 7footer, two 4 footers, three 3 footers, and two 2 foot tanks. Sometimes I think I get more satisfaction out of "setting up" a system than I should - and spend more time (and energy) cleaning and aquascaping and moving filters about, than actually caring for established tanks. I have learnt NOT to sell tanks when the bug dies off......the bug always returns (and its too expensive to keep buying everythin all over again.)

Awww, Now I am needing glasses.! Thanks for that Pegasus - I am going to assume IT IS glass, and I know someone who can repair tanks.... Thanks again.

Hiya everyone, is this fosroc toxic though? Ive just bougt my first acrylic tank (yay!!), but its broken.....Does anyone have advice on gluing it back together? http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auct ... d=35273846 Any advice is much appreciated.!!

Hiya Wasp, thats Nova Fire systems....howd ya hear about them doing co2 bottles...? Awesome,thanks for spreading the good word!

I've got Eheim, Fluval, and Via Aqua (Now known as 'Aqua One') external filters. The Via Aqua performs flawlessly, just liek the Eheims....Has been in constant use for about three years now, just like the Eheims, but didnt cost a weeks salary to purchase.

Geetee, nice looking plants. Only burn them if they really are 'pests'....! Warren, good responsible advice. we all need to be aware that their is a bigger picture (sometimes!) than how nice our aquariums look. Blue and Kim - No problems if this is indeed a pest - exporting it to Autralia! Weve exported several thousand of the two legged ones to the gold coast already...hahahah just kidding.

Hiya chickybabe, whats the size of your tank again? Having the output nozzle higher than your water level is "okay" - it creates a high level of surface agitation -greater surface agitation (reduces surface tension) increases the oxygen mixing with the water reaction - a good thing for fish. Not necessarily good if you have lots of natural plants. Having the water output LOWER than the surface level is not ideal - But is nice and quiet, so often practiced. Many people prefer having the output at the same level, or just 'slightl' below, the water level. This ensures the surface has ripples/movement, but isnt too noisy, and doesnt make splashes on the hood/lights etc. Depending on tank size, amount of fish in tank, and amount of real (living)plants int he tank, depends on whether you might want an additional air bubble maker. Can you give us more info on your tank setup etc?

Have you tried telling Oscar to leave the plants alone already? Didnt work for me either... Common recommendation is to weight down plants with rocks/driftwood around it.

Ahaaa, Is THAT the reason everyone in Whakatane wears dark wrap-around sunglasses? Coyuld you imagine having the natural fragrances of a forest, or kiwi natural bush, in your home? Without resorting to those fake cheap aerosol stink-cans I mean. Whoever manages to recreate 'natural' smells like that is going to make a LOT of money. And 20 years ago, who would have belived a bottle of water would cost twice as much as a bottle of coke?

Hiya Chickybabe, ASL? Hahaha, just kidding, welcome to the forum! I guess the first question has to be....Are you asking how to set up a Fluval 204. Or, do you know how to set up the filter correctly, but want to know how to set it up within the confines of the tanks hood assembly?

Caserole - your comment that the tank may not be overstocked. I agree in some respects, the tank "may" not be overstocked. If both cannister filters are BIG ones and loaded with top of the line bio media (ie Siporax), and have big prefilters, and the tank is having 10% gravel cleaning water change daily (or every second day) then things may be okay. But, much more likely in my humble opinion, this tank has too many fish per litres. The point some have made of NOT using algae eliminating chemicals -pills - liquids is excellent. thanks for that - something else to tell those 'new to the hobby' people who sometimes ask me those funny questions about 'great revolutionary products' the LFS has for sale. I hadnt really thought through exactly what this algae stuff does - just ignored it on the grounds of it being a rectifier rather than a preventer etc.

650 litre - but around 200 fish? Come on- If that aint overstocking then what is?

Been surfing the web trying to find "different" style fish tank designs, and found these. I think I might look at designing one, perhaps get one made... Has anyone else seen these before, or tried to make one even? http://www.aquaworldlimited.co.uk/acata ... ables.html

MRSkz, must be true what they say, the further south you go the nicer the people. Havent seen anyone around Auckland areas offering free fish lately - heck people in this neck of the woods will be bottling fresh air soon and trying to sell it.

hmmm, total capacity 550ltrs, on a cabinet 60 by 60 ? I hope the floor is good, cos if it starts swaying/rocking it might topple pretty quickly? Personally, I would have thought 21mm ply would be good enough....42mm Will definitely handle it.!! Sounds similar to something I wouldnt mind doing - any photos?

Hiya Caryl, am a slow typer....I started typing the reply above, but it endd up being posted after yours... Yes 3 days really would be pushing it. But better than nothing. And yes, re-reading the post, I think you are correct - The filter is a "new and smaller" filter - so is surely connected.

Yeah something will be there after 3 days. The longer you wait tho the better of course - possibly a week even? And...of course you mean the sponge is in the tank - With a pump pushing water thru the sponge... (If the sponge only was in the tank, it may take a couple of weeks...?)

Hi all, Have been reading thru all the threads on this site, and a few on other sites....still havent REALLY found an answer tho - so wondering if some of you DIY gurus might be able to help? Am using several coke bottle setups on several tanks, all using eheim 2213 or fluval 04 series cannister filters. I read the link below, and found that sucking the co2 into the cannister filter might actually be dangerous - cause an "air"pocket in the cannister, up high where the impellor assy is, and cause it to burn out etc. http://www.tropicalresources.net/phpBB2 ... 83075a8f24 Has anyone else heard of this happening? Or....Is anyone else putting co2 into a cannister filter, and not having any problems? Any thought, tips, and advice greatly appreciated!

Cheers HFF - It is a good site. Not sure the Discus breeding for beginners is really aimed at "Beginners." tho...unless some beginners are into RO and 80 gallon holding tanks>? heheheh

Hi all, Never cut glass myself, but am contemplating building a Sump one day....oh and of course I want to build my own fishroom from scratch (tanks included) once I win Lotto....And I have one question thats confused me lately. Is the glass dust, or little slivers from sanding etc, dangerous? You know - is there a massive danger of breathing it in or getting galss dust in your eyes etc? Just how dangerous is it to sand glass?

Hiya Peanuts, Guess this thread could seem 'cowboyish' to many....There sure are lots of people not taking as much thorough care as all those clever books out there are telling us we should take. Some variables are: NitrAte monitoring. Stock levels. Substrate type. Quality of Tap water (location). Tank size. Two buckets of water in a 54 litre tank IS considerable. Two buckets out of a 400 litre tank is nothing. Being blase with water changes with 10 small fish in a 400 litre tank is fine. Relaxed water changes when having (for example) ten small fish in a 54 litre tank is not wise. Most books, and most of the 'experienced' fish people I know, still recommend: 1- Dont overstock. 2- 10% to 20% waterchange weekly, or 30% fortnightly. 3- 'shallow' gravel vacuum (if using gravel only) every 2nd waterchange, or every fortnight, or when NitrAte levels are high. I honestly belive that people new to the hobby should follow these basics till they decide it is too much work - and are in a position to watch fish and tell when they look stressed, and figure they may be stressed because the water is a bit yuck.

Hey awesome planning. I too would be interested in a 'fresh' guppy line - or two fresh lines in fact.