Tanksman

So theres lots of opinions around on what not to feed - What are peoples thoughts on feeding frozen shrimp (prawns i think) - small amount, cut up fine, say once a week to ominivorous cichlids. Since I am lazy and cannot get any camels Oh and I'd love some mealworms Krib Some of you from above in this thread may feel I am picking a scab.

How are you cleaning the filter - What type of filter is it? What media does it have in it. How much water is in the tank? Now do 50% water change with water out of a bigger tank or stable tank if you have it and replace the water in the bigger tank with tap water - you might want to dechlorinate it depends how much your putting in. If you don't have a bigger tank change 50 % of the water but definitely add something to remove the chlorine.

Is that 4 mg/l of ammonia? If so thats why your fish has died - I would suggest the tank has not cycled yet - Ammonia should be below 0.5mg/l ideally zero or unreadable.

Great looking tanks Apisto - looking forward to more from you. Can you please tell this amateur what is the name of the plant used as ground cover in this link of yours. http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a176/ ... ma2311.jpg Thanks

Like underarm bowling

Looking forward to seeing your clowns carrying on.

Well I have got the ommited bits now and with some vaseline have managed to finally get this running without air leaks. Fortunately I was lucky enough to source another one from Jansens for a discounted rate. Unfortunately I now see the same shop I bought the first 404 in early January selling the 405 at the same price they sold me the obsolete 404 for. Some might say well why am I still cranky then, I have a good filter - Well even the Hagen website currently makes no mention of the 405 at all and is still refering to the obsolete stock - It is absurd that hobbyists will be unwittingly scimping to get a "quality" filter only to shortly later find out that for the same price they could have got this years improvements. Imagine the purchase dissonance if you had paid $550 for one of these that a LFS here in Hamilton wants for one - DAYLIGHT ROBBERY :evil: - Fortunately I havn't but I still paid more than I needed to -

And if the hole for the cables and hoses is below the 6 way powerboard in the cupboard then it will be easier to maintain drip loops.

Thats a pretty hungry filter - What sort is it and what are its specs?

From :- http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/pla ... erite.html There is alot of info on the web - Try using google

Yeah good point - ph 6.2 is not necessarily a bad thing - You could get some discus petey - Make sure your filter is cycled first though and do heaps of reading to see if your setup suits discus as its alot of money and stress if they start dying. Plenty of fish that enjoy acidic conditions though - Not many that like sudden changes in ph though so be careful if you do muck around with it. Oyster grit is available at petshops and garden centres - you could put it in your filter if there is space - external canister filters are great for this - or you could put it over the bottom of the tanlk like sand if you can tolerate the look - personally its not a look I like. Also the oyster shell will buffer the ph at around 7.5 - 8 0- it doesnot go up and up and up - it makes the ph more stable... Ammmonia and nitrite are apparently more toxic at higher ph so again be careful - How do you be careful - use a water test kit - and add stuff to your tank slowly if it is needed at all.

You need a water test kit - You should test for ammonia each day and you will see it spike and fall away as the bacteria get on top of it - and you should also test for nitrites which will also spike and fall away as those bacteria get on top of it. So get a test kit and you can confidently know whats going on. Your water changes should be only to dilute any spikes that are toxic too fish - since they are in the tank before cycling is complete.

ewww :lol:

Have you got Bog wood or peat in there somewhere - That will hold the ph low. Have you put oyster shells in the filter yet? Also are you using an airstone to bubble off the CO2 gas which also lowers ph?

Yeah knock the house down and build a lean to up against the tank

But as the pollutants are coming from the tanks not the sump I would think the flow through the tanks would still need to be total volume three times an hour.

IMHO If someone is claiming the rarity of a fish on how much they paid for it in an LFS then they are deluded. It don't look that rare to me.

No hard boiled - you get a yellow liquid with very tiny particles in it - ideal for fitting in a tiny fishes mouth

I wouldn't be too worried at the moment rory - thats a fair way to move it anyway might be in a few bits by then . Good luck - don't you just love glass.

Gee how old is it - was it born like that? Shoot it soon.

Doesn't it just rip your nighty. :evil:

For cleaning the water more use filter wool - like cotton wool - It will need to be replaced probably fortnightly to maintain good flows through the filter - but your carbon needs replacing frequently as well - if you want to use it that is.

Riccia or duckweed - oops did i say that out loud? Silver Dollars love it too and they can't smash it too smiterines - it doesn't die ... especially duckw....

All right Freshwest - Massive tank - you don't muck round in Waiuku - Now bring on the plants - who's got a million ground cover plants to get us started

Maybe thats a reason they will not settle for you Geetee - 30 Litres is not really alot of room to think about raising 50 plus fry. The best success I have had was when they are in a long 200litres with other fish say platties or something that makes them feel secure and king of the roost maybe. Also I reckon 2inch PVC tube makes a better cave for the fish - its not great to look at but it can be hidden. Its not quite as easy Ive found in a 100 litres without peaceful swimmers. They seem a lot more nervy but there are other things that could be happining as well - the main one i think is not enuff privacy - to much noise and people round the nest!! Good luck they certainly are a gorgeous fish when they're hot