sid 201

Toad in the hole...havent had one for over a year ......thats it weekend of cooking coming up!!..........any one know what flour I should use to get a good Yorkshire pud batter..in the UK there's only plain and self raising -need the equivilent of plain flour

never been able to pull the trigger on cats -my two have th loudest bells on thier collars tough

glow in the dark possums-easier to aim at

Sorry but ... as an ex-pat Brit i got to say most of the chippys here suck-the fish is normaly great (ever seen snapper in a british chippy?)but the chips just let them down-9 times out of 10 , may be differant oil or somthing ?? 3 years working in the Nederlands got me onto the mayo thing with "shoestring "fries -if I manage to find "proper"chips needs to be salt and vinager though other than that all the "normal" take outs found in the UK beer's not bad.......good Guinness and Uk/european beer can be found & somtimes a deccent Cider beaches & country side views - look at house prices etc here and in the UK -no NHS though you have to pay for Dr's & Dental visits (just cost $400 to get a tooth pulled)-i know NHS dentists are hard to find at home but they can still be found basicly theres more oppotunity here - not sure what the work visa situation is but I think that the Skilled Migrant catagory has been eased since I came other(2003) -Auckland is not cheap though-you dont want to go from Uk crappy estate to an NZ one -I'm planning to move further out in to the sticks asap

Anyone know where I can find some in the south Auckland area?

thanks -I'll keep an eye out

The fitting itself came from bunnings-the holder to attach to the lid I made at work from some scrap stainless,lamp and lead from the Wherehouse. total cost less than$20, lid & base Mdf+scrap wood about $10 including paint

just got my tank ready-just need to add heater fish and more plants... I'm planning for a pair of Rams or similar and some fill in fish(tetras or pencilfish) the tank is 2ftx1ftx1ft (ish) any sugestions for easy to keep plants trhat wont overwelm the tank??

well its all together :bounce: -just need to add the heater and fish..... What you all think?? should be good when the java ferns have had a chance to grow some

just need to add heater and fish....

just rigged somthing like this this evening after work-doing a test now to see how hot thw tank lid gets. :roll: as I kept it as low as i thought I could get away with-about 2.5 inches above the top of the tank will paint the lid over the weekend -should be good-I'll post photos when Ive got it all together

tank lids nearly finished-just have to rig up the lighting now. will make a trip out to hollywoods next possible chance

Ah ...should have added there'll be a clear lexan(perspex)cover on top of the glass tank-with a small lift off pannel for feeding and maintenance

I've got a 60*30*30 tank I'm planning to use . Ive knocked up a lid and am looking at the lighting before finishing ,at the moment i'm testing a 8w fluro sealed work light in there-which is ok -just!! :-? I was thinking of fitting two energy saver type bulbs in the lid instead (they should fit) -my main concern is the holder/wiring-would this be safe (for people and fish) in possibly a highly humid/damp enviroment. I'm planning to visit the local electrical wholesalers early in the week to see if theres any thing suitable for either this or to build a small fluro set up in to the lid . Some of the light's Ive seen in the shops have been in the $50-$65 region and as this tank is only(hopfully) for the short term I'd rather put the cash towards the bigger tank If theres any other tight wads out there who have rigged up dirt cheap & SAFE lights in their tanks-how'd you do it?

Thanks -shouldn't be long until I start putting it all together. I'll post some photos when its all done. just need to sort the lighting out /finish the tank lid . Any ideas where I can find pencil fish in the South Auckland /Pukekohe area?

I ment the pencil fish-are they African? Otocinclus look cool -saw some in Hollywoods a couple of weeks back-I actually prefer them to the corys -am I right in thinking that they would be happier in a group (3-4 ) ? would the small tank support them ok? At the moment the idea (very roughly) is60*30*30 planted tank with- 1 pair of Dwarf cichilids (rams or apistos) 6ish fill in fish (probably tetras) several Otocinclus(in preferance to corys) fish wise im hoping to stick with S Amerian types -not so bothered about plants being American ,any thing that would suit the size of tank& look good-have some java fern will see whats at the shop when I'm ready to set the tank up

Africa arn't they?? Any s American alternatives? Was moving away from the Idea of corys though-not sure what to use as an alternative in the small tank-not planning to breed but have been told the corys would hover up any eggs should any be laid.Otocinclus catfish have been sugested -think they would be ok? How Hard are rams to keep? I know they need some care but are they realy that dificult

but still want to keep to the S.American theme--for when I can aford to move on to the bigger tank. Will probably go with the Rams-Maybe!!! I'll see what catches my eye when I've got the tank ready to go, just need to sort lighting in the lid I've knocked up and tidy the wiring to the air pump and filter-so a week or two at most.

yay :bounce: Hoped the small tank could be used for a pair of rams-still plan to have it quite heavily planted. any other suggestions for smaller (prefrably American)cichilids? Dwarf's of some type?-dont know much about them though-want to look at a few ideas before I make a comittment here

wonder why Any way cash issues have scerwed my plans for the time being, any Ideas Cichilid wise for the small(60x30x30)tank I have? come on -need some ideas here

Hi all, new to the forum I'm planning on buying a new tank in the near future(when finances allow) and thought I'd lay out my ideas here to see what you all thougt, My previous experiance has been with smaller cold water tanks. 200 liter tank with filter and lighting built in to the lid gravel and/or sand substrate plenty of bog wood , rocks and quite heavily planted fish wise I'm planning ,in order of intoduction:- 1) a small school (6+)of tetra(not sure of type yet)to cycle the tank 2) a pair(maybe 2 pairs) of blue rams 3) a pair of kehoe cichlids 4) pair of flag cichlids and 5) 4 corys will this work? The cichlids are all ment to be quite peacefull could there be teratory issues though? any advice would be apreciated Cheers all Sid