alanmin4304

Not blaming anyone---I could be wrong and "this is what the plant committee is for".

That explains things pretty well I think. As an example the water in Christchurch is about 45ppm (about 2.5 GH). Most water in New Zealand is pretty soft compared to overseas so when they talk hard water they mean realy hard water.

I don't think your Echinodorus osiris is that, It looks like Echinodorus red rubin. Also rose sword is not E.osiris it is a completely different plant.

It may be too late but it is bacterial and needs an antibiotic. Furan 2 is the easiest to obtain without a vet. Way too serious for what you are using.

I condition all fish up before spawning so as to get a good number of eggs. With mop spawning killies I do it to try and get a good number of eggs that will hatch about the same time and be able to be raised in the same tank rather than having lots of tanks with fry of all different ages.

I have worked as a Dangerous Goods Inspector and I can assure you that all people selling Class 2 Dangerous goods (compressed gasses) have to comply with the Dangerous Goods Regulations---not only BOC. This includes the quality of all cylinders, valves and fittings as well as standards and requirements for testing and filling. They are routinely inspected and Inspectors take the requirements seriously because of the potential risks involved with all dangerous goods. After all, that is why they are called Dangerous Goods. If all in the business are required to meet the same standard why would a person not buy from the cheapest. What many object to is the fact that BOC will only fill their own cylinders (which are rented) and it is cheaper for most people involved on here to own their own (which then will not be filled by BOC even if it complies with all the legal requirements) One would have to conclude that this is not about safety. I repeat that in all the Class 2 incidences which I attended I never once saw a representative from BOC. I have also seen spectacular damage done by plumbers who had their brain switched off when dealing with solid fuel heaters and the result of people who didn't know what they were doing trying to alter class 3 containers with a welding torch.

If you seperate males and females and condition them up, then spawn them you will end up with a good number of fry about the same age and then they are easier to rear than heaps at all different ages that can't go in the same tank.

Sulphur dioxide is made available by dissolving metabisulphate in water. It reacts with the haemoglobin and goes red. If the butcher adds mutton to the mince it goes grey so they add SO2 to make it a nice red colour. They are allowed to add it to processed meat like sausages but not to minced meat. The Inspectors from the Dept of Health carry tablets of Malachite green to see if it has been added. Crush a tab--add water and mix with minced meat. If the green colour goes clear then S02 is present. I am not a chemist but I can read the instructions on some of my meds. "add 14 drops (1ml)........" Also I have got rid of green hands that way in the past and it does work.

With the killies you would be better to take the eggs out and hatch them seperately, then raise them in a small tank. Stops them eating the eggs so much, and you can raise them in batches about the same age.

Many people seem to think that Mrs Google is God's Mother in Law and if it comes up on a google search it must be true. Anyone who believes that should PM because I still have the Auckland harbour bridge for sale. Computers are handy but so is experience.

My incubator has holes in the bottom so cannot be filled with water. I bought it second hand so don't know if they are made that way or had been added later.

Like Caryl, I have raised or bred a number of fish in a pond over summer without heat (white clouds, platies and swords, killies etc). You should be sweet after xmas. You will probably have more problems with heat than without.

I use one of those incubators for turtle eggs and incubate them in vermiculite at 25 degrees with the fan disconnected. Temperature is good.

Malachite green is used to test if the naughty butcher has been adding sulpher dioxide into his meat when he shouldn't have. It will be neutralized with sodium metabisulphite which is used by home brewers to sanitize bottles.

14 drops = 1ml. you therefore need 14.25mls of each.

Don't know what would have caused it but now sounds like fin rot so you will need an antibiotic---perhaps furan 2. I have used malachite for similar things but you may need something stronger.

Mine only eat live food. Fruit flies, house flies, blow flies, locusts, crickets, mealworms, waxworms, cockroaches.

Do you believe in god now? Barley straw works on blue green algae I think, not the green that you have.

Sounds like all is as it should be and adding more fish shold be OK. Is the tank planted?

Sounds like when we got the car converted and it came back with the automatic transmssion wrecked and leaking water everywhere. The insurance company wouldn't pay out and claimed is was an act of god. (God is a boy racer?) You might have to employ Billy Connelly to sue the lady. Either that or get rid of big bird.

They are flowering because the have been grown emersed. Note the hairy stem. I dont think you would see that on B. monniera or Lysamachia

It is more than likely the wild swings in pH (and probably other factors as well) that is the problem rather than the pH itself.

They are the larvae of a midge. I get them from time to time with mossies and other little creebies in my daphnia culture. Easier to buy them in frozen cubes I think.

Experience helps with getting the balance with the right amount of food and water changes. Most people starting out feed way too much. The pH is going up not acid which is a little strange.

I am the same as TM. I raise fry in bare tanks with no filters until they are up to sexable size. I feed bbs live and microwrm and have no trouble. I siphon off exxcess food and water change infrequently. A few snails help to clean the waste off the bottom as they recycle it into easier to syphon parcels. Way way too much food I would think.