alanmin4304

I don't know about Aucklanders but down here ours does't stink so we spread it around the radiata forests and it helps grow pretreated pinus radiata. There has been a lot of research done on this and the limiting factor is the application of nitrate (and that takes care of everything else)

They are hardy unless you dose them with copper.

You were lucky you did't have killies in there, they would have beaten the snails by a long shot. I killed over 300 once, almost instantly after treating with one seventh of the normal dose of copper sulphate.

Depends how long you wait.

In the good old days they used to add a copper penny or copper pot scrubber to cure white spot and remove it when the snails crawled out of the water.

They are similar but you can buy a culture of shortwinged ones in the pet shop and you can culture them yourself. That is what I do.

lead is pretty insoluble. I have heaps of it in all my tanks and have never spotted a fish with blue gums yet.

Not all

Probably not. I think they would need to have emersed leaf growth first.

It wouldn't have been the rain as such, but the rain washing what the birds and possums left behind into the tank. 'Keep your lids on folks"

I don't know about mollies but guppies love fruit flies while we are on the culture trail (when they are big enough to get them in their mouth).

Some of the crypts will grow quite large when emersed and in good light.

Hope you have more luck with the meal worms than I am at present.

doesn't want to work, then it works twice--must be useful for something.

When you get your 1kg of earthworms how are you going to keep them? With any culture the advantage is to have them fresh and alive when required.

They are not aliens at that age but be assured they will become that when they becom teenagers. Luckily they grow out of though.

I would doubt that it is the suckers actually. Plastic often has a plasticiser added and some may bleed out but the quantities would be so minute from 2 small suckers that I can't see it being a problem. Anabantoids and cats can survive better in bad water because of their ability to get O2 from other than their gills so I would suspect a lack of O2 which coud be caused by a bacterial bloom. In either case removing the suckers and doing water changes is about the best you can do.

The cheap ones or expensive ones are about the same. They will both end up stuffed if you abuse them by: Cutting dirty glass Cutting over an existing cut not having oil on the wheel Starting the cut right on the edge Up to you but if I was going to stuff one I would prefer it to be the cheap one. I have both and have used both and they are all fine if used properly. Second hand glass is fine (30 years ago all tanks were made from 2nd hand glass) You need to make sure it is clean where you are cutting and remember that glass is a liquid and the older it is the more uneven the thickness will be so the more tricky it will be to cut. If you can get it cheap enough you can afford to stuff the odd bit. As a complete aside I know someone who has grown crypts emersed to flower and identify them. They have distinctive and attractive flowers. PM if you want more info. Barrie has posted a good description on cutting glass. If all else fails---ask the pros

Start a compost heap

I think most killies are permitted imports as fish but are not that easy to get from the suppliers (who are normally in Europe whereas we mainly import from Asia), or from the importers point of view because there is a limited market. It is easier to sell 10000 neons than 10 pairs of killies. Many countries do allow the importation of killi eggs but not this one.

Nice one. Fathers always reckon they want sons but get spoilt rotten by their daughters.

Repairing tanks can be a total pain in the butt so I wouldn't be surprised if someone charged heaps to do it. If you can get a bit of glass and do it yourself it is still a pain but a less expensive one, and it is a very useful skill to develop if you are a half handy fish keeper.

When they hatch (and are orange because of the yolk sack) they are at the best for food value. At that stage they are nuplii with no usefull parts like a mouth or anus. They feed on the yolk sack over the next 24 hours and become baby brine shrimp with all the useful parts. They are the best food value therefore as soon as they hatch. I find the best way is the old coke bottle trick.

You would need to get it from a plastic wholesaler. Try the yellow pages---we have a couple down here.

They normally take 24 hours to hatch and will be slower at cooler temperatures.