alanmin4304

How many fish are your results equivalent to?

In my experience most heaters set at 18 deg will maintain a temperature way above that. They are notoriously innacurate at the bottom of the scale.

Imported fish have to be identified by the latin name but may have a common name on the price list. They could also be misidentified as the Maf inspectors wouldn't now one end from the other generally.

Formalin wont work on internal parasites. It works on gill flukes and skin flukes but can cause a few problems as well.

I think you will find that Auckland water has chlorine and not flouride. Chlorine is added as the gas or HTH which produces 80% of its weight in chlorine gas. Chlorine is used as a disinfectant and chlorination is required to get an AAA rating. Flouride is added as sodium flouride and is added to prevent tooth decay as flouride is low in NZ waters and it is required to build tooth enamel. Flouride is added to some water supplies but I don't think it is added to Auckland water.

I do 50 - 60% water changes about weekly but blend the water so it is about the same as the tank

Water changes will bring it back towards 7

Beetroot is usually Alternanthera rubra which will probably die as well. Alternanthera roseafolia will usually survive in strong light but is also sold as red hygro.

Fish that don't like copper usually don't like malachite green either. I killed 300 killies with 1/6 of the normal dose of chelated copper sulphate and I am therefore wary of it on sensitive fish. It is a good cure for vevet so long as you don't end up with a sterile corpse.

If they are scratching they probably have a skin parasite of some sort or an irritation through water conditions. From your picture it doesn't look like velvet though.

The velvet doesn't reflect it just seems to show up better at night with a torch. That doesn't look like velvet to me.

How would they go on microworm or white worm? PM me if you want a starter as I have both.

The most natural way to cycle a tank is with fish---very slowly

Most tap water supplied by the council is kept slightly alkali to avoid corrosion of copper and brass in people's plumbing systems. Water also normally turns acid through the biproducts of fish keeping so it s fairly easy to keep the pH you want with water changes unless you want to keep fish way outside of the "neutral range." People often forget that pH is logarithmic and therefore the changes around 7 can be infinitesimal and if you start making adjustments you will be at it forever (to the detriment of your fish). Hide it all in the bottom draw and put it down to experience. I don't own any testing kits but I do have an accurate electronic thermometer so I can keep a check on temperature.

I have made up a connection which goes on the kitchen fawcett and the garden hose snaps onto it. Siphon the water out with the garden hose then snap the hose onto the connection and fill with water blended to the right temperature. If you have a kitchen fawcett pm me and come and have a look as the bits are from various sources. It is based on gadget found on trademe but I found the plastic fittings didn't last (very fine threads)so I made one from metal. The connection replaces the filter on the fawcett spout.

Out of curiosity how do you feed the yeast to your daphnia and how much? I have a small culture in a 20 litre tank and have been struggling to get green water to add for food so they are not doing much at present. If I can figure a better way to feed them I will get one going in a 200 litre drum. I got my expired potting mix from the local nursery.

What I use is expired potting mix from repotting plants. I prefer to keep them in wooden boxes with the parts in contact with the potting mix protected by cut up shopping bags. I find the wood lasts longer but still lets the culture breathe. I feed enough luncheon to only last two days and feed under a piece of glass. The glass retains the moisture and the worms congregate round the food and can be easily picked up. With icecream containers I found they got too wet and wanted to climb up the walls all the time. They like to be cold and do not like the heat. I keep a number around in different places in case one turns to custard. This also allows you to grow more worms so that if you are feeding heavily you can leave one to catch up and grow. If the media is too rich they will feed on that rather than the food you are giving them.

They don't flower very often when submersed but this one is emersed.

Echinodorus uruguayensis flower compared with a 20cent piece to show size. Echinodorus uruguayensis flower enlarged to show the arrangement of stamens around the periphery of the centre of the flower which is a characteristic of Echinodorus. There are 18 stamens.

Probablly just angels doing their mating ritual thing. Doesn't look like there is too much damage. The have a few genes there. If you have bred them before what did you get?

You have to be carefull with fish that don't like copper (including killies)

The electronic ones are the only ones that are pretty accurate provided you use them according to instructions and keep the probes clean. The price is pretty good for the accuracy claimed in the specs. In my view it would be a good product if you were concerned about knowing your pH with that accuracy--- which I am not. I have an accurate electronic thermometer which I use to establish temperature because most of the thermostats are not too accurate but I don't worry too much in Christchurch about pH when water changes are so easy and rainwater is so easy to collect.

It's about as obvious as the number of undergravel jets in the Amazon

I keep mixed males of a similar size in a four foot tank and breed and rear them in other tanks until large enough to be added. The tank is heavily planted and the seem happy enough. Don't mix females unless you can clearly tell them apart.

Sorry to be thick but what are undergravel jets and what are they for?