alanmin4304

I think people forget sometimes that it is called cycling because it is the nitrogen cycle and it goes right round. Urea-ammonia-nitrite-nitrate (picked up by plants which then die or throw off outside leaves which rot and break down) The cycle then continues right round as the nitrate gets broken down again. All of this is carried out by mainly different types of bacteria which play their own little part. It is like a living equation and any outside influence throws out the balance and it has to work to get back in to line. With the right conditions bacteria will multiply to fit the food available so if you remove the food for any of the many bacteria playing this game of life they will have to work to restore the balance. I stock planted tanks lightly and do infrequent water changes, and raise fish in bare tanks with lots of water changes. Works for me.

It sounds like you have it sorted. I used to use a gadget I made to rear the males. It is hard to explain but I will give it a go. I had a tank 600x600x400high and built another tank slightly smaller with straps on the top to suspend it inside the other and leave about 100mm underneath.Put stainless steel mesh on the bottom of the smaller tank and divide it into sections of about 60x60 with glass. You now have a number of small tanks with netting bottoms. Put one male in each and give a water change by lifting the inside tank up and letting it go. Waste falls out the bottom and can be siphoned off. They will develop good finnage this way because they are forever showing off to each other.

It is a matter of personal choice but I prefer to use sand as a media because the plants seem to do better. The plants don't grow on the sand or gravel, they grow on what is in between. I have a friend who uses fine pea gravel and has great success. One of the advantages of being in Christchurch is the easy availability of greywacke sand and gravel which is relatively inert. The others are of course the untreated artesian water and the traffic jams are in Jaffatown.

I get my glass from a large glazing firm in town and usually work with 10 mm glass. I would use 10mm glass for any bracing (European). They have large pieces left over from glazing windows that are generally too small to be used in other windows. Always say cash and I don't need a receipt. They usually throw in the bracing right round,top and bottom. It will be cheaper to sand the edges yourself. It is better to have the braces polished to remove any chips which will severely weaken the brace, but it is expensive and so far I have not bothered. I have bought the tank and bracing top and bottom in 10mm glass for a 1200x500x500 tank for about your highest quote.

I normally heavily plant a new tank before cycling it and this way the nutrient is mainly used up and the " complete " cycle is taken care of. Nitrate will not do the fish any harm. I would do no water change and only add fish slowly after the plants are established, then do small water changes to get rid of excess nitrate and phosphate to discourage algae growth. A well planted tank with a light number of fish will be in balance and will not need massive and regular water changes. There are a number of ways to do this and I guess you need to do what is best for your situation.

I have one 4 foot tank completely enclosed in a cabinet so it will only take 3 foot lights in the lid. They are tubes only and everything else is in a draw under the tank. My others have twin flouro units screwed to the stand above the tanks with reflectors.

Great tank. Love it.

I use a pipette from the chemist used for measuring babies medicine (like a very large eye dropper). For bigger fry I use a clear rigid plastic tube with thumb over the end and even bigger a gravel vac hose (only) as the vac gadget has a flap valve to damage them.

The heading is about starting a planted tank but your content is more about finishing a planted tank. Good content but much is not a requirement even though desirable.

Plumber does plumbing, drainlayer lays drains, gasfitter does gas. Some may be all or some.

If it is to do with the sewer you will need a drainlayer rather than a plumber.

I use luncheon sausage slices--- works a treat. The main thing I have found is that they need to be kept cool.

I have not kept dageti but have reared a lot of other killies. A tank full of Notho guentheri or gardneri males can look like a war zone but it is mainly bluff unless there are females there to fight over. I had a tank with about 500 guentheri males once and after all the war games there did not seem to be any permanent damage. Alan 56

Once you start artificially altering pH you will likely be chasing it for ever. I breed killies and don't own a pH testing kit. If I want soft acid water to breed killies I use rainwater with peat. Unless you invest heavily in a good kit they are not very reliable. I have bred thousands of fighters in tap water without a problem. Feeding the fry is the tricky part rather than water conditions.

Plants need CO2 to grow. You can get it from a cylinder, yeast and sugar, added fertilizers or from fish. My plants are doing well with only the fish. I have red special and ozelot with two runners each and martii on its 3rd runner. Lighting is flouro( twin 3 footers on a four ft tank going 17 hours/day).

The pH will rise as the chlorine is removed as the chlorine reacts with water to form hypochlorus acid

I think you should check your method of testing pH as the phones at the Council would melt if the pH was 6 because it would corrode all brass fittings and eat the hot water cylinder in a very short time. Chlorine makes the water acid (lowers pH ) as it forms hypochlorus acid with water and as it is removed the pH will rise. Councils try pretty hard to supply water that is slightly alkali to avoid corrosion problems.

There are also a number of different types of hair grass and tenellus, each of different lengths. (and sagittaria that also gets confused with tenellus and visa versa)

What is your water supply. At pH 6 you would be lucky to have any copper left in the system.Local Authorities would normally have the pH slightly alkali to avoid corrosin of copper and brass.

If you are still in Christchurch I have heaps in rolls. It is the flashing used on the edge of the ridge flashing on a galvanised iron roof but is now not used with zincalume. If your not here pm me and I can post you some . I bought heaps years ago when I was supplying plants to the shops and still have a lot left. $6.00 for 1.5kg sound alright incl p&p.

They use diffusers in machines for carbonating the water used in the postmix type machines that add the extras to your spirits in the pub. See what they use. I had a home made one years ago and it used a kitchen sink sponge, not the foam pads that stay flexible but the ones that go stiff when dry. It worked a treat.

patience---- all will be revealed ----at least they are fertile.

You have have clicked on the small image I think. What are you doing that we are not? cos it don't work for us.

Here is: Glossostigma Elatinoides, grown emersed showing flower. (New Zealand Native) Please find attached below the web address for the website that my images have been successfully downloaded to, then to be downloaded to this site. Having followed all instructions we have been unable to download these images to this forum. We would like to continue to bring interesting images and information pertaining to Aquatic Plants and Fish. Why are we still unable to upload from the website to which we have downloaded the images to, when we create the link to this site? Any assistance would be appreciated. I am competent and capable and are wondering why we are unsuccesful. I look forward to successfully downloading more images in the future... and thanks for your help. http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/vie ... &members=1

Sag subulata will be taller than microfolia but both will grow quite tall with MH lighting. Pupuke have a small Echinodorus tennellus which I suspect is tenellus tenellus and will not go so rank. You should have some stargrass today which would be OK if you keep it trimmed short. I have yet to convert tenellus parvulus to submersed growth to see what it is like.