alanmin4304

I recall seeing one years ago and I am sure it used the cooling unit from a small fridge and the coils were attatched to a good quality stainless steel plate and the water was pumped up and ran down over the plate. I was impressed because he had a baby octopus in there. I have kept cold water marines for quite a while without a cooler and they were OK until we got some very hot weather in the summer. I was keeping fish taken from rock pools which were a lot warmer than the ocean, so it would depend a lot on the type of fish you were keeping. I don't know the names but I had 25 different types of fish from Kaikoura. I found the hardest thing was transporting them and they usually had to be treated with copper on arrival.

On ya bike

Being a student Feelers I guess you didn't drink a lot of water while here. It is artesian, but in some areas they add NaOH to adjut pH. Can use straight out of the tap---great for stimulating spawning.

I'm insulted. At least we share things. We let you guys have the traffic jams.

I read it in a book it must be true.

You can tell easily how hard or soft water is by how long it takes to get soap to lather. In soft water you get bubbles quickly

Water hardness is caused by the amount of calcium (mainly) in the water and is not related to pH which is the hydrogen ion concentration (acid or alkali) coca cola I think has a pH OF 4.6. Temporary hardness is usually caused by calcium bicarbonate (baking soda) and will break down. The easiest way to get soft acid water is to collect rainwater (which is usually acid because of contamination by sulphur dioxide from smoke---cheap and easy)

Hummingbird, what is it and what would it do to a tank of baby guppies at double strength?

They are a good fish to breed in a seperate tank. Good training--good excuse for another tank. Infusoria when free swimming then microworm and brineshrimp.

They will be fine until the angels get big, pair off and want to defend their territory.

I seem to recall that popeye is caused by a bacteria producing gas and oscars and angels are prone to it. If that is the case you would use an antibiotic but I am not sure which one as they are all restricted meds. One book I have advises using " the progressive salt treatment" which is putting the fish into a seperate container and progressivel increasing the salt up to about 0.5% over a day or two. Sea water is often more effective.

You will need to remove the fish waste as there will not be anything to break it down. Soluble nitrogen compounds should get flushed OK.

I would use 10mm on a tank 1200 x 460mm high. I have a contact to get it at a good price but you would need to order it soon because they will cut it over the xmas break. PM me and come around and see the choices before you order the glass. Also that size will be a lot easier to make with 2 people (awkward on your own) Shiuh will get away with 6 mm because he has partitions to give added support.

The male " white spots" look like little pimples and they usually have them on the leading edge of the pectoral fins as well

I know erythromycin works on bga because it is a bacteria but will it work on bba which is an algae (I have it starting up in one of my tanks.) Do you use 250mg or 500mg caps/12 gallon

It is a lot of fun watching cichlids raise their young (or eat them) but to be a serious producer of fish I think you need to seperete them from the eggs. good luck.

Who needs a laundry when you have fish. Sounds like a great project. I used to have a purpose built fishhouse where the whole room (12ft x 8ft with 40 - 50 tanks)was heated with a 1 kW heater. Had a drain in the floor to empty water into. I miss the convenience,but I sold the house and now we do it the other way.

I will post on here when ready to go. A 1200mm tank is a lot easier to make with 2 people so you will not be unemployed.

If cows have pats fish must have gunk

Don't clean the filter unless the flow is seriously restricted as it only works when it is partly full of gunk and the filtration is improved as it builds up (until the flow drops off too much. I very rarely clean my filters.

6mm I assume, sounds like a good price.

Most people breeding bettas in NZ don't have the patience to grow the males to full maturity and fin development so they are sold cheaply or even unsexed. The importers can get small or large fish and the market wants large so that is what is imported. I used to breed them and raise the males to good fin development but there are easier fish and that is generally what people go for.

Between water changes and plants using it, it will come right. The trick will be to figure out how it got elevated. I am pretty sure nitrate is not toxic to fish, it just contributes to algae problems.

I use sand in my plant tanks and have had no problems. The sand is greywacke which is about as inert as it gets and I only siphon off the excess mulm from the top of the sand every 2-3 months. The tank is heavily planted and has lots of fish. the sand is between 75mm and 150mm deep.

30 yaers ago I used to make half the tanks in Christchurch but I only make my own now. I don't mind showing people how. It is realy not that hard, its only a matter of getting the confidence through practice. I will be making a 1200x450x400 and another the same size but in 6 compartments after xmas and you are welcome to give me a hand if you want to organise something (and see how it is done). And shiuh is keen on making one as well.