bruce_see

What can I say here...I grind up cat biscuits in the blender and feed that (the mix, not the blender!) to my fish. They love it, (but of course it is not their main diet)

450 litre, $216...you have done very very well! Congratulations!

Excellent, we're cookin now...

That outlet under the undergravel filter might just do the trick. (However, it does add something to the beautiful simplicity of Plan A...) looping the incoming water around a small incandescent bulb might act as a cheap heating unit I guess.

Okay, so it looks like there may be insufficient agitation for stuff that sits on the bottom to be stirred up and then flow thru the outflow. I'll ponder on that, and see what I can come up with...because I really, really like that Plan A. Shiuh, the concept plans show heaters under the banks of tanks, the idea was to maintain temperature in the whole room; did this part work out?

Um, Ok...I thought the original concept was for a complete water change every 24 hours, by regulating the flow of water into the tank, therefore the overflow out of the tank. Simple, yet brilliant. Now, we seem to be talking about a 10% water change every day by turning on the tap, in essence like a semi-automated water change system... I really liked Plan A :lol: so -uhhh- how did we get from there to Plan B??? I'm a litle confused there...did Plan A work out OK? Sorry to hear you missed on the job, I'm on the prowl for a new job myself at the mo, looking sideways at a Greenacres cleaning franchise also. Better luck next time tho!!!

That's a shame Shiuh, a lot of people were really interested in the concept and setup... now someone else will have to be the "guinea pig". The theory is so simple, foolproof, and easy that it should work brilliantly. In actual practice...? We just don't know...yet.

Google search: Tai Tapu village is situated on the main access road to Banks Peninsula.

Hi, Jess. Tai Tapu is where?

The hospital visit was just routine, Tanksman - our eldest son was born 11 weeks prem and with major heart problems. Now he has a wheelchair, cerebral palsy, and LOTS of hospital visits and specialists and....it's all part of our "normal" life now. He has made it to ten years old, and is pretty much OK. (But as for us??? )

Okay, had to take my eldest son to hospital this morning but back now. Readings for today are: pH =7.0 Nitrate = 0.0 Nitrite =0.0 Ammonia = 0.5 Those readings are with the AmmoLok in the system, of course. Sounds to me like a feed (get some nitrate into the system) and perhaps leave the partial water change for tomorrow, unless it is really important to get the Ammolok out by partials each day. The only other tank available to us is our original one ...ten (10) litres. Our fish now consist of 4 blue platies, 1 orange platy, 1 zebra danio, 1 bristlenose catfish. We have one extremely healthy clump of grass in the tank, which hides a quantity of baby platies.

Sorry Caryl, too late!

Thanks Alan, I'll take that on board.

OK, update. Big water change last night, adult fish transferred to another tank overnight. Readings in main tank are now: pH=7.2 (a little high) Nitrates=0 Nitrites=0.25 Ammonia=0.5 Tanksman, gravel thoroughly washed before it went in, and tank had (just) completed it's cycle...now we start over. Overnight, we lost our clown loach (stress) and also our harlequin rasbora (seeking greener pastures, jumped to arid brown carpet) All remaining fish back in main tank now. First stop today, lfs: more Cycle (running low now!!! ) and some ammo-lok. Once again, a huge THANKS for your help through this. (Plus, we are selling our home, agents through in bulk today) :-?

Yes, I think the fish are stressed enough already, Jude... I'll follow that, and keep testing the water. I'll keep you posted. At the moment, I have a gut feeling that the last gravel vaccing may have been a little too vigorous, and stirred up some nasty stuff at the bottom of the gravel. (Which probably means, I'm not vaccing often enough?)