Shilo

Lilaeopsis novae-zealandiae? http://www.fnzas.org.nz/index.php?320&user_plants=82 I'm trying Lilaeopsis brasiliensis which is similar. It has only just started to take since I stuck some Jobes fertilizer (palm & fern) under the bunches. Cheers Shilo

Pity about the colour. It will show up even if covered with plants but I suppose it will soon turn dark brown - black with debris and bacteria growth. Still thinking about the Mattenfilter but this time in the sump. Definite overkill with a wet/dry, but have a perfect place for it Cheers Shilo

Another thought for adding fish from your established tank: If fish can be carriers of disease but not show any symptoms, then adding a couple fish from your established tank should highlight this. They may they fall sick but the new ones stay healthy. Better to loose a couple of fish then the whole tank. Not sure if the above is correct, but I have just been through an Ich episode with my Tetras 6 days after introducing some healthy fish to my tank. The new fish showed no symptoms before or during the infection. I had no sign of Ich before hand. Using a quarantine tank and introducing some "disposable" fish from my tank as Pegasus suggests would have saved a week of worry. My fault for being to eager in introducing them. Now where’s that fish bin and extra heater? Cheers Shilo

I also threw in the 1st dosage on Monday (lunchtime). So should retreat Thursday lunchtime. This is 72 hrs later which gels with the Ich life cycle of 70hrs. Because I want to do a water change as well and won't have time at lunch, I'll be doing mine tonight instead. If the Ich is just as bad, consider using salt and extra heat as well as the medication. It worked on mine. I had the temp up to 30 deg from Sat until today. I'm just slowly bringing it back down now. The higher the temprature - the faster the Ich goes through its stages. This means there is more chances of the meds zapping the free swimming stage. Bring the temp up slowly so the fish don't go into shock. Cheers Shilo

We get those to. Once a year or so large spikey (or I should say branchy) light brown-green seaslugs invade the beach below the house. Its like something from a B-grade horror! The muds covered with thousands. Lucky for swimmers they are aren't carnivorous! You certainitly wouldn't want them breeding in the tank - and people think snails are bad :roll: Cheers Shilo

Always wondered what the Quoys Bubble Shell would be like to keep in a tank. A species that looks similar is linked below: http://www.seaslugforum.net/bullampu.htm There are heaps amongst the sea grass in the tidal area where I collect cockles for fish food. They look fantastic and certainly survive high temperatures when the tide goes out. The ones here are out and about feeding during the day and at low tide. Just another interesting option - try the mudflats. Cheers Shilo

Hi Peety, How about going on the complete opposite track?: To acquire an immunity you have to be exposed to the organism before you produce antibodies to it. So shouldn't we deliberately and fully expose our fish to every disease out there? You could buy vials of Ich, Fin Rot, Black Spot, Fluke etc at the LFS along side the various cures. Kind’a like the live in a glass bubble or eat dirt as a kid scenario. Nah, I think I would prefer your technique. The Ich was scary enough Cheers Shilo

Hi Aqua, How’s your Ich going? The last spot disappeared from my fish today. Since the tank will still have spores in it I'll keep up the treatment by dosing again next Thursday after a gravel vac and 50% water change. Don't know if it was the extra heat, salt, or medication that did it but the combination worked well. The heat and salt certainty stopped any new infections. By the way I only used 1/2 the recommended dose of White Spot Cure since I have Skunk Loaches and have read that scaleless fish like this are venerable to medication. I think the amount used is not as important as the duration because the Ich has a 3 part life cycle and can only be killed in the free swimming stage. So if you came home tonight and are disillusioned about the fish still being spotted, keep treating - it will disappear in the next couple of days. Hi Annie, You are correct. Ich has an interesting life cycle. As far as I'm able to pickup on it - A fish could be a carrier with no recognizable symptoms (ie spots) and get introduced to your tank. Stress in the form of water conditions or bullying will make the other fish in the tank more susceptible to it. The spots are "pimples" that contain cysts of the Ich. After a period of time which depends on water temperature, the cysts fall off into the gravel where they will "hatch" into thousands of free swimmers. These float around until they come into contact with a fish or get zapped by medication. They can only survive for (I think) 70hrs in this form. Thus the reason for treating the tank every 3 days. Once they have found a home they burrow into the flesh and live happily ever after until they form another cyst. There is a theory that a fish can become immune to Ich once it has had a dose. I hope so! Cheers Shilo

You can start treatment tonight if you want. I discovered Ick on my Tetras on Saturday, just after the local shops closed Brought on by stress and new fish (the rainbows are running rings around the tetras). My chemistry set is still reading 0ppm To counter it I increased the temperature to 30 deg and added 1 tablespoon of non iodised salt per galleon. 12 hrs later another dose of salt. This morning (Monday) there was no new infections in the tetras or other fish. It's still there but not increasing. At lunchtime I managed to sneak away from work, grab the only bottle of White Spot Cure on the island and treat the tank. I need to cure it by the weekend since I will be on holiday for a week 8) , but am confident that the combination of treatments will lick it. Give salt and heat a try tonight, it couldn't hurt and can only help improve the commercial treatments. Good Luck Cheers Shilo

Hi Blueram, Don't buy a system until you have tried it DIY (only a few $ to set up) and seen if you like the effects. I'm running the "soda bottle" yeast system. It is working well with the plants pearling like they have air stones attached. The current mix of 2 cups sugar, 6 water, 1/4 teaspoon baking yeast and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda lasts about 2 1/2 weeks. I'm just about to try brewers yeast and will get some yeast from a local vintner to try shortly. Brewers and wine yeast have a higher alcohol tolerance so should last longer (a month or 2). To make the bottle I drilled a hole in the top, screwed in a small irrigation joiner and used narrow irrigation tube to the CO2 bell. After trial and error I sealed the joiner in the top with a hot glue gun. Silicon sealant only lasted a few days before it was dissolved by the CO2. The main problem with DIY systems is dissolving the CO2 in the water. An air stone will soon clog. You can inject it straight into a canister filter but you have no control on the amount dissolved this way. There are a few DIY CO2 reaction chamber plans on the web or you can use a bell which is simply a clear inverted container in the tank which the CO2 bubbles up into. The surface area dissolves the gas and any excess escapes. I used a sump so did it a bit differently http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/grantglazer/Aquarium/tricklefilter.htm CO2 will decrease the PH but you can easily correct it. I'm using Kitty Litter mixed with the gravel and this increased the PH from 6.5 (tank water) to 7.5. The use of CO2 has brought it down to a perfect 7 which the CO2 bell keeps constant. Your water will only dissolve so much gas from a given surface area. If you want your plants to pearl then CO2 is only part of the equation. The CO2 will increase the plants growth potential but you also have to experiment with the amount of light and fertiliser in the tank. More CO2 + more light + more fertilizer = more growth. If any of these are lacking growth will slow down and you will probably end up with an algae bloom. After a month of experimenting I think I have it sussed with only brown algae being a problem (currently disappearing). Its all about finding a balance. Lastly before you start the CO2, get as many plants into your tank as you can. This will make finding the balance easier without major algae problems since they will use up the nutrients before the algae. I learnt this the hard way Hope this helps Cheers Shilo

The spreading and introduction of trout into new water systems has been banned as well. Although trout do eat the native species they do not totally destroy the habitat like Koi do. And in most waterways trout and natives live side by side (although admittedly some native species are at reduced numbers). Koi feed by shifting through the mud for food and create the same water conditions that you would if you stirred up the gravel in your tank everyday. Exporting them would be great. Unfortunately it would also be illegal! If you catch one you have to kill it, even putting it back would break the law. The Dept of Conservation is pretty strict on Koi carp. So Peety - Shhh you didn't make these posts. They are just giant goldfish in your pond that practise birth control A summery of the regs are below: Unwanted Organisms (Biosecurity Act 1993) It is illegal to release, spread, sell or breed unwanted organisms. There is a $100, 000 fine or five years imprisonment for people caught doing so. Noxious Fish (Freshwater Fish Regulations 1983) People who possess, control, rear, raise, hatch or consign noxious fish without authority are liable for a fine of $5000. More info about the Koi problem is at: http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/002~Animal-Pests/Pest-Fish-(Freshwater)/Koi-Carp.asp

A small school of Spotties (Paketi) would be ideal - very hardy and should survive in tropical tempatures. For collecting seawater, I have seen a site somewhere recently where they just used a 12 volt bilge pump on a hose to pump the water up to containers next to their car on a wharf. Bets dragging containers up a beach. Get the water on an incoming tide upstream from any boats etc in a rural area and the water should be clean. Cheers Shilo

Tank stand plans: http://www.garf.org/stand.html#STAND I glued as well as screwed mine for strength (Gorilla Glue). To hide the base of the tank, sand, and polystyrene sheet bring the sides up a couple of inches higher then the top of the frame. You might want to use waterproofed ply (treated or epoxy sealed) for the top as I think water could be trapped under the polystyrene sheet beneath the tank from spills etc and slowly rot. Plan your sump system out before making it so you know where to add shelves etc during the construction. If you put a back board on then you will have to cut out holes for the plumbing and wires before putting in place. Adding more afterwards is difficult if its against a wall (who me? :oops: ) Take your time planning and making the stand since once the tank is on you can't change anything. Have fun Cheers Shilo

Just another option: Instead of using one big pump, why not 2 or more smaller ones? You can pick up a 1000ltr submersable for <$50. 4000ltr will only be $200 and you get the added peice of mind that if one stops you will still have 3 or more working as a back ups. May not be suitable for your system, but what happens if the one large pump stops when you are away for a few days? I'm not sure if the running costs of using many small pumps will be more or equal to a single one. Head height may also be a factor. Cheers Shilo

Caryl's right. You want the thermometer in or on the tank itself. I use the strip type that sticks on the outside of the glass so didn't think of it. But I want an electronic one An idea regarding weight. Why not use the rocks as a mould only and make it from fibreglass? Not as tacky as it sounds (when dry of course) since you can buy large fibreglass rocks that look realistic. You could also use polystrene, colour it then seal with epoxy. A couple of links to give you ideas: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/backing.0.html http://www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/janne.html Cheers Shilo

Hi KerryO Sounds like you need what I've just done. A Wet / Dry Trickle Filter. Under $100 to build and effective. It sits in a sump under the tank and you can put all your equipment in the sump to hide it. Take a look at: http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/grantglazer/Aquarium/tricklefilter.htm and under the Technical section of this forum. The only equipment in the tank is the small overflow box which I've glued plants onto to hide, and the inlet pipe from the pump which is covered by driftwood. In your case you can have it going behind the rock wall with the outlet being a cave. The overflow box could be covered with rock slabs to disguise. Cheers Grant

Haven't been able to find Baby Tears here on the Island, but the other plants listed above came fully potted in potting mix. The Moneywort would be similar to BT's. I removed the bag, shook of any loose soil then split the plants up under a running hose. I then rinsed each small bunch in a bucket and removed as much soil as possible. They came out surprisingly clean. I didn't skimp on the rinsing because I was worried they may have been sprayed in the garden center. A trim and tidy up then straight into the tank. It has only been a few days but the Moneywort is doing fine. Some of the leaves are dying off but there is new growth showing to replace them. The plants have straightened up and heading for the surface. I would assume Baby Tears would react the same way. Cheers Shilo

Chances are you don't even need the carbon. If your fish are healthy and water clear, then your ammonia levels are probably taken care of by bacteria growth in the filter. I may be wrong but I think carbon only lasts a couple of weeks before it stops absorbing. So you've been running without carbon for the last 2 weeks anyway. Put it back in since it acts as extra housing for bacteria and maybe buy an emergency cartridge incase your water conditions change or you need to remove medication - then forget about it. If you still want to replace it, can it be refilled with the much cheaper bulk/ loose carbon? Cheers Shilo

Aquarium plants are impossible to get here so to stock my tank with as much and as quickly as possible, I've been raiding the local garden centers for marsh plants. So far I've got Lilaeopsis brasiliensis and Ophiopogon japonicus (Mondo grass - I know, it will probably die off). But my latest score has left me gob smacked. I was talking to a local gardening guru on the phone at work and asked him if he had any aquarium plants. He offered me Lysimachia nummularia aurea (Golden Moneywort). This is all Latin to me, so I said sure and gave a driver $10 to pay for it. When I got it I read the label: Suitable for rockeries, embankments and well drained areas!!!! Not exactly a aquarium plant. :-? But after some web research I found out it is great for the aquarium http://www.fnzas.org.nz/index.php?320&user_plants=91 The gold colouring is fantastic against the dark Java Fern and it only cost $10 for a bunch 50cm in diameter Are there any other types of house plants apart from Baby Tears that will grow in the aquarium and not slowly die off like Peace Lilly’s? Cheers Shilo

Thanks for the kind comments guys. Delta, The more chaotic the straws are the better. The water travels through the inside as well as over the outside of the straws. With them higglety pigglety it will help spread the water to all areas of the filter. Flipper, Haven’t had problems with air entering the siphon. Where your containers deep enough and outflow hose high enough in the external container? The water level in the external container does flactuate by 1/2cm as air locks in the outflow hose sort themselves out. Also the current in the tube is very strong. Any air I left in the tube when I haven't sucked it out enough gets dragged down to last 5cm of the tube, very small bubbles get dragged right out. :-? John, Yup, it suits my system. As I see them the main disadvantages - size, these things are huge compared to other filter types. Also it can only take water from the surface, not from the bottom of the tank. Main advantage - being able to get all the equipment out of the tank and out of sight. Of course the $ (lack off) had a lot to do with my decision Cheers Shilo

Hi John As a born-again fish "newbie" I did a heap of research on aquariums systems and got very confused with the different opinions. Came to the conclusion that they are like vehicles:- Different engines, tyres, etc suit different types. The only similarity they share is that they transport you. Same with aquariums:- different filters, heaters, light systems etc are used for different purposes. You wouldn't want to use a small sponge filter in a 500ltr saltwater tank, and it would be overkill to use a protein skimmer on a 25ltr Guppy tank. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. My mixed up thought processes anyway :roll: Plan your system, do the research and take everybody’s opinion with a grain of salt. If one opinion is the opposite of another, choose what you think will suit your system the best. They are all correct! Cheers Shilo

As some of you know I've been trying to make as much as possible of my aquarium system. One of the things I am most happy with is the wet / dry trickle filter (Mark 2). Most W/D's are used on large tanks so I downsized it to suit a 125ltr. After only a couple of weeks I had no ammonia or nitrite readings and the water is crystal clear. As it ages it can only get better. It also cost me under $100 and is almost maintenance free. I have put the plans and instructions on a web page to help anybody else with similar ideas: http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/grantglazer/Aquarium/tricklefilter.htm Thanks to Pegasus for some constructive criticism on my 1st version of the page. If you have any questions e-mail me or better still post them here so we can all learn a bit more. Hope this helps somebody. Cheers Shilo

Done a lot of diy filter research lately. One of the best links for diy fluidized bed filters is http://www.fishlinkcentral.com/articles/article023.htm Read both good and bad things about them. They are very effective but use up a lot of dissolved oxygen so you need a spray bar or similar. They are also hard to adjust. Too much flow and the bacteria won't colonize or else the sand will be pushed up the tube, to little and you get stagnant areas. Beware of the small retail versions, as they are not very effective. Of course this is just IMO from what I've picked up from surfing filter sites. Cheers Shilo

Update: The joys of DIY! Just finished the light system. Spent 6hrs on it last night and another 4 today. The problem? Old - very old 20W fittings. The tombstones were so brittle with age one snapped and had to be glued together. Unlike the 30w, these are one piece. I dismantled the 20W and wired up the ballast & starter in the 30W bracket. This made a nice and secure holding box mounted inside the stand. Using terminal connectors I then extended the tombstone wires so they would reach inside the hood. Before mounting in the hood and stand I laid out the whole system on the floor and tested it. Both bulbs worked brilliantly (excuse pun). But once I put everything in place the 20w refused to go :evil: Checked all wiring and connections and tore my hair out before I noticed the bulb was not clicking into position with one of the tombstones (not the repaired one). It was stuffed. Gave up this morning and tore all the 20w parts from the system. Then went to Placemakers and got 2 standard lamp fittings and 2x 21w energy saver fluorescents. Wired up the lamp fittings back to back and clipped them to the roof of the hood. Within 1/2hr of turning it on the plants were pearling so much it looked like each had an air stone!. Now have 72w in there which seems to be plenty. Cheers Shilo.

Hi Warren and John1 I don't really need waterproof fittings (we should be saying splash proof) but I would like them for added security. I have a piece of glass which covers 1/2 the tank where the tubes are. The other half I like to leave uncovered for a) ease of access and b) my tank had a center support strip which was unnecessary (9mm glass) so I removed it. The front 1/2 of the cover glass was made up of 2 pieces (now used in my filer) and they needed this center strip for support. I can't imagine any water splashing over the cover glass and reaching the tubes - but???? Other reasons for removing the standard brackets are: Heat - the 20W fitting is almost to hot to touch with the ballast in it and Lack of room - The top of the hood is only 90mm above the cover glass so the 30W (3') fitting has to be mounted on its side. I would like to stick another 30W tube in the hood to get 80 watts in total, but still have the access I have now. Using these end caps I can have the tubes closer together and nearer the top of the hood. All in all the brackets must go. And now thanks to this forum I have the means and the way. All setups are different. The end caps just suit mine better. Now if I'm going to get rid of the brackets anyway a little bit of added splash proof protection won't make much difference in time or expense. Of course it would have been easier if I had made the hood higher, but I like the look of the design. Cheers Grant