sharn

800 is pretty wide, definatly wide enough for a common and should be ok length wise depending on how active he is. you may run into probs with the balas and the length for swimming room, the clowns *should* be ok until they get to around 20cm or so. hatchets should be sweet. 50cm tall (im guessing thats what you mean by depth) is a good height, well done :bounce:

commons grow pretty quick, depends on what size you get em, smaller ones shoot up like weeds. i dont think its too small for juvies but it might get too small as they get bigger, it something youll just have to judge when the time comes. i dont think youll have to worry about upgrading for the clowns within 5-10 years (depending on size you get em of course) ive seen 25 year olds at around 25 cm and thats nto fully grown :lol: not sure how quick balas grow, they might not outgrow the tank, but they might 'out swim' it, they are fast fish that like to zip round. how wide and tall is the tank? if you get them all small it will give you longer to upgrade. why not ditch the big pleco and get some BN? that way you wont have to worry bout em growing to big. if the commons out you will probably have much much longer. deforming them doesnt always happen through stunting, apparently their insides can get all muddled up though.

keeping em in smaller tanks does stunt them, but that can cause serious health problems and they can get deformed etc etc. ive seen some gross pics of stunted fish, one was an oscar with overgrown gill plates :-?

not to worry, you can always upgrade :lol:

do a google on 'planaria' that might be them?

yeah, you got some biguns there. if you want to keep the lot you will have to look at upgrading later down the track once they all get some size on. i think balas normally max out around 25-30, clowns max out at around 30 (but take many many years), depends on what pleco you want (commons can get around 50-60cm) and hatchets stay quite small (not sure but would guess 8cm?). make sure your lids are kept on for those hatchets, apparently theyre master jumpers :lol: i say they should all be ok temperment wise, your pleco *might* get bossy to the clowns but im not sure how those two nromally mix but just be prepared to rehome or upgrade (second option is best dont ya think lol!)

unless your breeding (in which case two to a tank/divider/whatever) it is reccomended you have at least 5, and you need 40L minimum each, 50-60L is better though if you can manage it. the reason you want a large group is to minimise fighting. my bigger lot which consists of five still have some good fights (normally the two larger who both want to be boss). they will sit their tail slapping, ramming each other and a few times ive heard the 'pop' noise as they peck at each other they are in a small BB tank at present though so are always in each others face, hopefully when they move into the 216L they will settle down a wee bit. this is mostly my opinion though based on lots of reading and a little experience :lol:

im not 100% sure but i think its a protein film? increasing surface movement helps heaps, i had it on one of my tanks when they spray bar was quite a way from the water surface, moved it up and it was gone in a day or so

yeah, i agree with mystic. they grow big and if you care for them properly are not cheap to house. money is only money though and its worth the extra time, cash and effort to own one of these beauties 8)

its really up to you. some of the varities like snakeskins and leopards are alot more expensive. pigeon bloods, blue diamonds etc etc are often cheaper. i chose my varities because i wanted colourful. alot of people prefer to all have one type which is good for breeding (no chance of them pairing off with other colour strains). some peoples fav colour might be blue so they get lots of blue diamonds. some people might get all 'natural' coloured discus like the browns or tefes etc to fit in with a natural biotope they might create. have a browse thru www.simplydiscus.com they might have some pics somewhere that might help you decide. alot of strains they have we dont though good luck with your decision and dont forget to read up

depends on what type of pleco. commons are pretty naughty when it comes to plants, and sevs being cichlids they can often feel the urge to pull something as they swim past :lol: i have plastic plants in my cichlid tank (oscar, sev, pleco and shark) and i have siliconed a rock to the bottom of each lot, that way they stay down if the oscar uproots them (they used to float till i did that). java fern might be worth shot, perhaps anubias too? they are tied on and have tough leaves that might taste icky.

depends on how tall it is, if its a stndard 60x30x30 then it should be sweet, ive seen angels being bred in smaller

can they cross breed?

im unsure of the spelling but ill give it a go :lol: Praziquantil? somethign like that anyway. they put it in drontal tablets and alot of people use them for defluking fish.

prazi does gill flukes and would assume that it does body flukes too?

look into skin flukes, i am unsure if you can see them but that explains the flashing (if its not gill flukes, which probably wouldnt cause them to shed) and they might be shedding to try and rid themselves of the parasite? i wouldnt use the two meds together, its a possibility they could be but i always try to not mix unnatural meds if i can.

back in the days there wasnt much info on axies out there, not sure how common they were back then? they will eat gravel, and if theyre kept on it ill bet theyll eat some. axies will often snap at the substrate for 'no reason' which i put down to smelling something they want to eat (not totally sure). i have read many stories on www.axolotl.org (forum part) about people buying axies from gravel tanks, having em on sand and the axies pooping out gravel for six months afterwards! in a few cases they get blocked up you cant often see their gravel in their tummies unless its a bright colour (say purple gravel) or they have eaten alot and its has made lumps, most of the time they do pass it but its scary to think what could happen. (not sure if posted this elsewhere) i recently moved Odin (my small albino) into the large tank from a BB, within a day his tummy turned darker than normal and next day i found a poop, sucked it up and when it broke up it was mostly sand ill bet my adults have sand in their tummies alot of the time but i dont often get to their poos in time (they break up easily), these axies are all handfed and during feeding dont eat gravel but when they sniff around later for tiny leftovers i see them snap. caryl- i do once weekly of 40%, there is a powerhead in there but i did moniter it when i first took off the filter (it was a noisy HOB). it seems nothing jumps up and my nitrates are only up to 20 after a week. my thinking is the good bacteria grow over every surface so there should be enough to sustain a tank of animals that dont make heaps of mess but in saying that i do a monthly check before my water change just to make sure nothings sprung up and changed the balance. maybe im jsut lucky but for people newer to keeping aquariums i would suggest a filter, more bacteria is always helpful

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watch those dots, they could just be sensory pits but they could develop into hole in the head (HITH). i am unsure what causes redness, perhaps a bacterial infection? or it could just be irritated flesh. the formalin we buy from shops is apparently too weak, but formalin does kill good bacteria and depletes oxygen so increase airation and watch your parameters for a while. sorry i cant be of more help

his little black dots arent like indents in his head are they?

depends on what you feed them really. bloodworms are super messy for adult fish that arent in BB tanks. i just use the axie tucker you get frozen from the pet shop, it doesnt make much mess as long as its not soggy along with some tasty garden worms when i go digging for my discus. a few people do move them out to feed but could you imagine fishing out an oscar each day to feed em cause hes messy :lol: it does stress the axies out and its easier to just feed clean foods or do a siphon after feeding to get the leftovers out

i was reading the other day about double dosing with flourish, apparently according to a knowledgable person its a big no-no. they said that a normal dose of flourish will get rid of the BBA but it does take longer than double dosing. alot of people do double dose with no effect, but i know a few people that have and its caused fish to die

i would put your ghost in with your discus, ghosts can be sensitive and discus arent often that boisterous to annoy em. rams can be picky with their water and ive found the quality of them in NZ isnt the best (often die for no reason), but if you get some good stock they would make great tankmates for your discus also. the neons, large plec, mollies, kribs, shark and possibly the gourami and fighter probably wont fit in with the discus. neons perish at high temps, mollies are sometimes put in but i wouldnt reccomend it, kribs can be mean, sharks can hassle them (but if yours are ok then thats cool), and the gourami and fighter might (i dont know bout these fish) not like the high temps. alot of plecs will latch onto discus (commons are notorious for it apparently) and eat their slime coat, but they can cause some major damage to them also. the cories, clowns and BN will fit in with your discus ok. i would put some more africans of some sort in with your yellows, perhaps the BN? this is just my opinon though and what id do if i was in your situation

most people keep axies on sand, large slate, river rocks or something they cant eat and if they do it wont block them up. (river rocks are a b*tch to keep clean!!) and the UG filter wont work very effectively with the above. sand is a great option, i have my axies on it so well done there axies really dislike strong water flow, you can have high powered filters as long as you make something to displace the current, if they gills are moving when theyre by the filter its too strong. i dont even have a filter in my axie tank (five adults, one juvie), just a plain old powerhead which is set to low and just disrupts the water surface a bit. as long as you spot clean their poops out (turkey baster is great for this!) and do a siphon over your sand each week it isnt a problem, however because you dont have a filter theres less room for beneficial bacteria to grow so a filter is normally reccomended for people relatively new to keeping fish/axies. good luck and if you want any help with ya axies you can pm me

i just bought some peat from my LFS (its brooklands peat), the bag isnt massive (perhaps 2-3 cupfuls) but its ok for me cause i dont have many tanks that need it.