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Zev

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Posts posted by Zev

  1. Can you get the higher k rated 'energy saver' lamps in NZ?

    I bought a 5000k 13w bayonet cap lamp from Bunnings in Melbourne when we were there earlier this year, but most of the ones you get locally are 'warm white' 2400k.

    My Riccia loves this lamp, as does my Hyrophila Difformis.

  2. You can buy it at your LFS, it's called Filter Wool, comes in a few different size bags. It's just a sheet of stuff like you would use for Quilting, or the stuff the cats rip out of the middle of our cushions! Which you can get at a sewing shop like Spotlight or Arthur Toye.

    There is also a compressed version at the LFS, like it's been ironed flat - don't know how this would go, seems to be less surface area, and possibly would clog quicker.

    I don't know which is the cheaper option, furniture stuffing, or the stuff at the LFS. Perhaps its what is handy at the time, and whether you want to drive around and look for other stuff.

    Do they put mould inhibitors in the furniture and cushion stuff?

  3. ok, the wee things that we saw initally must be some other little bug-things, they move in fits and starts along the bottom of the container.

    They must have come with the Riccia. Any ideas of what they could be?

    The fry have now appeared, I can only see half a dozen or so at any one time. Hopefully there aren't a hundred or so, or I will have to find another tank to grow them on!

    We got some Java Moss and snails from BlueandKim, and I put this in the tank where the fry are floating in a plastic container with the Riccia were the nest was built. I threw in the first two Neons that I could catch out of our community tank to keep the sponge filter bacteria happy.

    Next thing I see is the Neons writhing around in the Java moss scattering eggs everywhere! There is some pretty severe lighting over the tank to keep the Riccia growing, and the parents ate most of the eggs, so I thought nothing would eventuate. But this morning I see two eggs with tails cruising around the bottom of the tank!

    The Neons have been returned to the community tank.

  4. Oh Caper, sounds like you are having a few problems, whatever happens, don't dispair, there are plenty of people over here hoping for a speedy recovery.

    I noticed that you have been doing the salt thing, have you allowed your tank to return to 'normal' before putting more meds in?

    One may be conteracting the other, or causing a buildup of something in paritcular that is compounding your problems.

    Someone more knowledgeable in the meds line may be able to help.

    What temp is your tank? Is the water you are putting back when you do a water change a similar temperature?

  5. After aquiring some Riccia from BlueandKim, my male gourami built a nest, and tonight he and the female (whom he normally chases around and bullys) were up to no good.

    They are in my community tank, how how do I go about protecting them from the other hungry gannets in the tank?

    I cannot parition it, as it is heavily planted and has a big hunk of driftwood running down it's length. If I take it out, I think my Hillstream Loaches will have a panic fit.

    Can I carefully net, or use a container to get the whole thing out and put it in another tank? If so, when?

    Should I leave it in the community tank? Then how do I feed them without polluting the whole tank?

  6. Your tank is the same depth as mine, I have put a 40mm strip of black foam board (black foam sandwiched between black card) around the base of the front and sides of my tank so that you can't see all the substrate, just 20mm of gravel. This stops you seeing the gritty stuff at the bottom (maybe I'm too fussy about this sort of thing, but hey, it's gotta look good).

    When I redo this tank (or should that be undo?) I will look at putting Daltons Aquatic Mix on the bottom, rather than the sand. It was all I could find at the time I set it up, but now I have found a source for the proper stuff.

    I've always planted first then added fish. Easier without the little guys trying to see if you have food and getting in the way.

    I put the substrate in first, half filled it with water, then planted. You don't have to get wet all the way up to your armpits this way, even if it is a small tank.

    Then filled to the top, waited for the muck to settle, added filter, then three Corydoras.

  7. what is the plant in the second pic with the white on it, is it every pretty :P

    err.. bad photography, since the plant is near the surface and close to the lights (2x 15w 7000k fluros) it's a bit washed out. And it is not varigated, the green is the algae, and the leaf is actually a lighter green.

    Don't know what it is, I purchased it as a bulk lot off Waterplantz on the local internet auction site, they came in three bags, labeled 'foreground', 'middle' and 'tall', along with all the names of the plants in each bag, So I am none the wiser as to which is which.

    Some of the plants thrive in my tank, others struggle, so I am considering some fertilizer for them.

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