Zev

Yussss!!!! There are three trees outside the local National Bank - must walk past them at least once a month and have never noticed them there! You want some Ryan? I can make the other half get to pick some off the lower branches (there are quite a few on the ground, but the village is riddled with dogs and people who walk them an the most ungodly hours of the night - so would be loathe to get you some of those).

Hi and welcome! What media do you have in your filter - if it is just the sponge and noodles this does not stop the finer particles returning to the tank, you could try something finer such as filter wool to keep the water clearer. Goldfish are rather poopy fish and produce a lot of waste, and this finer material will need constant cleaning to stop it clogging. As far as the tests go, how old is the test kit? You could try testing against some RODI water such as Pure Dew that you can buy at the Warehouse or Countdown, or distilling some water and seeing what readings you get from your test kit. Your PH sounds rather high, you can get a high range Ph kit to test this, or you can ask if one of the LFS such as Deco City Pets or AquaFever to do a test for you if you take a container of water in to them, I am not sure if they will charge you for this.

Lol Nav... Best wishes LA - hope you have a great day :happy2:

Is the tank within birdie seed throwing distance? Just something you do not want contaminating your tank - you may have to put an anti seed flicking shield on the side of the cage. Open top is fine, and since you are using LED's the evaporation should not be as bad as a MH - I lose about 750ml a day in a 108l with a 150w MH over it.

Oooooohhhh..... you gonna get in trouble... :nilly: I prefer the hairy version of Grant.

Damn Island 10 - gotta practice more... Show us your nest!

Hmmm.... have not played tiny wings for a while, I'll just have one... quick... game............

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/real-life-angry-birds

ARgh.... paper cut...

Ok, you two can put your sticks away, someone will take an eye out in a minute, then one of you will end up crying...

I doubt you can keep Thorny Devils in NZ. And yes, Alan is being sarcastic! I was just commenting on how even the colours are, sometimes they are just blotchy or spotty, no pattern whatsoever.

How did you get the colours so even, Alan? Trouble with the Thorny Devils is they only eat ants - and quite a number of them a day, and you just got to love the scientific name - Moloch horridus

Issue developments MAF received a report from Environment Southland of sick or dead lamprey in the Mataura River. This had been first noticed around 13 September 2011. On 30 Sept preliminary lab testing of the fish identified the presence of a bacterium, Aeromonas salmonicida. The Aeromonas bacterium occurs in ‘typical’ and ‘atypical’ strains. The ‘typical’ strain causes a range of conditions, including skin lesions, in salmon and trout. The ‘atypical’ strain affects a wider range of fish worldwide (including Australia) with similar symptoms. Neither strain has been previously found in New Zealand, although community information suggests the disease may have been noticed in lamprey populations in earlier years. A. salmonicida is an unwanted organism and a notifiable organism under the Biosecurity Act 1993 and a new organism under the HSNO Act 1996. Subsequent to the positive identification of the bacterium in the lamprey, infection with A. samonicida has been confirmed in two juvenile rainbow trout from a hatchery on the Taieri River. MAF is examining two further trout from the hatchery, but our investigations at this stage suggest there is a very low prevalence of the disease at the facility. We now have a situation where lamprey (from the Mataura, Mokoreta and Waikawa Rivers) and trout from the Taieri River have been confirmed with the bacterium. Laboratory work continues to identify the particular strain of bacterium at play in this situation. We are awaiting final confirmation of the positive PCR test results received to date through bacterial culture. This could take some weeks yet. Further analysis is required to determine if the bacterium is typical or atypical. In the meantime we are keen to continue receiving reports of sick or dead fish to our freephone 0800 80 99 66. In particular we need further specimens of diseased lamprey to help with full identification. As well I encourage reports of any illness in other fish species. Reporting of new finds Reports of any affected fish can be made through the 24/7 pest and disease hotline – 0800 80 99 66. The call centre will put you in contact with an investigator who will give you instructions on the best way to collect and preserve samples for analysis.

You should have set the camera up for a time lapse movie!

Here - knock yourself out! http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=compost%20heat%20transfer%20system&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDYQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fetd.lsu.edu%2Fdocs%2Favailable%2Fetd-1101102-142703%2Funrestricted%2FVining_thesis.pdf&ei=-DuhTpaUI8eziQeIgs3rBg&usg=AFQjCNGCM4cLxnNsGgaIidNu5g13RqUzZA&cad=rja

Is the square mesh better than chicken wire, which seems to get out of shape easily?

Lol, Nav... Get a Flemish Giant - then it can chase poor Skylla around. The kids had friends years ago who had house trained their rabbit and it used a dirt box inside (don't tell your mother I said that)

Cool! May you be inundated with littlies! And Blueether - your referencing is showing...

Was I mistaken or did I see Graham Henry actually smile?

Have to take LMCB back to the vet, I think his new bandage is restricting his circulation - again...

Giving Orchid or Bromeliad?

Must have just been put up! http://tvnz.co.nz/spca-rescue/s1-e1-video-4461116

You could try plastic flyscreen mesh, or the craft mesh you can get from spotlight and is made of plastic and is for cross stitch, I have used it for spawning frames that go on the bottom of tanks for egg scatterers. You used to be able to buy tank dividers from the LFS as well, I cannot recall the brand. I would watch the flimsy mesh, fish have this uncanny ability to get stuck in the damn stuff, no matter how big they think they can fit through the gap are they seem to manage to get their gill covers stuck in it.

Stick a nappy on the cat! Sorry, being facetious here - I understand your frustration, we have one that does that, curtains are a prime target. This all started when a bully cat shifted in next door.