xmamx

Just a quick question, i live in wellington and the water seems to have a PH of 7.1 or so. My tanks PH is sitting around 6 from what my simple bottle test seems to advise. Therefore when doing a water change of 30% say would it cause a noticeable PH shift in the tank?. The reason i ask is everywhere i read about CO2 injection dropping the PH even lower and causing PH shifts in the tank which is apparently bad for the fish, so are the PH shifts generally more varied than what a water change PH shift would be. Cheers, Xmamx

Yeah mine are small also about 5mm across, but i meant the ones that Hans was decribing on the side of his\her tank were ramshorn eggs and they look similar to the third picture. I Should explain things better hehe. Anyone know how long they take to hatch, also does anyone know how long Apple snail eggs take to hatch as well.?

Would this Ladder diffusor design work. Heres a pic first of all: To make it you could use any sort of clear large tube eg. gravel siphon tube and coil the airline tubing inside it upwards. As it sort of shows in my really badly drawn picture the CO2 enters the lower chamber and then floats up into the spiral tube (slower or faster depending on how many spirals you make) and hopefully disperses in the water. As displayed in the picture also the assembly is submerged in the water so water can freely flow through it. Also a side question would the standard airline checkvalve put on the outlet of a yeast CO2 system make the CO2 bubbles come out in big bubbles once the pressure pushes through the check valve or will is continuously leak through the check valve?. Thanks for you input. Xmamx

I am debating weather or not to give CO2 a try as it looks like it could be interesting to see what results it could produce. I am currently running: A 100 litre tank Shark internal filter that is rated up to 150 litres running on full bubble wall Double light hood 2 foot with 2 x 18 Watt bulbs Quite a few plants - Java moss, Java Fern, Cabomba, Standard large sword, Red melon sword and another broad leafed plant. Gravel substrate with no other type of media. 1 - 2 ml of Flourish every week as well as a 30 - 40 % water change every 1 - 2 weeks. Lots of fish: 2 x Goldfish (i know ppl say not to mix trops with goldfish, but i have had this setup running fine for over a year with no issues .) 1 x Danio 4 x Tetras 4 x Guppys (temporarily in this tank) 2 x Corys 2 x Kuhli loaches 2 x Wcmm's 3 x Clown loaches (sized between 8 - 12 cm) 2 x Drift wood also Ok to start some will obviously say i am overstocked, but like i say it has been running smoothly with the slightly oversized filter. Also since adding the plants my waste has gone down to nearly nothing in the gravel which is saving my gravel siphoning. I have read up about CO2 dropping the PH in a tank also, i have tested my PH and it seems to be sitting at 6 and has been at this level for a while. Therefore would i need to raise my PH before i think of adding CO2? I also would be going for a DIY Yeast setup to start with and as my lighting is only .3 Watts per litre i would not be trying to utilize all the CO2 produced and have a simpler CO2 dispersion maybe just running it into my filter air intake on the top or making a simple spiral hose\ladder diffusor under my Shark filter water intake. My lighting can be raised to .5 watts per litre if i add my other light hood to my main tank. I am not trying to get my plants growing super fast but i wouldnt mind them growing a bit faster just to balance out the fact that one of my clown loaches likes to eat my plants and therefore if the plants grow a bit better\faster his damage would not be so noticeable and also i like seeing the plants grow also. Also if i put a timer on the bubble wall so it came on only at night to disperse the CO2 in the water faster as the plants would not be using the CO2. Would this cause any noticable PH shift and would it actually work?. Thank you for reading my large question and i would like to hear your thoughts. Cheers, Xmamx

Yeah they are eggs, they look like the third picture that nick777 posted. I have red ramshorns that lay eggs like that. As far as hatching i am not sure, think it would take a few weeks to get to the decent size to hatch. Also on the lighting, if you are trying to encourage them to grow faster i spose having more lighting would help simulate a natural environment in some sort of way. I am no expert though.

I have 3 clown loaches and they get on fine even though they range from 8 to 14cm or so in size. I started with one and then thought he was hiding to much so got the other ones. Seemingly they all seem to hide quite a bit when you first get them and once they get used to the new tank they come out more. As for feeding i do the spoon through the zucchini as nuking it aparently destroys the nutrients in it. Another thing to note is some clowns like to destroy plants, my middle sized clown loves to put holes in my plants, once i remove the plant because its too damaged he finds another species of plant to work on. The only time he doesnt destroy my plants is when the zucchini is in the tank. Have fun.

Thats good that you found the third one. I have 2 and they always hide and only come out when i put in the tablets for the pleco (i get worried they have died if i dont see them for a few weeks). The strangest thing has happened lately though, i just bought a couple of clown loachs and now the khulis are out during the day hanging about the front of the tank and sitting in the plants (they dont look stressed either). Its like they are not scared of the other fish anymore, very strange. So maybe if you get some clowns your khulis may come out more.

Cheers, i dont have another tank and dont really have the room for one. The two female guppies would not fit in the goldfishes mouth as they are to big, doesnt stop him chasing them and trying to suck on them though. The tank has quite a few hiding spots under and around rocks and also 4 tall plants and some java moss which the little ones hide in. I have found some of the babie guppies i got on monday are coming out a lot more and swimming around the tank and seem less scared of Gonzo (goldfish) now. Also the two female guppies are not hiding as much and thats only after 1 night. The two male adult guppies are still hiding in the rocks though with some of the the other baby guppies. Is gonzo just bored and therefore just chasing the larger guppies because he is by himself or does he want to eat the fins off them. He obviously would like to eat the babies but they are a bit too quick for him. Would getting another fantail of the same size as gonzo stop him chasing the other fish as much ie: get him a friend to play with or would they both just chase the other fish around.

Hello all, i just got some adult guppies. Two females and two males and my Fantail goldfish Gonzo (about 6-7cm long) is harrasing them constantly trying to suck on the larger guppie which is about 3/4 the size of gonzo. I got some babie guppies the other day and he has made a snack out of a couple of them i think. Will he give up once he is used to them or do i have to seperate them. Also if i get another fantail will they keep each other amused and leave the guppies alone? I really want them to be able to all live together in piece. I think Gonzo is just not used to other fish as he has been solo for quite a while Cheers, Xmamx

Thanks for the help guys. I am currently looking at filters for the tank at the moment. I found one but it is for a 66 gallon tank which is about 250 or 300 litres and my tank is only about 100 so would that cause to many issues with currents etc. Its a shark Pf2 filter and it is cheaper that the ones that fit my tank. Cheers

Nah have not got the rocks yet, i was thinking of getting the grey rounded stones you find in some streams. If it is from a mountain stream there shouldnt be to many heavy metals etc leeched into the stones?? Is there a list of types of rocks you can use in an aquarium? Cheers, Xmamx

Cheers guys, neons are quite small so i suppose Gonzo (goldfish) would probably eat them. I think i figured out what type he is, hes a Fantail. The tank looks massive compared to him so dont think he would grow out of it to fast. May look in to getting some guppies still and also try and get myself a heater to keep the tank at 20 especially with winter coming up and apparently gonzo will like the water being 20degrees. If getting rocks from fresh water streams, is it best to scrub them with tap water to kill the bateria on them and then put them in the tank once they are clean.

Hello i have just got myself a cold water aquarium and i was wondering which fish i should get for it and what sort of filtration setup i should get. I currently have 1 small goldfish (not sure of species) about 7cms long including tail and 1 brown ramshorn snail (similar size to garden snail) so my tank is looking rather empty at the moment. There is also a small ceramic log and a little sunken ship and gravel on the bottom. I plan on getting a nice background for the tank and also some plants as well. I have had a look in these forums and found certain fish types that can be kept in cold water but was wondering if there was list of cold water to semi tropical fishes so i could see which ones i like and could therefore try and get. I quite like guppies and i have heard they can live in cold water. The pet shop said i should get a heater and put it to 20 degrees and then i can put neons maybe and other semi tropical fish and my goldfish would still be allright. Also i dont want the other fish to pick on the goldfish as he is my first fish in the tank and therefore have grown attached to him\her. Therefore will try and summerise: What are the best plant types (that look good) for a cold water aquarium.? Should i get a heater? Which is better, under gravel filter or stick on the side filter? Is there a list of cold water fish species (maybe with pictures and behaviors) that i can look at? Can anybody advise the best shop for getting fish in wellington region? Is my current pump to small? The current setup is: 60 x 45 x 45 dimensions I have about 110 Litres of water in it An Elite 799 Pump (which i think might be to small for the tank) which is hooked up to an aqua stone about 15 - 20 cms long Sorry for the rambling, there is just so much to think about. Thanks in advance, Xmamx