ljtan55

Lol well done!!! Your tanks are love nests! :lol:

In a glass jar with an aerator sitting in a bucket with a heater. Higher temps help them hatch quicker <-- read that somewhere, temp about 25 celcius. Good hatch rate, its keeping em ALIVE I'm having problems with. Ahhh tea strainer. Good one. I've been using an eye dropper and a flashlight to collect em, was starting to worry I was preserving my fish with the salt. :oops:

For some reason I have a feelin that Melafix actually made my dwarf get fungus. Was treatin him for a cut fin, and kept on dosing melafix, and then one day i noticed he was growing fungus out of his eye!! Best reasoning I got is melafix is a antibacterial, and in ppl, fungus is oppurtunistic and too much antibiotics can predispose them getting a fungal infection. Meth blue, and malachite green are good for fungal infections. Salt is good as well. Add about a tablespoon of salt per gallon to a fresh water tank. If live plants will be in the tank, use only a half dose. And lots of water changes. Theres also something called Triple sulfa which they recommend for fungal infections, haven't seen it in many stores in NZ tho.

Hmm.. that stuff sounds interesting. Everytime I try to get BS, they hatch, they swim, and 3 days later they're all dead. Maybe its cos I use tonic salt... good for hatchin, not good for growing? Fishboi how do ya strain the bs?

Wow, I've got some White Spot Cure if you want it. But I honestly have no idea whats in the stuff, its worked well for me in the past, but I dunno if its alright for your loaches?? If ive got my information right, the white spot parasite can only be killed in one of the stages of its life, but raising temp speeds up its life cycle, and the meds will kill it then. Tell me if ya want it. I can send it down thru "company" mail :roll:

Alrighty! Just managed to figure out how to set up the cabinet. Took the whole night, but finally got it in place.... I think... theres about 5 screwy things and 5 hingy things thats left. Im thinking (and really really hoping) those are just spares.... :roll: Took me about another hour to slot the filter in it. But overall it looks great! I've never had that big a tank before, biggest would be maybe 10 gallons? Still cannot believe its sitting in my living room. Just hope the landlord won't have a fit when she finds out I have 3 tanks in my one bedroom place :lol: Having said that its nuthin compared to the HUGE tanks I've seen on this forum, and 3 is nuthin compared to 20!! Still amazed at that pic Keri Anne. Anyways will be a while before the fishies will be swimming around, need to find the *right* driftwood, and playing around with the idea of using a gravel stuck to a polystyrene background for a textured backin. Caryl, i've tried getting the gf into it, but she listens for about 10 minutes and then gives up and watches shortland st. :-? Doesn't help that everytime she wants to talk to me she gets grunts for reply cos I'm reading fishy stuff online Ah well, shes the one that got it for my birthday so its all good. The quarantine/guppy tank is all set up as well, 10 gallons with a sponge filter. Its amazing how much crud 3 guppies can produce in a week - did my first water change and the water aint exactly crystal clear. Anyways the set up so far: 1. Jebo R390 224litre aquarium w/ stand - 20 x 3 watts 2. Eheim 2213 external filter - dont know exactly how i'm gonna fit the tubes in but i reckon i can wait setting it up until the discus go into the tank, cant seems to find replacement filter material for the 2213 - been to HFF mt eden, and albany, and Jansens Botany. 3. 150watt aquaone heater, and 300 watt fluval tronic - read somewhere 2 heaters better than one, and the fluvals got a cut off thing so it wont cook the fish. More updates as the tank progresses On the shopping list, lots of dark coloured gravel, big rubbish bin to contain water for aging an heatin, an amazon plants - prob need low level light plants eh? 60 watts for 50 gallons. And polystyrene. Does anyone know whats a good glue to use?

Just got my new tank!! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: It just got delivered today in pieces, gonnna spend the rest of the week and most of the weekend - girlfriend's not gonna be happy - setting up the tank, and setting up the cabinet. It came in pieces, without instructions, but me being me told the delivery guy that i'll be fine I can just see the cabinet giving way and flooding the living room. Anyways its a Jebo R390, about 224 litres, will post pics when i get back from work

OMG!! Thats a LOT of tanks What are you going to put in them?

Wow!! Awesome tank!! :bounce: Nice video Ian, with soundtrack and everything. :lol:

So sorry Caryl, its horrible when things like this happen to the nicest people. Those babies fishies sound pretty awesome though, hope everything goes well and take care.

Nothing? Not even water conditioner?

Hi guys, Does anyone know if Cycle, Stress zyme and stress coat really work? Been reading some stuff online, and they're claiming that the bacteria in all these products are the wrong kind. If so is there really much point getting them? They're pretty expensive as well, and do they really reduce cycling time? Theres some websites "http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwno3faqs.htm" claiming that Bio-Spira is the only thing that really speeds up the cycle, but haven't seen that in stores here. Btw what are the most important test kits to have for an amazon tank? Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrates? Thanks!

The problem with the bug in TB is that its very difficult to kill, from what I know about about it (which aint much) is that it has a capsule which stops your body's defence mechanism from killin it, and even all the wonder drugs we have today don't kill it very well. The bug in humans, mycobacterium tuberculosis is different from the bug in fish tanks - mycobacterium marinum, but cos they all have that capsule they're hard to get rid of once you have them. FYI its also in the same family as the leprosy bug. The bug is more common in salt water compared to fresh water but either way if you notice a scratch that itches a lot or weeps and doesnt heal, better to be safe than sorry and get it looked at. Had a platy which suddenly developed a bent spine, brought him to the LFS, and the guy said it might have been TB. Been paranoid ever since. Don't mean to scare anyone, but its important to use gloves if you have any cuts or scratches, or at the very least wash your hands after dipping your hand in the tank.

Hi guys Just wanna pick your brains about growing out brine shrimp. Is tonic salt good enough to grow them out, or do you need red sea salt? Anyways planning to put a several big gallon jars in a tank with the heater on the outside to heat them up, with aerators and bubbles - not too fine, in the store room which mostly in the dark. I've had several goes with them, and each time, there are millions of the little crawlies all over the place, and then the water goes cloudy, and they all die. Never had them grow bigger than a mm, and I was feedin them sea monkey food. Also do you need to seperate them from the eggs when it hatches?

Lol this is becoming a very philosophical discussion. The thing is that LFS people are the first ppl a beginner asks questions for and when you're dealing with hundreds of dollars of fish, you would expect them to give good advice, and if they dont know, to say they dunno. Personally I've had really good advice from really good ppl from LFS, and lots of bad advice from even the same store, really depends who you get that day. I suppose the end message is that its better to do a lot of research yourself, and ask lots of people questions, and take everything everyone says with a grain of salt. Lol and when you find a good LFS stick with em even if it means paying a little bit more. btw congrats Lorraine!! Gonna get my fishtank soon just waiting to be paid , hows the filter doing on that Jebo tank?

LOL Caper. I know just counting the days now, but dun wanna jump in and buy/do something I'm gonna regret. Problem is, its taking so long!!

Definately. Will be a couple of weeks before I get the tank, and then a couple of weeks more to cycle it, and then I'll get the cardinals-> cories -> ottos -> Discus, so its gonna be a looong time, at least a month and a half before I'll get the discus. Wow Sharn, can't believe you're only 16, your fishy knowledge is pretty extensive .

HEY LORRAINE!!! The pics you sent me look really really good btw. Lol I'm assuming its you anyways can't be that many lorrainel s in palmerston north setting up an angel tank Lol glad you've found this site, I just joined recently but gotta say everyones been really nice and helpful since. Anyways talk to ya later. :lol: -Al

Thanks everyone, been to Hollywood and Jansens Mt Eden today. Pretty impressive! Goldfish Pagoda was closed today - closed mondays, so will pop back later on the week.

Lol Ronnie I wish, new grad so huge student loan to pay :-?. Definately Shelley, Sharns' advise prob gonna be the only thing stopping my fish from keel over and dying, and everyones been great on this forum, big difference from the other forums I've been reading, doesn't have those big dramas an arguments you get sometimes. Just did my round of fish shops today, been to Hollywood, and Jansens Mt Eden, Goldfish Pagoda is closed so didn't get ta see much. But theres a LOT of aqua - one aquariums all quite pricey tho. Still partial to that Jebo I've been looking at the beginning so gonna take the plunge soon. heh heh. Plunge. I've been thinking about fish too much. :lol: Btw saw the arowanas at hollywood, gotta say they're beautiful creatures all shimmery and shiny, pity they need a huge tank.

Hey everyone, just moved up to Auckland, and gettin ready to start up the hobby again. Can you guys recommend any good fish places and shops in Auckland? Been going to Jansen's Botany Downs cos its the closest, but pretty clueless where to go after that.

Yeah thats what I heard about them too, heard the same about ottos too, so hopefully if i get a school of 6 and feed em well they'll leave my discus alone. Thanks for the site, but you know I haven't seen many sterbai's cories in the shops here. But anyways will cycle the tank for a couple of weeks, and the cardinals will go in first cos they're everywhere and a bit more hardier than the other fish that are going in. Heh heh can't wait planning stages almost complete, bank account is gonna look pretty empty sometime over the next couple of weeks, but I'm gonna be a happy broke fishowner

Still in the planning stages gettin my first big tank almost had everything all planned out for a discus tank, but now not sure no more. Was thinking about getting a Jebo 390 (http://aquariumfx.shopnz.biz/catalog/in ... b8a74632ff ), and been given sage advise about putting in a external filter with the hood filter to supplement em. Thought I'd go and check out the aquarium shops to compare prices and everything, and then I realised that the Jebo aquariums don't have an opening on the back to stick the pipes for the external canister to go thru! Actually there was one hole, but couldn't find the tank I was gonna buy so now I'm gettin kinda worried. Does anyone know anything about those Jebo aquariums and their filtration system by any chance? Been lookin at the Eheim Classic, Jebo 819, Jebo 304, and Eheim Ecco? Been reading up about them and they all seem pretty good, looking for something quiet, and reliable. Any suggestions?

Yeah I'm thinking at least if you start out with a hybrid tank it doesn't take much to *convert* it to become a planted tank heh heh, which is where I know i'm gonna go... Spend too much time looking at plants at fish shops for that tank to stay bare for long :lol: But it'll be hybrid while I learn the ropes. The books I've been reading recommend at least 3 discus, but dun wanna overcrowd the tank. So basically dream tank goes: 5 discus 10? cardinals = nice big school 2 blue rams = male and female 5-7? sterbai cories cleaner fishes? May be a bit much for a 224 litre tank, but planning to have hood filter and canister filter going at the same time, any suggestions? Armor catwise hands down goes to sterbais, had a 3 of them which were AWESOME fish, really beautiful fish with HEAPS of personality, they used to aggravate my betta <-- real aggro and in on the other side of the divider, and really try to hack him off which i thought was hilarious. Unfortunately, crazy hormonal dwarf gourami did them in one by one... Water parameters wise tho dunno whether their suitable, they're ok in warmer temps so planning to maintain the tank at 28 degrees to 31 degrees but thats something i gotta check out. Read that plecos are bad for discus tanks, ottos as well cos they latch on to them. Saw my ottos do that to discus didn't leave any marks tho. Any experiences with cleaner fishes in discus tanks?

Thanks for the advice Sharn, yeah know a bit about nitrogen cycling, have an established tank at the moment, should help speed it along when I get the new one. Still looking around at the moment for good tanks still interested in those all in one tanks with the light and the filter but I've come to accept, the bigger the better lol. Bare bottomed sounds like a good idea at the moment, or maybe a hybrid tank like what i've been reading about, a little gravel and driftwood makes for a lot easier cleaning :lol: and looking online for good canister filters at the moment. Anyways at the moment looking at 3-5 medium size discus, with armored cats, cardinals, and possibly blue rams, heard they go well with discus.