ljtan55

Nice pics! Whats the fish next to the bristlenose?

Wow, its a small world I wonder hows she doing Any fast non delicate fish that doesn't take forever to eat, and doesn't like their water too hot. Watch out for the feelers of the gouramis btw, might get nipped if they're not careful

Thats how mine looked! And then it got transparentish, and all the bigger leaves started coming off the plant. Do ya use any liquid fertilisers?

It grows without light??? Whoaaaah..... Just wondering, is it close to a window at all? If it is, maybe you should move it. And what colour is it? Bluish green or just green? I'm using this thing called phos-zorb which sucks the phosphate out of the water, could be just a gimmick but my indian fern went from coated with brown algae to green again. Its pretty expensive, and it needs to be changed bout once a month, but it worked for me.... If ya could post a pic of it, that could help identify the problem. Good luck with it!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-animals/Fish/Pumps-filters/auction-74865175.htm Aquarium water is pumped past the UV lamp at a low flow rate and is essentially "irradiated," controlling free-floating bacteria, algae and parasites. So its like microwaving if the water. You stick it after the filter so it doesn't kill the good bacteria, guess that means you need a HOB or external filter to use it. I think the lamp needs to be changed pretty often too.

Homemade macro adapter? Howdja do that? I'm wanting to get a digicam with macro for work, but macro lens cost more than the dslr itself... Either way I wish I could take photos half as good as yours.

Honestly Kyle, your photos belong in a magazine or something! Beautiful. Loaches are awesome, pity its hard to get some of the more exotic strains in NZ, but your pic makes me wanna run out and buy kuhlis.

You said it.. allz I know issat when I was doing daily water changes the ferns were dying, but with twice weekly now, they're just surviving. All good tho, in the balance of things, fish trumps fern.

Fancey plecs?? What kind?? Whats the address?? Woohoo somewhere else to drag the girlfriend

He he .. Good to know Lorraine Sacrificial cycling gouramis Poor bf, ah well fish trumps gym anytimes.. and he can always go running Forgot to ask, how was those plants I gave ya coming along? Dun bother changing water for now I'm thinking, let the bacteria fluorish. Btw adding stuff from your old tank like gravel and stuff helps establish cycling faster. Wow your tank is gonna be awesome! Lemme know how it goes I wanna go visit yous sometime once it gets set up.

Hey Chris, heck yeah, been down that road lots The basics are cut down lighting, move your tank away from the window, get fish that eat the stuff (bristlenose plecos, otos, Siamese algae eaters, or borneo suckers for cold water tanks), and scrub scrub scrub. And adding more plants will suck up the stuff in the water that feeds algae. Don't bother with the algae cure, its never worked for me, and using algae weedkiller stuff is scary. But if ya want a virtually unused bottle of algaerid I've got some I wanna get rid off

Awwweeeesooomee I'm getting me one of those!

Mine did the exact same thing, it got smaller and smaller and the leaves started falling off and everything. The tank had CO2, heaps of lighting, and everything so. Felt like crap cos they're supposed to be the easiest plant to keep, but my other plants grew like crazy. Mines also a discus tank. I'm blaming the fact that I did water changes everyday so the phosphates, nitrates, trace elements etc in the water was really low and java ferns absorb stuff from the water I think. I cut back my water changes to about twice a week, and put it small amounts of fertilizer everytime I did, they seem to be doing ok again. On the flip side, in my other tank which received no ferts, very rare water changes, and no CO2, they grew HUGE....

Those are awesome pics Whoa, do ya use flash with them? How do you avoid the reflection of the glass? Great job!!

Just an update on the simorums, their in their own tank, and settling in just fine. They were really shy at first, but now they're all over the place. They look much different now, since their in their own tank, noticing things about them I hadn't noticed before. Still trying to dig up more info on them tho. Thinking about putting my queen arab plecos in with them. I'm beginning to think I might have a pair, noticing subtle differences in the two of them, but not 100%. Two of them in their new home - 60L low light planted tank with anubiases, java ferns and moss. pH6.0, with 28 degrees celsius. With eheim aquaball 2010. Lots of current, and they seem to love it. They're ignoring all flake and pellet food, but going to town on bloodworms. Looks like they're gonna be picky eaters. They both love the hiding places, bamboo caves and driftwood is definately a must, cos they were miserable in the quarantine tank (only gravel) Ya can see the current doesn't bother them from this pic. They like hanging around the outlet. Anyways theres a stripey one with a big tummy, and a more streamlined one. Don't know if thats one of the differences between the sexes, anyone know if thats the case for other bettas? Anyhoo, heres one of them And the other one And another one Ya can see the differences between the tummies, dunno if thats significant or not. Anyways, still out for more info on them, if anyone has them or knows anything about them, I'd love to pick your brains. Queen arabesques plecos might go in this weekend just to see if they can handle flatmates

Oh wow, that sucks. He was the most georgous looking guppy I've ever seen. Sorry for your loss

Thanks IOU, about $19.10 for one.

Heres a pic of one of em, they keep on hiding, so its hard to get a good pic. And try to ignore the huge ramshorn... :oops: The other is hiding at the back.

Cool Mel, yeah its a great place to go for a good selection of fish, try to make it up that way about once a month. But been back 3 times this week trying to make up my mind! Thought I'd better get them before labour day just in case someone else got them before me. They had a little bit of a scuffle on the way home, but otherwise seem to like hanging out with each other atm... Might post some pictures up sometime to see if anyone can sex them. But around the Howick region, Goldfish Pagoda, Jansens and the one at Botany Town Centre are the only fish places I know about. I think they're openning "Pet Boutique" down in Botany Junction mid november, so it'll be interesting to see if they're gonna have a big fish section.

Cool thanks Aaron, I just got them today, they're in a 40L tank atm being quarantined. Just read this post after I started another thread about them. The guy said it was unlikely they were going to get any more but to put your name down just in case. Dont suppose you'd know if they'd be alright with cardinals?

Just got 2 of these bettas, was just wondering if anyone else has had any experience with them. They're in quarantine at the moment, and just wondering if they should be in a species tank or in by themselves, or whether they'll be ok in a discus tank? By chance anyone know how to sex them? They're supposed to be males, but I have some doubts.

Thanks Alan, I've been back to HFF twice in the last week, trying to decide whether to get them. They lady that served me today said that they had a female, but it died, and the two there were males. The water in the tank is about 25 degrees atm, but I came across this on my travels: Temperament: Peaceful Company: Keep Betta simorum (Simor Fighter) with species of the same size. Water parameters: Temperature 27ºC / 80°F; pH 4.5 - 7.0 Aquarium setup: Betta simorum (Simor Fighter) should be kept in an aquarium with a lot of plants that are planted densely to create hiding places. The aquarium should also contain floating plants. Feeding: Betta simorum (Simor Fighter) accepts most frozen and live food. May accept flakes. Breeding: Unknown ... And not much else. Sounds similar to my discus setup if above, might boot out my SAEs from the main tank to make room. If not, will set them up in a tank by their lonesome. Been thinking about them all week, so it looks like another trip to HFF, and hope like mad they are still there.

Does anyone know what kind of water parameters they need, and what are the suitable tank mates? Hard to get much info from the web. Awesome looking fish.

Wow... very nice! Has a nice amazony kind of feel to it. Well done!

SWEET!! Way to go Lorraine!! Congrats!! Just keep em in the tank, they'll be great parents, watch em after 10 days tho, might pay to seperate them if the parents look like they're eating em (swallowing em, and NOT spitting them out). Good luck. I'm just about to let my babies go to new homes, they're about a good size now. Lemme know how it goes!