SpidersWeb

Yeah cracked heaters with water on the heating coil, when plugged in and you put your hand in the tank, will give you a buzz. Happened to me twice so far over the last decade, something I could certianly do without.

Are there any other advantages to T5? The smaller diameter means you can pack more tubes into a smaller area. The reflectors on T5 light fittings tend to be better developed to give more precise optical control and focus. T5 and T5HO fittings have a higher watt per inch ratio as well. More power, brighter light. Another thing that is more of a 'plant' topic than lighting, is most aquarium plants (green ones) need red and blue light. This is why we often recommend daylight 6500 kelvin or thereabouts, because it produces fair amounts of both red and blue. Warm white (2900 kelvins approximately) doesn't provide enough of the blue. I could give specific wavelengths for the various types of chlorophyll but that's beyond the scope of this topic.

Yeah I complained about Target back in 2003 about several things, same subject as this topic, setting people up, misrepresentation etc Actually ended up on the phone with the producer of the show (was rather suprised they actually called me, let alone the producer). While I didn't beleive what she said, she tried to assure me they make their upmost effort to give 100% factual information, I see a Tui advert in that. And yeah I know what you mean about 'grouping people'. If one courier driver fails, it doesn't mean they're all bad, but it does mean the franchise as a whole can't not be 100% trusted. I wouldn't say Fastways are perfect, they might've just got lucky, only way to do a serious test would be to send 100 packages around the country with fragile on them to get an average breakage percentage.

If one courier is letting the franchise down then you have to. I know target is bollocks, but when I buy an NZ Courier bag I can't pick my courier owner/driver who delivers it, I have to trust that the Franchise parent company ensures the drivers follow a set of rules laid out, such as not dropping fragile packages.

Haven't read all your replies but sounds like you've killed most of the bacteria in the filter. Stuff happens. Reduce feeding or do not feed at all. It's not the ammonia you want to be scared of, its the nitrite peak that WILL follow and likely be more severe. Ammonia hurts fish but if they're in trouble you can see it and do something about it, nitrite just seems to kill overnight. For ammonia I just do water changes as often as needed as long as the fish look ok. Its the nitrite that gets my pants in a twist. There are varying opinnions. Some say leave it, let the bacteria go nuts, this gets you long term results in a short time period but I found I ended up with lots of dead fish despite water changes. So its my personal preference to get some Nitrizorb (not Nitrazorb) or similar product that will pull the nitrite out of the water. What I do is leave it in until nitrite is 0, then remove, and put in whenever nitrite is detectable on my kit (checked it once or twice a day). This means there is always enough nitrite to encourage bacterial growth without creating excess that'll kill the fish and eventually the bag will never need to go in to the water anymore. Opinnions vary, but after my last really big move I completely follow my last paragraph now if nitrite shows its ugly head.

Sounds like bloat/dropsy to me. Common in Labrynth fish. If thats what it is you really need proper antibiotics, easy to buy off the shelf in the US but not here. If you look down from above, her scales on the body will make her look like a pine cone. Bloated body with scales pointing outwards. If this is the case it's probably best to put her out of her mysery otherwise the internal pressure will do it on your behalf, and if the other fish eat the remains they'll likely get sick as well.

Furan2 isn't an antibiotic I'm affraid. It's definately (IMO) the best chance you have against bacterial problems without seeing a vet though. Think it's called a bactericide, they say anti-bacterial on the box. When using it though, make sure you have a small hospital tank to treat, because its damn expensive! Cheaper to see the vet if you have a large tank and are unable to move them to a hospital tank. Proper anti-biotics are much much better, and AFAIK they'll treat dropsy/bloat issues too.

Vet I went to, actually turned out to be caserole's brother haha Anyway the script he gave me for antibiotics I picked up at the chemist for $8 (who was admittedly confused as to why I needed them for fish). They're normal antibiotics for humans, just crush them up in to the water. Sorry I can't remember the name, it was picked because it was cheap and can be dissolved in water, think its that one that starts with 'E' used for cyanobacteria as well. Much much much more effective against bacteria with fish than anything you will ever get at fish stores in NZ. Cost is usually higher than the fish, so most people don't bother. In this case it was an oscar with emotional value, so paying the $40 + $8 was worth it. Note however, they're usually not supposed to give out scripts without seeing the animal, so you may need to bring the fish in (or at bare minimum a photo or at least sound like you know what you're talking about, Fenris in your case it'll be easy)

Parrot's don't generally get very big. They're usually an accessory fish to other larger cichlids, like oscars. Something you probably already know, is that they're man made and do not occur naturally in nature but are of South American origins. So for other cichlids look for others in the region such as oscars, convicts, etc (although I'd be cautious with severums, and likely think angelfish are a bad pick). Redspot or Common Plec are good cleaners in these setups. You could get a 400 litre tank built easy enough, even with wood trimmings, talk to Peter at Port Nicholson glass in Petone. Will save you big money and does a good job (often his tanks are wholesaled to other retailers). I don't think you'd need 400 litres unless you wanted a couple of oscars in there as well. More space is good though.

I'd leave the tank as is for a week, then slowly add fish. Really want to avoid a nitrite spike which is common in new tanks. You will know when you need a bristlenose/oto/sae because you'll have to start wiping it off the glass. When you do see it, its a good sign that your tank is mature or starting to mature. Don't worry about algae eating fish (avoid chinese or golden algae eater btw) until you need them.

Not by 3 degrees! It's really annoying this temp reading problem. There is no quality control and the advertising outright lies. It should be taken to the commerce commission and all stock thrown out. I was recommended by other fishkeepers to buy 3 digitals. Return the 1 or 2 with rediculous readings. Seems to be on average 1/3 are miles out. I got an AquaOne digital a few weeks ago, and part of the LCD wasn't even working, its pathetic and unacceptable. I say unacceptable because people say 'you get what you pay for' BUT there isn't anything else in pet stores. They just stock the cheapest thing that looks good. The stick on ones aren't better either. One of mine is out by about 3 degrees celsius as well.

Oto's are the best for algae but most fish keepers find them difficult to keep healthy. If you want something hardier, bristlenose (just a single one even) will keep the tank spotless (but they wont eat black hair algae like otos or SAEs). Young bristlenose do a better job than adults, but even the old guys are still good nighttime workers

If you were a booger, I'd totally pick you first.

All sounds kind of normal to me. As long as they can validate why it cost more than the original quote/estimate. What I do is say outright, if it goes over this amount call me. So they don't have approval to do work beyond a set price limit. Worked for me so far. Tell you what though, made the mistake of going to PitStop for brake disc skimming and new pads. Will never make that mistake again. Prices were stupid. Cost me like $450! $100 per pair of brake pads, god I so wanted to tell him where he could stick his $100 pair of brake pads. My fault for not asking for a quote before I sent it in!! ... but ouch And above where it was said a mechanic added $200 to a bill, thats common and not a mechanics thing. People will pay what its worth to them, so the value of a product or service varies depending on demand and customer satisfaction. If they can do something faster and more efficent, and still charge the same amount, then their efficency is rewarded with profit. If they charged less, then their efficency has little reward if any. How long it took doesn't effect the customer, as long as they get 'x service' for 'x price'. We do it at work as well, but its not $200, its often $5-20K.

Is Janola ammonia or chlorine based? Either way I wouldn't use that near my fish tanks. Will completely kill beneficial bacteria and likely the fish once the residue gets in the water. A simple rinse will be fine, warm water is better, but I usually just use the hose for gravel in bucket, swirl hose around etc etc. (I know people are thinking that isn't good for the beneficial bacteria, but at the same time you've disturbed a lot of nasty bacteria, and fish poop you could do without.) Don't clean the filters (unless they badly need it), and if you do just a quick rinse in luke warm water or tank water. I wouldn't clean any rocks etc either, less that changes the better Good news is you wont go through a full cycle, just want to minimise the possibility of a nitrite spike a few days after they're setup.

NB: digital thermometers for fish tanks are inaccurate, but the 1 degrees variation WILL be accurate. What's not accurate is that they're not calibrated, e.g. 25C on one might be 26C on another. 1C is normal, the heater turns on at x degrees, and off at x+1 degrees. This really really annoys me, hence my temp controller project, but it is normal for most fish tanks. Nitrite is something else to watch as it can result in overnight sudden deaths as well, but sounds unlikely in your case if you only just put the fish in.

Actually clown loaches live quite a bit longer than 7 years. Can't remember the natural lifespan, but its something rediculous. You don't see many older ones is it takes a dedicated fish keeper to get fish to that age in general, and clowns are a bit more sensitive again. They're a great fish though, I love'm. For mid-swimmers I recommend black neons over neons. Black Neons school better, seem healthier etc. The standard neon tetras have a short life span as well. They'll only school when scared but when relaxed they're a cool fish to watch, its quite suprising when you see their personalities emerge under relaxed conditions.

My ex gets big cyano outbreaks whenever she adds plant fertiliser. So if you're doing that, I'd recommend not. Outbreaks are usually the result of something being unnaturally out of balance. e.g. tonnes of one nutrient but none of another. This can be caused by adding tank fertilisers unnesecarily or deposits found in cheaper tropical fish foods (usually not a problem with regular partial water changes but worth mentioning) Plants can surive without light for a few days, cyano can not. Keep it blacked out though, like completely blacked out. Unless your fish are starving they'll make the 3 days without any problems as well. But once its gone, if you haven't corrected the inbalance, it'll be back.

Sounds like you'll be fine mumzy. Will basically be a 25% water change.

Depends on the fish themselves. I've never owned an aggressive krib though, only time they get nippy is if other fish aren't respecting the authority and hang out right in front of them, or they're breeding. I'd say the swordtail got sick, and slow, and krib probably went to have a nibble as it's an easy target. If he was picking on her, you would've seen it. I'd expect the sword will pass on, but fresh water and a little salt may help her chances. Good luck!

I can't see anything wrong with her, I'd expect she's not very far in to pregnancy though, so the gravid spot may not be very noticable, she also looks quite young so this could have something to do with it. I wouldn't expect any fry for a few weeks yet. Babies will be a cross between her genetics and the genetics of whoever daddy was (or daddies as the case may be). They can store sperm, so you wont really know until the fry grow up. If in a few weeks the belly isn't larger and/or you haven't seen fry then you could say possibly infertile, but for the moment just looks like a regular female golden guppy. She also could be just too young, I'd wait until she's a bit older before being too certain.

Get AquaOne, or Jager if you feel rich. Elite has done me well in the past as well. At all costs avoid Masterpet, and I've had problems with Jebo, and most AquaClears.

I'd say that'd be good for most of the time. 440L and 1.5m long is a big tank, and they're not super fast at growing. If that's big enough for 3 oscars (which it is), it'll be fine for the balas. You should be preapred to either move them on if they look cramped in a few years, or upgrade to a larger tank. For the meantime 3-4 would be fine. I'd say 90% of Balas end up dead or in much much smaller tanks by the time they age. If anything you'd be doing them a big favour.

Also note that if you are being electrocuted, normal fuse box switches (even the reusable ones) will NOT flick off under normal circumstances. (As others mentioned above)

Just make sure your RCDs or piles of RCDs turn back on after a power cut (not a trip, thats different). Water is a poor conductor but it does conduct. The only electric shocks I've ever received in an aquarium were mild. But the most common causes I've heard of, had happen etc are broken heater glass (so the heating coil is surrounded in water), and water on four way boards when you pick them up. An RCD is a good way to save you from those experiences. Just make sure it turns back on after power failure (not a trip though, cause that'd be silly). If you can't get the RCD power points with auto-switch on after power cut, then get a normal plug and fit a plug-in RCD that does.