smidey

Im not sure how or why it kills the BBA, it just does. It is not advertised as a algae killer & does not even say that it may do this on the bottle. Its promoted as a growth enhancer for plants, people have recognised its "side effects" of killing BBA. it says on the bottle that "it also has iron reducing properties" & "contains no phosphates or nitrates". It also notes boldly, "DO NOT OVERDOSE!" Smidey

I have just got rid of BBA with flourish excell. It reccomends a dose of 5ml per 40L of tank water, then a capful per 200L per day after that. I have a 200L tank & it took around a week to kill the algae. I also manually got rid of what I coud, scrubbed rocks etc. For anyone out there trying to sorce it (I had trouble getting it as my LFS did not deal with the supplier) its a Seachem product. It is a organic carbon which plants require so it is primarily designed to help your plants grow. Smidey

BBA, I have just sucessfully got rid of BBA. I, from advise from others here, used "Flourish Excell". Initially you have a larger dose followed by one capful per day. It started to turn the BBA red after three days then it turned white after a week. It also reduces time cleaning as it gets rid of all the other algaes that tend to grow on fittings in thr tank. I manually removed all that i could, scrubbed rocks etc. It is primarily a plant fertiliser but has excellent side effects. Smidey

I have two skunk loaches with 10 neons, 5 glowlights, 4 angels, 2 gourami, 4 serpae neons, a BN catfish & a clown loach & they are not agressive at all, even to each other. they spend most of their time burrowing under my swamp kauri & i hardly ever see them compared with the others. I paid around $10 each for mine at about two inches long. http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/ ... 9cb488.jpg Smidey

Thankyou all, you are all great. On comes the new fish! Smidey

Hi all I have sourced Flourish excell through my LFS who had to locate a supplier & order in. have been using it for a week now, at the dose rates recomended & the BBA has started to "whiten" & die off. I got rid of as much as i could manually first so there is not too much to get rid of. the fish do not seem to be having any adverse effects so at this stage great advise thanks & great product. is also interesting that this product is a growth booster for plants that has a side effect of getting rid of algae. Smidey

Thanks Discusguru, I have "Aquarium Owners Handbook" and it states the ph needs to be 6.5. The more local knowledge I hear makes what the book says rubbish, think I'll get rid of the book. My ph is stable at 7.1+- so I will stear away from trying to alter it & let it run it course. Smidey

Thanks Sharn, I test PH levels regularly and is always around 7.1. Before water treatment the tap water is over 8. I have not yet lowered the tank water, wanted to find out if it could be maintained lower for when i do.

Thanks Sharn & TM. Again I find something published in a book not to be a hard fast rule. Anyone else keep discus in 7+ PH levels? I have swamp kauri in my tank so i figure it does the same as drift wood.

hi, my tap water is over 8. My tank stays constant at around 7.1. If i use "ph down" to lower it to 6.5 how do i maintain it at that level? Smidey

sorry all, showing my inexperience. my water has a pH of 8+ which is obviously alkaline.

Hi all I am about to add some discus to my community tank. I cannot locate any good books that explain how to maintain water at a PH of 6.5. I'm sure all the discus enthusiasts out there will know where to find it. Is it a case of constantly lowering the ph (my area tap water supply very acidic) or is there a way of maintaining it at that level. Smidey

Thanks ballistic, I have a tank with a factory made hood, i could still mount it below the hood at the back which would be acceptable to me. I think it was a aqua one filter that i saw & didnt like. Thanks for the advise. http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/ ... 9cb488.jpg

hi stompa, thanks very much will give em a look.

hi fishboi, i want to make a non intrusive one as the units supplied are IMO ugly & would ruine the look of my tank. Wolud like to hide the spraybar so to keep a natural look Smidey

hi all, has anyone out there made their own "easy on the eye" or "non intrusive" spraybar for a canister filter? Did it work well? Any set backs? Smidey

Thanks spidersweb, you have just given me any idea. The existing hood filter has a 800mm spraybar with 16 rows of holes. I could make another item that hangs just under the surface of the water to plumb the canister filter into & have a pickup pipe drop into the corner. This, to me, doesn't sound to difficult but I haven't done it yet so easier said than done! Angels & Discus: I have read a few books that say my existing fish will cope fine with the increased temp for the discus. If we look at it like they are in the wild, i guess the temp would go up & down like a sea saw depending on depths of water, climate etc so I thought i'd give it a go & learn from it. Everthing we read & hear of is just opinions from people that have learned from their experiences, we are all scientists in our own ways, studying & learning & i'd like to try it. Smidey

hi evilkanevil, initially I am getting rid of two of the angels, getting the discus quite small (around 3cm size). When the discus get larger then I will get rid of the other two. I have read about the worms etc that the angels can carry & that people think that the two together looks odd but at this stage i'll leave it at that & see how it goes. Smidey PS evil kanevil was great, robbie i think is better.

hi 2fishy, how many are there & what are the contact details? I went to my LFS today & enquired about the puffers. They told me that they had heard of the brazilian freshwater puffers & was aware that they had been kept in community tanks. However they did not know where to source one but did say that someone else had been in recently asking about them as well. Smidey

Hi all, I am preparing to add a pair of discus to my tank. Before I do this I want to add a canister filter to my setup & use the existing hood spraybar filter as well. Anyone had any problems doing this? Also I viewed a tank last week that had a canister filter (aqua one item i think), I did not like the spraybar etc that had been fitted to the back wall. I like to keep the tank looking as natural as possible. I have put the heaters very low in the tank behind the driftwood in one end & rocks & plants in the other. Have also put a dark blue background on to make the tank appear "deeper" than it is. I don't like the idea of having to put a spraybar etc on the back wall as I think that will ruine all the other asthetics of the tank. Are there any canister filters out there that do not require this? Is it really a must do? Are there any other plumbing fittings out there that are easier on the eye? http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/ ... 9cb488.jpg

tried to msn messenger you, email came back.

I waterbalsted mine then soaked it in my daughters baby bath for a few days (daughter big enough to use house bath now). It is a piece of swamp kauri & it didn't leach out anything or cloud the water at all. Smidey

Thankyou all for your comments. After the first reply I had almost given up the thought of the posibility of having one but now seems to be possible in some form. I will research some more a update with findings. I was looking at the puffer site because last summer i was boat fishing off bream head outside the whangarei harbour & actually caught & hauled a puffer up to the boat (puffed), I didn't what to do with it & even that it could be in the waters there so managed to get it off the hook. As it swam off it "un-puffed" and looked beautiful on the way back down. Smidey

I went from a 1 foot to a 1000mm setup. I decorated the tank & filled it, on the third day after filling I started to put some of my existing fish in. I had put the internal filter & half the water from the old small tank into the new tank. I had 5 glowlights, a BN catfish, a sailfin corydoras & four angels & they were all in the tank by the fifth day & i did not loose any of them. I did this for two reasons, couldn't wait & every book I read said a different thing, some said 36 days before any fish, others said a week if you bacteria boost with existing hardware. I put the fish I liked the least as testers & it worked out fine. Did find it important to do regular water changes. Smidey

Hi LJTAN, i'm just curious if you have a thermometer in the corners of your tank & if the temp stays even throughout the tank. I was advised to put two smaller wattage heaters in my 200L tank (1 at each end) so they heated that larger amount of water more evenly. Are you aware if you get cold spots or was that just a sales ploy to get me to buy two heaters rather than one. My tank does heat evenly just wondering if yours does to with one heater. Smidey