whetu

Jimbo, you could add the correct amount of aqua plus straight into to your tank, then top up the water. The chlorine will be neutralised as it is added. Maybe Lyndyloo lives in one of those lucky places that doesn't have chlorine in the water. In which case I will be jealous. :roll:

I just looked back to my posts in Feb 2003 and discovered that I didn't introduce myself either. How rude! :oops: Edit: I forgot to say "welcome to the forums Aquavitamins." This forum is so addictive I'm sure you will reach 200 posts before you know it!

How much lighting do you have? It's usually the lighting that seems to be the biggest restriction on what kinds of plants you can grow and how successful they are. Everything else can be added fairly easily but the lighting is the key.

Can you please explain this a little more, Morcs? A few years?!

Nice tanks! :bounce: You have some lovely driftwood in there... and some healthy looking plants... Ooh I do like seeing other people's tanks!

Yeah that's my thinking, too. You don't have a lot of fish in the tank, and they aren't particularly big or messy. What kind of filter do you have? A good filter with decent flow and a reasonably large volume of good filter media would be an advantage - but I really think you probably only need to do 20 - 25% water change weekly.

I syphon my tanks straight out the window too. It's the front window facing the street so sometimes I wonder what passers-by must think about all this water pouring out my window! Unfortunately my tank is too far away from any plumbing to make your topping-up idea practical, but thanks for sharing anyway! It looks like a very useful idea. Do you use any kind of water conditioner/chlorine remover? If so, do you just put the right amount in your tank before you start filling?

There's no harm in having it if you like the look of it. The fish don't care - it's usually just us fussy humans that are the problem!

I haven't eaten Cadbury chocolate for years. I'm definitely a Whittakers fan! :bounce: In general we try to choose locally made, ethically produced and environmentally sound food (when it's available and when it doesn't cost a million times more than the cheap-and-nasty alternatives! :lol: ) I think Whittakers would be perfect if only we could convince them to use fair trade cocoa in their chocolate. Chocolate is one of those luxury foods that I wouldn't mind spending a bit more on, if I knew it meant the ingredients were ethically produced. Here's a link for anyone who wants to know more: http://www.fairtrade.org.nz/FLO/FT_choc ... 61007f802e And here's a link in case you would like to mention to Whittakers that fair trade cocoa is the way of the future! http://www.whittakers.co.nz/contact/

I agree, caryl. I think 12 of each would look brilliant (12 regular tigers, 12 green tigers and 12 golden barbs). And then something for the top of the tank and something for the bottom. And plants. And driftwood. So you can never see all the fish at one time and there is always a bit of mystery about the tank. :bounce: *Wants a 300 litre tank* :lol:

Anubias will fit both of those requirements. It's a slow-growing plant that needs low light and fish tend not to eat the leaves. At least they don't eat the older leaves (which are very tough) although they might still eat the soft new shoots!

by the way, your golden barbs are very peaceful fish and will be happy living with virtually any other peaceful community fish. Tiger barbs (of which the green barbs are a colour variation) have a reputation for being a bit nippy. But in a tank that size, with a reasonable-sized school of them, you shouldn't have any problems. I forgot to ask more about your tank: What are the dimensions? Are you planning on keeping plants?

I'm with caryl - more fish of the same type look waaay better than lots of different types. But with a tank that size you can do both. A 300 litre tank is big enough that you could double the number of barbs in each of your schools, and still have room for more! So start by increasing the barbs, and then think about the different places in your tank where the fish can swim. Your barbs will be all over the middle of your tank (gold barbs low/middle, tiger barbs high/middle). How about something that swims at the top of your tank and something else that swims at the bottom? A school of cories or loaches would be good for the bottom, and maybe raspboras or some kind of tetra for the top? You might also like to think about an algae-eater type fish - maybe a couple of bristlenoses? Personally I am absolutely in love with my Siamese Algae Eaters (SAEs) and if I had a tank that size I would keep a school of 7 or 8 of them! :bounce: The possibilities are endless! :bounce:

That was my thinking too - a really lush planted tank with one or two species of tetra and maybe a herd of algae eaters like ottos or SAEs. Here's a suggestion for you: Take a look at lots of photos on the web and see what takes your fancy, then link us to them here. We will be able to look at what you want to achieve and advise whether it's possible for you. The key thing for a planted tank is likely to be your lighting. What kind/how many fittings do you have? You will almost certainly need new tubes, but you will need plenty of fittings if you are going to grow the widest range of plants.

I think it would depend on a lot of factors - but it all boils down to how much someone wants it! If you're selling I would suggest putting it on an auction site and see where it goes. If buying, the factors I would consider are: Condition - is it healthy and active? Age - if it is that big it's likely to be pretty old - what kind of life span are you wanting from it? Your own setup - are you able to give a large fish like this everything it needs for a happy and healthy life? (Swimming space, filtration, food, companions...)

nzcookie, sorry to hear about your troubles. It can be very discouraging to have a tank that just doesn't seem to be going smoothly. I have never kept either harlequins or panda cories so I can't comment on those specific fish, but it sounds to me like you might have something 'systemic' wrong with your tank - in other words there's a general problem of which one of the symptoms is stressed/aggressive/sick fish. A 60 litre tank is quite small, which makes it hard to keep everything nice and stable. The plants will help - are they thriving? Also what kind of filter are you using? A filter with a large biological filtration area can make a big difference to a small tank and help make it a lot more stable. Do your fish have places to go where they can get out of each other's sight lines? Decor on the bottom of the tank (rocks, wood, bushy plants) may help the cories, and tall or floating plants for the raspboras. It sounds like you have done everything right so far. The fact that you don't have a large number of fish in there and have obviously been testing your water regularly are both very good factors in your favour. Also the weekly water changes are good, and your tank has been set up for 18 months so it isn't the usual non-cycled tank issue. Keep your chin up. I'm sure you will get past these challenges and have a lovely peaceful tank again!

Thanks VM! :bounce: That's what I'll do then. Did you wait for the plants to get to any particular size or state of growth before you divided them, or just far enough apart for you to get your knife in there?! :-?

But he lives in Palmerston North so unless he's in for a very long flight, he might miss out on being a TV star this time!

I was looking at my biggest sword today and it seems to have a kind of double-crown thing going on - like siamese twin plants. :-? From what I can see (fighting with the plant from above while trying to get the light on it) the two crowns seem to be about 3 - 4 cm apart but I can't tell what's joining them together. Being unfamiliar with the anatomy of sword plants I'm not sure how to describe it! I'm trying to make more space in my tank (to grow some pretty red plant or other) so I'm wondering if I can split off the second sword plant and remove it. Any advice please?

Well it's a bit late now, innit?! LOL seriously though, all the reinforcing that Spink and Mr Spink have done sounds pretty darn thorough. When I first read the word "bookcase" I thought uh-oh... but it sounds pretty solid to me.

Yes, the wattage of the lighting and also the colour are both important. If you look at the light tube it will tell you all the info you need - just post it here and I'm sure someone will help to interpret it! For example one of my tubes says: TLW 36W/865 Cool Daylight Which means it's 36 watts, a T8 type of tube, 6500k colour (which Phillips calls "cool daylight' colour).

Yeah I'm with the others. Do it with the stiff board and you should be fine. Also before you commit to this piece of furniture, check underneath - do the vertical "upright" pieces go all the way to the floor, or do they stop at "kick board" height? Take a look at the back of the furniture to find out. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean, and I've been looking around the house for furniture I can take photos of to illustrate it but can't find any examples. Basically what I'm trying to say is to make sure your tank stand has vertical support, all the way to the floor, in the centre as well as at the ends. This is the only way to ensure the top won't sag under the weight of the tank long term. If you need to add an extra bit of timber under the bottom of the stand for support, now is the time to do it. It will be too late once the tank's in place.

Oooh that looks like fun! :bounce: Unfortunately I doubt my fish would be exotic enough for them - and probably wouldn't enjoy a trip into town on the back of a motorbike in the middle of winter.

This is why I added the info to my signature :lol: Everyone assumes you're a 'he' unless you specify otherwise... (or your name is Lyndyloo)

My mum says that in the 1950s there was a big population of kookaburras in Grafton Gully in Auckland, before they put the motorway through. Much rarer these days though. You did well to see one!