whetu

The worst ads for me are any that are trying to sell me cleaning products by making me feel guilty. Like the one where the woman has just given birth and everyone comes to look at the baby but - OH NO - She hasn't cleaned the bathroom!! :roll:

How strange. Have you done tests on the water for ammonia etc? Is the filter in good working order and apparently doing its job? Are the fish behaving normally? The food would be the obvious culprit if it's the only thing you have changed - and presumably you've checked for dead fish, rotting plants, etc. (An ammonia test would show up any problem like that, too.) But if the fish are apparently healthy and normal, then it must surely be something in the food...

I know this no longer applies to you, twinkles, but I can confirm that Java fern will handle cold water very well. I have a large plastic container outside on the deck full of driftwood I'm trying to sink (that's another story :roll: ) but I also have some Java fern in there and it is surviving just fine. As said above, it isn't growing in the cold weather but I expect it will have a growth spurt in the summer. So yep, I can recommend Java fern as a tough cold-water plant.

That works if we assume that the $135/month gas bill is for heating only. If it is also used for cooking etc the break-even time will be longer as they won't be saving that much gas. There is also usually a fixed supply charge and a unit charge for gas. If the supply charge is high, the gas bill might not come down by much. Caryl, what is your gas bill for a typical summer month?

In addition to Lyndy's questions I would also like to know: What size is the tank? What fish do you have in it? Is it planted or unplanted? The answers to all these questions will help us to diagnose the problem and suggest some possible remedies.

I went to my first ever drive-in movie in 2004! In a town called Lubbock in West Texas. In a Chevvy pickup truck. Talk about culture shock!

I still make my own soap, but I use muffin pans as moulds. Speaking of muffins, does anyone remember the days before they were 2 feet tall and weighed a tonne each? We seem to have come to accept super-sized food as normal. *sounds like a grumpy old woman* Come to think of it, they weren't even called muffins. They were cupcakes. Muffins were those things you toasted in a toaster that had a little door on each side and you had to turn the toast over manually to cook the other side...

Very interesting. We don't own our home so I have never thought much about permanent home heating options. This thread has prompted me to take a look at the Consumer article (I subscribe to the online version). I have quoted an extract from the Consumer article below. It's only a small extract and it helps to clarify some of the issues here, so I think I'm allowed to quote it (as long as it's properly credited). The full report looks very interesting and includes a comparison of specific models with their prices and features. If you want to see the whole report you can go here: http://www.consumer.org.nz and either buy the particular report or join and have access to all Consumer reports.

well, just to cause grief to phoenix, I like the eheims! :roll: I have been using one for years now and find it absolutely reliable and easy to use. It is also easy to get started and silent when it's running. AND you can stop or reduce the water flow when feeding! :lol: Also when you detach the hoses from the cannister (when you're taking the cannister away to clean the media) the hoses are completely sealed so no water can leak out while you're gone. The downside (and it's a biggie!) is the price. I would recommend a second-hand eheim if you can find one at a good price or on a super special at a shop, but you probably can't justify the price difference for the performance difference over a fluval.

Barrie, by sign - do you mean have your actual signature on things? Like if you printed a bulk letter and you wanted to make it look like you had signed each one individually? In that case I would suggest signing a blank paper, then getting someone to scan it for you and save it as an image. Then you can insert that image into whatever documents you want. Not sure if I have understood the question though...

Me too! It's amazing how kids and adults just seem to love bubbles. It's an instant hit at (outdoor) parties when you get a bowl of (slightly diluted) dishwashing liquid and start blowing bubbles through slotted spoons, kitchen utensils with holes in their handles, or just a circle made with thumb and forefinger. Recommended cheap fun for all the family.

Oh... as for the time of year - not quite yet! Wait for the weather to warm up a bit first! Is it possible to compare the temperature of the pond to the temp of the tank indoors? Ideally you would wait until the two temperatures are as similar as possible before making the shift. By the way, if you go into the "user control panel" and add a location to your profile we will be able to see where you live. That will help people to give you advice that is appropriate to your region. If you live in central otago you should break the ice on your pond before adding fish. :lol:

Good decision aquadude - the goldies will be much happier in a larger pond rather than a small tank. The answer to your questions will depend a lot on the pond. How big is it (external dimensions and also depth)? What is it lined with? Is it already planted or will the oxy weed be the only plant? Is it in full sun or partially shaded? The bigger the pond (in particular the depth) the better it will be at maintaining a steady temperature throughout the year. Warm water holds much less oxygen than cold water, so if the pond is in a sunny position you will need to have some surface agitation to make sure there is enough oxygen in the water. The fish will also need to be able to hide from the sun and from preditors, so some plants around the edge to shade the water and hide the fish are always a good idea.

Some interesting things there, Caryl - although very American! Also some of them only applied in cities - in the country or in small towns of course we didn't have milk delivered. We had to walk to the local store with our empty milk bottles in a wire holder, then walk back with the full ones. Boy did those wire handles dig into little hands! Older Than Dirt Quiz: How many do you remember? 3. Candy cigarettes - yes! 4. Soft drink machines that dispensed glass bottles - Machines?! wow, you had to be from the big smoke to get soft drinks from a machine. 6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with foil stoppers - yes to the bottles with foil, no to the delivery 7. Party telephone lines - yes. My parents had one until about 10 years ago (the last on NZ's main islands, I believe) 8. Newsreels before the movie - Movies?! Only for city kids :roll: 11. Telephone numbers with 2 letters and 4 numbers - I remember phone numbers with three numbers only. My parents' was 515 13. Wash tub wringer - my mother still uses one 14. 78 RPM records - yes! 18. Using hand signals for cars without turn signals - yes! 24. Pant-leg clips for bicycles without chain guards - You can still get bike clips. This doesn't make you old, just fashionable.

When I was growing up our phone number was 2050S. Our neighbour's (Mrs McIvor) was 2050M. When the phone rang, the ringing was in morse code to match the letter in your phone number. All the phones in the neighbourhood would ring, but you only answered your code. Unless, of course, Mrs McIvor was away on holiday, in which case we would answer the phone when it rang with the 'M' code and politely tell the caller Mrs McIvor was away and would be back next week. (Mrs McIvor would also leave her back door unlocked for the week so we could let ourselves in after school to feed her cat.) If you wanted to make a phone call you would pick up the phone and listen to see if the line was busy. If one of the neighbours was using the phone already they would say "working!" and you would apologise and quickly hang up. If the line was free, an operator would come on and say "number please" and you would tell her (always her) the number you wanted. "2012D please." She would connect you and say "through now". If you were calling another exchange, you would have to give the name of the exchange as well as the number. "Houhora 515 please." The telephone was an important household tool, not a toy. Children were rarely allowed to make calls and we certainly didn't just call our friends for a chat! There was also a definite protocol around the use of the phone - a whole other language and etiquette. Also you would only make calls after about 9pm in a real emergency, because the phone would ring in 10 other households in the district. If you had a late night call, the following day the other kids on the school bus would ask you about it - Who was it? Is your grandmother ok? (Then they would have to report the answers to their mother when they got home from school.) I think I'm older than dirt. :lol:

Hi aquadude, welcome to the forums! I agree with those above who say it's not such a good idea to divide a single tank. Not so much for the heat transfer issue (the amount of heat that's transferred probably won't bother your goldfish) but because you will end up with two small tanks - neither of them really suited to their purpose. And you won't be saving yourself money on equipment because you will still need to have filtration etc for each side of the tank - so you might as well have two tanks to start with. Just in case you're not aware (not sure of your level of experience) a larger tank is much easier to keep in good running order than a small tank. The larger volume of water helps keep everything in equilibrium as well as providing more swimming room for your fish. If floor space is an issue, have you considered two tanks, one above the other? Take a look on Trade Me or other online auction site for examples.

MORE FILTERS! MORE FILTERS! :bounce: :bounce: As others have said, the more filtration the better! It's a very wise thing to have a 'redundant' filter working on your tank. If your main filter starts getting clogged or malfunctions for some other reason, you can take it out and give it a really thorough clean without having to worry about putting your tank through a cycle - because you still have a fully cycled filter working away. And if you need to set up another tank (eg a quarantine tank) at short notice, you have a cycled filter ready for just such a purpose. I run 2 x Eheim 2026 filters on my 200 litre tank and I will never go back to running a single filter again. I love the sense of security it gives me to have two (good) filters. (Each filter is apparently rated for tanks up to 350 litres.) If you are concerned that the current might be too much for your fish, just make sure you aquascape your tank in a way that allows the occupants to get out of the strongest flow (using rocks, wood, large plants, etc). Go for it!

I don't have any pics of the snails that live at my place, but here's a DoC article with some pics & a bit of info: http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/nat ... ail/facts/ They aren't slimey like a garden snail - their body is black and kind of leathery and their shell is very beautiful. I still think my snails would give your worms/centipedes/space aliens a run for their money. *sets up a wrestling ring*

Congrats! I think you got yourself a bargain there. What fun! New tanks! :bounce:

WOW Cool pics! (in every sense of the word) :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: Thanks for sharing, Caryl.

Wow that's a stunning centipede! I wish we got that sort of thing around here but I've certainly never met one. I do, however, own a plot of land which contains (among other weird and wonderful beings) some giant native carnivorous snails. I betcha one of my snails would despatch your centipede very promptly! :lol:

Me too. I relaly like dark gravel & plain dark background to make the fish really stand out under the lights. Sorry I can't help you with any photos though...

Aaawww sorry to hear about the loss of your loach.

I'm with the "guppies in the box" solution. If you're using a heater in any plastic container please be very careful that the heater is well away from the sides and can't accidentally slip and contact the sides of the box. As for the black plastic containers vs the coloured plastic box, someone who knows more about plastics might shed light on it, but here's what I've heard: A lot of black containers are made from recycled plastic, so they can have all sorts of combinations of different plastics in them. Therefore they would not be food safe - and by extension would not be safe to keep delicate fish in (or water for delicate fish). As far as I know, the coloured boxes from the Warehouse are not made from recycled plastic.

That's a very nice piece of wood! :bounce: It's a bit hard to see from the pic how thick the thickest part is - if it's really chunky it can take a looooong time to get the water to penetrate all the way through the thickest part. Personally I would be cautious of boiling it much more because that can weaken the wood and you might find that some of the thinner parts might start breaking down. I would suggest bolting a piece of slate onto the bottom to help it sink permanently.