whetu

I like a bit of tannin in the water! You've just reminded me I don't see it in my tank anymore, now the freshest bit of wood in there is about two years old. I used to like the slightly brownish look it gave the tank... looked very natural to me.

Yep, sounds about right to me, too. If the fish are small and you're not overfeeding, you can probably get away with a slightly lower rate of water changing, but you're better to be safe than sorry! Also as they grow bigger you will need to change more so it's best to get into good habits.

Sounds like the closing scene of the Flintstones when Fred's trying to put the cat out. Dunno why he would put the blanket and fire extinguisher out too though...

Further to the danio-temp-issue, I have (in the past) kept danios with clown loaches at a temp of 27 - 28 dgrees. It wasn't ideal and I did notice that if one of the danios got a minor injury it would fungus up very quickly and require treatment (in cooler temps if they got a minor injury they tended to recover just fine without meds). So obviously the danios were being stressed at the higher temps and it was not ideal, but I suspect they would have withstood an overnight temp increase of a couple of degrees just fine. So once more it supports the theory that a sudden change in conditions is a bigger issue than long-term slow adaptation to stressful conditions. (Think temperature, pH, etc)

It would depend what temp the danios were used to. They can certainly live at lower temps than a lot of other tropicals, but can also be very hardy at higher temps if they are acclimatised slowly. I think, as twinkles said, the extremely well-insulated tank probably meant the temp rose pretty fast once the thermostat failed. Sorry to hear about your losses, twinkles. It's so hard when you're trying your best to do what's right for your fish and it all turns out badly instead. Just to make sure this lesson is not wasted, please will everyone reading this thread go and check the temperature of your tanks! And if you don't have reliable thermometers, go out and get some! *runs off to look at tank temp*

I never get bored with my fish... and I only have one tank set up, and I've had pretty much the same combination of fish for the past eight or nine years! Here's a theory: When you folks get bored, you go out and get another tank/more fish/different plants. For me (as a renter on a fairly low income) I simply don't have that option. So I spend a lot of my time researching, reading, planning and dreaming. I always have four or five dreams on the go at one time! :lol: As a result I always feel excited when I look at my tank. I can sit there for hours staring at it, and dreaming what I would do if I had an 8-foot tank (which would also involve owning my own home so I would know I could always fit the tank and not have to keep moving it!) I dream about plants, substrates, filters, lights, tank stands, maintenance programmes... and I never get bored! :bounce: So the key is wish-fulfillment. Or more specifically, never having your wishes fulfilled. If you never get what you thought you wanted, then you can never get bored!

Yeah 700mm is a pretty deep tank, so the light will have trouble getting all the way to the bottom. You'll probably find that your quick-growing stem plants will shoot up to the top pretty fast, then their growth will get thick and bushy near the surface of the water. This will then compound the problem by blocking the light to the other, slower-growing plants. I can think of a few solutions: 1) Get a lot more lights to increase the wattage (then keep your faster-growing plants well trimmed so they don't hog the light) 2) Get someting like metal halides (which I haven't used personally) to increase light penetration through the water 3) Select plants that prefer low light conditions Do let us know more about the plants you already have - photos are best but descriptions would also help. You may already have some suitable ones mixed in with the others so once you have identified what you have you can try to meet their requirements.

I agree, a tank make-over is excellent fun! :bounce: :bounce: Just remember the most important thing of all: put before and after photos here for us to see!

Wow firefish that sounds great! (Apart from seeing phantom insects of course ) A couple of years ago a friend of mine was doing her PhD and she was studying invasive alligator weed in a swampy lake up north. She had to put insect traps out to find out which bugs were living in the swamp. A bunch of us spent a weekend building bug traps and wading through stinky, slimey swamps to install them. It turned out to be excellent fun - but then the poor girl had to spend the next several months of her life counting and identifying bugs! Glad I just got to wade through slime, that ws the fun part!

:lol: That would explain why my grandad was a firey redhead! :lol: Potassium permanganate (Condy's Crystals) has been used for generations to treat open wounds as an antiseptic. My Mum used to put it on our knees if we grazed them - we rarely complained to Mum about grazed knees because the treatment was worse than the injury! Ouch! http://dermnetnz.org/treatments/permanganate.html Apparently it's safe in dilute amounts but can irritate the skin if too concentrated.

My bristlenoses eat the soft fleshy part first, then the skin later (if I leave it in there). I suspect it's just that the skin is tougher so it's easier to eat the flesh first.

Minus 3 degrees?! brrrr! The suggestions above sound good. I would add that you wll need to make sure there are no gaps in your insulation - try to make the insulated 'casing' around your tank as neat-fitting as possible and cover all sides, top and bottom. Maybe you could even cover the front of the tank and only remove the front cover when you want to view the fish? (I imagine you won't be watching them much in a freezing cold laundry anyway.) Also what kind of filter will you be using? If you're using an external cannister filter make sure you also insulate the filter and the tubing to avoid losing too much heat during the filtering process (or better still use an internal filter for this tank).

You reminded me of another random use for potassium permanganate: Mix some with glycerine and rub it into your skin as a fake tan! True!! But make sure you wear gloves if you don't want the palms of your hands to be brown. Disclaimer: I only know about this because it's what my grandfather used to do in the old, old days before commercial fake tan was invented. I have never tried it myself and have no intention of doing so. Do it at your own risk (then post pics here so we can all have a good laugh).

I think we all did this. :oops: At least we have made progress since then (we're in here talking about it aren't we?) RIP all the poor little goldfish that were the beginning of our fish-keeping experience and suffered so needlessly.

In a newish tank it's definitely normal to get algae - it can take quite some time for the whole system to get settled and for the plants to get fully established. I suspect that adding more plants will be a good thing - it will help to absorb any excess nutrient in the water and therefore the algae won't find it as easy to thrive. You didn't mention what kind of plants you have - it's good to make sure you have some quick-growing stem plants that take the nutrient straight from the water, rather than slower growing plants that feed from the substrate. I have always found bristlenoses to be excellent algae-cleaners so I'm a little surprised you would find a lot of algae in a tank that size with two bns. On the other hand I still don't think it's anything to worry about - just keep up good maintenance (water changes etc) and it should all turn out fine.

I would suggest getting a more definite diagnosis before treating them again. As far as I know, clown loaches don't get cloudy patches from lying around on the substrate. Heater burn is one possibility, if they squeeze into a small space between the heater and the glass (for example). Is there any sign of the skin flaking or looking any different around the 'cloudy' area? How long have you had your loaches and how big are they? Is it possible this is just the greaying-out that they do when they are testing dominance with each other? Are you familiar with how that looks? Please give as much info as you can, and if possible include some photos. It would also help to know more about your tank: - what size is the tank? - what other fish do you have in there? - what filtering system are you using? - what is the water temperature? - how long has the tank been set up in its current location with its current occupants? - have you tested the water for the presence of ammonia and/or nitrites? - have you changed anything about the tank recently (for example thoroughly cleaning the filter, adding new fish, plants or decor)? I have clown loaches of my own and I would be very sad if they got sick so I'm keen to help yours to get better. Any info you can provide would help.

Oooh I need to point out that I only included the people who actually posted here in the tally - I didn't include any of the husband/wife/partner/children info. That's a great chart, phoenix! So much easier to see in that format than as a list of numbers! :bounce:

I don't know the proper order for star signs so I have put these in alphabetical order :lol: How many signs are there? If there are meant to be 12 we're missing one... Aquarius 3 Aries 2 Capricorn 1 Gemini 1 Leo 2 Libra 3 Pisces 2 Sagittarius 8 Scorpio 1 Taurus 3 Virgo 5

Gemini It's a shame this isn't a poll - would be nice to compare the numbers of different star signs at a glance. Is anyone keeping a running total?

Apparently we shouldn't eat our aquarium fish because a lot of the products we use in domestic fish-keeping aren't approved for use with food-fish. Just saying. :-?

I believe 'Dupla' is a brand name so it would be safer to refer to it as 'dosing drops'.

All of those fish will ultimately get too big for your tank. Also your tank is tall rather than long, so you will need to think about stocking fish that prefer the height - and I believe all those fish prefer a longer tank rather than a high one so they can have plenty of swimming room. Of the fish you mention I have only kept clown loaches and they do like to be in groups of at least five or six as mentioned by crazyzoo. They can live for many years (there's one on this forum that's already in her 20s!) and will grow up to 30cm long so they will need a much bigger tank. On the other hand they grow fairly slowly so you might be able to upgrade as you go. I did inherit a large pleco at one stage and it was really enormous! It was at least 30cm long and a very hungry, messy animal - it would fill a tank like that all on its own!

Yeah I think there's a lot of that about... :oops: Interesting that we don't include our gender in our profiles on here (unlike most other forums). Makes it a bit confusing when you try to refer to someone else and you don't know whether to say "him" or "her"

Sounds to me like you're doing everything right so far. Good on you for doing the research and being patient with the process. With the tank being so big and using only a few small fish for cycling, you might find that your ammonia never reaches detectable levels. Do keep an eye on everything - especially get to know your fish and what is normal appearance and behaviour for them so you can act quickly if you see signs of distress. Otherwise you can begin to very slowly stock your tank with the fish that you will be keeping in there long term. Of course do your research and discuss your fish choices here first, and we will help you to decide what order and what numbers to stock. (That's the fun bit and we'll all want to be involved :lol: ) Also it is very likely that you will get some kind of algae outbreak. Quite often during cycling you will get one kind of algae, then just when you think you've got that sorted out you will get another kind, then another... Just be aware that your tank will take some time to settle down and get the right balance between plant growth, light, nutrients etc. So don't panic, avoid doing anything drastic, and use slow and steady methods to achieve a long-term balance. Once you have a nice crop of yummy algae you might like to add some algae-eating fish that will be compatible with your ultimate plan for the tank - perhaps bristle-noses or Siamese Algae Eaters.

That's interesting Ira. My other hobby is motorbikes (just riding them - not racing or anything serious). Of course it's a male-dominated hobby but there are also lots of women involved, both as 'everyday' riders and as racers. I would have thought that women would have been interested in RC planes as well. Ooops almost forgot to tell you about me: Name: Lindis (after the Pass) Sex: Female Age: 40s (anyway it's rude to ask a lady her age) :roll: Status: In a relationship My partner enjoys watching the fish and will help with them if he's given specific instructions... like "carry that bucket over there" or "put half a teaspoon of flakes in the tank." When we'd been going out for a little while he decided he wanted a tank of his own and I helped him set one up in his flat. He got one of my old tanks, then we went shopping for lights, filters, heaters etc. and he got very fond of the two fish he chose (a small school of neons and two female bettas, both named "Betty"). After we moved in together we combined our tanks and his fish moved into my big new tank. Call me slow, but it took me a while to realise that his sudden interest in fish-keeping had more to do with me than the fish. :roll: His interest in the Betty family declined sharply once we had moved in together. :lol: