whetu

It would be excellent publicity for the shop. They could have a two-day event where they sell 2cm cuttings for $2 each for every $20 spent in the shop. Then they could have a cobomba-growing contest where you bring your cutting back in two months and there's a prize for the longest cutting, one for the most new branchlets, and one for the brightest colour. Of course I would win because I would set up a special tank that was only 5cm deep and had 500 watts of lighting. I would supplement with special ferts and beetroot juice. :bounce:

What sort of stress have they had? They look pretty fat & healthy to me!

Aaaawww cutie-pies! :bounce:

LOL I wonder how many calls they've had in the last 24 hours beginning "you know that red cobomba in your display tank..." They'll start to think we're talking about them :lol:

yes zev, that's what I was trying to achieve when I set out. If you can imagine a couple of tubes at the back of the tank to provide general lighting, then a spotlight or two at the front giving "pools" of light on particular plants - especially ground-cover plants when you're trying to achieve the look of a brightly lit clearing in a forest with a kind of mini-meadow growing there. Now imagine elsewhere in the tank a red plant also standing in its own pool of bright light. Well if you can imagine that, you'll just have to keep imagining because I haven't actually achieved it yet! :lol: I've recently brought my spotlights out of the garage to give it another go. I stopped using them because the light fittings themselves weren't very attractive - I used bathroom heat lamp shades hoping they would be resistant to damage from condensation (they weren't) and hoping the vents at the top would allow any condensation out (they didn't). Also the shades are white which makes the top of the tank look like it belongs in an operating theatre! Things I would/will do differently: - Paint the shades black on the outside (or whatever colour goes with your decor). Ideally have them powder coated so they are resistant to rust etc. - Paint or line the inside of the shades with reflective material to maximise the light that gets into the tank - Always use the lights with a glass cover on the tank so condensation can't get in. I bought the shades from a lighting shop (not cheap - you may find some cheaper in an online auction). I then bought all the other components from a DIY electrical store: Cables bayonet bulb fittings In-line switches 3-pin plugs Putting it all together was pretty simple. Worth a try if you can get all the bits cheap. I considered buying old desk lamps or bedside lamps from auctions and cannibalising them, but in the end found it easier to buy exactly what I wanted and make it from scratch.

Ummm.. that would mean I would have a shorter commute but my partner would have to commute for an hour and a half in the opposite direction! Actually it would be longer because he would have to go over the bridge in rush hour in the same direction as everybody else...

Actually to me it depends what the gov't is spending the taxes on. If they are spending on public transport, then good on them - go ahead and tax petrol, because they will be offering a long term solution to the problem. Personally public transport is not the answer to my commuting issues (I live in Avondale and work in Glenfield - there are no trains on the North Shore & I would have to catch several buses and take an hour and a half to get to work). But I'm all in favour of people having the option of using public transport, and improving the services we do have. By the way, my solution is to ride a motorbike - solves the petrol price issue, the traffic congestion issue and the parking issue all at once!

:lol: :lol: Oh my goodness! Do your visitors ever get scared they're going to be run down by a freighter? :lol: :lol:

Yep, as Alan pointed out, the depth of the water is the issue here. The deeper the water, the more of the useful light you 'lose' before it gets to the bottom of the tank. This combined with the short length of the tank, means you will be limited in the amount of lighting you can add. My suggestion would be to consider lowering your water level as well as increasing your lighting. You would need to plan this approach carefully to make sure your tank is still aesthetically pleasing once the water is lowered. Perhaps you could get some drift wood that could emerge from the water at the back of your tank, and grow some plants on it partially out of the water? (Various mosses could look nice, as well as plants like anubias). Another method I have used is to supplement the long light tubes with spot lighting using readily available "power saving" bulbs in cool white/daylight spectrum. This means putting together your own light fittings, so if you're into a bit of DIY I'm happy to explain how I did it. It allows you to spotlight specific plants that have high light requirements while having lower general lighting in the rest of your tank. Have fun!

Looks like the top of a cabbage tree to me! It certainly does look great in that tank!

Crikey! You'd expect them to be trimming it all the time. They probably just throw the bits out - I think I feel a dumpster-diving session coming on

Fishoe, may I humbly suggest that you wait a while longer before you try adding any females? Your tank is still very new, and I think it would be better to wait until it is really well established, the plants are growing, the cycling is finished and the fish you already have are settled in before adding more. I think it is really good that you are thinking and planning for the future stock in your tank. By all means think about adding female bettas (fighting fish), look around at the ones in the shops, study them on the net and find what they need to be happy. Just don't add them quite yet. In response to your original question, it seems to me that the character of the individual fish has a lot to do with the success of this set-up. If your male has been living with other bettas and has proven himself to be fairly non-aggressive, and if you provide a calm non-stressful environment for him, then he can probably live happily with a couple of females. If he has been brought up as the only betta in a tank, or has shown himself to be aggressive, or is under a lot of stress, then you might have problems with him.

Hmmm.... I kind of agree with this formula, but I kind of don't. For most second-hand goods I would agree that you would get about half what you paid when it was new, but in the case of an established tank like this people are also paying for the skill and care that went into it. In my opinion, this tank is worth more than the sum of its parts. An established planted tank that looks as attractive as this has an extra value simply because of its appeal. A potential buyer can imagine it in their room looking really gorgeous without having to put the effort into planning and acquiring all the bits & pieces (I know that is the fun bit for us, but many people just want instant results). I agree you can't expect to get back all the money you've spent on it, but you're likely to get a premium on it, much more than if you sold off all the components individually. Now I totally agree with this bit! Put it up for auction and see what someone is prepared to pay. Take lots of photos and emphasise that this is an established, proven tropical tank with everything you need to keep it looking lovely. Good luck.

I agree about the feeding blocks. The only time I have ever had problems with my fish when I went away was when I used a feeding block - I can't prove it was the cause, but I will never use one again. If you have a more established tank, move some "stuff" from that tank over to your fry tank. It's amazing what fry can find to eat on rocks, amongst plants, etc. This especially applies to fine-leaf plants and rocks or decorations with a rough surface and lots of nooks & crannies.

I agree whole-heartedly with this. I think shops like to sell us a chemical for everything (that's where they get their best profits). Adding chemicals to your tank should only be done once you know exactly what the problem is, and exactly what you are trying to achieve. The water in my tank is a little cloudy at the moment, too. I will be checking the filter media today (and possibly adding a finer material to the last stage).

Also it's one thing to see them in a still photo but quite another thing to see them in real life, snuffling around in the substrate, picking things up and putting them down, changing colour and stance, looking out of the tank at you and saying, "where's my dinner?" (That's what they're always saying.) I'd like to hear one of those really big ones clicking as it eats its dinner. Mine are loud enough and they're only little. A big one like that would sound like someone knocking on the door!

What?! I hope you're not serious! Will the beetroot really change the colour of the dragon? I assume she would have to eat a LOT of it to have an effect, but I don't want to take any risks! Eeep!

Dried rolled oats will swell to many times their original size when soaked in water, so I would make sure they were soaked before going in your tank - if the discus swallowed the dry oats they could get a tummy ache. Also where are you reading about the oats as discus food? Oats in the U.S. tend to be much more refined than the oats we have here. They grind theirs up a lot finer - I think theirs are more equivalent to our instant oats. Perhaps the reason the oats cause the colouring to be more intense is actually because of some added nutrient? I'm pretty sure in the US they add vitamins and minerals to all their breakfast cereals, whereas our rolled oats are just the oats with nothing added.

OK I made a platter with stewed apple, grated beet-root, sliced gold kiwifruit, halved cherry tomatoes and parsley around the edge as garnish. My partner is vegetarian so as much as I suggested live insects or a platter of baby mice, he just couldn't do it! I hope the little dragon likes our gift (and I hope the humans don't eat it all first!)

lol good point. Fruit and salad greens it is then. All for the baby dragon though, none for the Mum!

If you get the chance to go to Aitutaki, DO IT! Absolutely the most gorgeous place in the whole wide world.

Hello Sweety! Nice to meet you at last! I hope one day my little loaches will grow up big and strong like you. Thanks for posting the pic, antwan.

No it's not a joke! After browsing through this forum I suggested he should give her a fruit bowl with a couple of cherry tomatoes, a small apple etc. presented on a bed of salad greens. I also saw that some people feed their beardies pureed fruit baby food. Maybe a jar of that with a ribbon around it? I originally suggested he should pick her a bouquet of dandelions but he won't have time as the dragon-warming party is straight after work. Some people have all the fun - I'm not even invited!

My partner has been invited to a dragon-warming party tomorrow. The dragon in question is only four months old. What does one give to a four-month-old beardie? I haven't met her so I don't know what she already has. Suggestions please!

Congrats on the loach acquisition! You'll love them! They are very hardy fish and will put up with a lot of stress, but ich is the big thing. When I got my last two, their former owner forgot to mention that her heater broke a couple of days after the auction started and the poor little guys had been in a COLD tank for about a week before I got them! (This was in June 2004 - mid winter) I was amazed that they both survived their ordeal, and have since thrived. They did get ich, so it's good to keep them in a seperate tank until you are sure they will be ok. So much easier to medicate/raise temp etc when you have no other fish in the tank to worry about. Once my little guys had recovered from the ich and I put them in the big tank with the rest of the herd, they had a huge growth spurt. I think the previous owner had fed them only flakes, but they soon learned to eat lots of different food including raw shrimps, a whole range of vegetables and whatever commercial food I put in the tank. Good luck and enjoy your new little buddies!