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You're not kidding about the stargrass! what a great crop! I say definitely bettas in there. The colours will be brought out by all the lovely colours you already have in the tank - the pale green and red plants, the dark gravel. And plenty of places for them to hide. Just as well you're not closer or I would be stealing your tank to have a pretty betta setup at my place! :lol:

Veges are an 'alternative' food? Wow... don't tell my fishies. They think they are a staple. Of course it depends on what type of fish you have. My gold barbs love their veges but I'm sure they would turn up their noses at beef heart (not that I've ever tried it). I put some sprigs of fresh new grass in my tank the other day but nobody even nibbled it! If I put a variety of mixed veges in the tank, the sweetcorn gets eaten first, the peas second and the carrots left till last. IMO variety is vital - as people have mentioned, a buildup of some nutrients can cause problems (for all sorts of animals, not just fish). So if you feed a variety of commercial dried foods and fresh foods suitable for your fish then you're likely to get it about right. By the way, my fish and I eat organic vegetables whenever possible because we don't like pesticides!

I vote for B! Those are all pretty, colourful, interesting fish. I had a bichir and at one stage I wrapped one of those plant weights around a prawn and dropped it in the tank. You should see the AMAZINGLY sharp toothmarks in the plant weight! I certainly wouldn't be putting any fish in a tank with those teeth to contend with!

I'm very sad to hear of your loss After some of the recent experiences of members here, I think I'm going to become an obsessive-heater-checker! I have already changed everything to two different power points (each with a multi-plug attached). Each plug now has one heater, one light and one filter plugged into it. That way if the overload gets tripped or one of them gets knocked out, hopefully things won't get too bad before I notice. (The advantage of having one ligh in each is that hopefully I'll notice if one of the lights stays off all day.)

Yeah my ideal setup would be a layer of Dalton's all over the bottom of the tank, with Dupla-rit balls planted in it at intervals. IMO that would make the perfect planted tank. :roll: *dreaming*

I used Dalton's last time I set up my 4 foot tank. I took the tank apart the other day to move it and was absolutely AMAZED at the root systems of the plants. The roots were really well established and strong, and spread right through the Dalton's. Unfortunately I wasn't in a position to use Dalton's again when I set up the tank in the new house, and now it's set up it's too late to retro-fit it. I would recommend Dalton's - at $10 a bag it's a bargain.

That's really excellent footage showing lots of examples of dominance behaviour. You can see them strutting where they stiffen up their fins and look like they're kind of standing on tiptoes, you can see one of them greying out, they line up alongside each other and have a shoving match, and they bare their 'teeth' at each other as well as doing the darting movements towards each other. Really classic clown loach behaviour. This would be excellent footage to use to demonstrate what we mean when trying to describe this to someone who is new to loaches and wondering what is normal behaviour for them. But yeah it does seem funny that they would live in harmony for so long then suddenly get all tetchy with each other. It will be interesting to see of they resolve their differences and go back to living happily together,or if this is a permanent change in their relationship. A real clown loach soap opera!

I had some livebearers in with my five clown loaches for a while, and the fish had plenty of surviving fry. I assume the loaches ate some, but it didn't keep the population in check.

Thanks for the feedback on clove oil, Brad. I have only ever used it on very little fish, and I'm glad I have never had to put a bigger fish to sleep. It is very reassuring to hear of your first hand experience. Conch, I agree that cutting the fish's head off is a relatively quick way to kill a fish and I would endorse it as another way to do the job. I have also used that method (again, on little fish only) and have found it very upsetting for me when I have been very attached to my little pet I think that knowing the clove oil method is effective and relatively easy on the owner (and on the fish, from what we can tell) means that people might be more likely to euthanase a fish when the time comes rather than leaving it to suffer for any longer than it needs to.

Thanks for the advice, Warren. I actually threw away all the gravel I had in the tank and started again. I also boiled the larger rocks and the drift wood before returning them to the tank, and scrubbed the tank glass very thoroughly. The kind of algae I had was something I've never seen before. It wasn't a nice even greenish layer (which I have no problem handling). It was horrible hairy dark green/black stuff that grew like very thick fur on everything. The best way to describe it would be to imagine a black Persian cat inside your fish tank! My bristlenose catfish couldn't eat the stuff and I was actually scared they were going hungry because the 'normal' algae had nowhere left to grow. The "fur" was very fibrous and would block up everything - I have two eheim filters and they struggled to keep working. I had to keep cleaning the algae out of the intakes. After dismantling the tank and cleaning the filters I ran them with very hot salty water for a while, in the hope that any algae inside the filter would be killed. I'm also dosing the tank with algae rid so if I have accidentally transported any bits in while netting the fish, hopefully the algae rid will stop them getting established (although it seemed to be completely ineffective on trying to get rid of it once it was established.) I have also thrown away my glass cleaning magnet, boiled the nets and either boiled or thrown away all the cleaning equipment I used to get rid of the algae. If this doesn't work, you will all hear me screaming from North Cape to Bluff!

Hi spoon, I'm really pleased to hear your loaches have recovered and are doing well! I have five clown loaches which I have had for a few years now. Three of them I have had for seven years, and two others I have had for four years. From my experience and research, I would suggest the following to reduce aggression between your loaches: 1) Make sure they both have plenty of places to hide. It sounds like you already have lots of plants, which is good. Do you also have some hollow logs, piles of rocks, and other places they can go to get away from each other? They like to squeeze into small dark places. A piece of black water pipe weighed down is always a hit with my loaches. 2) If you see aggression starting again, do what it seems you have done this time - change their environment. Just moving a decoration or a major plant around in the tank can break up the territorial aggression. Or put in something interesting and novel like a handful of marbles or a coloured rock (even if it's just a temporary distraction). 3) Loaches are indeed very sensitive to salt and meds as they don't have scales to protect them. 4) Make sure they get some kind of sinking food so they aren't competing too hard for scarce food. Algae wafers, bits of vege weighted down, a weighted shrimp... 5) Generally just make sure they are comfortable. Make sure they have an optimum (and even) temperature, you do regular water changes, they have a variety of food and plenty of places to hide. 6) Of course people will suggest adding more loaches to the school and I tend to agree. At least this will spread any aggression around and give the one who's being picked on a chance to get away. However I cannot honestly say that my loaches are any happier in a group of five than they were when there were only three of them. One of mine is bigger than the rest and always hogs the food and chases the others away - having extra friends in the tank has not changed his behaviour at all! Good luck with your loaches, I get a lot of pleasure from mine.

Thanks fish_fingers & purplecatfish. I have learned my lesson about sterilising plants so hopefully I won't have another algae outbreak! I will PM you both to accept your kind offers and arrange to pick up some cuttings from you.

Heh you should all just move into the cold, drafty flats where I've been living for the last few years. No need to open windows with the wind whistling in under doors and around window frames! Silly modern draftproof houses are the problem!

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone in Auckland has any plant cuttings I could have? I've had a bit of a disaster with my tank (bought stuff off trademe, didn't sterilise, nasty outbreak of bush algae). I had to take down my tank to move last weekend so I decided to do a major sterilisation. I've thrown out all my formerly cherished plants and I'm going to start again At this stage my tank consists of only gravel and rocks. I'm going to boil and scrub the driftwood before returning it to the tank to make sure it is really thoroughly clean. Unfortunately the cost of the move and other recent expenses means I can't afford to buy new plants from a shop and the tank is looking like an underwater desert. So if anybody has any plants at all that they would be willing to take cuttings from, I would really appreciate it. The tank is 450 x 600 x 1200mm (2 ft high, 4 ft long) so even if you have a big plant that has out-grown your small tank, I would love to adopt it and give it a new home! I have plenty of lighting, ferts etc in stock. I used to have the tank looking really lovely before this bush algae catastrophe so you can rest assured I will take good care of any plants you give me. Thank you to all my fellow hobbyists - I hope you can help a slightly discouraged fishy person

Ooh the old seat belts are a great idea! You could use them the way they use those straps to lower a coffin into the ground. (Would still need 4 people though - one for each end of two straps.) And the 4 x 2s and the damp teatowels to stop it slipping... another couple of great ideas! I would like to add - a pair of gardening gloves. I have a pair with green rubbery palms and it makes it much easier to grip things - especially slippery glass. Good luck!

Just realised I'm not finished babbling yet... Trust your nose! Rinse your driftwod then sniff it all over. If you can smel yukky/rotten egg/ammonia/other nasty smells, don't put it in your tank. Parts of it may be rotting and this can cause your pH to drop and give you all kinds of problems.

As others have said, 3 is the minimum, six is better. You need to plan your ultimate tank size based on six - having just one is not a long-term solution to a tank that's too small. They will grow big, but grow fairly slowly. Plan on growth of a couple of cm a year on average, although that will happen in spurts rather than steady growth. But once you get them, you will be committing yourself to getting bigger and bigger tanks for as long as you have them (which may be fifteen years or more! ) Make sure you have lots of hiding places where they can get away from you and each other. Mine go through stages of being territorial where one will take over a space and chase anyone who comes close, and other times where they're more social and will all squeeze into one tiny space even though they have plenty of other places to go. Clown loaches can be a fun and attractive pet, but you do need to be committed to them long term, and prepared to up-size your tank in time. By the way, I have five clown loaches, of which I've had three for about seven years, and two for about five years. They're in a 4-foot tank and seem fairly comfortable in it. That might give you an idea of planning for the future.

Just some general thoughts on collecting rocks and driftwood from the 'wild': - Officially you need a permit to take stuff from beaches, reserves, parks etc. but I think you should be fine if you stick to the 'spirit' of the law - don't take anything from delicate ecosystems (this includes Rangitoto!) and have respect for the environmental and cultural reasons for the rule. Take only what you need and no more. Only collect enough to decorate your tank - don't collect your entire stock of substrate from the wild. That's just greedy! :-? - Anything you collect should be thoroughly cleaned before putting it in your tank. Better to be safe than sorry. I've made mistakes by chucking driftwood straight into my tank and regretted it. A few minutes cleaning could have saved me hours of work. - Test rocks by cleaning thoroughly, then putting a drop of vinegar or other acid on them to see if they 'fizz'. Especially do this with rocks that have light-coloured veins running through them. It might be limestone, which is very alkaline and can mess up your pH. - Don't use sedimentary rocks where you can see shells imbedded in them for the same reason. (Unless you want your pH high of course) - Avoid porous rocks (like scoria) unless you really know what you're doing. The little holes in the rocks can contain toxic gases (eg sulphur). Bad for fishies! Also other hidden dangers can lurk in the holes. - Avouid rocks & wood with sharp bits, especially if you have fish with flowing fins, or ones that are skittish, or fish that like to dig or hide in small spaces... hmmm I think I've just covered most breeds of fish! - Personally I don't soak driftwood in bleach because it can soak in and be really hard to get out again. - My preferred cleaning methods (in no particular order): Boil, soak in a salt solution, hose down with a high pressure hose, scrub, leave out in the sunshine to dry and be exposed to UV rays. All that stuff up there ^^ is just my personal opinion based on personal experience, advice from others and a small dose of common sense. Others will disagree, but I hope it helps anyway. Sorry about the babbling... :oops:

That's what I was going to say - if you have a filter where you can adjust the direction of the water flowing into the tank, experiment with it so the water is circulating all around and stirring up the rubbish on the gravel. You'll soon find the best position for your particular layout depending on positioning of your hard elements (rocks, wood) and your plants. It might also help to rearrange these a little so the current can get around them and pick up the poop.

Sounds like you've decided against the angel fish. Good. How about some zebra danios? Easy to look after, active, stay small. You would need a school of maybe 8 to 10 fish to keep them happy. Otherwise, how about a couple of female bettas (Siamese Fighting Fish)? They can be very pretty colours and have great personalities. Note: I wouldn't advise keeping the danios and bettas together. The danios can be a bit nippy and pick at the betta's fins. Personally I don't use sea-sand in my tanks. Full of salt, and potentially lots of shell fragments that will raise the pH of your water and make it hard to keep a lot of types of fish. For the price of some gravel (not much for a small tank like that) I would buy the proper stuff rather than getting sand from the beach. (If you lived nearby I would give you gravel - most fish-keepers seem to have a bucket or two sitting around! Any offers from locals...? ) If you want to get into planted tanks seriously, the dalton's is good. For your purposes I would recommend you keep it simple and grow some really easy-care plants. Most of them will do just fine in plain aquarium gravel. If you like, once your tank is settled you can add a fertiliser tab under the gravel for the plants that need it. Depends on a lot of things but the biggest factor is lighting. The good news is with a tank that size it's fairly easy to get the light to penetrate all the way to the bottom of the tank and get good results. This is a big question - maybe start a new thread in the planted tank section? Depends on what you're keeping in there. With just a few smallish fish you may not need to upgrade your filter at all. If you fall into the dreaded trap of over-stocking, you'll need to upgrade. And that costs money. Go on, see if you can be the rare fish-keeper who keeps your senses in the face of temptation, and stocks your tank sensibly! Good luck! :lol:

I second that. If you can, choose females that have been brought up in a community tank and/or with other female bettas. If they have been socialised to live with other fish, and have the temprament for it, then they make really good community tank companions.

That's the problem - if they'll eat the duckweed, they'll eat all the other plants too. My rosey barbs used to be plant-gobblers. I could distract them from the plants by putting lots of other greenery in there (peas, courgettes, spinach) but if I left them for a few days without greens they would start on my plants So think very carefully about a plant-eating fish... what will it eat when all the duck weed is gone?

I have a hunk of wood in my tank that still doesn't sink on its own after about three years. And the person I bought it from (on trademe) said it was already waterlogged at the time! I've screwed the bottom of an icecream container to the bottom of it, and I cover that with gravel. It's just got to the point where that's enough to sink it, without additional rocks on top of the wood itself.

A wardrobe?! There has to be a good story behind that, Caryl. Thanks for your reassurance, people. Will definitely store it

Just to go waaaay back to the beginning of this thread, when you're removing the rock wool from around the roots of your plants, do it carefully so you don't break the roots. Sometimes the roots are growing well into the wool and it's hard to get them out. In that case you should cut the roots with a sharp pair of scissors rather than breaking them off. Whenever I'm re-planting plants that have an established root system, I cut the roots off to within about 3cm of where they join the plant stem. Then I cut the top of the plant down too - if it's a stem plant I cut it down to the first set of strong, healthy leaves. If it's a plant where the leaves grow straight out of the crown, I cut the leaves in half! Makes the plant look funny for a while, but makes it much easier to re-plant and I find it recovers from the shock of replanting much faster. Thanks to the Yates Garden Guide for this tip. They recommend it for transplanting plants like flax that have long leaves.