whetu

I've found that my thermometers retain their accuracy for many, many years. It seems that once they're manufactured and sealed, nothing much bothers them (unless you drop them...) If you're choosing a new thermometer in a pet shop, line them all up in order of the temp they're showing (air temp in the shop) then pick one of the middle ones. Shop staff look at you funny, but your fish will be happy. I've found the thermostats on the heaters are useless to tell the water temp by. I always use an independent thermometer on the opposite side of the tank from the heater.

Cuttlefish bone definitely works to help snails to grow their shells. I used it in my tank and the difference was dramatic. You could see the line on the shells to indicate when I started using it. Before, the shells were thin and eroded-looking. Afterward, the new shell was thick and strong and glossy, and held its colour much better. You can buy cuttlefish bone in the pet section of the supermarket. It's the stuff people hang in a bird cage for the bird to file its teeth on. (Oops I mean its beak) I have the same problem with soft, acidic water. It seems to be the driftwood in my tank that causes the pH to drop. Do you do a gravel syphon with each water change? Any rotting organic matter will drop the pH, including gunk under the gravel or decomposing driftwood. As people have said, the commercial products are likely to cause pH swings - stressing your pets more than a low, steady pH. So... 1) Identify the cause 2) Do a long-term fix (such as changing your maintenance routine or adding a small shell to the tank) Good luck!

Also make sure you've removed all the other meds before you start with the salt/temp treatment. And observe the fishies carefully for signs of distress, and be ready to do a partial water change to dilute the salt if necessary. Good luck.

It seems to me that (just like people) different fish have different personalities (fishonalities?) Caper, I can only suggest that you watch your tank carefully and have a backup plan - if your tigers start nipping other fish, what will you do? Do you have another tank you can transfer them to? The other thing is to make all the fish feel as secure as possible - plenty of them (as they're a social fish), plenty of swimming room and plenty of places for them to duck out of sight behind plants etc. Good luck! Tiger barbs certainly are pretty and active. And the mossy-green ones are just as gorgeous!

Yep, the good old Malaysian Trumpet Snail. As people said on the site you linked to, they have advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is aerating the substrate, the main disadvantage is that you end up with millions of them! Personally I don't like the way they look in a tank. Especially if you have dark substrate, you can see lots of white shells all over it. If you do regular gravel vacuuming you're clearing away the dead plant matter and aerating the substrate anyway, so no need for the snails. Basically it's a matter of personal preference. At least they won't eat your plants.

As far as I know the only advantage to a metal heater is that they can't shatter as easily as the glass ones. The only time I've heard of a heater shattering is when a) you take it out of the water when it's on, then put it back in the water and the thermal shock breaks it... or b) you drop, whack or thump it. So the answer is easy... treat the heater with a bit of respect! Apart from shattering, it seems the weak link in the heater chain is usually the thermostat. If they get stuck 'on' you end up with 'fish soup' (nice phrase, bad result!) If they get stuck 'off' your poor wee darlings get hypothermia. My personal answer: Instead of one big heater, use two smaller ones in each tank. If one thermostat fails you have a much bigger window of opportunity to notice and fix the problem before there are any fish deaths. Also have an accurate thermometer (in a place that's easy to see) and get in the habit of glancing at it every time you're near the tank.

I agree with everything they said up there ^^ including not bothering with the under-gravel filter. For a planted tank you'd be better to concentrate on having a nice deep substrate and (depending on your plants) maybe some laterite balls under heavy root feeders. A complete gravel change is the ideal time to do this. You could also collect up some of the old gravel and put it in mesh bags in the bucket where you're keeping the fish etc. Then put the mesh bags in the newly-gravelled tank until everything settles again. There will be a lot of helpful bacteria in the top layers of the old gravel and they will help seed your new gravel. (I use those zip-up bags you use to put delicates in the washing machine. Maybe that's a girl thing :lol: )

Yeah, the overflow back into the tank is due to the water not being able to get through your filter media. So it either needs cleaning or replacing. As for the noise, I used to find that whwen I took my whisper apart for a really thorough clean, sometimes it rattled when I put it back together. Start by making sure everything is tight and well seated and see if that fixes the rattle. Otherwise it could well be the impellor - either imbalanced or worn. I've found my whisper really good. Had it for many many years and it's still going strong.

I used paua shell to raise the pH in my tank. I can't be scientific about it because my test kit only goes down to 6.0 and the pH had gone off the scale! In my 100(ish) litre tank it took 2 large paua shells to bring my pH up to 7.0 and it has been stable there for several months now. The shells are there permanently. I believe the reason for my pH being so low was the large piece of driftwood in the tank releasing tannins into the water. I would suggest experimenting with shells from the beach, but starting slowly. Put a few shells (in a bag) in your filter, and check the pH every day to see what affect they're having. And of course the usual rule: clean everything thoroughly before putting it in!

Thanks for that info, dee_jay! Maybe the guy was just trying to sell me the expensive stuff! I'm definitely not putting the tank outside in the sunlight, or even near a window. So back to the PVC plan! Ooooh you make it sound so easy. Unfortunately I haven't found any clear PVC pipes locally. But then I stopped looking when the guy told me they would get brittle over time. So it's back on the trail of clear PVC pipes! :bounce: Anyone in Kiwiland know where I can get some?

wow I've heard of vodka for killing fish, but never for killing algae! I'm intrigued...

Thanks ghostface, I read that thread but I think TM's acrylic tube was probably the same price as what I've been looking at. He got it at Universal Plastics - the same people who gave me my quote. Ira, I was thinking about flat acrylic or glass made into a tunnel. (I would prefer acrylic because of the weight.) I'll call Lou at Acry-Fab on Monday and see what he reckons about price and practicality. The challenge then would be how to fill it with water. I would need to find a way to plug the ends while I invert them into the tank. Any suggestions? Bill, thanks for all your suggestions for alternative acrylic tubes! I had never thought of vases etc, and I can't find the earlier thread talking about alternatives. Now I'll be looking at all kinds of vessels and imagining them as water bridges! ... Or maybe I should go back to Plan A and just get a length of black plastic hose...

I tried lots of plumbing suppliers but none of them could help me. Today someone put me onto Universal Plastics here in Auckland - the salesman was very helpful (he didn't even laugh at me) but the results are not encouraging as far as price! Here is what I have discovered so far... * Clear PVC will eventually discolour and become brittle when exposed to light, so he recommended acrylic instead. * 110mm clear acrylic tubing (the diameter suggested in the article) costs about $150 per metre. * 80mm tubing costs about $90 per metre. (That's an external diameter of 80mm, internal 74mm.) * They don't have offcuts because they cut it to length off their big roll. (I had thought I might be able to get offcuts cheaper because I don't need a whole metre - no go! ) * There are no standard elbows or end-caps for this kind of piping so I would need to get PVC plumbing fittings and silicone them on. So it looks like it might be an expensive project... unless someone has contacts in an industry that may have some cheap off-cuts of clear PVC or acrylic tubing? So, who do you know who works in dairy, brewing, or other industries where they put fluids through clear piping? I would be eternally grateful to anyone who can get me some cheap off-cuts. (The longest bit I need is only about 400mm.)

Yeah, my plan (before I saw the article) was to have the tubing starting right at substrate level and to have it made of black plastic. My loaches love going into dark spaces like that. Now that I've seen the one with the clear tubing, of course I want that instead! :roll: I'm thinking I might compromise - have clear tubing but start with it wrapped in black plastic or something until the loaches get used to commuting through it, then unwrap it (gradually) when they're used to using it. So... does anyone know where I can get clear plastic piping like that in the article?

Awww Taniwha, sorry to hear about the loss of your loaches Until I read that, I was going to say their swimming pattern was not unusual... I have a clown loach that I named 'Loopy' because it used to swim up and down the glass, round and round the thermometer. How is the last loach faring? Any other symptoms?

well well, thanks Tsarmina! There I was thinking I might have been totally crazy... now it turns out I'm rather mainstream! :lol: I will get onto this project immediately! Can't wait! :bounce:

Ok, here's my weird project... The Problem I have 5 clown loaches and some barbs (gold and rosy) in a 3-foot tank. I know this setup is too small for the loaches long term, so I was looking at getting a 6-foot tank. Unfortunately I'm renting and tend to move every couple of years. A 6-foot tank is a) too heavy/large to move easily, and b) difficult to house in a tiny flat. Proposed Solution I'm going to get a second 3-foot tank and (here's the tricky bit) have a couple of water-filled pipes running from one tank to the other. They will go over the top rim of the tanks, rather than drilling through the glass. The loaches will be able to commute at will between the tanks, effectively giving them a 6-foot tank! At the moment I have a length of black plastic pipe in the tank (approx 35 mm diameter) and the loaches very happily hang out in there. This is the type of pipe I'm intending to use. Questions for you to help me with 1) Have you ever heard of this being done successfully? 2) How will I bend the pipe to the shape I need? 3) Any risks/problems you can anticipate? The worst case scenario is that I end up with two seperate 3-foot tanks, and the loaches continue to be over-crowded. EDIT: Actually the worst case scenario is that I end up with a fish jammed in the pipe, or syphon all the water out of one of the tanks onto the floor, or some other such catastrophe. Which is why I'm asking you all to get your collective brain-power onto it! :lol:

Rory, I think you need a 2-pot catalyst high-gloss black. (Not that I know anything about paint.) Part of the thing about a piano is that it has that really hard lacquer-look finish. By the way, I like your sample paint colours for kookie's cabinet. Very clever! Kookie, I personally like the deep green cabinet. The wine/maroon would be my second choice. Can you post a pic of the whole room? A nice wide shot so we can see the walls and other furnishings The choice of colour also depends on the 'temperature' of the room, both literally and emotionally. Blue walls can make a room seem quite cool, so the deep red tones may add a nice warming balance to it.

Ha ha, everyone wants Evil's driftwood! That was the thing that caught my eye too. Is it a sin to covet thy neighbour's driftwood?

All the questions kookie asked are really important. I would add that isolating a schooling fish rarely helps to make it more confident. If anything, boosting the number of fish in the tank is more likely to make the little one feel brave.

Yeah, it's definitely more about weight distribution than absolute weight. If you have it on a good tank stand that spreads the weight over a large area, you should be fine. Also old state houses with the hardwood floors are way better than modern buildings with their particle board floors and leaks! :roll: But wooden floors do let the vibrations travel into the tank, so a bit of old carpet or underlay under the tank will help the fishies get to sleep at night. The best place to put the tank is against an internal, load-bearing wall. If in any doubt, take a look underneath and check where the piles are, and make sure there's no borer. Then invite us all round for a look and a cuppa when it's set up.

I don't let it grow out of the tank - at times when I've accidentally let it do that, it becomes rather troublesome. The stems thicken up and get woody, and it develops mats of roots in the water. It very quickly uses up all the swimming room and the fish get cramped! (Great for raising fry though.)

:oops: oh my goodness! I just wanted a fish tank, not WWIII! (I think I'll just run away and hide until this all blows over) PS. thanks for the referral

Can anyone recommend where I can get a tank made in Auckland? I have an existing tank stand and I need a tank that's 850mm long 400mm high 360mm deep (from front to back) I've heard you can save money by getting a tank made by a glazier, but obviously I want someone who knows what they're doing! I'd like someone who has plenty of experience making tanks and is aware of all the weight/pressure/bracing/sealing issues unique to fish tanks. Any recommendations? And what kind of money should I be budgeting?

Yes, that's definitely the stuff. Thanks for identifying it for me. It's a great way to remove excess nutrients very quickly. It grows very big - if not trimmed, it grows right out the top of the tank and changes to an emersed form. It has pretty blue flowers above the water but it would grow right up to the ceiling if I let it!