Adrienne

It sounds like you may have got rid of a lot of pollutant. Daphnia feed off green water so you don't want your container looking pristine. You will be surprised as to how quickly they can clear a tank of green water. You do need to find a food source for them to keep them growing and multiplying so unless you want to go and find a source of green water you will need to produce your own. Navarre has given good advice as to how to provide continued source of food for daphnia and as he is from down your way he will have tested it in your climate. A really quick way of starting off green water while the grass clippings are maturing is to get some lettuce leaves, place them in a bucket and pour boiling water over it. It will at least provide a little sustenance for daphnia. When you get a chance have a look on google for daphnia and get some idea of their life cycle and reproductive patterns. I am fortunate enough up here to have a small pond on our section which is perpetually slimy and the daphnia multiply year round.

I'm not in Christchurch so can not give you any daphnia but you can do a couple of things - one to resurrect the daphnia culture you do have and the other to get hold of more daphnia. If the culture still has some live daphnia in it get rid of some of the old water and replace it with either some water from a pond or water trough or even from the axys tank. Daphnia needs to be given time to reproduce and if conditions are not right the culture will die right down and appear to be non-existant. What is your current daphnia culture in. You could try the duck pond you are talking about for daphnia but often water troughs and ponds, even on residential properties will have daphnia in them however it may not be warm enough in Christchurch yet for it to be found.

I suspect the saying 'you get what you pays for' is correct. IME the higher the price the better the hatch rate.

I have bristlenose in with my discus - they handle 30 but they are not happy at this unless an airline is increasing the amount of oxygen in the water. Any higher and they are noses out of the tank. Constantly high and they are lying on their backs prone. Ich is always in the water but weakened or stress fish are more susceptible to it.

Take the contract and go back to the bank and ask them to explain it to you again and get them to write it down if necessary. It would help the bank if you wrote down what you have been told before going in because then they can see what you are getting at.

:sml1: :rotf:

Ah ha!! Phoenix - the life of a full time worker is hitting home. Still looks really good and the fact that you have even looked at it makes me think all is not lost

did the charger come with it - normally they either have an indicator which changes colour or one that shuts off. From the sound of it it turns off

husband says charge them like any other battery

Possibly something to do with the temperature of the water and maybe the size? of the wrigglers. You will find once they are free swimming that they are a great target for the other fish in the tank as it takes a wee while for them to learn to swim properly. The reason for different no's of wrigglers may be that the parents are moving them to plants or whatever else in the tank.

You could try contacting Ambury Park - which I think is south Auckland. Can you milk a cow there? I don't know but it is a public farm so maybe.

why?

You have got to be joking so does Sophia - where on earth is 300gr going to come from to lose

for my planted tank I used daltons aquatic mix as the bottom layer and daltons propagating sand as the substrate. Only worth using a fertiliser base like aquatic mix if you are actually going to plant plants. Things like moss and java fern do not get planted, they are attached to wood and rocks. They also prefer lower light. If your tank is 60cm high like mine is then you will struggle with lighting being able to get to the bottom unless you use something greater than T5HO. Use the plant data base on here to research the plants and their growing conditions and choose plants that like similar light levels etc. There are good pictures on here as well. The plant committee has done a fantastic job My suggestion - start off with the easier to grow plants and progress from there.

Not quite sure what you mean by the above. Discus like the temp between 28-30 degrees and a pH of around 6. You need to leave the pair (1 male and 1 female) in the tank together so one (female) lays the eggs and the other (male) fertilises them. If they are going white they are not being fertilised successfully, if at all. Often people buy a pair (two) fish but they are not a confirmed breeding pair (as in have raised live fry). Young fish who have not bred before can take several attempts before they are successful.

Its possible that if the pm box was full that yours has disappeared (assuming you used the pm). I would try again. I find HFF pretty good at responding.

two pair or two fish are you sure they are male and female?

I think those of you with exams need to get yourself sorted - unless you intend to devote your life to the breeding of tropical/marine fish and/or plants then you need to settle down and study. Its how well you pass your exams that is going to determine the rest of your lives, the sort of jobs you get and how much money you make. (and yes I am a mother of 3 young adults, the youngest a Year 13 and yes she does get the same lecture)

I bring mine in from the states (USA). Works out at about $3.60 per heat pack.

I no longer have any prazi left and therefore no bottle to check to see what was written on it re water changes. Give HFF a phone call as I don't remember the dosing instructions.

If you can't resist the urge leave the house and go to the local library. That way you can not be tempted. Its called ''lack of willpower"

if you want the meds to work follow the instructions to the T you will lose more fry through flukes than you will to less water changes

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=54844

what sort of wattage lights are you looking for. Even the T5HO come in 60cm.

I have lettuces and silverbeet in already - they have been in for about 3 weeks. I supervise and hubby does the digging and planting Also planted are a variety of herbs.