Adrienne

Interesting I get my water for hatching bbs direct from the ocean so am probably bringing more organisms into my tanks this way than those who do not feed live bbs.

5 days on and I can see the growth starting on the plants . No water changes as yet, partly due to the fact that the sterbais have laid right up to nearly the top of the tank on the glass and two - three days in the eggs look very much viable. I have dosed flourish excel daily and flourish comprehensive twice since last Saturday. As yet I have not placed fertiliser balls in the substrate. Last Saturday - Today

I think its a great idea to create a canopy, especially when you have the discus who do not particularly like the higher lighting. Heres a couple of shots of the canopy forming on the right hand side of my tank. I've got swords of various types under it.

Its interesting to hear from you both about the barracks. How many males do you have Tyrannosaurus? You can keep a male in with as many females as you like without major issues although I do find the females sometimes have a scrap over who is going to be number one with the male in there. Do either of you know how much actual water movement is in the barracks? I just keep my males in coke bottles so they don't have a huge amount of space but they are pretty much always on the go.

I have not tried them either but I have seen plenty of fighters in these barracks and imo none of them look overly impressed. In fact I would say they look depressed. I don't know whether its the size of each barrack or what. Most of the fighters do seem to lie over in them which normally happens when there is too much current flowing but I can not see how this could happen in these. Maybe if there was a good daily waterchange on the barracks they would be happier. I have heard that they are hard to clean.

me too - so i can fit more on the shelf :oops: That set up might be okay with bare bottom tanks but it looks like you would be struggling to get a decent sponge filter in that gap.

LA is yours a 6 or 7 bar. I was told the 6 bars are not the real frontosa's and that they needed 7 bars to be the real ones which I gather we can't get in NZ.

Your tank, as always, is absolutely stunning. A real credit to you for the time and effort you must put into it to keep it that way. Do you have an updated full tank shot or will you give me a link to a site that has one? Everytime I see your tank I think Marine - and then I remember what the tanks look like if they are not given enough dedication

Yummmmm... I do miss being down in Timaru where I used to go for walks on a friends farm and gather the mushrooms. They taste sooo.. much better than the ones from a shop.

Welcome - nice pic. Hows he doing?

Hi and welcome from a fellow Auckland member

I had one of your swords go up over a metre over the top of my tank Phoenix - so I bent it across the lid of the 5ft and stuck it back in the other end of the tank. I've kept some of the plantlets from it and they are now in my tank but I have disposed of the mother plant

Very very nice

This is what I am talking about. Fish that are carrying the disease are doing so in a way you can not tell when you look at them and they are immune to it. However when they come into contact with others who have not been exposed and therefore have no immunity then they catch it. Fish HIV?

No don't 'shut up', I could see where you were coming from and everyone has the right to contribute. Maybe you are correct. You have given links to good valid information. I use whatever I have a surplus of to cycle my tanks and this time have good reason for using sensitive fish but I would think that the cheapest but healthiest fish you can find are good.

You are correct - they are sensitive and thats why I have used them - and also the fact that I have over 200 of them :lol: However my tank being 450 litres I will have to use something else as well so I think my sterbai are the next to put in.

I was going to say that but after my recent tank problem I thought I had better leave it to someone with more experience I'm using young bolivian rams to cycle my tank.

Been to India have we Alan? I haven't eaten chillies since we returned 5 years ago so I guess I'm a real sissy. :lol:

Very good Ira I was just wondering if it would remove the fine particles. I only use sintered glass in two trays + ceramic noodles in the other and the sponges that go around the baskets. If I use filter wool as well I find my filter gets airlocks. No I am not worried about the misty water atm but I will be again in a few weeks when its still there I have wondered for a while about the best way to polish the water without having to lift out the cannister to keep cleaning the filter (its heavy and I'm not strong enough at the end of a long day :roll: ) I also wondered if I could adapt it to fit the fx5 hose which is pretty large but perhaps I will have a go at making one myself. More interested in putting them on a couple of the tanks in the shed than in the house really. This is good information - please keep it coming

When you are happy with something sing it loud and long imo We are lucky at our house as we do not have to pay for power used but I have found this discussion very interesting as my son has just moved out. Fortunately the house we purchased for him is mostly gas therefore he selected the company that had the best deal on power/gas combined which may be contact. I will ask if when I see him next and if it is contact will get him to read these posts.

Has anyone used or is anyone using one of these TM Listing #: 290879252. I thought I had already read somewhere on a forum about them but can't find it on here. If you are using or have used one, how do you find it? In your opinion is it worth it.

I know that this original post date runs back to 2007 but this seems to be a common issue still from what I hear around the place. Apparently some guppies can carry disease (imports in particular), which they have developed an immunity to. When you add them to a tank full of guppies that have not been exposed to this before these guppies then die (not all of them, some like humans are strong enough to stand exposure). Do these guppies then become carriers? I don't know but I expect so. I was told years ago not to mix batches of guppies purchased. When I did not mix them, there were no problems, when I did then there often were. Fish coming out of quarantine still need to be isolated. Just because they have survived this process it doesn't mean that they haven't picked something up from the fish that died in quarantine.

A couple of years ago I purchased a really nice piece of wood with amazing windelov on it. A few weeks later it was dead - it started to die the moment it hit my tank and I have no idea why. Now I'm trying again with a wee piece and its not really doing anything. Don't think I would ever spend a lot again buying a big piece in case it died as well,

No idea but the wood was a very golden brown and is literally the root off a small tree I think. Its got two twisty pieces running of a single piece. Very very hard wood. I think I have a piece that better shows what it looked like in colour etc in the tanks in the shed. Will look tomorrow in the light and send you a pic if its the same type of wood.

Waiheke Island but Rangitoto is another good place to go or of course the East Coast. Don't know if you saw the movie 'Boy' but that driftwood on the beach in the movie is exactly what its like there.