Adrienne

I would be surprised if most NZ fishkeepers, even discus specialists, knew the TDS of their water. A group of us know as we did a thread on it a while back and some, like myself, keep marines so we have to know. Hence my owning a RO/DI unit. It does pay to research. Have a good read up on the net, see if you can find articles pertaining to NZ kept discus and ask as many questions as you wish. There are a lot of rubbishy fish out there ie bad shapes and or skinny, cross bred so as they mature they turn awful colours. Reading forums and facebook pages will help you work out where to go if you do decide to keep them.

Very common, very contagious. I think Alan is probably right. I've lost a tank holding 50 fighters to this within 3 days.

I would say sintered glass and carbon however I run sintered glass in my FX5 and it slows the flow down considerably due to the fact it packs in very tightly. Then of course carbon requires changing out every 4-6 weeks or it becomes full and wont take any more. I have a sunsun ( not the model you do) and I am very happy with it. It is the back up to my FX5.

Yes, I test it Then I add the water conditioner to the tank before turning the hose on. Fish, even discus can cope with minor temperature variations but I would rarely be more an 1 degree out. I'm in Epsom, my TDS varies between 86 - 112. I suspect the 112 is when the Waikato is added to the water supply

I agree David - you have shown nice photos of good, fairly easily maintained setups Yes the way waterchanges are done certainly adds or decreases the amount of time and physicality needed. I am currently waterchanging my discus tank. I wiped down the glass, scraped off green spot algae, then have used a syphon attached to the hose which is running out of my house and down a drain. If the gardens are dry I water them with the dirty water. To refill I will attach the end of my hose to a laundry tap and refill that way. No buckets for me

Water quality is huge. Some of the work done depends on where in the country you live and also where your water comes from. I have adult discus and I water change 50 -80% twice weekly. (so 250 - 380 litres in my tank) I use tap water and use additives to remove heavy metals and chlorine. I ensure the temperature of the water going in to the tank matches the tank temperature. RO water can be used but buffers will be needed. The advice I was given, by discusguru who is on these forums, when I first started was to purchase fish over 6cm, preferably 8cm as the first discus. The smaller they are the more work they are ie more and larger water changes, more susceptible to parasites. I have driftwood in my tank which does help lower pH. Discus like 6 or below. They do not like high lighting. They are gross feeders so require high quality food regularly and a good amount of it, meaning decent filtration needed by not by the way of power heads. Discus do better in bare bottom tanks where you can keep their environment pristine but they look better in planted tanks with big swimming spaces. Recommended max stocking per adult is 50 litres per fish. Experienced fishkeepers stock more heavily - one fish per 35 - 40 litres but I have had nothing but trouble doing it. In a nutshell these fish are more work than a standard community tank with livebearers but they are magnificent fish. Good on you asking before you start

oops RO/DI unit reverse osmosis or reverse osmosis deionizer unit

What sized tank are you planning? The size will most likely make a difference to whether you need put an ATO on it and also whether you use the likes of Pure Dew or an EO/DI unit.

Good advice - Until I set up ATO on my tank I was putting in around 3 litres of RO water per day to handle evaporation. It needs to be topped up frequently as besides the salinity increasing during evaporation, the skimmer won't cope as well with changing water levels.

You mean like blue turqs with blue turqs? If that is what you mean then no, not unless there are only two - one male and one female - in the same tank.

A 1.5 litre coke bottle cut back to where it starts to curve in at the top takes 1 litre of water. To that I add 2 tablespoons of salt. Technically 2 dessertspoons = 1 tablespoon but I find that if I do not use a tablespoon and use a dessertspoon instead I have issues with hatch rate. 2 teaspoons = 1 dessertspoon. I always measure out the water as well, never guess.

I don't have reptiles but my recommendation is that if shops are saying it is safe to use but people with leopard geckos who have used it or have investigated using it are saying no, then its best not to. I think that the fact you are doubting whether or not you should is enough to find something else to use.

put upside down coca cola bottle, 500 ml water from tank-rain water, in aquarium 27 degrees - , see salt 2 tea spoon,1/4 tea spoon eggs, backing soda pease size, good air flow. After 30 hours, on bottom of bottle it's a lot of eggs. The only thing I could work out Alan, is that the salt wasn't enough. Mine runs at around 27 degrees, even hotter in the summer. I don't have a light on mine but it doesn't seem to be an issue. I put one on about 10 mins before I want to remove them.

I love the Royals What sized tank do you have them in?

Peat will drop the pH - it will also add to the mulm so you might be in for a double win

Your set up sounds good For 500ml of tap water I use 4 teaspoons sea salt and don't use baking soda but I know some people do. Hatching will take 24 - 48 hours. To see how many shrimp have hatched shine some light on the bottle. The shrimp will move towards the light. I think you have not used enough salt. I have hatched AHT shrimp a lot without many problems.

There is nothing wrong with the AHT brand of brine shrimp. Please describe the method you are using to hatch them.

I am going to say both, for the reasons that Boesmani Rainbows grow big and like plenty of room to swim at speed and it is already well stocked. Recommended turnover in filtration is 4 - 8 times per hour and the ratings on the filters are without media. BN are poop machines and will add a heavy bioload. They won't clean your glass properly and if its green spot algae they won't do anything to it. Or you could get another tank for the guppies and baby bn :f77:

I would keep the one you are questioning about and that female. They will make lovely babies. Do you only have the three?

They all look like kribs to me based on the ones I used to have which were particularly nicely coloured males. Your only other option would be one of the dwarf cichlids (apistogamma aggizzii) but I don't think its that.

As I see it - if you really want the guppy fry then the adults eat them as they emerge

Great effort. Large numbers of people manage to hatch cory eggs but the fry don't make it. You are the first I have heard of raising pygmy cory

I like undergravel filters but not really for a tank that size. They do need to sit flat so would need to sit between the bracing. FYI plants aren't the best in them as like small fine gravel, the roots get down under the plate and block the flow. You also need a good thick gravel base to make it work - a thin base won't filter anything. Your tank is just over 240 litres, I used to use a CF1200 on my tank that size and it was adequate.

Well done. Have you managed to raise any fry yet?

What date this coming month (May) are clubs holding their AGMs?