Adrienne

have a read of the sticky in the anabantoids section on breeding them. + 1 x1000 times of the quality. If they aren't top quality fish then don't even bother breeding. Be prepared to cull out anything that is not perfect - if you put it up for sale and it's not fantastic you are doing the fiskeeping industry a real dis-service.

I have no intention of supplying all the equipment including the tank, for it to come crashing down.

haha - good idea. I went and looked at a tank of similar size today and the stand it was on. Will send the person wanting this tank to look at it

Pretty sure it is concrete Alan with industrial grade carpet squares over the top but that is something I did have on my list to check. Also my assumption we are talking ground floor of a building and not first floor.

Thanks for the feedback. I will email the person concerned.. It's not just the cabinet that concerns me, it is also placement in a room with, I expect, windows on three walls. I was initially looking at all in one units, albeit big ones, with sumps if necessary and am still thinking that, but preferably against a wall.

Shouldn't have been lazy as I knew a pic would be needed. I don't think it's strong enough - here is the bench which they wish to use I have calculated that a tank that size will weigh between 1200 - 1300kg with equipment and scape in it.

Looking for thoughts on the following: Steel framed science laboratory bench - sits on 6 legs 2.6 metre long x 65cm wide x 65 high tank - would 12mm be enough if it was braced or would it need to be 15mm? Do you think the bench would be strong enough to support the tank weight when full? It will be a planted tank.

Stickied right about this post viewtopic.php?f=23&t=58774 Perhaps if people update that post it will keep it all together with no chance of it being lost among other posts. You will find serious catfish breeders often reluctant to put out in public what they have due to a number of break ins quite a few years ago when people did let it be known what they actually had in their sheds.

Daltons? Is available at the likes of Bunnings, Palmers and Kings Plant Barn in Auckland. It works very well. I used it for years - only problem is that if you stir it up it gets int he water column but so do most of the others. I am currently using aqua basis (have been for two years) and fluorite which is way more expensive but nothing so far has led me to think that it is better than Daltons.

It is always recommended to quarantine new fish for at least a month before adding to an existing tank of healthy fish, preferably longer. Some people make the effort and do it - particularly if a spare tank is available - others choose to take the risk. The most important thing is not to purchase fish that look less than perfectly healthy which is not always easy. Another risk you take in treating a whole tank over a single fish is that in time the disease, parasite or whatever will build up resistance to the treatment so it is rendered ineffective. We have so few medications available over the counter that this is something you don't want to happen.

My understanding is the electric blue balloon ram is a genetic mutation of the electric blue ram. The electric blue ram in a mutation of the german ram. Balloon rams will be round as they have been developed to look like that. I note you have spelled it Baloon which I image is how it is labelled. If so it's a spelling mistake. Both blue and gold rams are very sensitive to water conditions. You can either keep them alive and they thrive and breed or they die quickly - mine die!

If you are moving over more than one day move the fish first. If not and you can do below it won't be an issue. Grab a plastic bin ( i.e. 60 litres) from somewhere like the warehouse or a friend, put in as much water as is feasible for you to lift, add the fish, plug in the heater if you can and the tank filter while you break the rest of the tank down. When you get to the other end the fish will be fine in the bin if you can turn the heater back on and pop a filter in. The fish will be fine until you have time to set the tank back up. The main thing to consider is the filter where bacteria will begin to die off once it is turned off, If you have a canister filter avoid draining it, just turn the taps off. Therefore keeping it running in the water from the tank for as long as possible is the key. Once the tank is set up monitor it for the first couple of weeks to make sure you don't get any spikes.

Those style tanks are ideal for growing the likes of java fern- standard, needle leaf & fine needle leaf, windelov and mosses. Combined with nice driftwood you get an easy to care for, good looking tank.

That comment is so true - you won't realise and appreciate it until it happens to you

Unable to help about backing paper but have you considered painting it either black or blue?

Without seeing a pic of the fish I am firstly going to suggest that this is old age. A lot of people would give a lot to have a rasbora of that age still alive in their tank Could be a stroke, could be a swim bladder issue but swim bladder generally means the fish floats upside down all the time, or head up all the time. There is possibly nothing you can do to help it get better but try a shelled pea (that is effective on swim bladder). Get a frozen pea and peel the skin off it, break it into small pieces and feed it to your fish. While your pH has gone up, that rise over a couple of months is not overly significant and the fish should be happy enough at 7. Swinging pH is what causes a lot of problems.

Congratulations Now the fun begins. You will wonder what you did with all the spare time you used to have shortly. Enjoy your little one

What sort of fish do you have and where are you moving to i.e. how far away are you moving?

:bggrn: The issue with fighters is that male fighters and male gourami generally choose to disagree majorly because both being labyrinth fish they are bubble nesters. It's the long fins of the male that get them nipped. Basically they are too closely related to be in a tank together. Females should be just fine. There are no guarantees, even within the same species, that fish will not fight. Like humans, some are laid-back and couldn't care less, others niggle away at anything that swims past and others are all out for a good full on fight Bolivian rams will leave most other fish alone unless they pair and have eggs and fry. You have a good sized tank - the gourami will occupy the top space, the fighters will move through all levels, the tetra are mostly mid tank and the rams, should they breed will stay at the bottom of the tank. I have kept bolivian rams in my discus tank (450 litres but 1500 long). The tank also had cardinals, harlequins and rummy nose, fancy small plecs, clown loaches and cory. The only time there was any dispute was when the bolivians bred, then they would chase the others away from the fry but there was no real fighting.

No need to get cross. It's from your other thread in this section about the same tank. It will end up being a lot easier for you to keep all things about the one tank together otherwise those viewing and offering assistance are more likely to be put off. Generally the moderators will merge two threads in the same area together to keep the forums tidier. Anyway in reply to the question on the siamese fighter, I guess I would ask why you want a single female in the tank. Yes, you can but females are plain compared to males and when stressed will only show bars but very little colour. A single female is not really going to show up in a big tank. If you got six or so of them you could expect to see them more easily and it would add a splash of colour to the tank if you selected different coloured females But if it's something you really want in there, then go for it.

Let us know how you get on UV purifiers, the bulb has a lifetime of around 9 months max before it loses it's effectiveness. To keep the costs down, if you don't need it i.e. no green water, no whitest then turn it off and save yourself some dollars. People do run them all the time but they only work when bacteria, algae etc pass through the uv sleeve.

Discus are hard work imo (I have them). They are easier to keep in low tech tanks with bare bottoms as they really do like pristine water conditions. They also do best with big 90% water changes at least twice a week and good clean, pure water. Gourami - I love the pearl gourami and would really like to see some full grown ones. The dwarf gourami are harder to keep as they often have stomach complaints

The temperature drop may have contributed to it but more likely just the stress of adding new fish could have done it. Whitespot is always present, it just appears when the opportunity arises. Neons will handle full strength salt and I have never had problems with bn at full strength either. I'm not sure how experienced you are so bear with me please Whitespot (cysts) are only treatable when you can not see them. Whitespot has a 21day cycle at cooler temps - 25 and under. When you can see them on the fish they have burrowed under the skin. Once they hatch they fall to the bottom of the tank (while falling they can be treated) where they land on the substrate and multiply by the 1000's. They they go up and reattach to the fish. I would increase my temperature further - up to 28 or if you are willing to leave the bubbler on all the time up to 30. This will speed the cycle of white spot up to around 7 days instead of the 21. Keep treating with salt. Remember that salt does not evaporate so when water changing only add the new salt for the amount of water you have removed, not the amount of water that takes you up to the level the tank is normally at. So if you syphon out 20 litres of water, add replacement salt for 20 litres of water, not the 30 litres of water that it might take to get the water level up to where it normally is. Tonic at half dose is probably just wasting your money. Better to just stick to the salt for now and see if the white spot disappears. Syphon the gravel well at water changes to pull out any cysts in the gravel. Once there have been no spots visible for 7-10 days it should not reappear. If the white spot does not go you might need to look at a full dose treatment of tonic. The UV purifier will assist by nuking the free floating cysts that pass through it. Is it new? Apart from the whitespot, what you are doing appears pretty good Try and keep your nitrates down through water changes, try to not let them go above 20. Bigger water changes will help if necessary. Fish chasing is either you have male & female or they feel more comfortable in a larger school.

Hope you have long arms With that sort of height you have a wealth of options open to you i.e. angels but the length will restrict some of the ground dwellers. Go slowly until you decide what you really would like in it.

Bristle, I think it is a wise thing you are doing - selling off the cichlids. Are you certain you have a 500 litre tank, that is a very big tank but I know photos can be deceiving? If it is 500 litres it could easily hold six clown loaches. Also the filters are way too small for a tank that size