Adrienne

T5 would be plenty imo, T5HO will be pretty strong in a tank thats just over 30cm deep unless you are going to want red plants in there.

My advice would be that if you are going sword plant then you should make sure you have a decent fertiliser in under the substrate as swords are heavy root feeders. If you want hair grass you will also need suitable lighting for it as it prefers medium to high light. Make sure you get some decent scissors to trim it with if you want a short carpet Most of the stuff in the shops is sold already trimmed up. I have flourite/black grit mix in my current tank and it is really nice and using a mix helped keep the cost down as fluorite is expensive. If you are not limited by cost 'spider wood' is available from shops which essentially is a small stump with lots of twisted roots. Mind you, its not a lot more costly than standard driftwood but it certainly is much nicer.

What are you going to use for carpet plants? None of those you have listed will carpet your tank. Flourite is a porous clay gravel which will cloud if disturbed, should be rinsed before using as with pretty much all gravels.

What media has the cf1200 got in it? Its not big enough for a tank that size anyway, minimum flow should be 4 x the tank litre age, highest 10x, remembering that the rating is normally done with no media slowing the flow.

Wait for other opinions but I am thinking black fluorite or black grit. If you go to our fnzas Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FNZAS?ref_type=bookmark and look at the discus tank picture posted today the substrate is Daltons propagating sand over Daltons Aquatic mix.

I used it in my previous tank. Works well but make sure you put a decent layer of substrate over the top - I used Daltons Propagating Sand on top and when you gravel clean be very careful not to disturb the ferts as it can get very messy. Same with planting out and removing plants, do it carefully. When filling I recommend placing an open plastic bag over the substrate, then a dinner sized plate and running the water gently on to the plate. As far as growing plants go its a good fertiliser.

Soil in Nelson - I can't help with. Lighting depends on whether or not you want low light plants or medium - high light, whether or not you are going to run CO2 and also a lot on the depth of your tank. T8 can penetrate through to 30cms but won't grow plants really enjoying high light. T5 will go through to about 45cm and T5HO to about 60cm, after that you really need metal halides. To get the plants to grow well you will need fertiliser of some sort and if you are looking at swords a good substrate fertiliser works very well or you could put something like JBL Balls around the roots as swords are heavy root feeders. If you are looking at crypts, mosses and anubias the light you have given the link to will suffice, you would do best with a liquid fertiliser and a few balls for the roots around the crypts. If you are looking at high light plants you should also factor in some type of CO2 injection particularly if they are slow growers. I don't know if you have looked at the home page of this website but there is a plant section accessed by clicking the home button not he left top of this page, and along the top click on plants. It details a lot of the plants available with their requirements.

Please do try - definitely keep a detailed log book. Pics of course are a must of every detail It would be amazing to have them bred in the country. I'm not saying it hasn't happened but I don't think so.

There are and there is a Hawkes Bay club with some very nice members

Google gave me this article but each pencil fish requires slightly different conditions to breed so you need to know which one you have. I have no recollection of ever seeing any records of pencil fish being bred here in the country. - http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-magazin ... eding.aspx

We already have a fnzas twitter page with a different audience. We do link to our Facebook page but a different content is better.

Does anyone on here spend heaps of time on twitter, understands its workings well and is interested in spending more time on it?

Do you have an FX5? To be honest, I am not sure if it would provide enough movement/filtration. I have one on my 450 litre 150 x 50 x 60 tank which is planted and is it just enough. You might need to add a second filter for a 180 tank. It would depend on how much stock you have in it and what sort of internal 'decoration' you put in there which may block flow. Although the FX5 is rated 3500? litres an hour, once it is full of media it doesn't push that much through.

Yes they would be fine in a tank that size but a tank that size needs a lot of filtration. They are known to be aggressive and attack some other fish but I wouldn't image they will actually bite you but may nip thinking your fingers are food.

For those of you living in Hamilton who have thought about joining a club but haven't as yet the below is an email sent to the Waikato Aquarium Society members re the club going in to recess due to not enough interest and no one to take the reins (names removed). Please read and if you are interested in joining or stepping up and taking on a role send me a pm or email with your name and telephone number and I will pass your information on to the current treasurer. 'Some of you may not be aware of the state of our club so here goes. Our last meeting we had was last year in November. About 4-5 members turned up and this has been a common theme with numbers slowing declining over the last couple of years. Our Secretary resigned in December and then our President stood down. I would like to thank them for stepping up and holding these positions over the last year or so. That leaves me left as the only office holder being Treasurer. In my personal opinion I believe there is no current interest from other club members to hold office or more importantly to take the reigns and revive the club. Personally myself I am happy to hold a treasurer or secretary position but not president as my current employment is keeping me rather busy and I am not that knowledgeable in fish keeping. I have also been speaking to key committee members from FNZAS. If there is no interest shown in the responses to this email then we will place the club into recess. What this means is that our funds are transferred to a holding account that FNZAS has set up for these situations. If at any time later on there is interest then the club can be revived. Any club property can also be stored for safekeeping in containers hired by the FNZAS. If anyone has an interest in holding an office position on the committee or feel they would stay on and support the club as a member then please email me with your response. I will give it to Sunday 22nd June 14 for any responses then we will decide from there. If there is any interest we will then have a meeting (Hamilton Commerce Club) see how many turn up and hopefully have elections to form a committee. Adrienne from FNZAS has also indicated that she may be able to attend and support this process. Lastly I hope we can revive the club considering it has had a long history and what I believe a very large membership in the day. Thanks' As above, if anyone has any questions please pm or email me and I will forward your contact details on. Thank Adrienne Dodge FNZAS Secretary

I don't have one of these but I do have a sun sun. Its very reliable, easy to start up and I would buy another one if I needed a filter. One thing which I have recently learnt is that UV sterilisers work better when the water moves through the sleeve slowly. Too fast and its not nearly as effective. I also learnt that at least 24watts of UV is the minimum amount required to be an actual steriliser.

With malawi you want way more than 4 x your volume in turnover, preferably 8 - 10x imo. Remember the ratings on the filters do not always take into account media and once it starts to collect waste the amount of water being pushed through reduces.

googling that trade me heading bought up this site http://firesales.co.nz/Automatic%20Floa ... vQodFkYA9Q plus a few others. You might find something on it

If you google you will get their estimated size. If you phone your LFS they will tell you 1. if they are available at the wholesalers and 2. if they ever come in to the country. If you have a good relationship with your LFS and they are at the wholesalers the shop may order them on your behalf.

I've got the same as you've got - wendtii and undulate plus trumpet snails Well they look the same, I will get Liam to check when he comes to pick his up. I was sold them both as barclays.

I don't know if you can or would want to do this but years ago I was having issues with a discus with swim bladder that kept swimming on its side due to the extra air in the swim bladder. I managed to wedge a net to hold the discus in place between the net and glass of the tank but so that it was lying the correct way and couldn't rotate around. They next morning it was fine and free swimming happily. I realise bloat is not the same but it might help, if you can do it without stressing your discus more.

Chiller prices depend on the size you get. Cost to run depends on unit size, the temperature you have them set at and how often they have to come on to keep your tank at the required temperature and also what power company you use. Marine (any sort of marine) keeping is not cheap but if you are going to do it, it needs to be done properly to stop the creatures suffering. I have a hailea - I struggled for months to find one as the wholesalers were out of stock over Christmas/summer time and as a result the rock I was trying to cycle was sitting in water with a temp of 32 degrees, in my garage which is the coldest part of my house.

Unfortunately its never good when discus pair in a tank with other discus. Once they do lay eggs the rest will be kept to the furtherest third of the tank away from where the eggs are.

:rolfl:

It appears that its mostly via the water supply or on plants or fish. Most types can regenerate themselves so we wouldn't necessarily be able to see them in their smallest size.