Adrienne

Sounding much better. Maybe with the first tank there was a small bit of whatever it was left in the tank which took off, but because of the fact you had cleaned it away so well it ran out of its food/nutrient source and died. Anyway glad to know you are sorted

I'm heading down to Tauranga on 15 June - if anyone has any goods which they want taken down and can get them to me before the morning of the 15th then I am happy to play courier. They would need to be picked up from me at the Tauranga end on the evening of the 15th. Preferably only dry goods. PM me if you are interested.

Plus 1 re Raymond. He designed and built my overflow and sump.

I understand that but knowing where it came from and letting us know what it looks like might help ID it, and ultimately get some suggestions how to deal with it. I have to admit I am stumped. Generally new tank syndrome shows as milky tank water (bacterial bloom) or brown algae but yours appears greyish white in the photos. What did you use to cycle it so you could fully stock it immediately - water from an existing tank and filter media or did you use prime and continue to do so until your readings came to 0? Any plastic ornaments or hosing inside the tank which have not been purchased from an aquatics shop? My only suggestion would be to leave it for a week, something has to be feeding it for it to continue to grow so after a week the nutrients may have been exhausted and you will see it reduce. I realise you have bottom dwelling fish but unless they are clearly becoming stressed I would wait. Also another suggestion which you may already have done - black the tank out - no light for the week.

Try sending Hovmoller or DavidR a message for more detailed information. I think both have kept these but I may well be wrong.

Try sending Hovmoller or DavidR a message for more detailed information. I think both have kept these but I may well be wrong.

Is there any difference in what you are feeding in those two tanks? I don't suppose you have access to a microscope so you could have a really good close up look at it.

Have a look at this link - I used to purchase from here to make up ferts for my tank using the Tom Barr method. http://hydroponics.co.nz/ I no longer have freshwater tanks so it has been a couple of years since I purchased from them.

What are you using for filtration and what are your tank parameters?

Contact Ron, owner of New Pupuke Aquarium Centre in Northcote. He has a facebook page for the shop. Incredibly knowledgable and hugely experienced in breeding top quality discus and always happy to help. Also on here as discusguru. I would love to say I can assist however when I wormed I used Kusuri - which was prior to it being banned around 18 months ago maybe?

Kusuri wormer is no longer allowed to be imported into NZ which is unfortunate as it did work well. Best bet regarding getting hold of something that works really well is to do the research on it, print off the documentation and take the paperwork along with the fish to your vets. Vets can not legally prescribe without sighting the fish however as few have indepth knowledge in this area taking the documentation with you assists you to get what you are after.

OMG - your banoffee cupcakes are to die for

Cichlids in NZ are virtually impossible to ID unless they are purchased directly from a reputable breeder. This is because the majority are mouthbrooders and only purists keep one species per tank, therefore cross breeding occurs. Best bet is to say 'looks like ...' Would love to see a full tank shot

If you are meaning that you have black beard algae in the tank then I don't recommend you use the water. Black beard algae multiplies by tiny tufts breaking off, floating in the water column and attaching to what ever it can. Algae does need the right conditions to continue to thrive but personally I wouldn't do it. 650 is a decent size. What are you going to keep in it?

try any of the following or all of them - make sure the motor is sitting straight make sure the surface you have the filter sitting on is level and stable check that the media baskets are sitting correctly, the media area is not over filled so that they stack tightly on each other turn down the water flow a little and then back up see if any of that helps. air can also create a knocking sound. If the filter does have to go away the store may have one you can borrow from them.

Tap water in Auckland is too high in impurities to risk using. What about collecting your own, dependent on where in Auckland you live?

You'll get a mix of darker bodied and cambodian coloured fry. Initially the majority will appear cambodian but as they mature various colouring will appear across their bodies. Pure coloured bodies used to be really popular. Use the search up the top right of the page and put in Cambodian - it will bring up a few threads, including mine, on these guys.

Betta keeping is very addictive Your bottom male is what used to be referred to as a 'Cambodian' betta which is a reference to the body colouring.

Ich is opportunistic and is not common on discus as the temperatures discus are kept in 28 - 30 deters the parasite. Ich is only treatable while it is in the water column - when you see it on the fish nothing you do will remove it as the ich is burrowed in under the scales. When it detaches and drops to the substrate but before it hits the bottom and multiplies - that is the time to treat it. Keeping your tank at 30 degrees, even 32 will speed the life cycle up to a 7 day one however your plec and loaches are not going to like it. In getting rid of it you would normally vacuum the substrate well - not easy in a planted tank. Once it has gone wait 14 - 21 days before you turn the temp back down to between 28 - 30. To get rid of it completely you also need to look at the cause - is the fish being picked on by others, are the loaches stressing it - some loaches should not be in discus tanks - are the tetra too active for it - is it getting enough high quality food, is it eating well - are your tank lights too bright - is the tank in too high a traffic area. Unless you resolve what has caused it, it is likely to return again.

Now I know what it is Are they quite fragile? Good idea to wait until you get more otherwise you might have territorial issues.

No sorry.

Guess its time I posted again. The tank currently has brown diatoms on the rocks, and a small amount of the glass. There are six astrea snails in the tank but they are small. The mushroom leather didnt survive the lighting change and I am now running the lights on a DIY mode, max 50% and will reduce the white light and increase the blue. I have hairy mushrooms in the tank which are coping, two zoa which are okay and a palythoa (all surplus corals from my 250). I have a second galaxy coral in there which refuses to open. Water changes at 10% weekly using nsw, filter socks x 3 changed weekly and I am about to add purigen to the sump area. Chromis are doing well and water parameters are good.

A Masked Julie is a what? What is the proper species name? Its unusual that a shop only got one in, maybe it came in as something else.

Try shining a torch on them when lights are out and see if they appear to have any sort of coating over their scales. Could be so many things, inbreeding, water conditions, insufficient feeding, flukes, velvet and the list goes on. Do you clean out your tank between spawnings? The white wiggly worm is likely planaria which comes from overfeeding and too much waste in the substrate.

Rainbow shark with cichlids - no problems as long as the pH is okay and the cichlids don't mind speedy around the tank