Adrienne

:rotf: You know me, I will share all I know. Your new boy looks good, I am resigned to the fact that I really dont have the space for more than two spawns at any given time.

Sssh Sam, it's a secret :sml1:

At 60cm you will find the glosso reaching rather than spreading in search of the lighting required. I run 4 T5HO plus 2 T8 on my 60cm and do not meet its requirements. All of the others have in the past, or current, grown just fine.

:thup:

They will be fine for 3-4 hours without filters however if you are not going to be around a lot over the next few weeks do you have someone who will be able to keep an eye on your tank and do water changes? You will get an ammonia spike in the next week or so if starting the tank afresh and adding fish. Cycle will help but wont do it all for you.

The API test kit does have two parts and you have to be spot on in following the instructions ie, shaking part 1 in the vial, then part 2 for 30 seconds before adding it. Then 1 minute once it is added and wait 5 mins. The one minute shake is critical to getting the mix correct and the 5 minute wait ensures the correct colour is reached. If you are not running a filter in the fish bins but an dual airpump only can you get hold of a couple of sponge filters. You will still have to monitor the bins carefully as you will get an ammonia spike but careful monitoring plus frequent water changes, the addition of cycle etc will hopefully keep the levels down. Clean out your old tank using good old muscle power, ie water and a cloth, no soaps or detergents and preferably not bleach. Rinse and scrub all your gravel, clean off your plants etc, filters and heater. You should not have to get rid of anything as it is possible to clean it all. Good luck. If you have time keep a log this time of what you have done, when and how. Even doing it on this site is a good way to keep an up to date diary in case you strike issues. That is why I update my new tank set up each week, even when it looks as if not much has changed.

Incorrect! How long go was the ammonia issue an how big were the water changes and over what period of time.

You should be able to ask the council for a breakdown of chemicals in the water supply and get a fast and polite response. I am wondering if they are using something to keep the water at a safe to drink level. What is the pH of your tap water? What is your substrate?

Is there any where you can take your water to be tested for trace elements, would the council do it? Maybe they are still flushing the system with smaller amounts but on a regular basis. Ask them and see what their response is. All indications, looking a your pics point to an overload of something - it may take a while to find out what. I was asking or the same reason fish guy, to see if Dana was in Aucks. I use API kit and have never had an issue with a reading.

Where are you located? Of interest is the fact that you have 0 nitrate. Being the end product of tank that has completed its nitrogen cycle there should be a reading.

I've just done my 5ft and my costs would be similar to jasonnz for fertiliser, sand and grit plus plants. I could have gone cheaper but crypts, in particular, are expensive.

Here is another update. After nearly 3 weeks battling with whitespot in the tank which systematically selected each fish, a new one every day, it appears I have won :thup: My twisted val was growing beautifully but about a week ago I came out one morning to find it had melted overnight. The only thing I can think of which may have caused it was the tonic I was dosing every 2nd day. While I hope it will grow back I have moved on and have planted red pine in its place. I have also added some water rose which may or may not survive in the tank and star grass which is yet to convert to its submersed form. My crypts are slowly coming back, however my red swords appear to have also not been happy with the tonic but I think a contributing factor to this may have been the fact that they were floating in a tank for a few weeks. My pH has dropped to 6 or lower so I will be looking to test the hardness of the water and then increasing the pH to just over 7 before I put the CO2 on. Any way here are the pics. and an update on my 3ft in which you can see the hairgrass has taken off

:sml1:

No issue with his gills. He is a Cambodian Crowntail.

This was being posted today so keep an eye on your mailbox. There is an article from Darren on Plecs Jennifer has wriiten a guide on shipping fish Adrienne and Caryl give you a tour of San Sebastián Aquarium, Spain and the Melbourne Aquarium respectively There are also many other articles Enjoy! And an add on because it was late and I forgot my manners! Thank you Caryl for all you do to produce the AW, everything from writing articles, to formatting and editing and sending to the printers. :thup:

Have you every considered that you could perhaps improve things by working there although I hardly feel that they could be held responsible for one fish eating another of similar size. At the moment with the unemployment rate rising any opportunity should be snapped up!

If you are not ready now you have left it too late!

There are some lovely males in HFF at the moment and some have been there for several weeks. If I was still breeding I would have snapped them up. A huge mount of nz bred stuff is rubbish ATM, but then again everyone is entitled to their own opinion on what makes a good quality fighter.

update as of today. My king tiger plec has been added to the tank hence the extra piece of driftwood, plus a SAE and 12 rainbows; 4 boesmani, 6 parkinsons and 2 nigrans. The plants are starting to grow even with the T5HO lighting limited to 4 hrs per day and no CO2 as of yet.

So no strain on the glass as you climb in? You going to dive in instead?

I often wonder when leaning into my tank albeit very carefully, how much extra strain the tank is taking and think that is something that we should be taking in to consideration with the glass safety factor. Even though 15mm glass is a lot more expensive, the security and the fact that you could make it slightly larger will, IMO be worth it. Can't wait to see it.

are the above readings nitrite NO2- and nitrate NO3-? for plants look at this http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?page_id=25 you have shown java fern and also tiger lotus which are true aquatic plants plus others which I dont recognise. Java fern is not to be planted, tie on to wood or rock. Tiger lotus is a root feeder and needs either ferts in the substrate or balls. Other plants can require liquid ferts. The above site will give you good ideas. Your pH should not be swinging like that unless you are using pH up or down. I suggest you dont add anything ie plants/fish/ferts until you are able to work out what is happening.

Can you post a pic? There are 1000's of types of algae out there. What type of lighting, what substrate, what plants, what fertilisers and what are you feeding/how much are you feeding will all help. Do you have the filter that came with the tank or have you a different one?

like this? http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_pal ... tml#Popeye Popeye - I have found that if its only one eye then normally it will rectify itself within a couple of days if the water is kept clean.- can be caused by a fight or bump. If both eyes it could be bacterial. Adding salt to the tank helps as does clean water.

My dumbo pk male has a really nice body shape and the hmpk girl I have is beautiful too but I dont have the space to spawn them unfortunately. They are also perfectly matched in colouring.