jn

I think there is a native myriophyllum. That's a nice ferny looking plant. I have a plant called gratiola sexdentata as a marginal plant in my pond which is apparently a native. I have put some in my tank and it's surviving fine submerged. It's got very small leaves in pairs and grows a firm stem so in bunches it looks ok (but not terribly exciting I'm afraid!)

Carla, Do you know if the leopard fish would eat their own fry?

Ohhh.. where's a non bouncing green smiley to show EXTREME JEALOUSY!!!!! Well done both of you I will definitely be begging for some of your fry in the nearish future! (I've been promised a new tank but it's tied to some conditions which I haven't met yet!! :-? ) Dixon, over the summer I had goldfish fry that I plonked into a plastic tub (like from the warehouse or payless plastics) I put plants in it and kept it in a sunny spot. It got some algae which the fry just ate anyway! My fry were fine with no filter I guess because of the plants. I used an airhose to clean any gunk from the bottom. Also with the water being cold this time of year it will hold plenty of oxygen so I bet they wouldn't need an airpump either. Once they get bigger you could probably put them back into the tank?

That's terribly naughty Alan. Tsk Tsk Tsk

Lucky you Caryl! We've had a frost every night for the last week (down to -4 one night!). We have some ground on our south side that hasn't thawed in days! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

If your fish have been indoors, it might pay to wait till spring to put them outside... unless you find a way to acclimatise them over several weeks to cooler temps. You wouldn't want them getting sick from never having had to cope with the cold before.

Thanks for the replies guys I think I've decided on AR510 (next size up from the one I've got now). It's a little more expensive than the specials running on the Juwel tanks right now but it looks to me like maintaining the filter is still easier with everything in the hood. My partner who had been seriously trying to discourage me from getting another tank said he thinks the Aqua one tanks are a slightly better looking unit (mainly I think he means the plastic that the hood is made from!) I won't argue. The AR510 is slightly larger than the Rekord 60 and having a matching one will make a nice 'set' in the room anyway Now all I have to do is dip my hand into my not so deep pockets and pay the 'munnies'! Hope you can work out what's up with your light fievels007. You sure something just isnt' loose? You'd expect a light to last more than 6 months especially when they make a deal about how waterproof they are? Is there a warranty?

I have a 'multi-purpose' tool that came from pet planet. It's a very long handled tool with a changeable 'heads' and has a two-sided algae scraper (plastic or steel side for glass or acrylic tanks), a little shovel type scoop that has open fingers at the end so can scoop things up or can be used like Loopy's forked end stick, or for levelling out the gravel, and an algae scrubber pad that rotates in every direction so that no edge or corner can escape it! I can get my tank spotless without even getting my fingers wet!! I also use if for all manner of prodding and rearranging stuff. All this in one tool! I would also be lost without my 'squeeze end dropper' (from the chemist, type used for kids medication I guess) for sucking stuff up sheets of scraped off algae or dosing out measured amounts of ferts or just for filling tubes to test water so you don't have to drip wet test tubes on the wooden furniture (Mini-turkey baster technically) And lastly.. my long flat tweezers which in conjunction with my scoop make an excellent set for plant care. (and one can never have too many ice cream containers for those little emergencies like when you're just trying to vac up the last bit of crud and your bucket fills up so much you can't lift it without spilling! or you still have water in your vac tube and the bucket is full!)

Have the fish grown much since you bought them? I've read somewhere that goldfish can require up to 30L each! Maybe they're outgrowing their tank and the 4 weeks was just too long for the them to cope between changes. Have you got any test kits? I'm betting that would tell you straight away where your problem is. (I think some shops will test water for you for a fee)

How long has the tank been setup with those fish in it?

Oh! Sorry :-? My buckets have measurements embossed on the inside and I use those

Remember too.. gravel etc will make a difference. I'd go with keeping track when you fill it to be on the safe side. Especially on a longer tank, the level you fill it to will make a difference.

Hey purplecatfish, I saw your post about breeding your sewellias. Congratulations!! I had wondered what genus the most common ones were so thanks for the info! Do they all like the same conditions and do you know if they would all have similar temperature requirements? Are yours in a heated tank?

IS 300W enough for for 310L tank?

I had a nasty case of cyanobacteria (aka Blue-green algae) it was terribly smelly. A musty/mouldy kind of stink. It was growing on my glass in bright green sheets but was also on my plants and stones and initially looked very dark and 'goopy' and as it progressed got brighter green. Could that be it?

All purpose decoys! I get it Thanks for clearing that up guys

:oops: What's a dither fish? :-? :oops:

If you have fish that aren't on the list it means you'd better be breeding them Cause they won't be allowed to bring any new ones into the country.

How big is your tank for the record? and what sort of filter do you have? Any plants? Gravel? You know goldfish are the one of the heaviest water polluters. It could be if your tank was really small then really you should only have had 1 goldfish in there and even then when a tank is cycling I think sometimes you may have to expect to do daily water changes (if not twice a day if the levels are drastically high!) Sure this is stressful for a fish but not as bad as the ammonia/nitrite buildup. Keep in mind you may need to know how to cycle with fish at some point. For example if you needed to setup a hospital/quarantine tank on the spur of the moment and didn't have another filter. I'm a beginner myself but I've had several 'cycling' experiences from having to take the odd goldfish or 3 out of a pond and hold them in a plastic bins for the odd week or 2! I learned the hard way of course and lost my first ones due to not having a clue!! Good on you for learning something new though.

Is your tank maybe getting a bit too cold overnight? (I'm just guessing.. as I'm in chch too and know we've had several really cold ones lately) I'm considering getting a heater myself, and might set it at 17, it would only heat on the coldest nights I think. I've got white clouds and some new Jordanella Floridae. If I get a bigger tank I think I'd live a borneo sucker!! They can handle the cooler temps but I think they may not like the swings in temperature from the nights we heat that area vs. the nights we don't! Really... you should try to post a picture. You'd make several of us REALLY happy :bounce:

Have they been in your tank long? Mayed just getting a little startled when the light goes out cause they don't know it's the routine yet? Do you have any plants in there? Do you think they may suddenly feel threatened if they can't hide when the lights go out? (I've never had neons so don't know if they're skittish!) If you don't have plants then the light is just for show 8)

Added 3 drops to my tank. I estimate there's about 25L in my tank. The recommended dose is 1 drop per/L. I let each drop disperse before adding the nextinto the flow of the filter. After the 3rd drop the Jordanellas were trying to leap out of the tank so I stopped . Being killies would this explain their sensitivity to meds? The water is pale blue. I think they've settled down now, I added my airstone which may have helped. I may add another drop later. I'd rather treat for a longer period than risk losing my Jordanellas which only arrived from Northland a 6 days ago! Any more advice? (Thanks again for your help. It's definitely reassuring) Edit: I waited several more hours yesterday and added 2 more drops (1 drop at a time, premixed with tank water and added slowly) after the end of the 5th drop (total) my smallest WCMM went ballistic and turned blue/red for a while but then settled again.. definitely wont be adding more. Will do as recommended and do a water change on day 3, replace meds to the came concentration and carry on for a total of 3 doses. Everyone is still eating this morning so that's good news :-?

Both minnows in the bucket have just died in the last few hours. I was planning on dosing the tank tonight but now I'm not so sure. Might wait till morning as I have the day off tomorrow and can watch them. Would it be prudent to do a half dose? One of the minnows was already in a bad state when I put it in there but the other seemed perky even this morning and reasonably ok when I got in from work!?? I'm definitely perplexed at how he could have gone downhill so quickly unless the meds did it. None of the other fish in the tank seem to be showing any symptoms yet.

Yup.. You can bet I wont be doing that again!!! I'm definitely feeling like an eeediot!!!!

Ok. Yes.. will treat whole tank. I didn't intend to put the fish from the bucket back into the tank without treating the tank. Just wanted to be sure I didn't' have any sudden deaths. The fish in the bucket this morning seem ok albeit a little lethargic (no doubt a little stressed from move out of the tank) I will also treat my shubunkins that were in the tank up until last week. I'll put my fish from the bucket back into the tank as soon as I dose the tank. Means they will have had an extra days treatment which can't hurt as they were the sympomatic ones anyway! oh and just for accuracy.. I was wrong about there being formalin in there. it's 1.5% Meth. Bl, 0.1% Ma.Green, 0.05% acriflavin 0.04% quinine. There is a handwritten expiry date on the bottle too and it's well within it's use by date. The dosing rate is 1ml/20L or 1 drop/L. Thanks again for your help.