fievels007

I bought the tank for matt for xmas, everytime I'm away and speaking on the phone to him he sits by the tank saying 'oh no, i can't see one of the fish!' i have to sit there listening to him look behind the log and plants etc... until finally they swim out and he is happy again. he said recently that he would be so sad if any of the fish die. tonight he has gone out and while cleaning the tank i found what i assume was once a neon, white and decomposing in some of the grassy plant. i don't have the heart to ruin his night out by texting him... i'll wait till tomorrow!

It has started again! The second time I pulled it out I tried to take the outer casing off, it spluttered a couple of times and started again! Man, that scared me!! Does anyone ever keep a spare filter system just in case that happens for real?

Its is getting power to it because i can feel it vibrating a little, its just not sucking anything in! Its a 60l Juwel aquarium that came with everything, just a small filter system

I went to turn my filter and heater back on after i cleaned out the tank and the filter is not working!!! Thank goodness the heater is! What should I do...? Is there any way I can fix it...maybe its just a small problem easily restored?!! eek!

I only have 2 bristlenose and 2 siamese algae eaters. They tend to swim near the top and are vertical. Pretty sure they're not fry... I hope not anyway, I caught one and threw it out!

There are some small silvery jiggling larvae looking things in my tank, just a few. Are they anything I should be concerned about? They'd better not be mosquito larvae! There's enough of them round the house this summer as is!

It now seems after further inspection that we have 3 types of snails in our little tank! We have small ramshorns, malaysian trumpets...very sharp conical pointy shells, and another that is the same length as the malaysian trumpets, but is definatetly rounder in shape. It looks like the small trough snails we used to get as a kid down on the farm, they never got very big at all. Whats a small fish that will eat snails? I want to do something about them even though I know now the chances of getting rid of them are zilch... wish I'd known about snails before I went to the fish shop and thought they looked like a good free score! bugger. Now have- 2 bristlenose 2 siamese algae eaters 1 billion varieties of snail... boo hoo

I have some small snails in my tank, they were in some plants that I bought from Organism in Chch. I assumed from what I read on here that they must have been little ramshorns. I've just seen what loks like another type, more conical in shape rather than flat and a tad bigger, more the size of a little finger nail. Is it they same type, just more mature, or is it a different type all together? What is your advice?

Just watching my fish, I have two siamese algae eaters. They've been together for about 6 weeks and one is growing much faster than the other, I figure one is male, the other female...? Whats the best way of getting him to stop chasing the other? Should I get another female to keep him busy so they other can have a break every now and then?

Why are snails a problem? I'm new to this, bought some plants from Organism in chch, they had some smail reddish snails in them, now they tootle round my tank and I spot them every now and then, should I try to get them out before they get too many? What harm do they do?

Thanks guys, I do worry about my wee fella! We are due to get some more fish soon, so will see how the tank dynamic changes once they arrive. I just don't want to see my fishy floating because he got too small and stressed!

My two bristlenose janitors were only slightly different in size when we got them, but one is getting bigger much quicker and is being a bully. How do I prevent this? A common problem I am sure.

My tank ...I mean my partners tank that I got himfor Xmas...he he... has been going for about a month now. We bought gravel, driftwood and some plants and let them settle in for two weeks, before we bought 2 bristlenose and 2 siamese algae eaters. The Bristlnoses are so busy and have worked very hard 100% of the time, the siamese algae eaters look cool and do their fair share too. They were pretty quiet until I turned the tank temperature up, now they swim around like they did in the shop. We got them from Organism in Chch, very healthy fish. Did my first water change yesterday and only a bit of water on me and the floor...towels are a good idea i think! Fishies all looking happy and content and most importantly...alive! Yay! I'd like to get clown loaches next, although I can't remember what they look like, but everyone seems to think they are cool. Our house is small too, but the tank makes it look so homely!

Ha ha, was very funny! I hope the fish thought so too. The gravel vac, what a fun invention! I was almost tempted to syphon out 80% of the water because it was so fun! Yes, water went over me and the carpet...I forgot about the water left in the tube after removing it from the tank! I hope I did things right... I did it all pretty quickly so the filter and heater could get back on asap. I rinsed the filter material in the water I had recently removed, placed a saucer on the bottom of the tank and poured in the new water. I added a little water purifier stuff to it before pouring it in, but my main concern was the temperature of the new water I was puring in. Hope it didn't make the tank suddenly too cold for the fish. After the heater and filter were back on I added some cycle to the filter for it to push on through into the rest of the tank. My little bristlenoses are back at work, but the siamese algae eaters are sitting at the back watching me between the grasses thinking 'what the $%^ was that?!!! Any advice for next time?

We went to Organisms today and bought 2 bristlenoses and 2 siamese algae eaters. They have all moved in to their new home very well and my eyes have been glued to the tank for the past few hours! Right now one of the wee bristlenoses is surfing on a grassy leaf while the other is hooning all over the show! Sure are busy little critters! The Siamese Algae Eaters are shaking their little fins all over the show too. They are getting more confident now and are venturing to the front of the tank...they spent the first hour or so peeking their noses over the bit of wood in the tank. Bought a few new plants today too. Some Jave moss, which I had attachd to the wood, some very fine grass with little 'flowers' on it and another type of grass that almost looks like normal lawn grass. Now have a total of nine great looking plants in the tank. Thanks for all of your pieces of advice!

Grrr... whenever I type a question and then go 'submit' it takes me back to the sign in bit and wipes what I have written... so frustrating! This has happened 2x now! Lucky I copied the text before trying again this time! Anyways.... We have had our tank filled now for 5 days. It has 6 plants, pebbles and a piece of wood. We want to decorate it a bit more though. The grassy looking plants have grey/green algae growing on their tips and makes them look like they are slowly rotting away and there is a green algae ever so slightly beginning to appear on the pebbles. Will the addition of some wee fishys this weekend help that minor problem? Also, we want to add some more plants and wood/rocks, should we do this the same weekend as adding our new fish? Lastly, the filter. It has four layers, the blue, green, black and the skinny white layer at the top that is turning a tad murky looking. How often do any of these need to be replaced? Do I need to rinse any of them out? Thanks for your help :0)

Wow, I went to Organism today, couldn't stop smiling! They had so many more fish than Redwood and the fish all looked so happy and active! Will have to take Matt there this weekend. I think it has become my new favourite too!

Santa is your partner? That's incredible! I hope I don't get too addicted to this hobby... our house is too small!

Can you just go to any beach and collect drift wood then boil/soak it for a tropical tank?

Cool, will check out Organisms tomorrow. Can't have been around too long eh? I've never heard of it.

Damn, just typed heaps and then lost it! In short I bought my partner a 60L tank for Xmas cos he was always so into my class fish tank whenever I brought it home from work. He was a bit baffled at first, but he is getting more and more excited as we go. We are in Chch and have bought all our stuff from Redwood Aquatics. Does anyone know of any other good places to shop for fishy stuff in Chch? We bought backing paper, white pebbles, 6 plants and the most expensive piece of driftwood ever! The tank has been on for 4 days now and we think we'll play it safe and wait another week before getting our first fishies. The plants have a littel algae on them, but from what I read this is normal. The thermometer strip that we have stuck on the side of the tank reads 26 degrees despite having the heater set at 22, I'm guessing one of them is not too accurate and perhaps a more traditional thermometer would be better? Anyway, no major questions to ask at this stage. Have already read lots of posts that answer any questions I had in mind. Look forward to recieving all of your help in the near future when we get our first wee fullas.