Warren

Maybe, but not at the concentration of less than 1.0ppm in a well established aquarium...

I think it wasn't enough. We are far to often giving people a smack on the hand, you've been a naughty boy. People today do bad things because there are no consequences or don't think they will be enforced. The cost to clean up what has been done is enormous and $25k won't even come close to covering it. At least this is sending a good message and maybe someone else considering doing the same will think twice if they know about it.

Plants actually use ammonium better than nitrate. They may have a high percentage of Nitrogen in their structure but ammonium is much easier for them to assimilate than nitrate. Ammonium should be readily available in the planted tank as the pH should be below 7. Nitrate is not more important than iron or any other nutrient for that matter. The correct balance between all nutrients (including CO2) and light is required for optimal growth and PMDD with macro-nutrients comes very close to the correct balance. To say nitrate is more important than iron does not mean anything as without iron, the nitrate (or nitrogen containing compound) is useless...

See if they can give you a small sample to try so you don't waste money on a full container you may not be able to use.

You could try paint stripper. Check it on a small piece of the plastic on the back of the tank where it won't get seen. If there is no reaction you'll be safely able to remove the paint without hurting the plastic. There are some water based paint strippers that work quite well aren't as aggressive as non-water based but I can't recall the name of the one I used to use...

Discus are best kept 10+ in a big tank. In the wild they school 100+. If you are going to keep less than 10 then it's best to get all the fish you want to keep together at once when they are small. You could try taking both the original fish out of the tank for a week or two to let the new ones settle in. Once they feel the tank is theirs, they'll stand up to the others better when they are put back in.

I use 2 x 1000L and 2 x 200L for RO water storage. I got them all from the local tannery. It took quite a few rinses to get them clean and smell free.

Sorry to hear about the fish loss. I've been paranoid about power cuts for years. So much so that I have 72 hours UPS backup for my tank. That means a lot of batteries... I'm lucky to be in an industry where I get the batteries at a very good price. I have 72V battery string at 400AH (24 x 12V 100AH), enough for 400W load for 3 days! Obviously very few people can go to this extreme. I've never really considered how you might heat or keep filters alive without power as I've always considered it will be available either from the mains or UPS. Generators aren't all that good as they waste a lot of energy and use a heap of gas for their energy output. The cheapest usually only last a few days on continuous running before they're stuffed. Maybe we'd have to go back to how fish keepers used to heat tanks - candles etc. Having insulation handy would help a lot towards keeping the heat in. May have to reconsider the 72 hour issue as some parts of Northland were recently without power for 6 days. How did their fish survive??

Just remember, to get the Scholarship for the CCAS you must be a FNZAS Financial Member (i.e. a capitated member of a FNZAS affiliated club). You will need to send a photocopy of your membership card to qualify and your name will be cross-referenced to our database.

Yet another sterling effort Caryl, well done. And, the yearbook came with it!! That's twice the work!!!

If it's not cutting cleanly (breaking off at all angles) then it's no good. Window glass, depending how old it is, can be very brittle and have lots of internal stress built up in it from years of thermal cycling. These stresses can weaken a tank. If you can't cut it straight using normal cutting methods then don't try to use it...

Food grade normally means it will not leach any toxic chemicals into the inside of the container to taint or poison what is inside it during it's entire life. Many black plastics are not food-grade as they are made from toxic or semi-toxic chemicals that can leach into the material inside the container.

Yes, much better to find the reason for the green water and solve it rather than put a band-aid on it. Most likely phosphates are too high in the water you are using for waterchanges. I have to use RO water due to 6-8ppm in my tap water. Maybe you need to pre-condition your incoming water to get rid of the offending nutrient. It's most commonly phosphate so pre-treatment with phosphate resins, RO or ion exchange would solve the problem. Also check the food you are using is not rich in phosphate. Are you using water conditioners or activated carbon? Some of these can be a source of phosphates, - especially pH stabilising ones. Some brands of activated carbon can release phosphates...

Not bad for no ferts, CO2 or special lights. Of course, you could get the same growth in a week if you had all three... It grows like a weed in the right conditions.

Go read the info in the link above and you'll see why.

Go here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/inform ... 22999.html to see more info and a link to info from MAF.

Go here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/inform ... 22999.html to see more info and a link to info from MAF.

Where did this info come from? Is it fact or just something made up or heard second or third hand?

Not really. I'm relatively new on the seen and not really up to speed with a lot of our history. We do have a very good booklet celebrating our first 50 years however. The FNZAS is actually well over 50 years old, it was just incorporated in 1960... My mission is to try to do as well as those who came before me. At any rate, back to the original subject of this thread please...

This topic has been cleaned. As the previous content had posts from too many people with too many very strong opinions clouding the truth and their better judgement, there is to be no further discussion on the matter. It's now a case of history and needs to be left alone. Back to the original topic...

Discus are much hardier than most people think. In fact they're probably just as hardy as any other fish. If not, then I wouldn't have been able to keep them for as long as I have... They do better in very good clean water conditions however, weekly large waterchanges will make them thrive and grow to their full potential.

Great, so now back to the thread after a short 'get another member' hijack!!

Oh, and since it's cold, it's a good idea to bring a chilly-bin if you plan to buy heaps...

Yes, bring cash for the auction and raffle. There's usually a good range of fish and I'll be bringing some plants. Look forward to seeing you there. I'll be the silly looking bugger sitting up front doing all the talking. Don't be afraid to introduce yourself!

Yup, sometimes it's just too hard...