Warren

Not if they can't hear it over the hum. It would take a very loud stereo to couple enough sound into a tank to be louder than the hum... What I'd be more worried about is the long-term exposure to a constantly loud noise level in the tank. I don't have any airpumps or noise generating mechanical devices in my tank. When you put your ear against the tank it is silent. Stick your ear onto the side of your tank and block your other ear while the stereo is blasting. Bet you don't hear anything much coupled into the tank and certainly nothing above the noise floor (ambient hum) in the tank...

Firstly, if the ammonia is 0.5, this is very high and extremely toxic. Just how toxic it is depends on the pH, with every pH point making it 10x more toxic. By adding all the medications the filter will be totally wiped out meaning the ammonia will continue to rise and the tank will need to be cycled again. Standard salt won't change the pH by much at all if any. Is the bubble on it's eye like a bubble-gum bubble coming out between the eye and the socket? If so then it is probably pop-eye. It means there is a major bacterial infection in the tank. If the fish has irritated skin from the other problems it has it may have been scratching itself on object in the tank. Because they have such a big unprotected eye they often scratch it and it gets infections. Melafix and Meth-blue work pretty well on pop-eye. Just do the waterchanges. Use formalin as an absolute last resort unless you can positively identify a parasite it will kill. I wouldn't pop the blisters, it is likely to do more harm than good. Popping the blister on it's eye will likely make it go blind in that eye. If the waterchanges are done and the bacterial infection sorted the blisters will go away in time. Good luck, they're a great fish. Goes to show, don't jump the gun with putting fish in a tank before it's ready. Especially fish as sensitive as these...

Keep in mind I very rarely have a fish death and if I do it's nearly always from old age. I've kept discus for years and all but 2 out of 24 have died of old age somewhere between 7-8 years old. Of the 2 that died 1 jumped out and 1 wasted away with what looked like a tumour. Until someone can show proven scientific testing of fish and high noise levels I'll keep listening as it doesn't seem to bother mine at all. Keep in mind too, the noise created in an aquarium by the air pump is very loud. Stick you ear against the side of your tank. This is how loud it is to the fish... That also goes then for people who use airpumps, powerheads and internal filter. All which create a loud hum inside the tank. What's worse about these is they make the noise all the time, not just for short periods of time now and then.

Even the biggest stereo system is nowhere near as loud to fish as a speed boat in a river. There are plenty of those in the Amazon River. Water couples sound much better than air... Fish in an aquarium get nothing like the pounding fish in the river get.

Some plants use up the calcium and the carbonates in the water. All plants use up most of the buffering salts as well. Your fertiliser will need to replace these or your pH will change. It will depend how often you do water changes and how fast your plants grow as to how much of the macro nutrients you need to add. If you need to raise your pH a little, it can be done using sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) disolved in water. Add a little at a time into the filter flow over about a 30 minute time-span. It sounds a little like you have fairly soft water with not much pH buffering capacity. This is certainly the best type of water for planted tanks but you also have to keep an eye on it regularly. I know if I add x amount of macro nutrients to my tank it will keep th pH stable. I used to test every week and adjust accordingly. After 8+ years I know what I can get away with now and only test every month or two just to be sure. Most sword plants are fairly fast growing. Not as quick as stem plants but you should see 1 fully grown new leaf every 2-3 days under good conditions...

Before double dosing you should check your iron and CO² level. If it's already at the right level, double dosing could be fatal. You should always start from a known point. Starting blind on anything is asking for trouble.

They don't or should I say they didn't when I tried it. Of course, the SPL mightn't have been high enough as the reponse drops off very steeply below 18Hz. At 7Hz it would have been down approx 30dB from the 20Hz level. I tried that to see what would happen to the house. You get some pretty interesting panel resonances in the walls it you hit the right frequency. It's amazing how much a house can flex!

Yeah, Bay view has some nice land alright. It has two things against it however: 1) the price, - sections start at about $200K for around 800m². 2) my brother is building there at the moment. Not that have anything against my brother, just nice to have some distance... 8)

I'll give it a yes too...

I've been looking for one for a couple of years now... I don't like upsetting neighbours.

Oh yeah and as for the 1812 overture, you can feel your ribs and clothes move when the cannons fire...

I don't have any trouble with my fish and loud music. I've probably got one of the largest stereo's in the country and no probs to date. Sometimes the fish will jump on the first decent bass hit but settle after that. It's just like tapping the glass on your tank. The first hit they jump but if you continue tapping they don't care any more. I get 125dBa at 20Hz and 136dBa at 57Hz which is pretty much like being strapped to the end of a jackhammer. The sub uses 2 x 18inch long throw drivers in a 4th order bandpass enclosure. It's powered by a 2500W amp. The rest of the system is pretty standard but still hits 127dBa and is powered by one 750W amp and one 500W amp. All the walls of the house shake and picture frames bounce off the wall. My lounge tank is 2400mm long and you can feel the front glass flexing a little but still no probs with the fish. My worst worry has actually been with the silicone letting go due to the glass flexing... The higher frequencies don't seem to effect the fish, only the bass. I don't usually have it up very loud as it upsets the neighbours 3 doors down the road when their windows rattle. Also, my hearing isn't quite what it used to be strangely enough!

This isn't exactly true. The plants out-compete the algae because they need smaller concentrations of the micro-nutrients the algae need. If the correct balance is present then the conditions for growing plants are not the same as for growing algae... In most cases there is too much of one or two trace elements - causing excess algae.

Ok, I'll contact the FNZAS Fish Committee, oh, that's me!! I'll organise a letter to shops selling these fish. It will ask them in a very diplomatic manner to give the customer all the details and maybe change the description they use. I know some of the shops doing this. If you know who they are, please send me a private email. Do not post any names here please.

Yes, brown algae is quite normal. It's very common in new tanks. Lighting time won't effect it much. However, the longer you leave the lights on, the faster it will burn out (14 hours is a good limit though). Eventually through cleaning and waterchanges it will go away. 6-10 weeks is usual before it suddenly dissapears...

Do you know it's scientific name? I may have it or something very similar but don't actually know many of the common names of plants!!

Waterchanges largely depend on the stocking level of your tank and how clean you want it. Keep in mind how you'd feel if you were locked in a room and never had the air changed. It would get pretty unpleasant very quickly. Treat your fish the way you'd like to be treated if you exchanged places... A good start is as mentioned above, 25% once a week. Light loading and maybe you can get away with 25% once a month. Heavy loading and maybe 50% once a week might do.

My comment is: I hope and expect the stores selling the fish as coldwater explain the fish are not actually coldwater like goldfish but will be ok if kept in a coldwater tank that doesn't get too cold (18-20'C minimum) - basically comfortable room temperature. As long as this is clearly explained by the shops they have done their bit to ensure the fish will be properly cared for. They should mention a heater should be kept in the tank to stop it going below the minimum temperature during winter.

I've got a 2.4m tank (1200L) pretty much dedicated to plants. It has a handfull of discus, a few dwarf cichlids and about 100 neons but it's mainly plants. I've recently ripped it to bits and changed everything round. It will be another week or two before it's all grown properly again. I'll post some pics then. It has a very strong Amazon theme...

Hi Mark, Just read through all this for the first time. Geez mate, it must have taken you just about as long to take the pics and post them here as it has to put the whole system together so far. Looking mighty fine...

Sorry for the loss too... Just goes to show, bad things happen to even the best fish keepers.

Good on you Peter. Let me know how you get on. I can come and visit sometime early next year if you like...

8)

Looks good! However, please consider trying to find out why you're getting cyno to start with. Erethro was a prescription drug when I got it last. I had to get a vet to prescribe it for me. So, it's going to cost you a few bucks to get some. A little bit of effort and a couple of test kits should be able to tell you if phosphate and/or nitrate is your problem.

The Sears-Conlin report doesn't lock things down in rock but it's pretty close. I haven't really changed anything in their fertiliser mix. It's really quite simple, supply all the correct macro and micro nutrients in about the quantities they suggest and phosphate is the limiting factor. Many water supplies in NZ and around the world are rich in phosphates. You need to have water that's pretty close to 0ppb in all nutrients if you want to successfully control exactly what goes into your tank. If you know what quantity of nutrients are in your tap water you can make allowance for them in your fertiliser mix. If you don't know, then you need to find out. Keep well away from liquid fertilisers that contain phosphate. They almost all have far to much phosphate in them. If they don't list the ingredients then don't buy it. If you use solid fertiliser tablets in the substrate, they can contain phosphate but don't need to have a lot. Make sure the phosphate cannot leach into the water. Don't use solid fertiliser tablets if you have an undergravel filter. I've tried several different ways to keep plants and to be algae free I've always ended back using the basic principals found in the Sears-Conlin report. Once you get everything going really well you'll actually find you'll end up with a slight nitrate and phosphate deficiency. I have to add both to my tank to keep the levels high enough for good growth but low enough so visible algae doesn't form. Fish food is a good source but doesn't quite supply all that's needed. My fertiliser is both nitrate and phosphate free and quite rich in iron. It's basically the same as the PMDD in the Sears-Conlin report. Get some good algae eaters too. They'll eat the algae you can't see. If you can see the aglae, they usually won't eat it. Bristlenose is pretty good at cleaning up but can be a bit hard on some delicate plants. SAE's are the best. They're really busy but only eat algae in it's soft stage, - where you can't see it. Don't give up, you'll find that magic mix that work for you...