Warren

When shipping large plants, put them in a bag with just a little water to keep the air very humid. Blow the bag up so the plant can't get crushed. Put it in a fairly well insulated box as tropical plants don't like to get cold (treat them like fish). Off it goes.

On the other hand, if the conditions are right it won't grow either. It doesn't always grow and is entirely dependant on a number of factors. It's quite possible the plants will grow with no beard algae. The again it might be just the same. I heard recently and saw some posts on another site saying Seachem's Flourish Excel is great for plant groth and getting rid of beard algae...

I've added Midas's Nitrate Calculator to the Technical Articles Section of the site, see the link below: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/495.0.html

Search for the Sears-Conlin Report or go to www.thekrib.com or http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... onlin.html Brilliant article about fertilisers...

Welcome Spooky! I'll be making a visit later in the year too. I'm planning a visit to all South Island clubs. Hopefully all clubs will be able to arrange their meetings on consecutive days to make the trip easier...

How old are the rest? Cardinals only live 2-3 years if memory serves me correctly... Elevated temperature shortens their life.

Get a pool pump and a big pleated cartridge filter. To clean the water up quickly you'll need a very big flow. You can cut the flow back with a ball-valve when you want to vacuum. All you have to do then is hose out the cartridge filter later... It's what I've been doing lately and it works great! Now I only have to do a 25% water change instead of 50%. It used to take 50% to get all the vacuuming done... 8)

Motel booked and have the time off work sorted... Now all I've got to do is think of something to talk about... 8) 8) 8) PS: I don't like voming much!!??

Looks a bit like it. Tricky to treat with Cory's. I don't think you can add salt. You may be able raise the temperature to burn it out faster - what do others think? I don't know if you can use meth blue or malachite green either... Any of you cory lovers out there able to help. Breakaway, why not try posting a link to here in the catfish part of the forum...

I wouldn't put an aquarium on that type of shelving. You might get away with a very small tank (less than 20L) but it's still a big risk. It would be bye-bye tank in an earthquake...

About the only courier that will take live animals is Pace Couriers. They charge about $70 for same day delivery anywhere in NZ.

Good point Pies, I don't use spray bars either - just a water return discretely hidden below the water level at the back of the tank...

If you want to grow plants well, put it below the surface so any CO² isn't expelled. If you have CO² injection and your spray bar is above the water, you're wasting CO².

If you have enough continuous load on one of the powerboards to cause an overload (10A or more) then you're using 2.3kW of power. This will be $250+ on your power bill. I'd be more worried about that... If you have a dual outlet wall socket you can plug one plugboard into each. Each wall socket is rated for 10A so you can get 20A total (or 16A depending on the breaker). It's not a good idea to fully load a plugboard to 10A however. 6-7A is a good safe maximum. As they age the thermal trips in them get weak and cause nuisance trips if they are loaded too much for their entire life. Most aquariums need a lot of plugs for many small low-drain devices. A couple of 300W heaters, some power heads, a couple of canister filter and a couple of fluro's won't overload a powerboard (maybe 5A max listed here...)

Bula, Having a great time. The fastest conference ever... The weather is great (but hot and windy). Not thinking about home at all! We'll bleat more about it when back home. Byeeee 8)

I wouldn't go below 12 hours a day. Plants need that much time to grow properly. It's often only a small amount of excess time that makes the difference. You should always change things slowly anyway so the tank doesn't get shocked...

Tanks sometimes go green like yours. If left alone and normal water changes are performed, the algae normally burns itself out pretty quickly. It's actually a good way to remove all the muck in the water. When the algae starts to die off, you'll need to do a couple of decent water changes a few days apart or it will come back.

It's a surprise!! You'll see when we get there...

Followed shortly by me!!... 8)

There is indeed. This link takes you to a page with all the details you'll need to make contact. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/clubs.0.html

A big HELLO to all FNZAS Clubs. Most clubs have recently had their AGM or will have it soon. Please remember to send me a copy of your new Officers positions so I can update the FNZAS 'Clubs' page. Please also remember to get the list of all your capitated members through to the FNZAS Treasurer as soon as possible. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/clubs.0.html

Sounds like pretty reasonable growth. You will probably get better growth in time. When I kept Ambulia it used to grow 50mm a day. In a week you had a whole new plant. Once you get all you need the best way to keep it looking good is to pull the whole plant out and chop off the bottom. Throw the bottom away and replant the top. This way the plants always look new and fresh. If you need more plants, just chop them off half way and replant the top.

Not a bad article but it implies the force on the glass is proportional to the weight of the water in the tank. This is not directly true as it's not the weight of the water that effects the force on the glass but the water level. It is possible to make a 10L tank that needs 25mm glass. Alternatively the same 10L could be safely held in a tank made from 3mm glass. It all depends on the shape of the tank. Bracing will help to some degree as stated, but the thickness of the glass still has to be able to withstand the pressure of the unsupported area. The maths (which is really what the term engineering should refer to in this case) still needs to be done to calculate the correct glass thickness. All the bracing is just the support mechanism. The advice on the bracing size seems fairly sound, maybe a little on the light side. The bottom thickness statement is only true if the base is truly level and does not deform at all under the weight of the tank. If it does, then the glass has to be thick enough to support either the full weight or the partial load. This needs to be calculated too.

Yes can get any sized UPS you might want. Will sell at the cost I can get them for, - not interested in making anything off it if its for an FNZAS member. PM me if you want pricing as I won't put up a price list here...

Most UPS have spike protection built in so no need to buy. Batteries do need replacing, 30 cycles / 5 or 10 years - depends which comes first... You can get 5,10 and 20 year design life batteries which in most applications last about 1/2 the stated life due to partial cycling. If the battery was kept at constant 20'C and inactive float with no discharge cycles it should last the stated lifetime.