Warren

Just remember, flood is not a happy term in the aquarium hobby...

Hmmm... Marine tank stock Ira??

I've read through my AW too. What an awesome effort Caryl. It's got heaps in it with lots of variation. The colour really brings it alive. I think that effort deserves a chocolate fish!

Sound's like I used to live there. My last flat has a seriously strong floor at one end too...

You can smash up pumice. It has a very high surface area compared to most hard surface media. It’s also free if you can find some. It can contain silicates and heavy metals however. After smashing it up it needs to be treated. I've used it a lot with very good success. Here's how I prepare it: Smash the pumice into bits about 10mm in size. Soak the pumice in acid for 1 week, stirring daily. Rinse the pumice and soak in chlorine for 1 week. Rinse very thoroughly. Pumice is now ready. The acid can be anything fairly toxic. I usually use Hydrochloric Acid since I keep some in the shed. You could use acetic acid (white vinegar) but it’s a lot weaker. The best would probably be phosphoric acid, as it will get most of the silicates and heavy metals. You can use any Sodium Hypochlorite based Bleach as a source of chlorine. This will help break down any remaining organic material and bleach the pumice so it is very white. The final rinsing process consists of a very thorough rinse followed by soaking the pumice for a few days, changing the water every day. When there is no smell it is ready. Pumice works really well but sometimes it can cause a little brown algae (due to silicates) for the first couple of months. It’s normal to get some brown algae in a new tank anyway, its just a little worse for a little longer. If you are happy to put up with this in exchange for almost free media it’s an excellent option.

Sounds excellent. Remember to ask me for some help if you need it. I'm looking forward to it. Last time the HBAS put on an event like this it was great. Many people from out of town came and had a lot-o-fun. Unfortunately I caught the flu and ended up missing out on the social evening... This time I'll be there! In earlier posts there was a question about the timing of the FNZAS Conference. The question asked why we can't move the date to a time when the costs are lower. I knew there was a very good reason for it but couldn't recall why. Earlier today I read through all my notes and found exactly why it is when it is. Our Consitution states that Conference (AGM) is to be held in June (section 24). 24. A General Meeting of Officers and Delegates to the Federation (in the rules referred to as "the Annual General Meeting") shall be held in the month of June each year. Observers may also attend such meetings.

Looks like there's no cheap fares left then. Still might be worth a try though. You never know if some agents have different resources.

Agree'd 8)

Quick note: NZ Departure tax is included in the quoted price. Departure tax in Fiji is not included as it is in Fijian dollars and will depend on the exchange rate at the time. I haven't checked the cut-off age for kids. In some cases it's as high as 16. You would need to confirm this. There may be a few cheap deals still available. If you are really quick you might snap up any that are left. There are often half a dozen avaialble per flight.

Hello Dugong, Question 1: You seem to have missed the bit that says it's cheaper for families. It's approx $1650.00 per adult + 2/3 airfare for kids and accommodation is free. Works out at $3300 + the kids airfares at approx $500 each. So for a typical family you're looking at $3300 + $1000 (2 Kids) + Spending money. That’s $4300. If you can spend $5900 in a week it will cost $10000. More realistically you'll spend $150 a day for a family = $1050 for the week. So a realistic total is more like $5350 - $5700 or about half of what you've stated. There are 17 cheaper rooms which is at least 34 people if they all only twin share. If more than 2 stay in a room it's cheaper per person + more people in total can fit in. Up to 4 can stay in each cheaper room. There is one double bed and 2 singles. We will likely get approx 50 people going (maybe / hopefully more). If about 50 go then way more than half will get the cheaper option if they want it. I'm going for the more expensive room and twin share. We are going for a week after all. I'd rather pay a bit extra and be a bit more comfortable and not quite as cramped. If you have any questions or doubts about the costs, please call/e-mail the travel agent to discuss. Question 2: The peak season runs from about now through to the end of July. The tradition of Queen's Birthday Weekend for Conference is mainly due to the long weekend. It is more convenient for people to travel the large distances to get to the hosting city. In our case, we will be away for 8 days (7 nights) and we will only need to take 4 days annual leave (in most cases). Queen's Birthday Weekend is also at a time where the weather is most settled in Fiji (no monsoons!). Question 3: The FNZAS hasn't taken over. I personally volunteered to organise the travel part of conference. Since I am based in Hawkes Bay it’s easier to manage everything from here. Rest assured, John is also doing his bit, it just doesn't show.

Yeah, as Chirs says, get them the same size at least. If you just get small ones you'll end up with the same problem. If you put in lots of plants it gives them heaps of hiding places. You'll find they actually spend more time out front if they can hide. Maybe they get a better feeling of security or something...

Here is a link to the Conference 2004 Information page. A copy of this information + a registration form has been sent to every FNZAS member which you will receive in the next few days. The page will be updated from time to time as necessary. Enjoy. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/493.0.html

Hmmm... Big size difference. Looks like a couple of dominant fish have bullied the rest and got most of the food. 7 is a good number but the tank is probably a bit small for that many. Not enough room to hide / escape bullying. The food looks ok. pH, temp ok. Discus like some water movement but not strong currents. As long as there are some fairly still areas they will be ok. However, if the current is quite strong in most of the tank, the fish will tend to find the calmest spot. This often means they all get bunched together somewhere. This helps promote the bullying. See if you can arrange the filter so it doesn't create a strong current. You may be able to install a spray bar to distribute the outlet water evenly across the back of the tank... It's worth a try.

I've had really good result using the following: Get some mercurochrome from somewhere. Its no longer sold as it contains mercury and is deemed dangerous to use on humans. It's perfectly safe on fish as they can cope with mercury. Get some vasaline. Get some cotton buds. Open the mercurochrome and vasaline. Open the cotton bud packet. Wet a small clean towel with tank water and place it on a bench. Catch the fish at take it to the bench. Put the fish on the towel and partly cover it to stop it jumping about. Clean the infected area with a cotton bud and throw away the used bud. Dip a clean cotton bud in the mercurochrome and apply to the infected area. Cover the infected area with a thin layer of vasaline. Carry the fish back to the tank in the towel and gentle place back in the water. The procedure need to be done in about 1.5-2 minutes. The fish will be ok during this time. The stress from catching it is short term and is overall less stressful than an infected wound. I've had a better than 80% success rate with this method. Prior to that I lost nearly all the fish with this type of injury. Water treatment more often than not doesn't work as it doesn't stop fungus getting in before its too late. The method mentioned above works even if there is fungus as the mercurochrome kill it. The vasaline seals the wound much like a plaster and stops the fungus coming back.

Usually when a discus is in this state it's not too good to get your hopes up (sorry to say). What size is the tank? Are all the fish similarly sized or is there a mix of big and small? With only 3 discus, one will be getting a hard time. With Discus, the more the better - usually 6 minimum, preferably 12. With Discus there is often a runt. It's this way because one usually gets bullied more than the rest. It's often because there aren't enough to spread the pecking around between. Often the runt will die. Then the next smallest gets picked on. Once they reach a certain size they seem to be able to cope with it (usually 75mm+). I usually keep an eye out for the one that gets bullied most. Inevitably it doesn't get to eat as much and starts to lose weight. I normally isolate this fish and feed it heaps + lots of water changes. Once its fattened up again I put it back. Usually the fish is ok after this. Some Discus just seem to die. Not many, but maybe 1 in 30-40 just waste away and there seems to be little you can do about it. However if this is the fourth one you are having trouble with there may be something else wrong. Hole in the head is usually a deficiency syndrome. It usually means not enough calcium, vitamin D & K in the diet. Hole in the head can be cured by diet alone (provided the holes aren't infected). What food do you use?

Mark, no tank has 0 algae. You might not be able to see any but its there... You have no green covering on any logs etc?

I just dump it in the tank. If it's a bit cloudy when you start filling I just use the tank vacuum to pick up the silt and dirt. Push it to the bottom of the gravel to get all the muck. When it's filled up next time it's clear as. Most of the time the gravel is really clean so the vacuuming isn't necessary... If you are really worried about disease or bacteria, put the gravel in a bucket with a bit of Hypochlorite based bleach. It will kill anything + help break down organic matter + help remove oil / petrolium residue. It will need to be very well rinsed. You can kill the chlorine with a bit of Sodium thiosulphate then rinse well again. The thiosulphate isn't really necessary but it cuts down on the rinsing. Once you can't smell any trace of chlorine its ready.

8)

Maybe we should add a page to the main FNZAS Homepage with the list of supporting retailers??

Yes, the list is in the Aquarium World.

Good on you Mark.

If you are Hamilton based you should consider joining the local club. I've met most of the people and they are a great bunch. They have a very strong group of breeders who are willing to share their knowledge. Go for it. I'll add discussing the idea of affiliate members to the agenda of our next committee meeting in February. At this time I tend to think it's best to belong to a local club though. If we start to have affiliate members we take something away from the local clubs. Anyway, we'll discuss it and let you know...

An important point to remember here is the permitted list only applies to what is allowed to be imported into NZ. It does not state which fish that are already here are allowed to be kept. It means that fish that are not on the list may still be allowed to be kept in NZ, bred and sold in the shops. The current list has major shortcomings when it comes to what is not allowed to be kept. There is no list of illegal fish I know of for tropical fish. The current pest fish list only deals with fish that can live in our waterways. The only information about this I know of is here: http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/Bio ... r-Fish.asp and http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/002 ... Freshwater)/index.asp

If you don't mind the filter on top of the tank, its a very easy solution that doesn't require any drilling. Instead you drill the filter since it sounds like you need to get one made anyway. You've seen my setup. My tanks is 1200L. I use a Grundfos FP4 pump (now called Oase 6000). Amazingly this is a 6000L / hour pump. I get 5000L / hour from it (measured) because of the 650mm head and the prefilter drag. My trickle filter uses Siporax and Effisubstrat as media (14L of Siporax and 15L of Effisubstrat). There is a section for a carbon bag (I use Purigen (Seachem) instead of carbon). The pump is in the tank. The water gets pumped from the tank into a prefilter for mechanical filtration down to 15 microns (spa pool pleated cartridge filter - 75sq feet). This leaves the water optically clear and free from particulate mater which would clog the Effisubstrat or Siporax. The water then enters the trickle filter and passes over the two previously mentioned media. It then gravity feeds back into the tank. You've seen the results, - make up your own mind...

Next meeting is Wednesday, Feb 18th. Its probably at the normal time of 7:30pm at the National Aquarium. Will let you know if it starts at any other time.