Warren

Don't buy Epsom Salts from the supermarket! They cost too much. Epsom Salts are Magnesium Sulphate. You can buy this in bulk from your local pool shop or industrial chemical suplier. The last time I got some it cost $15.00 for 2kg (Thats a lot of MgSO4). I use it for 2 things, 1 as a total harness salt (+ Calcium Hydroxide or Calcium Chloride) and 2 as a part of my fertiliser mix for the planted tank. This stuff along with a couple of other macro nutrients is the bulk of what most aquarium fertilisers are made from. You can pay $10 for a bottle of plant fertiliser that has about 1/2 teaspoon (2-3g) of Magnesium Sulphate in it. With 2kg's you have enough of the Magnesium Sulphate component to make 333-500 $10 bottles of plant fertiliser. However this thread is about constipation... If you want plant fertiliser info, I'll be happy to supply details of a DIY mix that actually works (unfortunately I can't take credit for developing it).

Will send photos when finished. Floor has 8 new piles under it. The piles are set in 500mm x 500mm of conrete, - didn't want them to move. My current tank is set on 6 piles - no concrete. It only weighs about 2000kg's and it sunk a bit at one end after 6 months. Luckily I'd used adjusters on top of the piles so re-leveling the tank was not a problem.

Hi Pegasus, I'm currently building an aquarium using a similar method. I had considered using all wood (except for the front glass), but chickened out due to the size and seismic considerations. I have settled instead for a RHS Steel frame with 19mm Plywood sides fitted to the RHS members. The whole lot is then fibreglassed and sealed (epoxy resin is not waterproof!). The 19mm front glass fits inside the frame also. The RHS frame is galvanised first of course. The aquarium is 3000mm x 1200mm x 1000mm (LxHxW) and will weigh in at about 4500kg when full (including tank/gravel/water). Due to its weight I was worried about it cracking on a corner join in a decent earthquake. At least with the construction method used it will be the last thing standing after the house has fallen down. Anyone who wants detailed construction drawings for their reference can email me an I will send you a big .pdf file.

An air conditioner will cost more to buy, but work more efficiently than a cooler unit. The cooler unit will be quite a bit cheaper to set up, but will cost more to run. The running cost difference for a 4 foot tank is likely to be very small. The difference in cost between a cooler and an air-con on a 4 foot system is likely to take years to pay back based on the difference in running cost. If you can get the cooling system out of a refrigerated display unit it would work really well. You could pick one of these up second hand quite easily. You would have to check the thermostat to make sure it can go up to 8-14'C. These units usually have a cooling pipe that runs under the display tray. It can be easily removed and reshaped with some care. This unit is ideal as you do not have to let the gas out and get it replaced later. The pipe however is likely to be copper. You cannot therefore let it come into contact with the water. It would have to go under the tanks or under the pond liner. Air-con units are perfect for tropicals as their temperature range is typically 16-35'C and tropicals fall right in the middle.

Hi Caryl, You may find it a lot cheaper to get a standard air-conditioner modified. I have inquired about that option here. It is possible to replace the cooling radiator side of the air-conditioner with a coil you can put into the tank. I was going to use a stainless steel one for freshwater. Should also work ok in a marine setup if you can get a grade of stainless that is non-toxic to marine's and will work with the air-con. I will be using a modified air-con soon. I now need 3000W in winter just to keep my tanks warm. It is costing $250/month just to heat them. The air-con will drop this to about $80/month (payback about 18 months on the savings). You should be able to get by with a very small unit (I am heating / cooling 9000 Liters of water). I will let you know how I get on. PS: The beauty of an air-con is it can heat and cool!

I am in the lucky position of being able to answer questions on both types of cycling: 1. Most common types of Cycling in NZ are Road Cycling and Mountain Biking. I do both. We have many good roads for road cycling and heaps of the best tracks in the world for mountain biking. Because NZ is quite rugged and peaky the mountain bike tracks can be very steep, fast and technical. There are relaxed tracks too (which make a nice change now and then). 2. Tank cycling. I used to do it the way the books say; fill it up, start the filter, wait 3-4 weeks and begin adding fish a few at a time. Not any more! I have quite a few tanks and filters - Apart from the fish room (which runs on a central filter - easy to add/remove tanks). I set up the new tank and pinch some of the already formed media from a couple of other tanks. After adding a biological starter (for security only) I put the fish in about 1 hour later. There are never any spikes of any sort and all goes well from day one. You cannot do this if you are just starting out however (unless you can get cycled media from a friend). It did take a while to get the feel for setting tanks up this way, but the learning process was very quick and painless.

There are many importers in NZ, 9 I know of. It is not hard to setup a quarantine facility at all. MAF will check and certify it and you are all-set. I don't know about the costs of certification, but they will only be a fraction of setting up a good facility. There is no problem importing fish. The licensed importer picks up the shipment and takes it (sealed) to the quarantine site. After six weeks (and some standard tests on the fish) they are ready to sell. The largest problem faced here is not the cost of the fish. People in NZ seem to complain a lot about the prices of fish. They are a bit more expensive than overseas, but still not badly priced. If you have been breeding your own fish you will know some of the costs involved in producing 'Quality Fish'. You can breed any old poor quality fish quite easily and cheaply, but why bother. The big problem is the quality of the fish sent to NZ. It would seem that NZ is sometimes a dumping ground for rubbish fish. Some of the 'quality' imported discus in NZ are rubbish. This is not the importers fault as thay have little control over the fish coming in (in the $100-150 price range (retail)). If you want to get better quality fish they will cost more and you'll need to get them from a better source. The problem with better quality fish is the price. Retailers would be reluctant to buy them as they would be more difficult to sell. We need to start with us the customer and ask for better quality. We will have to pay more for it but we will have better looking and stronger breeding fish. If enough of us push for better fish the demand will eventually reach importers who may risk bringing in the better more expensive fish. [ This Message was edited by: Warren on 2002-03-28 21:45 ]

Hi All, I thought I'd put in my 1 cent worth. Caryl, you should have your conference info by now. Look forward to seeing you. That aside, Hawkes Bay is my pick of the places to live in NZ. I have travelled to most parts of New Zealand and spent significant time in most areas. It is always nice to come back to Napier for some good old consistant sunshine. It is good in other places as well, but seems to be more settled in Napier. My next pick would probably be Bay of Plenty (even though it rains a lot) but it is not because of the weather.

Hi Caryl, I have useda lot of this type of media in one form or another for a very long time. I have done a lot of research into its structure. It is possible the media can abosorb lime if it is in powdered (particle) form. If it is disolved (as lime does actually dissolve a little in water) it will not stay in the media. If it is small undissolved particles it could quite easily get stuck inside the media pores. It will tend to dissolve back out very slowly over a period of time. The amount of leaching would be very small however. It is likely other factors are effecting the pH. If a large amount of lime is stuck in the media it will probably have clogged it and seriously reduce its biological performance. The media's current state will depend on the type of lime (dissolved or powdered) added to the system and whether any of the lime precipitated out after being added.

Please see the approximate saftey margins for filling this tank to certain heights: The saftey margin is expessed referenced to 1, which is the breaking strain for the glass. Height of Water Saftey Margin 1160 0.763 Bang 1000 1.119 Saftey too small 900 1.634 Saftey Marginal 800 2.32 Saftey Ok 700 2.82 Saftey Good 600 4.48 Saftey Excellent I hope this helps.

Most good pet stores can get Dupla gear. They normally do not stock it because it is expensive and few people use it. The only 2 shops I know that do stock it are Jansens Pet and Aquatic Center in Auckland, or Animates in Wellington. Animates have a much smaller selection, and I've only seen it in their Wellington Store.

Note: Siamese Algae Eaters do not eat adult algae. All the large tufts need to be removed manually. The SAE's will only eat the new algae when it is in the 0-1mm size as it is still soft and edible.

You can buy one of the Dupla System of cylinders. They are very small. Go to their website to check out if they will fit. A medium sized cylinder will cost you about the same as renting a small BOC cylinder for 2.5-3 years. http://www.dupla.com/start_e.htm

The algae you are talking about is a red algae. It is a very nasty one that sticks incredibly well to everything. You do not need to strip your tank down at all. If you choose this method, you have to sterilise everything, throw away all the plants, rocks and wood in the tank and start completely from scratch. I do not recommend this method, as you will end up buying a plant that has the algae spores on it from a retail outlet anyway. Many of the plants sold in NZ have the spores sold with them, - there is no avoiding it. It is possible to get rid of the algae. Following is an article that about the Siamese Algae Eater or Black Line Flying Fox as it is sometimes known (Crossocheilus siamensis). How to make the algae go away: I have found only one way to completely rid an aquarium of algae, and it involves a few steps that must all run in balance. First, get some Crossocheilus siamensis. Next you need to add CO2. Next you have to physically remove all the algae you possibly can. Sometimes you will have to remove the whole leaf. Last you have to make sure all the necessary fertiliser ingredients are present in the correct proportions. If they are not, the algae can get a foothold again. Also read the Sears-Conlin Report at http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... onlin.html This has a wealth of good advice. Also visit the Articles / Technical Section to view my article on Aquarium Conditions. Happy Fishkeeping. Siamese Algae Eater Siamese Algae Eater, Crossocheilus siamensis (Smith, 1931). This slender algae eating barb is the only known fish that eats red algae. It comes from the flowing waters of Thailand and the Malay peninsula. It was first brought to Europe in 1962, but became popular in the 1970's when its ability to eat red algae was noticed. The fish is also known as Siamese Flying Fox, and Siamese Fox. It previous scientific name was Epalzeorhynchus siamensis. To those interested in the fine, but admittedly boring details of taxonomy, the genus Crossocheilus differs from Epalzeorhynchus by rhynal lobes (nasal lobes). Description: It is a slender, grayish-brown fish with a distinctive black horizontal stripe. Maximum length is 15 cm (6") and might be obtained in two years, if the conditions are optimal. Normally they grow slower and don't always reach that size in captivity. They can live over 10 years. All the fins are transparent or slightly milky without any yellow or reddish sheen. The black band goes from nose to the fork of the tail and its edges are zig-zagged. When a fish is stressed or fighting the black color fades significantly. Underparts are silvery white and there is no light stripe over the black, but the whole upper body is brownish and every scale has a dark edge, which make the top look reticular. Some dark scale edges might be seen under the black stripe. It has a pair of thin, forward-pointing barbels but they might be pressed against the cheeks when fish is swimming or resting. The long black stripe is also easy to see in young fishes, but the scale edge pattern and zig-zag edges are not clearly visible until the fish reaches the length of 5-7 cm (2-3"); the ones that are normally seen in European shops are about 3-5 cm (1-2") long. Adult females are often slightly fatter than males, no other sexual differences are known. Behavior: It is an active and fast swimmer, which thrives best in schools but can also be kept alone or in pairs. It is a strong jumper and should not be left unattended in small uncovered containers. Siamese Algae Eaters often chase one another, but they never get hurt in these fights. It doesn't bother any of its tankmates. C. siamensis has a peculiar resting position: it doesn't lie flat on its belly but keeps its body propped up with its tail, pelvic and pectoral fins. Young fish sometimes rest on broad leaves, adult specimens prefer resting on bottom or dense, low plants like Cryptocorynes. The swim bladder is not very developed, so the fish can't stay in midwater but it must be in constant motion or it sinks. Needs: Siamese Algae Eater is not very demanding. Suitable temperature is 24-26 C (75-79F). They can tolerate pH from 5.5 to 8.0, but 6.5-7.0 is ideal. Hardness should be less than 20 dH. Water should be clean and oxygenated, because they come from bright and fast-flowing streams. They eat algae, including red algae and all kind of live and prepared foods. It is very rare that they harm plants in their tank if they are given enough green food. They also eat algae when they are mature, but seem to prefer flake food. Liisa's fish eat Duckweed (Lemna minor) but have never touched any other plants. They haven't yet been bred in captivity, so all the specimens are caught from nature. It appears that the fish are seasonal and are not always available in the shops. Minimum tank size for a pair of adult Siamese Algae Eaters is 100 liters (25 gallons). The aquarium should be long and have lots of living plants. Compatibility: As they are not aggressive, they can be kept in any community tank big enough. Their active behavior might stress some sensitive species like dwarf cichlids and prevent them from spawning. They should not be kept with Red-tailed Sharks (Epalzeorhynchus bicolor) unless the aquarium is large and well planted, because that species is very aggressive towards all its relatives. Availability in the Aquarium Trade: The Siamese Algae Eater, Crossocheilus siamensis is quite common in Europe. In fact, it is one of the top ten fish sold in Finland. Although it became known to the American hobbyist in the 1980's through the translation of European literature, most notably The Optimum Aquarium, the fish has been virtually absent from the American aquarium scene. This might be attributed to several factors. First, some English language books did not publish the correct picture of the true SAE. These include the English edition of the Baensch Atlas, Volume I (same as the first German edition of this Volume) and the early editions of the "Axelrod Atlas." In these books, the illustrated fish is the "false siamensis," Garra taeniata or another Epalzeorhynchus species. Secondly, the true SAE is thought to be less colorful than several of its relatives. In fact, in some countries of Asia (e.g. Taiwan), this fish is known as "one like flying fox;" the fish we call false siamensis is known as "colorful flying fox."

Hi Caryl, I have this appearing in my tanks too. It seems to like to grow at the surface. It may be some form of algae??!! It does not grow all that fast and is easily controlled by removing the small amount that grows every week. I would still like to know what it is however.

Hi Peet, I use a RO unit, so I have a constant flow of water going through my cooling coil. (Ssshh! don't tell anyone, - but it uses about 750L a day!!) This is more than enough to keep the temperature down in all my tanks. The easiest place to collect specimens is Harding road, just down from the Hot Chick. Most of the other places that are really good are Reserves, and you're not allowed to take anything. If you know anyone who is into diving, Pania reef, and even Town reef have some really nice specimens. The best fish shop for plants and fish is hard to say. Animalz is trying really hard, and can usually get most things if they are available. Their selection of plants is getting pretty good. The other shops have some of the less popular and rare fish in from time to time. The best thing to do is visit them all regularly to show them you are 'fish nuts', then they get to know you and you'll get a more personal service. Once that is established they are much more keen to help you with your unusual (and unreasonable if you are me) requests.

Hi Caryl, Looks like you need some iron. Your iron test kit may not be sensitive enough, but a reading of 0.1 is usually enough to make plants grow. Watch out however, - if your phosphate is 5ppm, adding iron will probably cause a bit of algae initially until the phosphates drop. Check out this website for an excellent report about plants and fertilisers. http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... onlin.html

Hi Caryl, I have not used peat before, but have read about it. You usually have to try it and see. The peat continues to lower the pH, so you have to remove it once the desired pH is reached. Is there a reason you want a pH of 6.8-7.0? If it is for a planted tank, you could add sulphuric acid (only a very small amount at a time) until the desired pH is acheived. The extra sulphate will also be benificial to the plants. The pH on a planted tank should naturally fall anyway. You may find given time it will automatically adjust itself. Once it is down where you want it, water changes will be enough to stop it falling further. Both peat and keeping the pH constant by just water changes are a trial and error method unless you can accurately measure all parameters (on the tank water, tap water and the peat) prior to each water change. It will vary on the type and density of the peat, and on the chemical content of the water. All these items will be constantly changing, but you will find (given time), a general rule of thumb that will work well.

If the tank is not too big, try using a stainless steel coil in the filter or tank. Pass cold tap water through the coil. I have routed my house supply through the coil and since I use a lot of RO water, the water in the coil is always changing. You will not get down to 15'C, but I have acheived 17'C no problem and I'm from Hawkes Bay where my room temperature is usually 28'C minimum, rising to 40'C on a really hot sunny day. The problem with using a beer fridge is getting the surface area of the exchange system large enough. A fridge only runs at about 4'C leaving only 11'C differential cooling. You will need a very large surface area (like that of a car radiator) and blow the cold air from the fridge over it. Also, the fridge is not actually designed to extract all that much energy from the water. A better method is to get an old air conditioner and modify one side to be an imersion coil. All the gas will escape during the process of course and it will need to be refilled. This system works really well, and is just about capable of feezing your tank if you want. The thermostat works really well too as the temperature range we are targeting is standard for the air conditioner (must be electronic however - not bimetal).

Please see my reply in the Rocks section.

Hi Peet, I use CO2 injection. I use a commercial 6.8kg Food Grade CO2 bottle that I rent from BOC Gases. The cost to rent it is about $95 per year, and gas refills about $25.00. It lasts about 2 Years. This bottle holds significantly more than a Soda-Stream bottle (probably at least 100x). It is also on a tank of 1200L. I do not use a gas reactor as they are a big waste of money. If you have a filter, inject the CO2 into its inlet if it can tolerate gas bubbles flowing through it, or into the return if it cannot. If you have to connect into the return, and some gas bubbles come out the end of the pipe, get a large diameter and longer return hose and fit it to the filter. You will need to zig-zag the hose vertically to maximise the turbulence in the hose. I use the return hose method and put about 6 bubbles (diameter 3mm - 5mm long) per second into the tank. This gives excellent growth on all plants. I use Barclaya longifolia as an indicator for too much CO2 as it develops holes in its leaves. The beauty of using a commercial gas cylinder is it bolts straight up to standard CO2 regulators to take the 1000psi down to a managable 15psi. The regulator has stainless steel guts because CO2 is too corrosive for the standard brass type of regulator. Watch out for Sodastream regulators, they may not be up to the job long term. [ This Message was edited by: Warren on 2002-01-24 19:19 ]

Hi Caryl, You say the plant started to die after about 1 month. This is typically the time many plants will survive in a situation that is not ideal. They hold out for about a month and then begin to die off. Most commonly plant die-off of this type is due to excess Nitrate or Phosphate levels (most likely Nitrate). Anything over 30ppm nitrate tends to inhibit the growth of most plant (except Java Fern). To successfully setup a planted tank, it must initially have no fish or very few fish. It can also not support a very big fish load even when matured. The 2 lights you have sould be enough for the plants you listed. I would check the nitrates. Do you get excessive algae growth at all?

Hi Caryl, The Blue thing can be fixed too. I use a little bit of Vasaline on the black rubber O-rings. It is these O-rings drying out that causes the Blue-thing to be tight.

Hi Paul, I have some Hygrophila polyserma. If you want some just yell out, - I've got buckets of it pouring out of my aquarium. Warren

Hi Cees, The topic did come up at conference, but I can't remember the outcome. I beleive it was a good one, but need to confirm it. If we have the go ahead I will offer my services to help create an electronic version if Caryl doesn't have it already, or wants some help. I would be keen to participate in helping create the proposed database also (more entering data than programming). The database is long overdue, and will give aquatic plant growers in NZ a very powerful tool for expanding the quantity and quality of plants available. It will also help keep our rare specimens available. Lets go for it!! :cool: