Janelle

I almost cried to read this too. Suddenly my Monday doesn't seem too bad. I'm so sorry to hear your news. =( If a fish dies through my own negligence, at least it still has some kind of meaning and it's something I can learn from, but senseless vandalism is just completely meaningless and upsetting. I'm backing Karma on this one too. Good luck to your surviving fishes.

At the moment I have a second hand Shark ADV Powerhead (I think that's what it said on the manual) which does quite well with my tank (it came with it when I bought the setup). I like it but I have it pushing water from the back to the front of the tank so the other corner in the back doesn't get much flow. This probably suits some of my fish since they choose to sleep in that corner. However, the fish in my tank could all handle a faster flow, so I'm thinking of getting a directional powerhead to replace it, like the one in this link: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-animals/Fish/Pumps-filters/auction-110637348.htm Would this one be good for making the flow a bit more long-ways along the tank? The tank is about 61 cm long x 30 cm wide x 51 cm deep and filled to about 10 cm from the top to make about 75 litres in volume. The pump in the link is for 100-300 litres so as much as I want a stronger flow, should I just go for the one recommended for 50-100 litres instead? How would the direction of the flow affect the water in the tank? Is there a recommended depth/direction so the water circulates properly? Or should I just stick to my Shark ADV, or whatever it is? Thanks for any help.

I think I'm tending away from Danios as I'm hearing they can be nippy and I already get somewhat stressed about my goldfish taking the odd nibble at my other fish. I also like them but I think I'm still quite content with just the White Clouds. I think I'm the only person who likes to stare at the "boring" fish in my tank....

I went and got some of the Peppered Corys today and they seem to be happy enough in 22C. If they look severely unhappy at any time I will onsell them to a better home. I was sold some Novo Pleco Chips for them to eat. I was a little dubious but bought them anyway. Do they actually eat this?

I've been watching the temp with my new heater in. It can go as low as 19 but during the day when the sun heats up the lounge it can go higher, by the time I come home it's at around 22 (with the heater set to 22). I'm going to keep an eye on it today, looks like a sunny Saturday in Christchurch.

I had the same. Little brown/red ones? They're tiny, and I tried flushing them into the water but they don't sink and just jump back up onto the side. I saw a tiny wriggly worm in the water also. At first I thought it was a tiny white worm I'd thrown in but the fish refused to eat it. In the end I just ignored it. Curious where they came from.

Hmm... Okay. I wondered because I couldn't find a consistent temperature range anywhere, but now I'm still confused if they'd do okay in my cooler tank.

Oh, nevermind me, lol. Just went to the Commercial Trade forum and see that Organism stocks some. They would survive okay in 20C water, right?

I stumbled across some info pages about the Pearl Danio. Does anyone know if there are any in New Zealand? So far I've only really seen Zebra and Leopard Danios. Thanks.

I think I could've made the same mistake as I think of the word "pregnant" as having a connotation of "fullness," but then I suppose a more correct term would be "egg laden"?

Hi again, my last post was actually only half finished since it was bedtime and I just got to a point where I closed my laptop and went to sleep. Anyway, I also meant to say that my goldfish seems happiest in the 18-22 range (as in, most lively and colourful), and that the borneo suckers/hillstream loaches do need some special care. I don't know anything about bristlenoses myself. The heater in my tank is especially for the borneo suckers since the cold killed my first two. My goldfish was also happy in what was probably 12 degree water. As long as they don't actually freeze they're fine, they just sort of slow down and semi-hibernate and don't need as much food. Mine's a hungry little bugger now the temperature is back at 20 and so are the white cloud mountain minnows who now think that the cold water I pour in from the taps (Chch tapwater) is a cue to spawn.

I have a 75 litre tank with one (small) goldfish, a dozen white cloud mountain minnows, two borneo suckers, and hopefully by this weekend also some peppered corydoras. I'm also looking at maybe danios, and I hear cherry barbs can also handle the lower 20's. My tank heater is 100 watt and set at 22. The tank temperature varies from 19-21 usually.

Still a bit cold for it in Christchurch, methinks. I'm looking forward to collecting some mozziekins when it gets warmer tho. My boyfriend's betta will think he's in heaven and I"m sure my goldfish and white clouds won't complain either. =)

I used to suspect they actually swept the algae off the glass by walking over it all the time as well as sucking on it since I would see little circular footprints in the green stuff. I figure though, as long as the algae is there the micro-organisms will be there, just like infusoria or bacteria will show up under the right conditions. Just as a side-night, my borneo suckers will forgo the filter to make their home on the large rocks I have on the other side of the tank. I think they like my filter because it is smooth and has algae on it as well as the fact there is good current there, and they can hide behind it. They seem just as happy to hang out on the rocks instead though, although they're usually hiding around the back where I can't see them. I find them pretty fascinating.

I tried algae wafers for my borneo suckers also, and even though the other fish take no notice, neither do my borneo suckers. I had two for over four months who kept my tank glass and filter sparkling clean. When they died (from cold weather, not starvation) I had an algae explosion. I now have two new ones and I'm curious if the algae will disappear again without me having to do anything about it. I've given up trying to feed them as my old ones (who were not so shy and would graze algae while I watched) used to have eyes that would follow other food as it went past them but they would just ignore it - that included flakes, bloodworms, daphnia, etc!

I saw those fish being sold on Trademe. I feel sorry for the fish, personally.

I set the heater to about 21-22 and it's been keeping my water at what appears to be about 19-20 (+ or - 1 degree). It's warm enough that my fish are looking lively again and the tank doesn't feel like an ice cube when I touch the glass. =) It has been getting warmer, and I'm actually seeing light before and after work. It's like light at either end of a long, dark tunnel. =P

OK, I had a look at the corys I remembered the names of from eseing them in shops, and it seems the Peppered Cory would be very suitable to my tank, since it can take lower temperatures quite well and would be okay with my round gravel substrate, plus they're not one of the larger species. I was also interested in Sterbai Corys but there was no information on those ones. I will do some window shopping of Peppered Corys. I'm not really sure how many I could keep in my tank but I'm hoping with my weekly water changes and careful feeding it won't threaten to overload my tank.

Wilson - I went on Saturday afternoon with bdspider, and Loopy & co were also there. You were really the only one missing! Ianab - Thanks for the info and links! I have been keeping an eye on the goldfish and the size of his mouth too, haha. If he gets too big I might just have to evacuate the tank with the snails and daphnia in it and put him back in there. I'm going to take a look at that site link now. Cheers.

I don't like the look of the Albino Corys... I saw some Pygmy Corys and they were so cute but so tiny I wasn't sure I could risk it even though my goldy ignores the other small fish, and I don't know what temperature range they prefer. If I can't have corys I'll probably look at danios, but the corys fascinate me. Oh, and wilson, I feel like my first Organism experience wasn't complete since I never saw you there!

Hi, I don't really know where this would go so I'm posting it in the Beginners corner. I have a 75 litre tank with one small shubunkin, a dozen white clouds of various sizes, and two borneo suckers. The goldfish does not bother even the smallest of the white clouds so I'm assuming he is still a safe size to keep with the smaller fish for now. I bought a heater quite recently in a failed attempt to prevent my last borneo suckers from dying from hypothermia, so now there is a heater in the tank and I like to keep the water at around 20 degrees. This would be harder to maintain in summertime as I already know the water unheated will range between 18 and 25 in summer. I have been looking at corydoras for some time and I really love the fish but I have always looked at my tank as coldwater and unsuitable for corys. Now I have a heater, I'm wondering if it would be all right to add corys to my current stock? There are so many different types, does anyone know which ones would be comfortable with the lower temperatures, from about 18-24? (I wouldn't go higher mostly because of the goldfish.) What do I need to think about? Is it just a silly idea I should give up on unless I get a new tank? Thanks for any help.

When I first got the borneo suckers my tank was averaging 20-24 degrees in summer, so it wasn't a problem, and I had been worrying ever since the temperature started dropping since I could see them getting pale. My heater has a minimum temp of 18 but I've put it onto 20 because I think it would struggle a little. My new heater is 100 watt and my tank is about 70-75 litres.

I'd had these for about three months? No problems before it got cold. I have a powerhead in the tank to keep the water swift at least at one end and they generally hung out wherever the food was regardless of current. I have large, smooth rocks in the tank they used to play around in, and one broad-leafed plant one used to enjoy sucking a lot. Their absence is almost immediately known from the amount of green stuff suddenly growing on my glass and rocks, which I suspect wasn't helped by the fact they had died in there.... When it first began to get cold they turned pale and stopped moving around so much, so the temperature is my main suspect. It has been getting to temperatures around the -5 range in my area and my tank is bordered by two large, drafty windows on two sides. In the morning when we first come into this side of the house we can see our breath on the air - it gets that cold even inside. I could test for pH but to test for Ammonia I would have to borrow a test kit. I suspect it would be a little higher due to the fact I just had two dead fish in there and I haven't changed the water in two weeks because it's so freakin' cold in there.... I haven't been feeding the fish much as it's been getting colder either and I have a few plants in there, and of course the new algae.... I can't be sure, but they were very happy before the winter snap, even when the temperature first started to fall. It wasn't until after the first frosts they began to lose their colour and energy.

You know what, I don't know... And I found my second borneo sucker had died too. *sigh* I had a thermometer on my tank and my boyfriend took it to use with his siamese fighter. I didn't even want to touch the water, so I wouldn't be surprised if it goes down to 12 degrees in the early morning. Later in the evening we have the fire going to keep the room warmer. I'm going to try to work the heater up to a constant 20 in the end.... And now I have a heater, I need to hunt for more borneo suckers since the algae is growing in my tank again... >_> Am I a bad fishkeeper?

No worries.... dropped into a pet store on the way home, bit the bullet, and stuck a heater on my credit card. It's all plugged in now. Hopefully my other borneo sucker comes out from the rocks alive and kicking... and not dead and rotting...