Ianab

You can keep way more fish than is sensible if you have extra filters and keep up the water changes. Not ideal, and you are more prone to have problems. But short term, do more water changes and you should be fine. Cheers Ian

What are the stones like? If they were limestone or marble then it is possible that they were messing with the pH and hardness of your water? If you still have them do a vinegar test on a piece. Drop a little vinegar on a rock, if it bubbles then the rock contains lime and best not to use it in a normal tank, unless you are keeping African chiclids that actually prefer hard alkaline water. Cheers Ian

Too many people been getting killed in Mosh pits. If the event promotor doesn't have some plan in place the control the crowd (like the D barrier) and someone gets killed they can be held criminally responsible What happens if they dont have a D barrier http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/26/pearl.jam.02/

This is the Lords of Lightning that put on shows during Bojrk and and Rage 8) Cheers Ian

True they will eat more algae if they are starving :-? I keep plecs cos I like them, the fact they eat some algae is a bonus. Cheers Ian

Wonder why she didn't sing them then Seriously as a spot between Shihad and Rage Against the Machine.. well lets just say it didn't work :-? Ian

Just got home myself. It was a good show Rage and Shihad was the highlight.. the Lightning guys where Excellent 8) (we where standing up the back about 5m from them) The other Kiwi bands on the main stages where good too. You could have had a fun day just sitting in the stand and watching the 'people' go past :lol: My only question is why the heck Bojrk was there ?? :-? ?? At least we where near the lightning guys, so we watched them. Cheers Ian

Try feeding them some fresh veges too. Courgette, cucumber, green beans, mushrooms etc. The algae wafers are OK, keep feeding them, but alternate in some fresh veges as well. I dont guarantee they will stop eating the plants, but they will be better fed Cheers Ian

The common ones seem to be P. Pardalis (a 'Common'), P. joselimaianus (Goldspot), P. gibbiceps (Gibby or Sailfin) and assorted variaties of Ancistrus (Bristlenose). Those are the species that I have anyway, the ones that are readily available anywhere. I'm sure there are others, but they seldom make it out to the provinces If you have 900L you will have space for a few, even the bigger ones. You do have to watch the bigger ones regarding aggression, but if you buy them small, grow them together and have a big tank with lots of hiding spots they are generally fine. Just take care if you introduce adult specimens, they can be pretty territorial. Cheers Ian

True, and if it's a large tank and small fish it may never build up to a level where it's measurable. Especially if you seed the tank with cycled media from an established tank. Water changes can also keep it down to low levels. I would suggest that if you have no ammonia after 2 weeks, add a few more fish. If you start getting ammonia readings, do some water changes and dont add any more untill the ammonia is zero again. Cheers Ian

Superglue is safe once it's FULLY cured. Same for Silicone, epoxy resins (araldite etc), Polyurethane (gorilla glue). You may need to experiment to find which one sticks to the plastic of the filter though. Cheers Ian The dentures people must not have waited long enough for the glue to cure :-? (maybe they didn't want the pizza to get cold or something )

We are going, taking my teenage boys. OK so they have to go to the BDO with Dad, but I'm paying and driving, so it's a good deal for them Ian

2 hours in a big bag or a chilly bin wont harm them. Just dont let them get too hot in the car. Cheers Ian

Feed them well, plenty of fresh veges, and they wont bother trying to eat the plants Cheers Ian

Summer is probably best, there wont be a big temperature difference. I would just float them in a bucket and slowly mix the water, they should be fine. Cheers Ian

Yup, just water and a scrubbing brush. No detergent or soap. If you have access to a waterblaster that works well too. Cheers Ian

Plecos move their eyes for sure. They also appear to blink by folding their eye right down into into the socket. If you look close you will see thay also have an adjustable iris to cater for different light levels. When you look close you see a little flap of skin that pretudes into the eye. This swells up in bright light and partially blocks the eye. Just looking in my tank - I see the kribensis looking about, so I think many cichlids move their eyes. I vaugely remember Oscars do. But the tiger barbs just have fixed stars and I dont think Bala sharks are smart enough to move their eyes :lol: Cheers Ian

Sounds a sensible mix The skunk loaches are the only one I would worry about as well, but if they are in a group they are less likely to hassle the other fish. Cheers Ian

Plecos and hillstream loaches will eat algae, but generally you cant grow enough in a tank to feed a large (or several) fish. So you need to supplement their diet with tablets, wafers or veges anyway. So.. basically dont worry about it Cheers Ian

pH will tend to drift down over time anyway. 7.2 is so close to neutral that I wouldn't bother playing with it unless you are trying to breed fish that want certain conditions. Playing with pH by adding random chemicals is a pretty easy way to kill off your fish If you do want the pH lower (assuming you are keeping species that prefer acid water) then adding some driftwood or peat moss to the tank will encourage the pH to fall in a slower and more natural way. Cheers Ian

I would suggest you do quarantine them, especially if you already have valuable (or just your favourite) fish in your tank. It may mean you need to set up a better quarantine tank to give them space. My Q tank is only small, but is pretty much set up permanent and I keep a few stray 'expendable' fish in there to keep it cycled and ready to go. Most fish I buy are only small, so a 20l tank works for me. But if I was buying in adult discus a 100l Q tank might make sense. Keep up the water changes in the Q tank for a few weeks and the Discus will be fine. It's not like you are expecting them to live in the small tank or having to do daily water changes for life. My theory on keeping a Q tank setup and cycled is that it provides the best possible conditions for the incoming fish. Give the new and probably stressed fish a stable environment instead of dumping them into a newly setup and non-cycled tank. If I do get a problem during a quarantine period I can treat as needed and if necessary strip and steralise the tank before the next use. Easy enough to set up again and drop in some crash test guppys to cycle it again. Cheers Ian

I agree. If the tank is new it's common to get all sorts of algae, diatoms, bacteria growing in the water. Mostly harmless and they go away with time. Keep up the water changes and let things settle down for a few weeks and see what happens. Cheers Ian

Within reason - No. As long as the water parameters are fine and the filters are working the fish will generally mooch around in the green water just fine. It mostly just looks bad and makes it hard to see the fish :-? Cheers Ian

Yes, too much sunlight will cause excess algae. Algae needs 2 things, light and nutrients. If you aren't trying to grow plants, then you can reduce the light and keep up the water changes to keep the nutrients low. If you have plants, then it's generally different, get more plants and increase the light so they grow better. That uses up the stray nutrients that the algae would otherwise use. Snails and algae eating fish (small plecos etc) can help with algae thats growing on rocks or the glass, but they wont do anything about the microscopic floating 'green water' type. A UV filter will help with green water, they work well, but yes they are a bit pricey. Algae killing chemicals aren't so good. They may harm your fish, and if nothing else about the tank is changed, when they wear off the algae just comes back. Cheers Ian

With a five foot tank it does open up a lot of options with larger community type fish. You can keep things like Bala sharks or tinfoil barbs. Gourmai, rainbowfish, larger tetras etc. Bottom dwellers like clown loachs and a pleco. All are fairly common and hardy fish, sold in most pet shops, but really need the bigger size tank. Keep away from the neon and guppy size fish if you go with the bigger ones. They are fairly peacefull, but they grow big enough to 'accidently' swallow a neon. :-? Cycling is just the same as any other tank. Actually it's generally easier because you start out with a couple of small fish in a HUGE tank. A good way to jumpstart the cycle is to run the new filter in one of your existing tanks for a few weeks to establish some bacteria, then add it and the first fish together. Then just monitor the water conditions for a couple of weeks. With luck you wont even measure an ammonia spike. If it's all good add a few more fish each week over the next 6 weeks. Just be remember that the fish I suggested might only be 3-5cm babys from the shop, but could grow to 20-30cm, so stock the tank with that in mind. You DONT want 10 or 20 adult Bala sharks, even in a 5ft tank, and one Sailfin Pleco is plenty for most tanks Cheers Ian