Ianab

The swordtails will probably be fine, but the small tetras and big angels dont play as good friends. Cheers Ian

The plecos wont be a problem with the smaller fish, they will pretty much ignore them. The Angels could be a problem as they get bigger though. Cheers Ian

Dont worry too much about that, it will heal over time if the fish is healthy and the water conditions are good. Just keep an eye on it, if it gets a fluffy fungus or seems to be eaten away more then it has an infection that needs to be treated. Most times it will heal up fine though. Cheers Ian

Yup, if you are growing plants in the tank then you need bright high 'temprature' lights. If you just want to be able to see your fish you can go much simpler and just use a compact flouro lamp or 2 in a normal fitting above the tank. Some fish actually seem to prefer a more subdued light and are out and about more often when the lights are lower. Cheers Ian

Sorry it upsets you.. But at a guess the last guy they caught fishing there was Chinese, claimed he couldn't read English, and they had to let him off? Which option do you choose. Everyone in NZ must learn to read English before they move here? Arrest the Chinese guy for fishing, not being able to read the sign is no excuse. Or let him off cos he cant read the sign? Put up a sign in 2 languages (or more) Which is the (more) racist policy? Again I'm not having a go at you, but there would be a reason it was put there :-? Ian

Are you sure thats what the Chinese parts says?

Dead... the only thing meaner than an eel is a live possum :lol: We used to shoot the possums with a high calibre rifle first, seemed to make them a lot more appealing to the eels Cheers Ian

I suspect the Axo would try and eat a small eel, a large eel would eat an Axo for sure :-? As teenagers we used to fish for big ones in the local streams. Best bait was a possum and they would latch onto it and do a crocodile style death roll to rip pieces off A 10kg Eel can generate a bit of force, and a few even got away with the possum :lol: Best tankmates for a small eel are probably some biggish goldfish. This fellow is about 90cm long and lives down the bottom of my garden. The neighbour feeds it lumps of raw chicken so it's got pretty tame. Cheers Ian

Are you worried about the tank.. or the damage it might cause to the house? Your insurance company should cover the tank if it's accidentally damaged, but I dont think they will cover fish (or any animals in general). Any damage to the house should be covered by the landlords insurance, same as damage from a busted water pipe or if your X-Box sets fire to the lounge. You might be out some of your Bond money, but your contents insurance doesnt cover the house itself. But check with your agent to confirm what is in the actual fine print of your contract. Cheers Ian

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/articles/technical/common_sized_aquaria/ Small tanks like 60x30cm are OK from 3mm glass. Good to make a set of small breeding / fry growing tanks. Cheers Ian

Just call me a crude primitive 8) I understand how cycling works, and it can be done several ways. A few fish WILL do something, they will encourage a FEW bacteria to grow in the filter. The bacteria will start to multiply as soon as there are traces of ammonia in the water. The trick is to keep the ammonia level below the level thats harmfull to the fish. Having a filter or some media pre-cycled means you may never even detect the ammonia or nitrite levels, a mini-cycle will of course happen when you add more fish, but if it's only a few then it may not even be detectable. Its going to happen when you add more fish anyway, no matter how you originally cycled the tank. It's bit like comparing hydroponics to organic vege growing. As long as you do them right, either will give you great veges. But one involves a lot of chemicals and water tests, the other involves a bit of dirt and chicken crap :-? Is one right and the other wrong? Heck I usually dont even test the water when I set up a new tank. The filter is pre-cycled, only a few fish go in. After a couple of weeks, they are still happy, I can add a few more and go back to my cave and keep rubbing these sticks together. Cheers Ian

I dont think you need to insulate it. Wood is a reasonable insulator already. A tank enclosed in the stand will need less heating than a free standing one already. Cheers Ian

What Micheal is saying is that there is no hard and fast RULE about how many fish you can have. Things that limit the number of fish are. Your filters ability to to process their waste. You can test for ammonia and nitrite to check this, if you are getting traces of these in an establised tank, then you need better filtration. How fast Nitrate builds up in the tank. More fish, more nitrate. At some point the nitrate will build up faster than your water changes can remove it. You either have to do huge water changes, or get a bigger tank Testing for nitrate is how you judge this. The amount of oxygen in the water, fish need to breathe, you can increase the O2 in the water by circulating it better, airstones, spraybars etc. The physical space in the tank, even if you go crazy one everything else , the fish still need room to swim The type of fish, some need to have much better water conditions and high O2 content in the water, they will get sick in water that other fish can still thrive in :-? Now remember to, if you set your tank up with the Max fish it can support, you have much less margin for error. A blocked filter or a missed water change can be fatal, where in a lower stocked tank you may notice the problem and fix it before things get too bad. Also, fish tend to get bigger, you stock the tank with 2" fish, 6 months later they are 4" fish and you are overstocked. Thats probably OK for a sensible number of fish, but testing the water is the only way to know for sure. Back to the original question, my gut feeling is that you will be fine with the number of fish you plan on. Check the size that they might grow to though. If you add another filter and extra aeration it should improve the tanks water quality if you have it heavily stocked. No you dont NEED a bristlenose, but they are cute and do a good job cleaning up algae and eating leftover food. If you get rid of them you will have no bottom dwelling fish at all. Seems a bit of a waste if nothing actually lives in that bottom 1/4 of the tank. Cheers Ian

A big pleco would be fine with your small fish, but it might accidently do a number on your plants. They have all the grace of an out of control bulldozer, and a similar effect on any delicate plants. :roll: Smaller ones like Bristlenose would be great though, not really BIG fish, but compared to a neon they are huge Otherwise some smaller loachs like zebras might be OK? Bala sharks are big and peacefull, but they get REALLY big, might swallow a few neons when they get big. Cheers Ian

Yup, just rinse out most of the gunge in a bucket of old tank water. Dont try and get it really clean, just unblocked. Do that whenever you notice the flow has slowed down. Otherwise leave the filter and it's gunge alone to do it's job Cheers Ian

Sounds like the change has upset the filtration in some small way. Maybe there is a lower flow rate through the new setup? I suggest you just keep an eye on it and it should go away in a few days as the new media starts to cycle. If it gets worse do water changes as a temp measure to keep the level down and double check your filters are operating right. Cheers Ian

What are the small fish you have already? That will help determine what you can put in there. An Oscar would be a bad idea, although I'm sure the O would enjoy the free food and then proceed to demolish the plants for desert. Cheers Ian

Zebra danios are the traditional crash test dummy for new tanks Should be cheap enough and live happily with your other fish later. I use guppys, but thats just because I already have about a zillion :roll: Cheers Ian

Not really dangerous.. yet. Thats probably about the lowest level the kit will detect. Is the tank new and still cycling? Cheers Ian

This is one of my little Bristlenose bravely defending her piece of mushroom from a horde of marauding guppys :lol: This is my big Gibby (about 20cm), also in a tank of male guppys. No problem with either mix 8) Cheers Ian

Sounds like the ideal location for a Hillstream loach tank Pity you are so far away or I could hook you up with some nice timber. You could build using 4x1s, just use more and brace them better. But then you may as well use the 4x2s :roll: Cheers Ian

Bristlenose pleco 8) I have an 8" gibbiceps pleco in with my male guppys, no problems. But they can hoover up the occasional fry when they get to that size :roll: Just make sure it IS a bristlenose that you get, my 8" gibby is only a baby, then can grow to 18" They will do a good job on algae and food scraps but you do still need to feed them properly once they have cleaned up the algae. Some sinking pleco tablets and some chunks of fresh vege take care of that though. Cheers Ian

Yup, you should be fine with a decent group in that size tank. Females probably wont argue as much, but they wont breed unless you get at least one male The males may argue over the best cave, but the seldom do any damage. One male and 2 females is generally the best ratio for breeding, but they will live in any combination. They will be fine with various sizes mixed, but the big ones will get the best cave. As long as there is plenty of other hiding spots and food thats not a problem. Cheers Ian

You dont know how hot it's going to get, thats all. Dont risk cooking the fish Cheers Ian

As above You can also float a small Coke bottle of warm water in the tank to help keep it warm. But dont let things get too hot too fast. Cheers Ian