Ianab

Because you put in an already cycled filter sponge you moved some working cycle bacteria into the tank and got things started. You had a bit of a mini-cycle as things settled down. Your tank now has a working cycle to suit the fish you have now. Start doing your regular water changes and add new fish in stages and the cycle will build up to match the number of fish. Ian

Miss almost 2 year old is fascinated with them for some reason. She runs up with a my little torch and wants it turned so she can spotlight them under the rocks. Cool little fish. Ian

You have found out how easy it actually is to breeed White Clouds. If the tanks are well planted many of the fry will survive. Ian

DIY version, a reel of nylon fishing line stuffed in pantyhose. You just need something with lots of surface area that wont collapse into a solid wad or degrade in water. A big birdnest of fishing line fits the description. Ian

If you have the space then nylon pot scrubbers work fine. Not quite as good as ceramic media, but close, and much better per dollar. You can put in some ceramic media and stuff the rest full of scrubbies and have a good filter. Ian

I think the thing here is how hungry you are..... If you were 2 weeks into a Survivor TV show, Koi steaks would be on sticks over the campfire in an instant. If there is a good Fish and Chip shop on the way home, it's cat food. Ian

The bullies we caught last week seem ot have settled in well. Eating bits of shrimp and the bloodworms I got for them yesterday. They seem really active, and although the seem to freeze for a few seconds when you walk up to the tank they quickly carry on chasing each other and generally swimming about. They seem to have fattened up a bit with the good food. A couple of videos of the swimming about. I dont have bright lighting on the tank, it seems to suit them bettet, and keep the temperature down. So the videos aren't so great. I was worried that I might have trouble getting them to feed, or the tank might look empty with them hiding under a rock, but that hasn't been the case. They are very lively little fish, allways flitting about or squabling over a rock. If you have a spare tank they are neat little fish. Ian

Missed my street, maybe it looked a bit dodgy to drive down :-? Missed my old house too, they must have thought the end of the seal was the end of the road. :lol: Ian Edit: You can also link a view and send someone to a certain place on the map. This is the stream we used to go swimming and fishing in as kids. http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=-39.163342,174.023609&spn=0,359.945068&z=14&layer=c&cbll=-39.154403,174.007006&panoid=fqN1NamLWWbmzD9mz1I-iQ&cbp=12,195.9004664374963,,0,5.000000000000001

Yes Critters has moved from Devon St to the bottom end of Mangorei Rd. I was in there yesterday and I think they had a betta, blue /red one from memory. But give them a call first. Ian

Telecom seem to be big on promises, but not so good on redundant circuits and backup routers. Any single failure should not take down a big chunk of the internet as there should be alternate routers and links in place. Even if the main link fails the alternates or backups should allow communications, even if it's slower. But that costs money... Ian

Still cant find much online, but from the description I think you are correct. Cheers Ian

Quite likely, there was no shortage of mayflies attracted to our lights. Had them in our hair, up our noses etc. The water quality is pretty good, the river comes out of the national park, only flows through a few ks of farmland. It's fast flowing here and we saw lots of small trout fingerlings as well, so they must be breeding in there. The bullies seem to be doing OK in the tank, still a bit shy but I have them eating chopped up frozen shrimp. A pinch of that gets them out from under their rocks and and they chase it down quickly. Will get them some frozen bloodworms on Monday. Been doing the bottle of ice trick during the hottest part of the day and thats keeping the water temp down around 22C. They seem happy at that, active and eating anyway. Ian

I wouldn't use MDF either. 4x2s and plywood will be strong and have some water resistance. T&G timber looks better, but ply will be stronger, and cheaper if you have to buy the materials. Ian

This is Stellas weird Harvestman. I have never seen one before, but I remember seeing pics of something like it, but I cant find any online. Anyone got any ideas? http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u255/ianab_photos/harvestman.jpg (big image) Ian

Maybe just a description change on the coldwater section then? "Goldfish, ponds AND native fish?" Ian

We just want get special treatment It's just a suggestion as there is the specialist fish area and there seems to be an increasing interest in native fish. But no one is going to have a Spaz if the admins decide things are fine like they are now. Ian

Maybe a Native Fish section? That can include koura, bullies, ianga, eels, kokopu etc. There would surely be enough posts to justify it then. Ian

Well it turned out it was just me and Stella paddling about in the river. But it was an interesting evening 8) Scouted out some spots in the Daylight and came back later with torches. Then we fed the eel in the creek behind the house And went back to the main river again after dark. We found this guy in the pool pictured above, just running across the sand. A large bully. Some weird insect larvae. What I bought home And this hitch hiker, we think it's a bully fry, it's only about 3mm long and almost transparent. Dont know it it will survive, but it went in the tnak with the others. A couple of pics of the Bullies settling into their new tank. Temp is a bit warm, but is well establsihed, two filters and an airwand, so hopefully they will be OK. I was amazed how many bullies there where in the first pool. In some spots you could get 6 or so in the torch beam. We also found out how they hide, they actually wriggle into the sand and then sit there with just eyes and dorsal fin showing, practicallly invisible. They also hide under rocks as you would expect, but the sand thing was unexpected. Started us wondering if sand might be a better substrate for keeping them. Ian

Problem with a pond is that if the eel decides it doesn't like it's new home it will just wait for a rainy night and leave. They can travel hundreds of meters overland and once they reach a drain they will quickly be back in the river. The large ones that people do have in ponds are only staying there because they like it there. (free food) Ian

If a tank that size falls through the floor you have serious problems with the house. Maybe 300kg? Two large adults on a couch. You dont worry about that right. With really big tanks you need to put some more thought into the foundations, but for 200-300l any floor will hold them. If it doesn't, well I would be nervous jumping on that spot myself. Ian

Stella is going to be visiting Taranaki this week and we have arranged a little native fish hunting expedition. Nothing too extreme, just a paddle around in the Patea river at Stratford. This will be Thursday night (27 Nov) after work. I'm thinking about having a paddle and general investigate of the river while it's still light, then get some takeaways for dinner and go back later after dark with torches. River definately has koura, bullies and eels, and we have a large semi-tame eel at home that we can feed. PM me if you want to join us and I can give you some details on where to meet up etc once we get things finalised. Ian

Yes, thats about it. Most of the cycle bacteria live on your filter media, if you have changed it all out then most of your cycle is gone. Your tank is very heavily stocked, even though I'm guessing the fish are still small, otherwise they would be like sardines. What you are doing with the water changes will at least keep your fish alive, and the low pH is a mixed blessing. It's happening because of the ammonia going into the tank, and your water will not have enough hardness to buffer it. The good thing is that ammonia is MUCH less toxic if the pH is low. The bad thing is that cycle bacteria dont multiply as well in low pH, so your cycle is taking longer to recover. Things to do - Keep changing the water. Try and get hold of some ceramic media or something from an established tank, it will have more live bacteria to help get your tank back on track. Keep the feeding level down and the cleaning up. One day wont magically fix things, try half rations for a week and see if that helps. Check the waters hardness, if it's very low that will explain the unstable pH. You may be able to add buffering chemicals to help keep it stable. But remember the ammonia is more toxic if you 'fix' the pH. Tetras, loaches and plecos are OK at low pH anyway. Get a bigger tank, you are going to need one soon if you have Common or Sialfin plecos, and you will need one eventually for the clown loaches. Good luck, I hope you can get things back under control. Ian

I'd suggest a normal gravel of some sort. Colour of your choice. The cichlids will dig it up and move it around as they feel like anyway. Not sure how many more tankmates you will want. All the fish you have can reach a foot long and will make that tank look pretty full in time. Sounds like a nice setup though 8) Ian

Not even that....

"should i do a big water change and add some stress coat ?? " Yes... start changing some water. (about 50% I suggest) Large partial water changes should help bring things under control. You will have to keep doing them for a couple of weeks untill the tank settles down and the cycle starts working right. Water test kits will tell you exacltly how bad the problem is, but the emergency fix will still be to change more water. Ian