Ianab

Ahh.. yes.. the filter was cycled for the amount of fish you had in the tank... If you suddenly increase the amount of fish the bacteria have to play catchup. Luckily they have a headstart and you did water changes to avoid a disaster while they catch up. I think you need another tank Remember the fish you have will keep growing. Those Clown Loaches will get pretty big in a few years. An understocked tank is a lot more forgiving than an overstocked one. Cheers Ian

Yup... the gravel is actually the filter media.. without the gravel.. you have a fancy airstone. Cheers Ian

Suddenly turning on bright tank lights when it's dark can give some fish a heck of a fright, they may panic and injure themselves. I usually turn on the lights after the room lights have been on for a few minutes, or it's daylight. Doesn't seem to give them such a fright. More of an issue if you have the lights on timers - set them to come on after sunrise or the room lights come on. Cheers Ian

They are designed to do different things. Stress coat is a general tonic that helps fish regain their slime coating after being moved, injured or stressed. Also removes chlorine from the water during water changes. Cycle works to help seed your tank with good bacteria to set up the nitrogen cycle in a new filter when you first set it up. You shouldn't NEED to use either as a day to day thing in the tank, but they may be usefull in the right situation. Cheers Ian

http://www.realestate.co.nz/547096 I see it's listed as 'for sale' at the moment, but I think it's as a going concern. Ian

Yup, they are still there. Bought a mob of tiger barbs off them the other day for my new tank. Cheers Ian

You should be OK swapping your tank to a heated one. But I would raise the temp in slow steps, put the heater in on it's lowest setting, then wind it up a couple of clicks each day untill it's around 24-25C. Your existing fish will just think that summer has started earlier Ruby Barbs should be happy between 22 and 26 deg Cheers Ian

Mine stops blowing bubbles when the sponge starts getting glugged up. The water flow still looks OK, but it's slowed down a bit. Try rinsing out the filter sponge and see what happens. Cheers Ian

A couple of thoughts about having a generator as a backup. Many generators will have a minimum load level to maintain a steady output. If you are just running an air pump and flouro light and the heater is cycled off there is very little load on the genny. The output voltage may not be steady. You can fix that by plugging in a couple of normal light bulbs to provide some steady load, just a hundred watts is probably OK, depending on teh size of the genni. Other thing is to start the genny occasionally and keep fresh gas for it. Especially a problem for those little 2 stroke gennys like the Warehouse is selling. They would probably do the job fine, but not if they have been sitting in the shed for 18 months. Best would be to run it every 3 months, then drain the gas tank, start it again and run untill it's dry. If a 2 stroke is left sitting for months with gas in the carby, the petrol evaporates and leaves an oily varnish in the carb. No way you are going to get it going easy. Cheers Ian

That will be fine, I have a little 50w unit in one of my 70l tanks. It drops a couple of degrees on cold nights, but not enough to upset the fish. Cheers Ian

Yes, some blankets, bubble wrap, foam etc will slow down the cooling of the tank. Make the floating hot water bottles more effective etc. But it doesn't help with the filters / airpumps. That then depends on how heavily stocked the tank is and how tough your fish are. Cheers Ian

I think you are right - the cold weather you folks have had lately is pretty severe, the cold overnight and not warming up much during the day. Around that temp we used to get ice forming on the inside of the windows at our old farm house. The borneo suckers aren't really 'cold water' fish like a goldfish or even a WCMM, they like the cooler end of the tropical temps though. A small heater in there, turned down to it's min temp (~20c) would be a good precaution for your winters I think. Cheers Ian

The bacteria in the filter may have taken a bit of a knock, but they shouldn't have been wiped out totally. There are also bacteria living in the gravel / rocks etc and they shouldn't have been affected. I would just feed the fish lightly for the next couple of days to avoid any big load on the filter untill things stabilise again. Cheers Ian

Definite on the fans. A couple of larger sized computer fans wired to a 12v plug pack will do the job. Try and arrange them so they suck warm air from the top and return it to the bottom of the cabinet, you might want some ducts down the back to return the air that rises up your front cut outs. You will get a BIG heat gradient between the top and bottom otherwise. Also you can get small heater bars (designed for cupboards or wardrobes) They are a couple of hundred watts and you wont have the bright light and burn-out problems that lamps will give. My friends and I have built similar cabinets for brewing homebrew beer in, the idea is the same. Large containers of water you want to keep at ~25deg So yes, your idea should work OK. Cheers Ian

Agree with the other guys. Time to start looking for a bigger tank, just for the fish you have as they grow bigger. That cute little pleco will be 8" long in 12 months time Cheers Ian

Probably work OK if you keep your house nice and warm, then the tank shouldn't drop much below the 19deg. But a small heater in there, set to 20 deg would be cheap insurance. Goldfish will be fine at that temp and many 'tropicals' can handle it too. But it's a compromise - not really ideal for either species. Cheers Ian

I would start feeding when it starts swimming about looking for food, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. Just a tiny amount to start with, make sure it all gets eaten. Cheers Ian

yup... just been for a wild ride in a plastic bag and is wondering whats going to happen next :lol: Tomorrow it will have forgotten and be looking for food like normal :bounce:

I dont think Bristlenose ( Ancistrus Species ) will handle the colder water well. Common plecos can be acclimitised to handle cooler temps and can even live outside in ponds if your climate is mild enough. But you dont want one of them in a small tank Cheers Ian

Also there is a problem where the heater element affects the temp that the thermostat is seeing. I try and put my heaters at a 45 deg angle so heat rising from the element doesn't directly flow over the thermostat part. That and having a good water flow past the heater seems to do the job. Set the heater and leave it there overnight and see what the tank settles down to, then adjust the temp up and down a few clicks to suit. Dont worry about the exact temp the element switches on and off, thats affected by the proximity of the element. But after 12 hours or so it should settle down to a steady temp. Cheers Ian

If you get a 12v computer fan, wire it to a 9volt plugpack. It will turn at 1/2 speed, only make 1/4 of the noise, and last much longer. Get the bigger size (120mm) fan, they move much more air and are quieter too. If it's set to blow air into the tank hood, then salt and water isn't an issue, it's sucking fresh air. Cheers Ian

Yes, that seem to be the case. I just got a stock 1200x350x450 tank, it's 6mm glass and was relatively cheap - big jump to the bigger sizes in thicker glass though. Cheers Ian

Otos are good for a community tank, they dont grow very big (1-2") and dont eat plants. Get several as they are social fish and like being in a group. Britlenose are good to, only grow to 4-6" and are both tough and peacefull. Gibby's and common plecos are great when they are small, but soon grow into clumsy 12" long tankbusters that will eat anything that doesn't swim away Great if you have a big tank though, they are tough and will live happily with just about anything else. Good tankmates for a Oscar or similar, fine with small fish too, but what plants they dont eat they will blunder into and wreck that way :-? Cheers Ian

I have various plecos and they do a pretty good job at cleaning up the algae, just a pity some of them get so big. Good excuse to buy a bigger tank of course Ian

I wouldn't go with the tiger barbs, they are best kept in a group of at least 6 or they can be trouble makers, and 6 big tiger barbs would be a full tank. I have 6 of them in a 4" tank with bala sharks, kribensis and a big pleco and they are great, but not in a smaller community tank. Clown loachs are cool too, but also best kept in a group and although they grow slowly, they grow BIG. Danios, tetras and the smaller barbs are a good choice. Have a look at Golden barbs, nice little community fish. Some small catfish (Corys) are a good cleanup crew and Bristlenose pleco or a couple of Oto catfish will help keep algae under control. Dont get a Common or Sailfin Pleco, unless you plan on getting a BIG tank fairly soon Cheers Ian