tHEcONCH

The filter doesn't matter much because you will be syphoning out all the uneaten food from the bottom of the tank and therby doing regular water changes every day. You are in Christchurch, so our tapwater is fine both in terms of Ph and hardness.

If you want best results then you need to feed a lot and do lots of water changes, so a simple glass bottom tank makes that easier. Make sure you get a couple of extra babies, because a couple will very likely perish along the way.

And the reality is that you probably don't ned fertiliser until after the plants have dropped their air-leaves and regrown in their submersed form. Just give them good light and wait

By consuming nutrients that would otherwise be in the water - when you pull the algae out, you've pulled the nutrients out too.

I can hear the cogs clunking into place... :lol:

I've kept fancy plecs from 6 - 26cm with all sizes of discus with no problems at all. They have always been in planted tanks where there are plenty of places for each to do their thing.

Organism in Christchurch usually stock a good range of interesting cats.

Possibly - do you want some?

Boil it, then leave it in the sun to dry.

So long as there is plenty of free swimming space and also some logs and plants etc. for them to hide behind / mark territories with, 4-5 will be OK.

Indeed, thank you very much - I've put half in the RSM and half in the SeaHare-O-Rama - hopefully they'll start doing their thing!

I'm due to make another trip soon I guess - keen to trade for sure!

None - but I do lots of water changes. How much you need will be unique to your tank - you need to measure the levels over a month or so to determine how much, on average, your tank consumes over a week and then dose accordingly. If you add lots of SPS you can expect that the calcium requirement will go up, but if you are having mainly fish then you probably need to watch the alkalinity more. There is no 'standard' amount as such.

Seperate bags please!

Na, that just means more poo in there in the morning - they'll be fine. I've told John that your going to drop them off

I'll take as many as you want to give me really. I'm not sure I have anything you want really, except perhaps a new Blue tip acro frag?

Sorry, I'm after a 4' T5 unit myself

Drop the water level.

No prob - now I can't find the original either :lol:

Haven't I typed all this up before? 1) Open the power board and unplug the light, then carefully remove the hood assembly from the tank by removing the white hinge rods. 2) Place the hood on its back on a towel or soft surface, unscrew the eight plastic screws that secure the light cover, remove that, then pull the light tubes out. Use a small screwdriver to lift out the six plastic plugs and remove the those six screws and the two holding the light tube clips in. 3) Carefully flip the whole assembly over, and carefully seperate the top cover from the rest of the assembly. You will see the LED controller in the corner by the timer. 4) Remove the moonlights or whatever you are replacing, and fit the replacements. You will need some sort of glue for the LEDs 5) Assembly is the reverse of the above.

I don't think there is one on the tank itself - only on some individual components.

Metal Halide lamps are a kind of incandescent light, rather than a flourescent - whereas flourescent lamps work by sending electrical pulses through a gas, metal halides work like a normal lightbulb whereby they pass a current thorough a (metal halide) filament. They are very bright, get very hot, and are often used in more expensive cars for headlights (the ones that look blueish ffom a distance).

I empty mine out every fortnight.

Err... maybe, but I haven't got my phone on me.

Sure - what do you want in return?