tHEcONCH

Don't forget turtles, especially baby turtles, need UV light for their shells to form properly - if you are keeping him inside, you MUST get a UV flourescent tube (these need to be replaced evey nine months), or else put him in the sun every few days.

Check out John's sump - Mr Crab might be cook'n up some patties down there...

As a matter of interest, who out there is keeping a Mandarin and how big is your tank? I have 1 x Green Mandarin in an RSM (130litres) - seems minimally adequate

No prob - the world needs more Sponges :lol:

My first baby Black Sun (Micrantha)

How is SpongeBob going?

Even for a small tank, I don't think you'd get much change out of $1000.00, so think carefully before you start!

A Green Torch (Euphilia Glabrecens?)

Good advice and some great pics in that article

Eerrr... sometimes I spin the nozzle around on my RSM... but seriously, the biggest problem I have is stopping the flows becoming one big cake mixer - I'm trying to use the 'pulses' in the pumps, and deflection off the glass, to create a few interference patterns and random currents. It all ends up pretty linear at the far end of the tank, though.

That's interesting - should I stick them on a little piece of rock?

Its actually lost a lot of its colour - it was / could again be, a quite beautiful bottle green - but it needs to be in a much bigger tank to look right.

Its the same as that big green dish thing at the house of O.

No, some sort of Turbinaria, I think...

A few more pictures from the latest bunch... Plus this little fella hanging out with Dad... (look carefully)

An excellent point!

Here's one that is 2 minutes old

A couple more pics - including my first baby Black Sun

So basically a substrate can be useful, or otherwise, entirely dependant upon what you are trying to achieve and how you go about doing it.

Salt water will kill your plants!

Yep, you'd only have to lose one or two fish before you could have bought another packet of worms.

So long as the seal wasn't broken, it should be ok. Maybe.

I'd agree - so long as you are consistent and match the temperature of the new water with the old, the bigger the changes the better. Another 'cheat' to get a syphon going is to put your finger over the 'out' end, invert the rigid plastic part that goes into the tank (so the opening is facing upwards, and fill it with water. Lift it up to eye level, and take your finger off the other end so that water flows into the hose (watch where you might squirt it). Once the plastic part is nearly empty, block the hose with your finger again to stop it, and put the plastic part back in the tank and let it refill with water (make sure there are no big bubbles trapped inside). Keep it underwater, point it back down at the gravel, take your finger off the hose, and hey presto!

Hi Mrs Frog - how often depends upon how many fish are in them, how much you (over) feed etc., so there is a bit of trial and error involved. I vacuum and do large water changes on all of my tanks once a week, which is probably more than I need to. Your Nitrite levels will disappear in a day or two as the good bacteria grow and feed on it, after that, it is just a matter of keeping the Nitrate at safe levels. As a very general rule, I'd say most tanks with an average bioload need about a 25% water change once a week, and vacuuming whenever there is detritus settleing on the bottom. Tanks don't need to be absolutely spotless (in fact some crud can be good), so don't stress too much. If you have driftwood in your tank it may turn the water an amber colour - don't panic, it isn't harmful at all.