Nicolette

please see the new thread for confirmed time and date. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/confirmed-date-for-south-auckland-meeting-vt23840.html Cheers.

Hi, We have a confirmed date of the 4th September 7.30pm (@ Paul Munckhof's house)2 B Waiari Road, Takanini. house on the right as you go down the driveway This first meeting will just be an informal get together over coffee to discuss if people want to have a meeting on a regular basis, venue etc. So everyone welcome and feel free to pass this info on. I will be taking a van over from Pukekohe if anyone needs a lift. Cheers, Nicolette 027-4493814 092392292

Glad you found them. I will try to take a decent pic of mine and post on here and we can compare if you like and confirm SAE statis if you like?

thanks all... I think I might keep the small tank up and running with a couple of littlies in it so that my options are open as far as buying new fish and having a potential breeding tank on standby all ready to go. Thanks for the info.

Mate you are an impressive photographer... I have just spent the last hour trying to take a pic of my gold spot plec.... and I do photography as a hobby (only when no fish are spawning of course) Anyway kudos on the pics. Awesome fish.

I had a problem with hair algae recently and got 2 SAE (90% sure) from Hollywood, although they were sold to me as Siamese flying fox Anyway I also got a phospad to put in the filter at the same time and continued to grab any excess hair algae that was floating about every couple of days. All the hair algae was gone within a week or so. SAEs will only eat the newly grown hair algae...not the long old stuff.

I am just about to empty my breeding/quarantine tank and intend to hang a filter in the main tank to keep it full of bacteria. My query is this. Does the small filter need to actually be pumping water to stay cycled? and my other question is If it doesnt need to be going to stay bacterially full then can I just leave the sponge in the tank instead of the whole unit? (I have both a single sponge filter and a small mini internal filter) Just filling up on info here so any advice would be great.

I have my glowlights at 26 degrees and they are thriving... My black neons are also doing great at that temp but my neons are not doing so well but that could be from anything really?! What temp are you planning on having the tank at?

no worries John, I will let you know when I hear.

eeww.... twilight zone stuff.. lol

sweet Mike, Thanks. Just waiting to sort out time and date etc. Will pm you when I have the info. Cheers, Nicolette

I have had high ph in my tank too, I have used rain water during water changes to lower it but the down side has been its not as stable. But maybe a mix of rain water and tap water would help lower it stably? I lost 3 neons as well but the rest are doing better now I have got the ph down to 7.4. Good luck

brilliant idea thanks, as it turns out I just recently got some xmas moss too... wandering off looking for rubber bands....

yeah its offcuts from new pipe.. lol. Not sure of the best place in the tank for it yet though. Under the driftwood etc. I dont really want to be able to see the pipe but would like to be able to see in it. What do you all suggest?

Cheers for that. The Lfs lady told me that terracotta can raise ph and I actually have a supply of pvc pipe around as we are renovating so its just convienient.

Is it ok to use a 2in round pvc plumbing pipe in my community tank for my pleco to hide in? Is it toxic etc? I dont want to use a terracotta pot as I am struggling to keep my ph down at present. Thanks for any info.

Great idea Caryl, Thanks.

and a final lesson learnt today... I absolutely CANNOT go to my LFS without buying a fish or fish tank accesory...sigh. I think in future I will let the Mr go and buy the rabbit and chicken food so I am not so tempted.... Yeah right.

I have 2 small bn, one is only 3cm long if that and they are the most sociable bottom fish. When I had just the one I never saw it but got him a mate and voila there they are... Cant say the same for my new goldspot pleco... it wont come out from under its favorite bit of driftwood and I swear it knows when I am watching the tank and refuses to move at all till I have gone. Never work with small animals or children...lol

Just got back from the LFS and yes problem solved. We brought some new gravel from them a couple of weeks ago pepper coloured ones and the lady said that is proberly the cause of the increase. She has advised me to use tap water for my water changes and put water into a tank via a hose to aerate it and get rid of any clorine etc. So will try that and see what happens.

No I havn't, I guess I can get the test from LFS? I didn't know this so will go back to using tap water. How long after cycling a tank does it take before the ph level starts dropping due to ammonia etc? My main tank is quite heavily planted but not so much the breeding tank. and all the plants are growing well. I will try testing at different times of day and see what happens. Thanks Will do. How much of a sample do LFS need to do test? (sorry I know a dumb question) :oops:

tap ph usually 7.2 but can vary up to 7.6 every once in a while. Due to the fact that I only have a mid range ph test kit I can only guess at how high it actually is but judging by the colour I would say it can go up to 7.8 or so. The tank was pretty stable at 7.6 whilst I was cycling the tank but now its just all over the place and even though I am doing 30 percent water changes with rain water its not keeping it down. Hitting 7.6+ within 3 days of water change. Also At present my breeding tank (I did a 20 percent water change today on it with rain water (ph of 6.4 ) )after water change was 7.2ph Last week after water change that tank was 6.8ph.. So actually both tanks rising slowly Oh and I am now re- cycling my 55lt tank as I have just dosed with Meth blue to help with the sickly tetras and I didn't know it stuffed up the bacteria load in the tank. Would this make a difference in the ph level?

My 55lt tank seems to constantly be on the rise ph wise. I have lost 3 neon tetras due to suspected bacterial infection (pop eye and rin rot) and have 2 more with cotton mouth. I assumed it was the water quality so have been doing 2 water changes a week approx 20lt each time with rain water ph of 6.4 to 6.6. Yet within 4 days its on its way up again. I have a piece of driftwood in the tank and there is no coral, salt, shells or terracotta in it. My catfish, SAE, albino tetras and glowlight tetras all seem to be tolerating my stupidity in learning to keep fish but any and all advice would be appriciated.

I have just spoken to the pres of South Akl chapter and looks like we will be able to get a meeting together in Takanini. So I am going to email the secretary on Wednesday with a list of interested people. Please pm me if anyone is interested so I can put your name on the list. It would be so great if we could get a few more people to attend and so help us newbies stop killing our fish. lol. and of course to share experiences, trade and so forth. Look forward to meeting everyone and learning lots... I personally know I stil have a lot to learn. lol Cheers, Nicolette

Just spoke to presedent of South Auckland FNZAS and there is definately enough interest to arrange a south Auckland meeting in Takanini. (this is the previous meeting venue.) Sooo I am going to email the secretary early next week with a list of names and email addresses of interested peoples. THAT MEANS YOU!! Seriously though. If anyone is interested please pm me before wednesday. No pressure or commitment just need an idea of numbers. I will pm all of you who have already contacted me. Thanks all...hope to see you soon.