Joe

Wow I love that photo! Have you entered it in the fishroom monthly photo competition?

What type of diffuser is that? Is it ADA?

30 liters is way too small for Dwarf flags. They need around 70 liters minimum. Also they aren't an Apisto. They belong to the genus Laetacara, and their latin name is Laetacara curviceps. Cryptocroryne petchii. This is a REALLY AWESOME plant! I have a little bit of it, and it's so cool!

Wow that is amazing! I love the discus. I can't wait till the microfolia completely carpets the foreground. That will look really cool.

Don't get the harlequins, just the Embers. I've found that if you get two schools of fish with similar colours (embers and harlequins are both orangy when coloured up) it doesn't look as nice as when you just have a large school of the same fish. Try and find a fish that creates a nice contrast. Here's some examples of contrasting fish that look good together so you sort of know what I'm talking about: Large shoal of Cardinal Tetras, and a small to medium shoal of Black Phantom Tetras Large shoal of Black Neon Tetras, and a small to medium shoal of Kitty Tetras A contrasting fish that will look nice with the Embers is Danio erythromicron. They are availible, but are a bit difficult to hunt down. I only know one shop, which is in Christchurch, that sells them. They are about $7-8 each, which is probably the cheapest you can get them for. But they are a really nice fish, and in a larger tank, a group of about 15 will go nicely with Emeber Tetras. Also, get a group of about 25-30 embers, since they're so tiny. 12 would look lost in a large tank. As I'm a bit of a perfectionest with things, if you look closely there is a green tint to normal glass. Metal halide lights are an extremely bright bulb, and are ideal for planted aquaria, particularly NA-style tanks. They are used in conjunction with T5 flourescent tubes, and are usually on for about 8-10 hours a day, and the flourescent tubes are on for 10-12 hours a day. This process comes close to creating real sunlight. You can get Corydoras, otocinclus or Bristlenose catfish, which will all suit your tank. Golden bristlenoses are smaller than normal bristlenoses, and are an attractive bright golden-yellow colour. I have three, and they are really cool.

Yeah I love planted tanks. I'm going to go more high-tech and get metal halide lighting with T5 tubes. I'm trying to sell my tank, cause I want OptiWhite glass instead of normal glass with that green tint to it, which is annoying.

Silica sand is absoloutely fine for plants. Some of the best Dutch tanks are grown on fine river sand, which compacts even more! Substrate should be 7-10cm deep. There needs to be a layer of nutritious substrate first (about 5-6cm) which should consist of JBL Aquabasis Plus and laterite. Then put a layer of sand or fine gravel on top. If you don't want Aquabasis or laterite, you could go broke and spend your money on Seachem flourite and/or onyx sand if you can afford it, or if you want to go cheap you can use JBL clay balls without the nutitious substrate. How big is your tank? if it's not too big, you can use DIY CO2, and use Nano cup Pollen Glass diffusers. If it's bigger, then use pressurised CO2 if you can afford it. You can get 50mm Pollen Glass Beetle diffusers really cheap (somewhere between $10-20) from fish-street.com. Diffusers need bleaching in a 1:20 solution every now and then, and can be scrubbed with a tooth brush (use a new one because old ones are all gunky). For fish, have a large shoal of small species. It looks really effective. Make sure you have an odd number too, because it's better on the eye Do some research on nature aquariums. They are really cool (way better than Dutch tanks) and will give you hours of enjoyment. There is tonnes of info about them on google.

You could set up a nature-style tank, which is mainly to display plants, and have small catfish, cichlids, tetras or Boraras. If your getting tetras, I reckon a large shoal (about 35-50) ember tetras would look awesome. They only grow to 20mm! Another really cool fish, that would look best in a shoal of about 15, is Rasbora agilis. I bought mine under the name Red-line rasbora, but they aren't actually true red-lines. They are darker, nicer-looking and the stripe is this bright neon coppery colour.

Wow cool pics. Gosh I want some of that!

I'm not a huge fan of big fish either. I mean I think they're cool at the shop and stuff, but I wouldn't choose to buy them. I'm going to have a go at a couple of nano tanks with Sparkling Gouramis and little Boraras sp. shortly. I need to sell my Flag Cichlids and dismantle their tank to make way for the nanos.

Don't buy that stuff on trademe. They're trying to rip you off. I could get all the stuff that mixture contains plus more, all in 500g bags, for a measly $20-25 at the Marlborough seed shop, Kiwi Seeds.

By "dry", do you mean some sort of powder that you put in the tank (like some types of ADA ferts) or nutritious substrate?

Are those guppies at the top of the tank? If so, move them into another tank and let them breed so you have a constant supply of live food for your other fish (that is the only use guppies have).

It thought Amazon fished liked a lower pH. I was reading something about it ages ago in a book or on the internet somewhere about biotope aquariums. It said that Amazon fish liked a lower pH.

But it still looks cool, and I really NEED some! I think that Java moss is really getting boring. I haven't had a proper go at willow moss, but it has a fern-like apperance when it's under proper conditions. It needs really bright light. Xmas moss is cool, but is really common, and isn't unique or interesting in any ways.

Bring the pH down to about 4.5-5, because they prefer lower pH.

Awww how cute!

Don't get even numbers. Make sure you have odd nubers of fish (unless it's a species that thrives in pairs, like your rams). Odd numbers look much better . I like the pics of your tank, and the rams look really nice. You do realise yours are electric blue rams, a man-made mutation. The tank looks somewhat like an Amazon biotope. Stick to Amazon fish. They will thrive in your tank. Tip: Put boiled oak leaves on the substrate of your tank. Your fish will love it. It lowers the pH, which is what Amazon fish love. Blue gouramis can be aggressive, and like to be kept in pair or groups. They need large tanks, and grow quite big (10-15cm). Also, they wouldn't suit your tank, because of the fact that they are really large. They would draw attention away from your beautiful schooling fish, like the Cardinals. Stick to catfish, small cichlids and Amazon characins (like the tetras and pencil fish etc.)

Excellent idea!

Xmas moss is at the top of the pic. I got the supposed "Willow Moss" from the river. I used to have a few bits that were growing properly and at their best and it is definately willow moss. The bits got covered in cyanobacter algae. I couldn't find many bits that were growing exeptionally well when I went hunting in the river. There had been a flood, and most of the moss was growing at the bottom of the stream where there was not much light. I'm not really interested in focusing on growing it at the moment.

What do you think of the moss? It's not at it's best though :oops:

P44, check the e-mail inbox on your computer. I've send you a pic. You too A-town. =)

What's so scary about phoenix wanting willow moss? Once it's summer and the moss population is at it's best, I can go down to the river and grab an endless supply and send it to him (as long as he pays shipping costs). Sorry can't download images onto the forums. Apparently I need Photobucket or something. I tried to make an account but it threw a hissy fit at me and kept saying "You have entered incorrect details".

I read it and the auction closed. Does the seller have more? Yeah I have a wee bit. I know where to get TONNES! (and for free too!) I have heaps of Xmas moss and I want to get that growing really well first before I get any more Willow moss. The trouble of having both, and the Xmas moss not growing at it's best (with triangular fronds etc.), means it is easy to get them mixed up at first, which is such a pain. Once the Willow moss gets growing, it has larger, fern-like leaves. I would like to get it to this stage. It's leaves have just started to get bigger, so I can tell it apart from the Xmas moss.

Where could we get some? It looks really cool, and is obviously not illegal if it was being sold on TradeMe. It would be cool to have another species of moss other than boring old Java moss, Xmas moss and Willow moss.