Joe

That sized tank will be great for a trio of fighters - 1 male and 2 females. Then add a few plants, especially floating ones, because that will subdue the light and show off the iridescent colours of the fighters at their best.

No no no don't tear it down! It looks great (unlike my tank). Just take out the big rock, and replace it with something lower and more round, and put a few little rocks at the base of the big one. Then get some glosso in there, and a large clump of sag. microfolia or mondo grass in the LHS. For fish, Emerald-eye rasboras, Danio tinwini or Danio erythromicron would look great.

WOW! That's looking fantastic! That male flag of yours is nicer than mine x a million! That L. aromatica looks great too . I want some! My attempt at redoing my tank ended in a miserable failure, when my large piece of bogwood started floating. I thought it was already waterlogged. But oh well... I'll just have to think of another design - I'll ditch the ferns and moss idea (too difficult). It would be nicer if my tank was wider too. It is currently 100x30x50cm. I am actually thinking of selling it, and getting another made that measures 90x40x55cm. I wouldn't fill it to the top though - I was thinking of using the extra 5cm to run filter pipes ect. using suction cups into the exact places that I want them, so when I'm looking at my tank I don't see any unsightly filter pipes running along the back of the tank in the water, and that they are above the water, held by the suction cups, and them enter the water imediantly behind a plant or something. I can then use some sort of edging stuff around the top of the tank to hide the waterline, so I don't see the pipes at all. I also want an Eheim Professional 2 2128 Thermofilter, so I don't have a heater in the way that I have to go to the trouble to hide among something. The reason for all this is that I want a nice open tank, with maybe some straight vallis, and Hygrophila polysperma, and then just have lots of short low maintainance plants. The filter pipes would be too noticeable and hard to hide unless I go to this trouble, which doesn't bother me at all. I would love to have a nice, relaxing tank that I'm proud of.

I know nothing about val - sorry I can't help you . I've never kept it before. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing for that to be happening to val. Does seem unusual though, cause I thought val was meant to stay completely green.

Well I need to get these plants first though, I don't actually have all them. IF I manage to complete this design and I am REALLY proud of it, I'll post some pics on the forums so you can see where all the positions of the plants will be. By the way, it's not acctually a lot of plants. It's enough for a good design, but not too much for the design to look all multicoloured and ghastly.

I don't like low tanks. If it's a 60x30x30 that's fine, but I find that the bigger the tank, the wider and higher it should be. It is currently 30cm wide, and I want about 35-40cm wide. Plus it's 100cm long, and it does not look good being only 30cm wide. It's just way to thin. I also find that the plants just hit the surface super fast in low tanks, because they are closer to the light, and don't have enough room to grow higher - =more maintanance (trimming ect.) Plus I don't use ornaments in my tanks. I HATE them. That's why I use bogwood. The sort I'm after has to be a good size, a goldeny-coppery colour, and quite long. I'll know it when I see it. Usually I like lots of bogwood with ferns in my tank, but I am going to try and rescape it (once I've also got the size tank that I want) just using 1 piece, and a small rock or something. I also just want to have 1 or 2 stem plants. Hygrophila polysperma is a MUST, and I'll think about Ludwigia arcuata or Stargrass. Then the rest of the plants will be Moss and Lilaeopsis novaezealandae (fore and midground), Anubias barteri (back LHS and around the base of the bogwood), Hygro. polysperma (feature plant), Bolbitis heudelotii (on some parts of the bogwood) and Lilaeopsis mauritiana, Hemianthus umbrosum, Crypt. willisi and either a sag. or vallis all behind the bogwood, and a tall vallis on the RHS.

My plants are fine, and I'm not worried about it taking time for them to grow. A lot of people say exactly what you've just said - but it has NOTHING to do with my plants I'm just terrible at aquascaping, and it's really the layout of the bogwood, rocks and substrate that I'm not happy with. I really like the look of this substrate called "Burnt Sienna". It is really fine-grade, but it's not as fine as sand and doesn't pack together - so really it'd probably be the best choice for growing plants. I've found gravel too big, and sand packs together and goes stagnant. The bogwood that I've got is all right, probably best covered with Windelov, but I want something that looks pretty and is eye-catching and doesn't need to be covered with a plant. I've decided to ditch the idea of having a tank that looks sort of like a moss-covered log, because 1. I tried and found it very hard to get the bogwood in the right positions so it didn't have gaps or anything and 2. my Mum din't like it. She said that my fish should have something nice and open so they can swim around and show their colours off at their best. Even though Mum knows nothing about fish, this is one thing that I totally agree on with her. I'm also not too happy with the tank itself- the glass is only 5mm thick and my tank is really tall (50cm), so for something that high the glass should be thicker, and I don't like the width (30cm). Not wide enough - so I'm thinking of selling my tank (it would make an EXCELLENT breeding tank) and having another made that is maybe a bit shorter, but wider too (and also with thicker glass - maybe about 6-8mm). I also want a PROPER aquarium stand, and bracings around the corners of the tank so if there was an earthquake, the tank would be the last thing standing. I want a nutrient-rich substrate underneath the main substrate as well, like JBL Aquabasis Plus.

Zebra Loaches, Pakastani Loaches, Skunk Loaches ect. all eat snails. If the snails are big, a small chain loach probably can't devour it. I used to have a Pakastani Loach. I had a lot of algae at the time, and I got a really large snail to help eat it, as well as my little brown snails. Well my snails were gone in a few days. I just couldn't find them. I found out eventually that most loaches love snails. So Pakastanis are ideal. Athough sometimes they are aggresive, so watch for that if you decide to get some. Maybe get a group of them, so it loosens up any aggression. I want to get some Zodiac Loaches, because every now and then the odd snail pops up, so I squish it. But I'm not sure if its laid eggs somewhere, so then I might end up with tonnes of snails. So I think some Zodiacs would be nice. The only thing is I'm not sure if they acctually eat snails. But maybe you could try these. They are VERY pretty, and grow to about 6cm. They have a similar body shape to a Horse-face loach, but they look much nicer. They are black, with swirly yellow patterns.

Hi people, Is it actually possible to make a DIY Co2 test kit? I really need to get these tests done for my experiment at school, so I just wondered if there is some cheap chemical that I can buy that will react with the amount of co2 in my aquarium? Joe

I got mine from Organism. It's super-good quality there, so that's where I recommend you get it from if you're looking for more.

Well at least I've never EVER used ornaments or plastic plants. And no offence p44, but that tank with all those plastic plants is a rather ghastly sight :lol: I'm attempting to redo my tank today. Lots of bogwood, moss, ferns etc. I want it to look like a mossy log in the Amazon river or something..... Anyway, how many Cardinals do you have now? They are sooooo expensive! You must be spending a fortune on them.

Mine's about 1-1.5cm between the nodes. It's leaves are very strong, and really finely-branched. It seems to be growing extremely fast, and I've only had it for nearly a week. I've had Cabomba before, which is hard to grow and died. I prefer the Limnophila to the Cabomba. To me it looks much nicer. Oh and by the way Zev, thanks SOOOOOO much for the Windelov and Narrow-leaf Java. They are beautiful plants. I got some more of each from Dennis in Christchurch. I'm doing a swap with him for 3 flags. I'm going to attempt redoing my tank today. Hopefully it won't turn out crap like all of my other attempts, and I hope it will look something like Jennifer's tanks.

Just wondered, when and how will you be able to get it to me? It will be great if you do have one. I haven't seen them in the shops at all, and I'm not sure of prices. So it would be a huge help :bounce:

Hi people, I got a nice bunch of this from Organism, and I've had it in my tank for just under a week. It is under a 18,000k T8 Aquaglo and an Aqua One Tropical T8 15,000k. It's been growing really well, but lately the tops of the stems and the top leaves are turning red. They are really good looking though, not stunted or damaged or anything, but just quite red. I'm quite worried. I hope it's not some sort of plant disease . I've had enough trouble with fish diseses. Please tell me what's wrong with my plant. Joe

I just love your tank. It is just amazing. My tank would make you cringe away in disgust.

Thankyou, but I shouldn't be so impatiant :oops: . It would be good if we were given more time for our experiments. If only someone would buy all my Flags. Then I would do more accurate tests, as I could use my 2ft tank. Also, if anyone wonders why I wanted a ladder reactor and a CO2 bell, it's because that gives me more of a variety of things to test. I've got diffusers from Phoenix44, and they are great, and to me they're the best way for adding CO2, but I can't tell my teacher that because it would kind of blow it. So if anyone's willing to take flags off me, $5 (or I could work out a deal for a large amount), and by the way they are Dwarf Flags, Laetacara curviceps, not the festive cichlids. The pet shop here won't take them.

Sorry if I caused any affense :oops: We've only been given a time limet to complete our tests and presentation. So I just really need to get the test kit as soon as possible, because if I don't have one I have no way to measure my tests. I need to measure the amount of dissolved CO2 in the water, because we are studying matter and gases and that sort of stuff. I also couldn't concentrate on reading this thread I started, so probably missed heaps, because I had my frient talking to me over my shoulder, and I told him to be quiet, but he wouldn't! I'm really new to all this scientific stuff, and half of it doesn't make sense, as there is sooooo much to learn before it does. It's like learning a new language. So once again, sorry. :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

No I don't. Just a pH test kit. Nothing else! Can someone PLEASE answer my FIRST question about borrowing the test kit, bell and ladder reactor. Thanks Navarre for answering the test kit question. Will you be able to somehow get it to me ASAP? Only 2 weeks. Time is ticking..... I need to get my tests done very quickly so I can then work on my presentation. I've already got 3 tanks going. My display tank, my holding tank where I've got my flags, and then a hospital tank where I have some sick fish. I'm not sure if mum would want me to set up another tank. I only JUST managed to convince her that I NEEDED the hospital tank (which I'm borrowing) and I'm not sure if she'd let me have a 4th tank. The tank would have to be soft water and suitable fish and plants, as that's what my experiment is about - dissolving CO2 gas into tropical freshwater (so then I'd need another thermostat!), for plants to use.

Interesting. But I want something that's accurate. How accurate is this pH thing? The pH in my water is naturally soft as I have bogwood etc.

Hi everyone, At school we are doing these science experiments. My experiment is "What is the best way to dissolve CO2 into the water of a tropical freshwater aquarium?" I am going to trial a diffuser, a powerhead, a ladder reactor and a CO2 Bell. Does anyone have a spare ladder reactor or a bell I could borrow? I also need a CO2 Test Kit to borrow please. If anyone has any of the above I request to borrow, please contact me ASAP. I only have 2 weeks to complete the test. Oh and Caryl, I'm at school at the moment if you want to know! The teacher gave me permission to go on the forums.

Let me guess bdspider, it's one of those White's Tree Frogs you like soooo much! Well done to everyone, especially Jennifer.

Funny. That's exactly what I was thinking. It's just under half fill now, so I'll put a bit more water in and that should do it. It also means I can do the Flourish in my big tank with the fish in the spare tank.

Fish are more important than angry teachers and being harrassed by nerds and bullies, so yeah I get to stay home and look after them. They are alright. One of my rassies isn't looking too good. Her fins are quite frayed, and she is all smudgy-looking. I did the thing where I put them in the bag ect. and add the white spot cure and tonic. My tank's too big for that! It would take me 1/2 an hour to 1 hour to place backwards and forwards with big buckets. I have caught then all now.

Gosh, I'm not having much fun catching these fish - Rasboras: 10 caught (all). Black Neons: 6 caught (5 left). Kitty Tetras: 1 caught (4 left). Betta: Caught. Bristlenoses: Not caught (not treating them). The tetras are soooooo hard to catch. I can't coax them into the net (they're clever). But the rasboras were easy. They just swam straight into the net.

Well I don't have a quarintine tank (it's got flag cichlids. Come on people, only 5 bucks. I need to get rid of them), and I'm not killing them, as they can be saved if you take quick action and treat promptly. I've only just noticed it. They are no where near as bad as that goldfish. So I'm just drenching them in tonic and white spot cure in a polythene bag floating on the tank. By the way, I'm treating everything in the tank except the Golden Bristlenoses as they are hard to catch and the columnaris doesn't seem to affect them. When I had my huge outbreak they just did normal catfishy things and were ok.