Joe

Anyone have any ideas? PLEASE!?

Jennifer said Aquabasis is good, but that she doen't use it in her rainbow tank, and that the plants are fueled by fish poo.

Yesterday I got 10 Red-line Rasboras from Organism, and 11 Black Neon Tetras from Jennifer Hamlin. I know for sure the fish were healthy and good-quality. Last night I acclimatised them and left them for the night. This morning I woke up and the fish were looking good. Mum and Dad said I should stay home though to keep an eye on them. Just as well... A few hours later I noticed 2 or 3 of my Red-line Rasboras have devaloped Columnaris-like symptoms. Their fins are a bit frayed, and their bodies are smudgy-looking. One even has a bit of snowy-like fungus type stuff around it's mouth. I am going to catch all the fish today and give them a bath in white-spot cure and tonic. I'm not adding it to my tank as I don't want to ruin my lovely plants that I spent so much money on. But if anyone knows a better cure (and one that doesn't cost me a fortune), PLEASE HELP! I've had columnaris before but didn't know how to treat it or what it even was, so I lost a whole tank full of fish.

I thought you'd ask. Mum and Dad said I need to stay home to keep an eye on my new fish. I'm a bit worried; one of my rasboras has devaloped columnaris-like symptoms over night. If I loose any more fish, I'll probably go out of the hobby altogether.

Well then what was the main substrate?

Can't wait till I get mine growing well.

There was JBL Aquabasis Plus almost everywhere I went in Christchurch. I didn't get any, because I really needed Flourish Excel and had to stock up on plants. But JBL Root Balls are good though. They sell those at the shop in Blenheim, so I can get them whenever I need them. By the way, I DID manage to obtain some Cyperus helferi. I got a pot for $6.90 from Organism. It is stunning. I'll have to go back there and get some more next time I got to Christchurch. Other purchases were Black Neon Tetras x11, Limnophila sessiliflora, Red-line Rasboras x10, Ludwigia repens, Stargrass and various mosses, ferns and a few other plants. I really enjoyed the shop and tank crawl on Monday. My highlight was Jennifer's tanks. They are STUNNING! I really want plant growth like that. Her rainbow tank was really nice, and the substrate was Dalton't Propergating Sand. It's not exactly sand, sort of just really fine gravel. It looks really nice, so I'll have to get some. I've always wanted this kind of substrate, but never really knew what to look for.

I had a look at these two. Which one is best? Or do they both have different properties so would it be best to use a mixture of both? I'll look out for these when I go to Christchurch. They might sell this sort of stuff at Redwood Aquatics.

It DIES? I've read it does better with higher light levels because it helps the leaves grow better, and that they are more branched out, brighter and wider. They don't grow so long either. So what lighting levels would I need for the setup I'm attempting? It's going to be sort of Amazonian: I'm going to have a big stump or piece of bogwood with lots of ferns and mosses, and a few grassy-type plants and some crypts.

Since when was I planning to have a low light tank? I want to get T5 lighting (but at the moment I have some bright T8 tubes). I also need bright lighting for the Bolbitis heudelotii. I really want an Arcadia Luminaire 100cm Quad, which can have T8 tubes and T5 too. I'll be saving my pennies for a few years though...

Use Riccia. I is GREAT! I have it in my tank, and it has beautiful compact growth, looks pretty, and if you want to get rid of it just grab a net and fish it out of your tank. I got mine out of a local river, and just gave it a good wash and it's fine. It will also subdue the light and let a bit through, which will show the killies' colour at it's best. It will also prevent them from jumping out of the tank. It is really easy to care for. Just give it soft water (well duh, you'll have that anyway if your keeping killies) and good light. That Ludwigia stuff would be good, as it has long roots and the killies would like that.

Well I'll just have to wait then won't I. I don't mind waiting.

Can I have first pick if you have some extra that you ever want to give away/sell?

COULD I PLEASE HAVE SOME OF THAT?

As I said, I'm only going to have a FEW plants that root in the substrate, then the rest of my plants will be ferns and mosses. Have a look at this: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... -45-a.html Pretty cool don't you think. I'm aiming for this sort of tank, with that mossy log effect. But I want a few other plants like Crypts and stuff to add variety, as we don't have a lot of different mosses in NZ. I really wish we had different types of Fissidens, or that DOC would let us use F. berteroi.

Um... I don't think I'll need that much! My tank is 100cm long, 30cm wide and 50cm high. I'm mainly going to have moss, Larrow-leaf Java Fern, some anubias, Windelov and Bolbitis heudelotii. I'll have a few Crypts, and some Cyperus helferi IF I can get some, maybe some lilaeopsis, sagittaria and a bit of hairgrass, and I might have a bit of Riccia and mondo grass too.

I read that if done properly, it needs to be redone every 10 years or more! But the whole point was to give the plants a really good kick-start. I'll use JBL Balls too, cause they are really cheap - about $16 for a packet of 7, plus they last a year.

That's just weird. So they're treating the juvenile and adult as seperate species? I just think that's ridiculus. It should just be classed as one species then.

Crypts? They're a root feeder right?

Oops! I wasn't reading properly!

Go for Baryancistrus sp. L018. It is slightly nicer than L085. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/214/4938 ... 5f.jpg?v=0

The plants are going to be planted in pieces of bogwood, with bits hollowed out for them. The peat/ADA or whatever I was going to end up using was to be mixed with Dalton's Aquatic Mix, with sand on top to stop it leaching tannins and loam. I will only have a few plants like this, and the rest of the plants will consist of ferns, mosses and maybe some riccia tied down. I am using DIY CO2, and strong T8 lighting. I am hoping to upgrade to T5 though. I'm also going to use Flourish Excel and Comprehensive.

Although they aren't very colourful, what about Port Hoplos? They are peaceful, active, don't grow too big, and have very nice patterns.

Seachem Flourite and Onyx sand is availible and looks great. I don't like the price though...

Looking good. Could you please try and get some photos of the Apistos?