Joe

Yes tonic is a good idea. My fish had a disease called columnaris a while ago, and at the time I didn't know what it was. I managed to save a few in a concentrated bath of tonic. So it might work with yours too.

I'm on my way to redoing my tank. I will do it after conference. So far I have got hold of 2 CO2 diffusers, nearly all of my bogwood has finished soaking, I have Dalton's Aquatic mix, I have some cool plants (I also can't wait till the plant auction at conference! :bounce: ), good lighting, sand, organised some Black Neon tetras (living fertiliser :lol: ) and some more plants that I am going to pick up. I just need to get some Flourish Excel and Comprehensive, peat and some more plants (especially Windelov, Bolbitis heudelotii and Narrow-leaf Java fern). I also have a buyer for some of my Flags. Yay!!! I want to get rid of all of them, so I can transfer my other fish into the 2ft tank while I redo my 1m tank.

How about Sagittaria microfolia? I've got some, and it's a great ground cover plant. It creats a carpet only about 3cm in hight. Otherwise, it looks exactly like other sagittaria. It has fine leaves.

Anubias, Java fern and Java fern varieties (Windelov, Narrow Leaf ect.) would be great because they are tough. Don't use Bolbitis heudelotii (Congo Fern) because although tough, it requires soft water, fertilizers and CO2 injection. Water in Malawi tanks isn't soft because they need hard water, and that can kill Bolbitis from what I've read.

Does anyone know what types of Hemianthus and Micranthemum are availible in NZ? So far I only know of M. umbrosum. I would really like some Hemiathus callitrichoides if it is availible in NZ.

I have some sort of sagittaria that I got from Caryl. It was only a wee bit, but it has spread like crazy! Recently it flowered under water. My tank is 50cm high and I use DIY CO2 injection. My lighting is: 1x 90cm Aqua Glo-18,000k - positioned in the middle. 90cm tube of some sort (it came with my new lightinghood)-15,000k - positioned at the back. 76cm Aqua One sunlight tube at the front for viewing-the other tubes on their own look quite pink.

How about Banded Gouramis? A pair (just one though, as more would draw away focus on the plants) would look great in your tank. Apistogramma trifasciata or bitaeniata, Black Neon Tetras, Red-line Rasboras, Striatum killies or even King Killies. They're very colurful and larger than the other killies.

I have another idea for my tank. The ADA stuff will be quite expensive, and I thought about just having a thin layer of peat and a thin layer of beach sand. The substrate should be about 1 cm deap, as I'm not having plants actually growing in the substrate, but in the bogwood. I'll hollow some pieces out and fill them with Dalton's aquatic mix and cover that with sand so it doesn't cloud the water. I'll then have plants like sagittaria, Cyperus helferi (if I can get some), cryptocorynes, mondo grass and lilaeopsis. My other plants will consist of Bolbitis heudelotii, java fern varieties and mosses to grow on the bogwood. If anyone has a large amount of spare Windelov that they could sell me quite cheap then can I please have some? I only have a tinsey bit at the moment and am getting nowhere with it. It's doing well though, and has lots of plantlets. I ALSO REALLY NEED TO GET RID OF MY FLAG CICHLEDS. I HAVE 27 LEFT. THEY ARE $5 EACH, OR I WOULD BE HAPPY TO SWAP FOR PLANTS INSTEAD. I need to plant up my other tank, so am frantic to get rid of them. I'll have plants like Alternanthera reineckii roseafolia, Crypts, ferns, mosses and Limnophila in it.

Wow that is stunning. I have NEVER had any succes with a tank that size. I find it too small. My original tank was the same size as yours, but I have now upgraded to a 100cmLx50cmHx30cmW. The plants just went bonkers and choked the surface of my old tank because 30cm was not enough hight. Then this funny bright green algae developed. It went away once I trimmed the plants back a bit. You may want to add another Power Glo or an Aqua Glo becuse the red plants require a lot of light. By the way I love the substrate. What is it? I just use beach sand and dark pea gravel in my tank. Another plant option would be Bolbitis heudelotii. It would look great and really suit your tank. Great choice of fish. In my tank at the moment I have 3 Golden Bristlenoses and 5 Kitty Tetras (Hyphessobrycon heliacus). I have organised 12 Black Neons (Hyphessobrycon herbetaxelrodi) to go in my tank as well. I used to have heaps of fish in my tank until the columnaris outbreak..... Anyway good luck with your tank

Wow. It looks stunning. It's sad about the killies though. I'm in the same boat as you... A while ago I had a freak columnaris attack which killed most of my fish, including a beautiful pair of Apistogramma trifasciata that I got from Redwood Aquatics and spent $48 on. The only fish surviving are 5 Kitty Tetras (Hyphessobrycon heliacus) and 3 Golden Bristlenoses. The Bristlenoses were unaffected, probably because they have tough skin.

I'll wait a bit then until I have the money to afford shipping... I'll take you up on the offer Zev. Thanks!!

Is there anything else similar that is availible in NZ that isn't too expensive?

As I am going to redo my tank once that bogwood is waterlogged, I need to take the substrate out. I am not going to have plants growing in the substrate, but have mainly ferns and mosses growing on the bogwood. Although I will have a few substrate plants (various grasses, cryptocorynes ect). But I am thinking of doing something different. Rather than having a thick layer of substrate on the bottom of the tank, I want to hollow out areas in the bogwood and fill those with substrate so it looks like the plants are growing out of the bogwood. But I do want a thin layer of substrate on the bottom of the tank so I am not looking at glass. I was thinking... ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia (9 liter bag) ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia 2 (9 liter bag) Bacter 100 (100g) Tourmaline BC (100g) Rarangi Beach Sand How much will this cost (except Rarangi Sand, which is free!) and where will I get it from? I really hope it's not too expensive, otherwise I can't get it. Mum is giving me $60 to spend at the conference, and I need to try and make some more money. The fish I am planning for the tank are 15 Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi. I've already sorted out 12 of them. If anyone wants to know where I'm getting my ideas from, go to page 3 of this thread and click on the hyperlink. I was going to have Cardinal Tetras instead of Black Neons, but Cardinals are just too expensive. I also need some more Bolbitis heudelotii, as it is slow growing and is going to be one of the main plants in this tank. Another fern I am interested in is Needle-leaf Java fern.

Jennifer told me about these diffusers. I saw something similar on the internet and they are quite small. Does this mean I would need at least two for my sized tank once the plants get going?

Why aren't they suitible for DIY systems?

What can I use then? I need something for a 150 liter tank. I found these ones on the internet called Rhinox or something. They look hidious!!! I want a diffuser that looks nice like those ADA diffusers.

About a month ago I started up a DIY CO2 system. The diffuser consisted of an airstone placed in the filter outlet. Around a week ago it got clogged so I removed it. Jennifer Hamlin told me it is not a good idea to use airstones as when the clog they cause the bottle to explode from the pressure of the built up CO2 gas. So I want to get a proper diffuser. I did a bit of research and have decided that I like: ADA Pollen Glass Beetle 40 (CO2) The item code is 102-104. I also want an ADA Beetle Counter (item code: 102-202) to go with it. Does anyone know how much these cost and where to get them? Also I want to know where I could get a discount, as FNZAS members get discounts or something at certain shops. It doesn't bother me where the shops are in NZ that sell them, because I could have them posted or someone could bring them down to conference for me. Although it all depends on the price...

My sagittaria has flowered under water. Is it supposed to do this? I thought plants' flowers are emmersed.

Wow that is stunning. I've never heard of it before.

I think I might use photobucket because I am concerned about not being able to find my photos on tinypic

How much is this going to cost me?

I absolutly don't have a clue how to add the photos. I went to Post Reply and clicked on Img on the toolbar. After that I tried to add the photos but couldn't find anything that would let me add them. It was soooooo fustrating...

I love those killies. They are absolutly stunning. I might get some Nothobranchius rachovii when I have got all my plants organised and my tank looking beautiful. I know I definatly want some Black Neon Tetras.

It's a teacher only day so I get a day off school. The teachers are having some sort of meeting or something.

phoenix44, how did you upload that photo of your tank? I spent about half an hour trying to upload photos of the different forms of L. aromatica and hippuroides. I went to 'Post Reply' at the bottom of the page and tried to cut and paste from my computer. It didn't work.