Cricketman

have used Daltons prop mix many times before with no issue it does, however, require a GOOOOOD thorough clean out before you use it. I'm guessing that the latter was skimped upon and hence your issue. it is easier in a bucket, with the hose blasting into it, and get your hand/arm in there to get it all out until run-off is clear. But seeing as this may be too late.... If there are no fish in the tank, get in there and stir her up to get all the fine particles in solution, then siphon off as fast as you can, (may require continuous agitation) then fill her up and let her settle. Gravel vac your way to 30% W/Changes, and it'll clean up. I have to say I am a huge fan of the propagating mix and have used it on many tanks over the years.

carefully... how far have they got to go?

Yerp. I don't use all of those, but they are all part of it. and, as mentioned, I do have an older system. Your machine is practically the mother-ship compared to the fossil I am using. :facepalm:

see what the tide brings... :dunno:

:rotf:

avg is a resource hungry ****! BUT! It has served me well before. Have had avast recommended and MS. security. Haven't tried either yet, so cant comment other than they were strong suggestions.

I'm getting old... :sage: :rotf: fuse is getting shorter and shorter... :facepalm: :nilly:

brasses me that so many people are having :an!gry and fits about this. Welcome to par with the rest of the first world, and most of the third too, New Zealand...

This...

I'd be watching the old "new" hose just while she settles in. They tend to get a little brittle with age, and now it has pressure back on it after a hiatus. Just my 2c

GSD's... freaking love them... black long-hairs are my top favourite, but the black-and-tan jobs are still awesome. My grandfather used to breed them. I grew up with over 40 dogs... [/derail] :digH:

when (if) they give a reading, it is of the Glass temperature, not the water temperature. They are notoriously in-accurate, hard to read (if it between temps, or close, it will show 2 or 3 readings at a time, making them hard to interpret) and they also (in my opinion) look pants. try tell me what temp this tank is? is it 24,25,26 or 27??? The glass "bobbing" ones you describe are much better at doing their job of being a thermometer, AND can be tucked out the way. :thup:

link? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea Bit of info about Archaea for those who want to know what were talking about.

mozzie larvae usually prefer quiet and still waters, see that bit breaking the surface (tail-like appendage) ? Thats its siphon for breathing, therefore, moving water is not USUALLY preferable... their presence is unexpected. Fish will sort 'em out... As for your Gourami's... Larger gouramis tend to cause the dwarf-varieties to become shy and stress in my experience with them, might explain some colouration issues, or like Adrian pointed out, sexual dimorphism may also be a possibility. Clamped fins is not a good sign. Though, to be honest, There are a lot (no, really, HEAPS!) of poor quality gouramis pouring out of Asia for the last 4-5 years. It could be poor stock with low tolerance to stress (caused by larger gouramis being present, may not even necessarily have to physical impact, just the presence) causing issues... I'll again point out that this is personal experience and nothing concrete or researched or commonly accepted.

could be a number of other things that cause a colour change, Mood being the most difficult to determine, but even down to hierarchy amongst the inhabitants and displays between members of the group. unless they show definate signs of distress, I'd say your being paranoid... :slfg: least you are looking out the best you can for em eh? :thup:

may be that they are not used to the high-flow environment... Naturally, they are in slow moving, tannin-rich streams... as for the virus thing... :dunno: I'd just keep an eye on them myself and see if it is a continuous behaviour, or if they start to lose some form/ weight. {edit} - After a read through that article, It says that they go off thier food, seeing as yours are still eating, I wouldn't be immediately worried. It also says they tend to become darker with the infection, rather than the lightening you have described. I wouldn't worry about it.

*GRRRROOOOAAAANNN* :facepalm: :slfg:

and get rid of the stick-on thermometer, they don't work well at all, and it distracts the eye. a cheap glass in-tank thermometer is exactly that, cheap... and a hellova more accurate... :thup:

I have in the past hidden sinkers in holes in the wood, or drilled holes the right size to feed a few 1 Oz sinkers into, or made a string of a few sinkers on a piece of low-vis fishing line, and tied it over the wood. Sinkers are easy to hide in the substrate, and can be removed once your wood doesn't need them any-more. Also the drill-and-hide technique is good if you can figure out how the wood will sit with its new centre of gravity, get some interesting angles that it'll sit at in the water... HTH

Have you ever seen a goldfish chew? No,because they lack the gears... Spitting is as close as they can get... at least that has been what I have seen/experienced... wetting flake before feeding... :slfg: First time I've heard of it. Never seen any fish in the wild have their food wetted and sunk for them. I have also never seen wild fish randomly floating down stream after surface-feeding... I doubt very much that top-feeding would have any adverse effect on a fish, unless the genotype is so inbred so as to cause mutation/s in the phenotype that make it unable to control it's sphincter or similar debilitating physical problem, leading it to these issues... Which is completely feasible with a species that has been line-bred and in-bred for hundreds of years... :dunno:

No, you said it would reduce the need for W/C's , which it won't, even if it did work almost instantly, still need to get rid of NO3 by direct export, seeing as there aren't established flora. and you have to account for the Lag between bacterial introduction and when those bacteria actually start to work, shown by the presence of NO2, which also is toxic and needs to be removed... and there will also be another Lag phase as the next species of nitrobacter start to populate... So.... KEEP UP THE WATER CHANGES... True that, My apologies, I got my dates wrong. You obviously didn't read the bold properly... and yes, there is going to be more ammonia constantly supplied, but you'd rather have a constant presence to allow the bacteria to colonise ASAP, and in decent number, rather than have 0 NH3 one day and have it creep up to a level where it takes time for the bacteria to populate to a effective level again. The Lag is too great for this, and will result in an ammonia spike anyway...daily W/C's are still the best. Where's yours then?? Sorry, where I come from "You HAVE TO" is a direct instruction, not opinion, maybe thats where I got the idea from... Myself? None, because I have always been constant with my W/C's. I have, however, helped many people in the OP's situation over the years, and many other issues I have faced personally and amongst the wider fish keeping community. And shock the fish? 50-60% change is the max that I'd ever look at doing in one W/C... not saying that it doesn't work for some people in thier particular application, I am saying that I wouldn't bother when it is much simpler, and cheaper to do damn W/C's... I believe you proved my point for me by believing that a off-the-shelf product would cycle your tank for you... how many other people do you think this happens to??? Looks like biology to me... bio-chemistry even! :thup:

No, it won't, you still need to do the same water changes until the tank becomes stable. Bacterial action from introduced media is not instant, there is a period after moving the bacterium that they go into dormant state after being disturbed. also, you will still need water changes to take out the NO3 that is becoming available in the tank to algae. This can be done with established plant life and lighting, but that is further down the track from where the tank is at the moment, so, good old water changes are still the most efficient until you get to that stage. 1st, that reading was over 2 weeks ago now, many water changes have passed since. In your example above you show only one large change (quick calculation shows [NH3/4+] = 0.8ppm post 90% change, a relatively safe level), where the reality is that many successive changes will have a greater over-all effect on the [NH3/4+]. Reducing it slowly is better anyway, you don't want to remove 100%of the NH3/4+, otherwise your not going to ever develop the nitrobacter colonies, are ya? 2nd, a portion of that test reading is going to be bound in the ammonium state (dependant on PH and temperature), and can be ignored as a danger to the fish. Also, any chemical action from the various potions may or may not have an effect on this balance, dependant on what brand and/or whether you believe the "scientific evidence" from "testing" funded by the company trying to sell the product... (see the conflict of interest?) I'll add here that I haven't gone looking for independent research, 'cos I really have better things to do, like date women, and stop well-meaning, yet misguided, advice from people that have only just started out in the scene and think they know everything 'cos google told 'em so, from draining peoples pockets on pointless additives and chemicals that they don't need. No, He doesn't HAVE TO do anything... you can make a suggestion only, not a command... Daily water changes will get the job done just fine... I have never used anything but dechlorinator and water changes in over 15 years of fish keeping, to cycle my tanks... I am of the opinion that these potions are a waste of money when a perfectly simple solution exists already... and is 100% effective at directly removing everything... (this is contrary to tropical marine, where there are a number of additives/ levels that should be monitored for best results and to keep certain organisms) So, Prime is not the be all and end all holy grail of fish keeping after all, and water changes are just as beneficial, if not more so. Glad we agree. :thup: Cycle your tank for you? It's like saying "I'm going to give you this pill and you'll drop 20kg overnight!". Would you believe it? course not (I'd hope)... you expect too much from your magic potion... It just doesn't work that way... As far as bottles of bacteria on the shelf - They go into a dormant state, and while there are definitely losses in viable bacteria over time, the concentration that they are in, means that these losses are minor compared to the over-all population. again, it takes an amount of time for the dormant bacteria to "wake-up" and start dealing to the Nitrogenous waste. Having said all that, I still would rather go for water changes and borrowed media... :thup: Potions that claim to do all sorts of magical things to ammonia and/or nitrites are for lazy people that can't be stuffed to do water changes in my opinion. There, I said it... :digH:

bleach will only penetrate as far as the water can, so realistically the two (or more if you feel like it,) days in clean water (change it when you remember) should remove most of it. Laws of diffusion and all that. This is all theoretical, mind, and I haven't done such myself, just going on what I know from my experience in other things and what I've been told by others... :sage:

I think that it all comes down to Moderation. (yes, with chocolate too GrahamC... :slfg: ) As long as your not pumping your tank full of it, I have not found anything to show measurable and direct damage internally to your fish from consuming Nori. horses....courses.... :thup:

30/70 bleach/H20 solution overnight, then next 2 days & nights in clean water, or better, sodium thiosulphate solution after the bleach bath. (I'm not sure where, or whether, this is available publicly) there may be someone who has a better remedy... :thup: I know for bone carving they say you boil it in bleach??