Cricketman

I'm a san(d)-fan :slfg: Yea, you may lose a little here and there, but my plants love it... and its cheep! 20L bag of daltons was like $15... and that did my 4ft to a decent depth...

Does it matter exactly what might? The risk, knowing goldfish to be major vectors, simply wouldn't be worth it. IMO Much better would be to take media from another local. Even then, If he keeps up the W/C's, he can get away without media-swapping anyway...

Anyone will tell you that plecostomus species are POO MACHINES! Being that they are benthic, they also tend to do a number on you newly developing plants, bulldozing them up when they swim through... defo good to have, clean up a lot of leftover food, but I'd wait till you're tank is abit more mature.

Everything you may want to know, just ignore the plugs for their product There are several types that fit various niches, though they are all VERY closely related. I have to say that I am NOT a fan of the "fishless cycle"... There is alot to be said for patience in stocking your tank, main one being that, while you will have to stock slowly, at least you can have stock from the get-go, and is MUCH more simple than having to worry about measurements and tests constantly. Finding 100% pure ammonia is a bear too... Even if a product is marketed as "pure ammonia" or whatever, there is potential for anything to be in there... :evil: unless you can acccess reagent or lab grade product? Even in the fishless cycle, your going to be doing the same amount of water changes. Maybe it just me, but if I'm going to be putting in the effort, I'd like to have something to show for it... :dunno:

maaaaate... You were going so well... You are ALWAYS going to have a cycle when you (not a definitive list!): Add more fish Clean filter Disturb substrate These cycles can be tiny or massive depending on the event, but they will happen, whether you test for their presence or not. Mature media will HELP the bacteria start to colonize faster than if you none. You will still have a cycle, as the numbers of bacteria develop to cope with the bio-load. The solution: WATER CHANGES! YAAAAAY!!! :happy1: There are hundreds of "potions" out there that claim to do all sorts of magic to ammonia, metals blah blah, but the simplest and easiest is just water changes... Established plants allow you to get rid of nitrates and some ammonia, and will help out-compete micro-algae but they are no replacement for W/C's... :thup:

:thup: Nice picture, nicely explained! sticky plz for turtle Noobs... :slfg:

Indeed! :thup:

If you have to ask, I'm leaning towards the don't bother... What sort of tank are you looking at? If the answer is anything but a medium-heavy planted community, then it probably not going to be worth the out-lay... Daltons propagating mix and JBL balls grew pretty much anything I stuck in my tank, and those that didn't I can put down to in-adequate lighting... EDIT: Found this on Seachem Website, might be a useful tool for someone.. http://www.seachem.com/support/GravelMineralComposition.pdf

Swim bladder is not connected to mouth/feeding... :facepalm: certain species use their swim bladder as a primitive "lung" (lungfish, mudskipper, betta, some gourami sp.) pH issues can cause the biological process that regulates the air in the swim bladder (similar to the hemoglobin/ oxygen relationship in your muscles). Stress and poor nutrition can also be factors. Beware that using the pin on the swim bladder can lead to infection. Pah, You can't keep fish the way you're SUPPOSED to, then tell us to sod off while asking for help. What a freaking Goose... I DONT want to help you. I want to help the poor fish that you obviously struggle with keeping... Funny how things turn around, huh? Who's the "Idiot" now... :digH: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

This :thup:

Everything you need to know, just ignore the blatant plug for their product :slfg: There are several types of nitrobacter and nitrosimonas, each has a niche, salt, fresh, terrestrial, whatever...

Neglect is abit harsh, fair enough, but my point isn't deterered. I just hate seeing potential for fish go to waste for want of OUR wants, despite damn good advice on a simple addition... :facepalm: I quote above probably the most qualified person you will find in this forum to comment on the suitability of securing the tank against New Zealand native fish's natural, yet in this foreign environ we keep them in, now deadly behaviouralism. But hey, by all means, do whatever makes YOU happy. :thup: :happy1:

If you could get that sort of colouration in of a male sword-tail's tail... :thup: epic colouration :thup:

:thup:

lip, lid, capping, mesh surround... There are lots of possibilities for fashioning SOMETHING... To not put one on, knowing full well the inevitability of carpet-jerky from not doing something, is neglectful in my opinion. You chose to keep the stock, you now have a responsibility to provide the best environ you can. If you can't get over your anthropocentric "aesthetics" to provide the security against their escape-artist behaviouralism, that is neccesary to keep the things properly, You should never have removed them from their natural habitat, in my opinion...

Bala crypts always did well under my T8, think 860/840? and my tank 600mm deep, and never quite clear... I did have JBL balls and Dalton propagating mix, and used to dose flourish, though when i ran out and didn't bother to replace, there was no noticeable reduction in growth or off-shoots... Cannot praise this substrate/fert enough for ease of use and maintenance...

Cross out to a FH, then cross back in the EBJD in the F2? :dunno: Should work by Mendelian genetics, but I'm not sure how the genes are bound, or if Mendelian is applicable to these particular Fish... Give it a go someone and report back :slfg:

cross?? :dunno: Breed it to a platy and if you get swords out, you know... maybe? :-? :nfs: though, beaut colours!

Told you so itself, I bet... There is a difference between a fish surviving and thriving... Yes. Those "idiots" that have kept these fish for years. The "idiot" biologists that have researched these things, studied and qualified at "idiot" universities... Yeah, really dont want to listen to those "idiots"... Probably best to sling your hook from here too. Packed full of those "idiots" 'round here...

What LA said... They will slowly die off... time frame is a little fluid as to when...

Good on ya Dino, I think You're going to thoroughly enjoy your tank with these wee fellas! Best bit, once you get some fry, you can swap for other dwarfs and roll through the species as you go (please research inter-species tolerances first, though ) Cheers

Yup, that is the way it is meant to be done, but some "hobbyist" kits stray from this due to issues with open chemicals, but it is by far the most accurate. In fact some kits have white circles to place the test so when you look down you can easily match up the closest. This is another reason that colour-perception shouldn't change the outcome too much, cos whilst you see the test and the reference chart, the thing is, that your sight is "off" by the same degree, so should be able to distinguish a reading comparatively between the test and the chart... HTH

I'd suggest someone with more hands-on experience and knows more about specifics answer your exact species requirements/tolerances questions Joe, you out there?? Young fulla loves his dwarfs... :thup:

This... Sweet potato for me was always the gold or orange type. Red kumara was completely new to me upon arrival in NZ

Never heard of that happening in my life :rotf: Go for it :thup: