Naz_Nomad

Does anyone else think, as I do, that this section of the forum needs splitting into "Cichlids - Lakes" and "Cichlids - Not Lakes"? Just a thought...

Welcome to the Forums. I also am not allowed to buy any more tanks, until I buy the wife a bigger house. I don't understand why we need two sofas and a spare bedroom we never use! Don't be afraid to ask anything, the guys are fairly friendly here and there's some experienced fish keepers who can answer most stuff. Welcome!

Swords seem to love Fourish Excel more than any other plant. Very very easy to make them really thrive with Flourish. Got to love the stuff for a planted tank. Well done, your tank looks great!

My Jewel 180 cost me about two thousand dollars, but it is complete with stand, lid, lights, heater, filter and media. Actually, less than that - it came to $2100 all told with the tank and all the other gubbins I bought at the same time, and I did buy a lot, with fertiliser, gravel, bits and pieces, plants etc. I did get a nice three foot tank with lid and stand from Pupuke for about six hundred bucks. If you buy like that, you then have to consider the cost of everything that makes your set-up complete, filters, lights etc. I haven't a clue how much a stand or tank will cost to make, you'd have to ask Brent that - he's in the phone book or posts occasionally in the commercial trade and exchange section. It's always worth asking, though you'd possibly get a better deal approaching a cabinet maker and/or tank maker yourself without going through a shop. Ask anyway, Brent's a nice chap and won't bite too much.

HFF or Pupuke Aquariums on the North Shore will order the right size Jewel in if you ask. Ask to see their catalogue. Jewel are great aquariums. I run a 180litre with the rock backgrounds and all. Or go see Brent at Pupuke anyway - he has a tank maker who will make whatever you need and a stand maker who will make the stand.

Hi fattythecatty, The formula is... length x depth x height (in centimeters) divide by 1000 = capacity in litres. So for your tank:- 120x55x40 = 264,000/1000 = 264 litres. Like they said.

Lazy, Wok. MY filter had a clean six months ago. The second in a year. Dead keen, me.

Like Adodge said, each to their own. Personally I use Flourish Excel AND some sort of posh soily thing that the LFS love to sell me. Flourish excel encourages growth and all that but I like to think that adding stuff to the bottom of the tank encourages root growth and makes for hardier plant life. I may be totally wrong and have wasted a few bucks on fertiliser, but my plants all look happy and are flourishing in my planted tanks. Well, apart from where the bristlenose have had a chew but even then they seem to recover very well. I am also a fan of not adding too much to the water, so my doses of Flourish are a lot less than the recommended dosage on the bottle. I agree with Adodge that cleaning can be harder with fertiliser under the gravel, hence the need for a good thick layer of gravel over the fertiliser. Everything that gets deep enough to be a problem to clean out is plant food in my book anyway.

Mine's Terry Pratchett too! http://thinkexist.com/quotes/terry_pratchett/ http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Terry_Pratchett/ For signature quotation guidance

Water Parameters - if you're cleaning the tank and rearranging it's decor, don't worry too much about ammonia etc, just pH and temperature. Ammonia, Nitrate and nitrite levels should be about 0 anyway after a clean out like you describe. Fertiliser for aquariums is available from most good aquarium shops. Just ask what they have available and try not to go over the top in price, some fertiliser types are bloody expensive! I recommend not using JBL fertiliser balls, they get exposed easily and stain the water brown. Get some that is like soil/sand that will sit under your gravel nicely. Most specific aquarium fertilisers are fairly generic in what they contain (within reason) and safe to use with fish etc. The stuff I use is about thirty bucks a bag for a couple or three kilos. Plan for about an inch over the bottom of the aquarium. Where are you in Auckland? We may be able to recommend a good shop if we know roughly where you're situated. Oh, and join your local FNZAS club. You know you want to!

Try getting some plants in that they won't eat. Mouse's Ears are relatively safe, as is Java Fern and the one I can never remember the name of that sounds like Anubis the Egyptian God chappie. Or try some real fast growing plants like Ambulia or Wysteria that often out-grow the nibbling.

Like Johannes said. Keep your filter media whilst you clean in old aquarium water. Keep at least some of your gravel to mix with the new. If possible, keep the filter running to allow the water to circulate over the bacteria living there. If you're planting your aquarium, try to think about putting some fertiliser under the gravel. You'll need a good layer of gravel over the fertiliser, so you may well need more gravel anyway. Check the water parameters before adding fish once you've cleaned and scrubbed. Make sure it is at least reasonably close to the old conditions. Don't forget to keep the fish warm and comfortable whilst you change their home around, and make sure you acclimatise them to the new water.

Always buy the biggest tank you can afford and house. Otherwise, just buy loads of medium sized tanks like me. I have two three foot tanks and a four foot running at present and a baby tank for the first of my killies. A six foot tank is on its way once I move house, as well as shelving for the 22 1 & 2 foot tanks I will be using to set up a breeding project.

Hi Katie, and welcome to the forums. You'll find everyone here to be friendly and helpful, I hope! Yes, it sounds like you have too many fish for a 75 litre tank. The Clown loaches alone will grow to up to 8 or 10 inches, and catfish can grow to be monsters over the years, depending on their type. No doubt you will soon be suffering from MTS - More Tanks Syndrome - which is a common disease among us forumites. Don't forget never be afraid to ask, we tend not to laugh at folk here, just offer advice based on experience.

pH of 6.5 is fine, so don't worry about that at all. Algae growth is also normal to a certain extent but when it gets too much and unsightly it becomes a problem. First of all, you mention that your tank doesn't get too much sunlight, but obviously it gets some. Direct sunlight is ambrosia for algae. so do what you can to cut that down. I used to have a small curtain velcro'd to the side of my tank where the sun got to it and this helped loads without really affecting me being able to view my aquarium. 15 hours of lighting will only help algae to grow as they feed off the light, as do plants. Next - is your tank planted at all or just rocks and substrate? Plants and algae need virtually the same nutrients and plants will take up the nutrients faster than alge once established, so planting might help a little too. Don't add Algaefix, it is too easy to overdose and your pets may well die. Clean regularly and scrape the algae off by hand weekly or more often if necessary and make sure your tank is siphoned regularly too. Depending on which algae you have, there are other routes to ridding your tank of it. Some algae types hate Flourish Excel, which is a common plant food added to aquariums and is harmless to pets.

Very absorbing videos. Thanks for pointing them out Johannes. WTB.... Emperor Cichlids And finally... the full version on DVD is damn expensive and hard to come by apparently... http://www.amazon.com/National-Geograph ... 135&sr=1-1

I could have made a joke about cruelty in not walking your fish.... But I didn't. It was a close call though! :evil: Phew!

Personally, I recommend Pupuke. Hollywoods is ok if Pupuke doesn't have what you're looking for or if you want marine stuff which Pupuke doesn't have. The Browns Bay shop would be third choice. (Origin?) However the place to avoid is Animates in Wairau Park, closely followed by Animates Albany. Never buy anything alive from there, the rest of the stuff is a price thing I guess. My opinions. Others experiences may vary.

They are available at most LFS's and smply called plant weights or plant anchors or something like that. HTH.

Here we go, try this... http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile25.html Oh, and 4 is usually considered the smallest group for a schooling fish. Hope that helps.

Set your thermostat for about 22-24 for Harlequins. Probably the same for Kribs. Let us know what you choose. Harlequins colour up real nice in a group too - lovely rosy colour to the flanks, always active, easy to feed. Good luck with your tank!

Harlequin Rasboras. Lovely little fish, nice and hardy, small as a Cardinal/Neon but more active. Get a small group as they're a schooling fish.

Better yet, work out why the water is green and stop it happening again. Green water is usually caused by free-floating micro-algae. It is difficult to get rid of but it is possible. Some recommend a black-out for a few days, I personally recommend filtering it out and stopping it proliferating using a UV filter. Green water is often caused by too much direct sunlight, too much light in general or the introduction of the spores from elsewhere which then breed like crazy if the conditions in the aquarium are suited to algae growth. Green water itself is generally fairly harmless, but it can get to be a problem if left too long and is of course unsightly and stops you viewing your fish properly.

Welcome also from #308 I'm not a number I'm a free man!

I agree with Caryl, the sand looks like it should be white but seems to have a pinkish tinge on it, which suggests red lights to enhance the colouring of the fish. Still a lovely fish though.