chrisa

Didn'r really know where to post this! Does anyone know if you can get seahorses in chch or do they have to be couriered in from auckland or the like. I used to have some when I lived in auckland but couldn't bring them with me to chch. This was many years ago. I would be interested in getting some more. Any suggestions?

I don't get any water in my mouth at all and believe me I wouldn't be doing that way if I did. Providing your bucket is lower than the tank one quick suck and a quick lowering the tube to the bucket should be plenty enough to get it running. I can't suggest anything with the gravel cleaner as my experience was that I bought three trying to find the right one and probably if I hadn't changed what I was doing a few more. Good luck. I am sure you will find the right solution for you.

When I first started keeping tropical fish i used to use a gravel cleaner every week and had trouble with cycling my tank, my plants wouldn't grow and I lost the occasional fish through bacterial infections. It was suggested that I don't use a gravel cleaner unless you could see a build up of unslightly fish waste on top of the stones and even then only syphon that off. Then instead just do a water change. Well I've been doing that instead now for 6 months and my plants are growing, I have not had any fish losses related to bacteria and my tank still looks really clean as all the fish waste is breaking down. (and I haven't had to syphon any off the top either) So if you are fed up, my suggestion is to stop cleaning your gravel for a while and just do a water change. You might be surprised at how easy things become. I was.

I got mine from Animates Tower junction too! Now I buy smaller ones from a guy on trade me, cheaper too. They are doing really well and growing fast.

I went out to get some bloodworms and gave some to him he didn't seem particurlaly interested but did eat some. 2 Hrs later he does look heaps better already swimming almost normally. i didn't give a lot though. But for future reference if epsom salt works as well, how much epsom salt per litre? I have a 200 litre tank. so to give discus some condition. What do you feed and how often? As I thought ox heart was good for growing and making them nice and healthy.

A Discus I've had for about 2 weeks seems to be having trouble staying down in the tank. when it swims it points its head down and uses it fins and tail to swim frantically rather than glide. it stays mostly at the top of the tank.This appears to have happened over night as it was fine yesterday. I've been feeding them ox heart 2 x daily to put a bit of weight on the smaller one that I got when I bought that one and it has been a bit of a pig as its the biggest in the group. Could it be bloat how can I fix it if it is? Colour is good. Should I feed today?

Actually the temp on my tank is quite high from 27/28 degrees. Is that a problem for the neons? However my neons appears good now. once I got rid of the infected ones everything settled.

I contacted a lot of moving companys recently when I wanted to buy and ship a tank from Auckland to Christchurch and they all said they'd move it but won't insure it so if it gets broken it your problem. Hence didn't buy it.

Hi, Personally I find that guppies aren't as hardy as they appear, If something is wrong with the water they definitely seem the first to have problems. Well that's what I've noticed in my tank anyway. I always use mine as an indicator of sorts particularly when I first started the tank as out of all the fish they were they ones to first sit at the top when I had water problems so every time I saw they looked out of character (sitting at the top and swimming in circles instead of swimming below) I'd do a water change. Basically until they settled and their behavior was more consistent. I now do water changes once a week and Guppies are happy all the time. You may be able to find out whats in your water by ringing the local council. We are lucky here in Christchurch we can put our water in the tank straight from the tap.

I have sterbai, pandas, bristlenose, guppies, and discus

I have put a new fully submersible heater in my tank to replace one that wasn't and over the last 2 days have noticed a 1 degree fluctuation from 27 during day to 26 over night is this okay? Also I have changed (last night) the filter outlet into the tank ( I have a canister filter) to a spray bar, it now blows bubbles of air down into tank but it is very near the heater will this affect the way the heater supposed to heat or will it just disperse the heat better?

Aqua one cf1000 instructions Does anyone have some instructions they can copy and send to me. p.m me if you can help I'd really appreciate it.

For anyone who is interested, I think I found the problem. The bristlenose which is a male "as he's getting his bristles." I don't think I had enough hiding places and the bristlenose is chasing them out of the main one and around the tank. I am moving them all to a bigger tank so will be putting in more hiding spots and one special hollow log for the bristlenose.

Are white spotted plecs reasonably hardy? Do they breed reasonbly easily like bristlenose and do they have any particular likes and dislikes? They just look fantastic. A really interesting looking fish to have in a tank. I'm thinking about getting some. If anybody knows where you can get some in Christchurch could you let me know.

Animates will order parts they may know of someone who repairs. I ordered some parts off them about 4-6 weeks ago. Also I don't add anything to my water it goes in straight from the tap, But Christchurch water is pretty good. I heard it was pretty good all round canterbury. Some one is welcome to say if they think I'm wrong. If you're not sure whats in the water you could ring your local council and ask.

I've just been in to Critter Kingdom on stanmore road and they have just had loads of fish come in.

Okay, Have found out that that Guppies may not be good companions for Discus as Guppies eat quicker than discus. What fish would make good tank companions for Discus other than Neons that is. All opinions welcome!

Thanks for that I was curious, I understand what you are saying about the feeding differences. Discus guru was correct in saying that it sounds like a bacteria build up as I had had problems with other fish as well just lately. I did a big water change and syphoned the stones the next morning and there was way to much build up in the stones for 3 - 4 days since I last did it. Conclusion is that I have been over feeding to make sure the discus got food as yes the Guppies were eating it very fast, so I was putting more in to make sure the Discus got some. The ground dwellers weren't cleaning up the rest as I thought. So I have learnt a lesson and will be learning from it. I will be looking at rehousing the guppies once I get the new tank up and running. This forum is really great, with lots of information from different people you can pick the information that suits your circumstances and get the answer from deductive reasoning. Fantastic It is a shame that we have to learn from trial and error, but the main point is making sure that we do learn the lesson the first time and not keep making the same mistakes over again!

The guppies and platies are peaceful. Why should they not be in with Discus? They don't seem to bother the discus and aren't really fast like zebra danios.

Unfortunately the discus died. I can't believe how quick it went down hill, it was still eating last night. I do a water change once a week about 20 to 30% and syphon what gravel i can get to. I run a Fluvel 204 on a 90 litre tank. I had 2 discus in the Tank and am putting in a bigger 200 litre tank next weekend and was going to put more discus in from then if I could find some. I was thinking about 5 in total, but of course will wait until the tank is cycled properly. I have fliter wool and noodles in the filter and the tank has been set up 3 - 4 months without any problems until the fin rot I have also lost 2 neons which lost colour and died all since I put the melifix in for the fin rot which by the way, it was the discus that died that had it (the finrot appeared to clear up though). Perhaps I'm feeding too much. I will watch that. Will carbon help clear bacteria in the water? I have given a water change tonight and tested ph but will get a full water test tomorrow.

Hi, Have them at 27 - 28 degrees have guppies, neons, bristle nose, sterbai catfish and a couple of platies. Its lying completely on its side now. Would it be past curing? Can I treat the whole tank with furan 2 or would it diffenately need to go on it own, where do i get furan 2? I have a small baby guppy tank I could put it in. The baby are probably big enough to survive in the big.

advice needed, discus looked fine yesterday perhaps a little shy hung out at the back, no sore eye though, this afternoon noticed it can't swim properly and has swollen cloudy eye. 2 weeks ago I took carbon out of canister filter and treated tank with melifix for finrot, cleared up very quickly, however I didn't put the carbon back in. Should I do this? Did it cause it? if not what can I treat it with? Should I do a water change? I last did one Monday, it really does look to be on it last fins as it lying on it side. Help!!!

I have neons, sterbai catfish, bristlenose, guppies and discus. I plan on getting more discus (If I can find some that is, at a reasonable price) which is why I wanted the bigger tank. I'll probably get rid of the guppies.

advice wanted aqua one verses fluval 204 I am using a fluval 204 at the moment on a 90 litre tank its been great. But just have bought a second hand 190 litre tank with a aqua one cs1000. I will be selling the 90 litre tank on but which filter is best to keep for the 190 litre tank and will I need extra aeration because its bigger. Any ideas, thoughts or advice welcome.

have 6 neons and 2 of them have something going on. First noticed round patch of loss of colour on red both sides by tail. Looked this morning and another has it. One is getting worse and spreading up the body still on the red bit on its body though and from back when its swimming looks swollen in that area. All eating and swimming fine at the moment. I looked on internet and can't find anything similar. I'm guessing it is just the very early stages of something. Has anybody else had something similar going on or know what it is and how to treat. I would appreciate any comments.