VinsonMassif

Get on your bike and go visit Barrie. An absolutely great way to spend an afternoon!!!! Totally recommended. If you don't fall head-over-heels in love with all killies after that visit you must be sick

Cana apple snails (the ones available here which eat your plants) are a pest. Plus in the end everything gets eaten.

lol Hi Jude

Hi NZ.

Which live bearer seems to be the most prolific spawner? Is there anyone in Christchurch who breeds any special lines of Guppy's?

Or you could make one yourself for next to nothing and paint it what ever colour you like.

Clearly you gave it too much luving lol

Soak the dirt first and do water changes so it gases off. Can't remember the specific reasons why though. Why don't you just get a bag of Dalton's aquatic mix? IME oxygen weed and indian fern grows like a weed without any supplements. Perhaps you could experiment with more difficult plants, like ones which require high light, or are slow growers, as in Anubias spp.

What about Cock or Cocky/

lmao! Here: have some Rayburn warmth......

That is so cool.

I wouldn't use them because they contain a lot of things in high doses that you don't know how your fish will react to. Like Vitamin A. Personally I would go down and get a trace element mix without copper in it and just use that. One that is intended for plants.

It looks really good Mark!

Unless you add it slowly in front of a powerhead or filter outlet so it is instantly mixed into the water column.

Anything that is foodsafe and is big enough can be used as a tank.

I spy with my little eye something beginning with J......... Mmmmm Jager, almost as good as Absinthe on Sundays. You have great looking fish!

Lindy, there are a number of ways to reduce it: fish like sae's/flying foxes, other barbs like rosy barbs eat it all day long and keep it mowed down. Or there is taking the various bits out and soaking them in bleach solution (19:1), or potassium permanganate solution for 24 hours. Which kills it dead. Then you scrub the dead algae off. An easier way imo is boosting carbon and other nutrients so your plants out compete the algae.

Stop feeding your fish for a few days, do daily water changes and see whether that reduces your problem.

I have a dozen or so dwarf chain swords you can have. I keep moving them and they are not that wonderful in my tank this time round. Let me know when you want me to send it to you.

That is such a great feeling finally getting a new tank. Good size isn't it. So for plants you will have swords, val, cabomba?

Have you tried keeping the light off? So they don't feel so exposed?

Beautiful creatures. I LOVE those shrimp.

Thanks for passing on that explanation HFF!

Bleach typically is used as a common cleaner with chlorine in it, but to make it a better cleaner they put fragrance/surfactants/additives in it. These are what is bad for your fish. So if you shake the bleach and the bubbles stay on top of the water it is not recommended to use it The only plain bleach I could find was Budget brand. No extra additives to be found. I mostly used plain ammonia (no chlorine) so no need to soak the purigen for a further 8 hrs in declorinator like Prime.