Goldie

Welcome John 1 - I am finding this site a big help and hope you will too. Do keep posting how you are getting on with the fish. Once again Welcome

8) I had no trouble at all in leaching. Water is as clear as ............water. Caryl had soaked it for ages and when I received the wood I scrubbed it with toothbrush and nailbrush before setting it into the tank. Every other water change I scrub it again if necessary for algae sometimes grows on it - this will be solved I hope when I acquire some more bristlenoses. I have a tree root in the discus tank which is not really a hardwood. I am not sure what it is (hubby suggest it is gorse root!!!!!!!!!!!!!). This I soaked in neighbours goldfish ponds for approximately six months. Then scrubbed before setting in tank. The discus love it and it is amazing to watch them glide in and out of the various roots. The bristlenoses keep it clean as a whistle - no leaching. Maybe I have beginners luck. Good luck with your wood Lizzy - maybe you need to come on wood hunting trip with Marlbourough club

Yay Caryl. What can I say except thanks thanks thanks for the help and support and sharing this site with me. Big hug.

oh my having been a browser for 9 months I now take the plunge to say Hi to you all. I began with a small 1 gallon tank and thanks to the help of Alex from the Marlbourgh Aquarium Club (via the internet) I set up a larger tank around 67 litres and then 'went into debt' and bought a 160 litres tank. The gallon tank is now hospital/quarantine tank and the 67L houses 2 angels; 6 neon tetra; 1 peppered catfish; 2 bronze catfish & 2 clown loaches. The 160 litres houses 5 discus (2 adult & 3 junior); 2 bristlenose catfish & 4 clown loaches. Thoroughly hooked on fish I am now planning for a large tank and wonder how I can get hubby to re pile the floor to take the weight. Or should we rebuild NOW LOL. I have been enjoying meeting ya'all and reading all fishy comments. Thanks also to Caryl for her support and encouragement and the wonderful wood she supplied for my tanks.

I too use Christchurch as the source of fresh fish. Yay someone else who is in love with the clown loaches. I have four clowns in the discus tank and two in the angel tank. Watch them for hours. Poor hubby has to get his own tea. ;-)

I keep discus too (only 5 at the moment) and have found a site given to me by Alex invalable, it is :- http://members.aol.com/bgdiscus/discus.htm Thanks for sharing and introducing yourself

I have just been viewing the pics of your tanks and fish :-) Wow

:roll: Thanks to you all for the support and advice. The fish are all fine and I missed having nitrate/nitrite spikes. Hubby cut out polystyrene pieces and lagged both tanks for me so that helped to keep the temps steady. When doing the water changes I used a syphon to circulate the water up through the undergravel a little. Once the power was on I slept for a straight 12 hours though. Thanks again to ya'all <--as my Texan friend would say.

I sure appeciate the support She is now beginning to swim upright again. Still 80% of the time upside down. I wonder if she suffered nerve damage when a cichild attacked her (said cichild been given to friend soon after I realised the battle going on). However that means she is 'healing' m,mm ty will let you know progress if any.

well Rob I put angel into hospital tank and fed her daphinia. She has good appetite however still in upside down postiion most of the time. Other than that she seems fine - a little bloated. This has gone on for so long - I cannot cull her - she was my first fish. Apart from the upside down she seems hearty. Ty for the suggestion.

I will get some today and put the angel into 'hospital' tank so she is sure to get them. Thanks Rob. I will let u know how it goes.

My angelfish is swimming upside down, it happened after great stress. She is swollen in abdomen. She was laying eggs regularly before being stressed out. No eggs since. I have only seem very very thin excreta. She does not always swim upside down however enough for me to be concerned. I suspect constipation. Can anyone offer advice. Books have availed zero.

Thanks to you all. I sigh with relief at not having to face re setting the tank up again. I will purchase Siamese algae eater and follow the advice given. How great to be able to have such support right on my desk Will let you all know what happens.

Being just a 'newbie' at keeping fish and in a rather isolated area. How would it be if we could do something on the internet.??? Remember also a 'newbie' at computers too LOL I sure appreciate the access to the wealth of knowledge that this gives me. The human touch is right here too. Just a thought folks.

Well i also had an invasion of snails which came in on some plants I bought, unknown to me at the time. I tried all sorts of methods - even to stripping the tanks and boiling the stones etc. Then another fish club member gave, for me, the perfect solution. I bought two clown loaches and believe me Kelly i have not had a snail problem since. I have also grown to appreciate the clown loaches and enjoyed their antics. . They are also safe with the other fish. A chinese loach I had bought was not for it killed one of my angel fish by suckering onto it. However the clown loaches have done wonders and LOVE snails

The photos are great. The Dunedin Tank parade ones sure bought back good memories. The local club members where so hospitable and free with their knowledge. What a wonderful time i had there. Caryl, Grant the pics are wonderful - I sure appreciate the effort put in to give us this page.

it is hairy and grows long. Black. I think you are right for it sure is tenacious. Sigh I guess you are right re stripping the tank down. For I have tried severe pruning - I guess that the spores are in the water now?? Thanks for the help.

Oh my. As a beginner in computers and fish i totally agree with caryl. Please Please keep it simple. I look forward with much interest to the updates. The only plants I know are the ones that survived my ignorance and have grown well e.g. Vallesteria and some other of the green ones. Such enthusiasm is infectious so glad to be able to socialise with like minded ppl.

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO My plants which have been growing well (with undergravel filter etc) have developed a horrible black growth on them. It started on a piece of hardwood with the Java fern. I discarded the poor ferns and scrubbed the hardwood and set it back all bare. TOO LATE for the other plants seem to be picking it up. Does this mean that I need to strip down the whole tank and begin again.???????