tinytawnykitten

Kitten vs Lizard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWy5-FGikyw

I love the nightmares post!

Do you read this blog Ira? It is fabulous. She hasn't posted for two years and is finally back!

I have been doing a water change every 10 days or so. My water is always cloudy with particles. But I am hoping the added filter will fix that. I have around 14 demasoni, 3 electric yellows, 6 tropheus duboisi, 3 male peacocksaround 15 lionheads (Steatocranus casuarius), 3 GBA, 1 Dimidiochromis compressiceps, 1 pictus cat and 1 featherfin synodontis. Is the only way to keep nitrates stable by doing water changes? I feed them around 1-2Tbsp of Hikari Cichlid Excel each day.

This had me laughing til I cried this morning...

Nitrate in tap water is 0 and no I got the filter from a friend who recently closed down her tank and sorry it was another CF1000 not a CF1200. I have been recommended to buy a CF1200 as they are better but I will wait until I can afford it and this extra CF1000 should make a big difference to my water clarity anyway. Thanks heaps for your advice! I will retest the water every two days and do water changes accordingly. Test kit is this one http://badmanstropicalfish.com/products/aq_Freshwater_Master_Test_Kit.html but I can't find an expiry date on there. I have had it for probably 4 years though!

No I will do that right now and report back...

I have a 400ish litre mostly African cichlid tank and I am ashamed to say I haven't tested the water for over a year. Tonight I tested and everything was ok apart from Nitrate which to looking at my chart looked between 80 and 160ppm. I am now doing a water change and my husband said 'what if there is nitrate in the tap water?'. I dunno! So am I doing the right thing by doing a water change? Is there anything else I can do? Is there a product I should have on hand? Sorry I just have NO idea about this sort of stuff! I have recently found out that I am under-filtered too so I have bought a second filter and will collect it this week. With the second filter (which is second hand but has been rinsed etc, what should I do? Do I buy all new media? I also have my CF1000 going and this is a CF1200 which I will be adding. I know these are basic questions - I should know this stuff. Sorry!

Actually today I switched off the blue ones and left the white ones on and although it wasn't bright the difference was amazing. I will definitely do that. Thanks!

two blue two white

Hi again, my bulbs are 2 x HO 54w/b and 2 x 54w/w 10000k does that make sense?

Oh Ira you took too long to reply! I was expecting your acerbic wit well before now! :roll: And yes actually my ph levels were good when I had those shell rocks in so I probably won't waste too much vinegar on them. Vinegar is way too yummy to waste!

Oooh thanks Caryl, good tip!

Thank you all so much for your amazing input. I have decided to change to white aragonite substrate which I can get from my LFS. Unless anyone knows anywhere I might get it cheaper? Can it be bought at a landscaping or hardware store? Secondly I will change at least one of my lightbulbs to one suggested. And I will add a second filter and clean and replace my shell rock back into the tank. Thanks so much!

Thanks Smidey. Where did you get your crushed marble sand from? Is it courser than silica sand which is very fine? Any tips on cleaning the glass? I have one of these jobbies duct taped onto a long wooden spoon! Presuming I won't be able to afford an FX5 any time soon, could I get away with a second cf1000?

Thanks heaps. I didn't know my filter wasn't big enough although I hadn't actually looked into it! The white sand I did have was silica sand. It was lovely but high maintenance and it freaked me out how it got into every bit of the filter. What are high output bulbs? Can they be run on a t5 fitting like mine? I have two blue and two white lights on the existing unit.

I have a lovely big tank which is around 65cm tall, 50cm deep and 140cm wide. In it I have around 14 demasoni, 3 electric yellows, 6 tropheus duboisi, 2 male peacocks (one is OB one I am not sure), around 15 lionheads (Steatocranus casuarius), 3 GBA, 1 Dimidiochromis compressiceps, 1 pictus cat and 1 featherfin synodontis. Here is the tank: 3 by tinytawnykitten, on Flickr I have black substrate. I am running an Aqua One CF1000 filter on it. My lighting is one of these: http://www.thefishtank.co.nz/webapps/p/83799/179802/456831 I did some have some of that white shell rock for my rocks. But it always ended up completely green with algae. In the end I took that out ad have started putting rocks from the beach in there instead but I have stopped as I don't really like it and am thinking of going back to the shell rock as I have a lot of it and can make a good wall of rocks with it. I was thinking of buying one of these as I know someone selling one http://www.aquaristikshop.com/e_Produktinformationen/Arcadia-Over-Tank-Luminaire-OTL-T5-100-cm.htm which will fit alongside the existing lighting I already have, but I don't know whether it will make my tank any brighter or whether it will make the algae accumulation worse. I regularly clean the glass on the front and sides with a razor thing but I can't reach the back pane so there is a lot of algae on it and it definitely doesn't look good against the blue background. So basically i just am a little lost as to where to begin with redesigning my tank but I do know that I don't like it and I want it to look awesome. Would more lighting help? The tank always seems a little dull despite the 4 t5 tubes.What's the best way to sift out the little gray and white etc pebbles that have found their way onto my black substrate? I want to get rid of them so the black looks more, well, black. Should I buy a UV sterilizer - ie would that inhibit algae growth on the rocks and glass? Should I think about moving back to white sand substrate? I did have it but I found it played havoc with my filter and was hard to keep clean. Or should I just build a better rock wall with my old shell rock and cop on? Please any advice you can offer I would be grateful for!

Oooh I just tonight finished Peter Fitzsimmon's book Nancy Wake. What a woman!

I found this this morning and had to share... http://screenshotsofdespair.tumblr.com/

Oh Stella if you were so keen to check out that stream couldn't you have just found a pathway? I am just sitting in the car with a friend and he showed me the paper and said 'geez look at this woman fell down a cliff' and I looked and said 'hang on, that's Stella! So glad you're ok. X

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra's new EP. Happy music!!!!

anyone need fish brought hither or yon?

My cat always sleeps on my tank. It is the warmest place in the house.

How were the results? Are you ok?

I'm glad this guy is nice and I'm stoked to get this at this price anyway!