Matthew

I can't be sure on heater size but I can say that I would think you would need more than 300w to heat a six foot tank. Also it could pay to have a back up heater in the tank. Driftwood. I have recently collected some from the beach. I soaked it in water until it sunk. When this had happened i transferred it into a chlorine bath to remove any micro-organisms on it. From there it gets cleaned again and left to soak with an airstone in the tank in order to remove any chlorine. then add to a tank.

Ahh the blessed married life. I could explain but being newly married yourself you should have a fair amount of insight. See you on club night

i have used white spot cure on my tank (i have six clown loaches) without any untoward effects on my fish. If you are still having problems you can try that.

blue ram, I can bring you some riccia next club night. If you want it sooner pm me and i will see if i can organise a time for us to meet. Andrew if you are after some also still i can send some your way. by the way i only have four available ice cream containers, is that enough for a grindal worm culture. cheers matt

the water will only take on as much oxygen as it can handle, the rest will escape into the atmosphere. The only time you could over saturate the water with o2 would be if your tank was having o2 pumped into it with no outlet ( a bit like a sodastream, only o2 instead of co2). however I don't know of any fish tanks that can be pressurised like that.

if you put your culture on top of a heat source (like your fish tank light) they will multiply quite quickly, however the culture fouls quicker. As far as collecting off the sides I just wait for a week or two and the worms will crawl up the side en masse. opportune time to collect them. Matt

harvest the worms off the side, that way the culture doesn't end up in your tank, just the worms.

Even though it is not supposed to be done my mother put a pair of electric yellows in her community tank. They quite enjoy the tank and have bred on multiple occassions (unfortunately the clown loaches eat the fry). They don't hassle the other fish (including small tetras). So even though it is not supposed to be done there are some cases where it works. They were initially put into the community tank while their tank was being shifted. They settled in immediately so they stayed. Water conditions aren't optimum for the yellow electrics, but if they are breeding I imagine that they tolerate the conditions quite nicely. Matt

apparently the fish had jumped out before, but they were able to rescue it before it dehydrated. They always have there lids in place, so I imagine that the arowana jumped through that.

I have just been into our local chinese shop. They have an eight foot tank, and inside they had a silver arowana of approximately 2 foot plus length ( possibly even three foot). Unfortunately one night recently it leapt out of the tank and is now in fish heaven (or on the menu). It's always sad to hear of such a majestic fish, and one of many years, dying. That's why I wanted to share with everyone so we could all send our sympathy to the fish owner.

in the west auckland fish club newsletter there is an article on feeding daphnia, they say use chicken poo, so like caryl i have to agree poo is poo. I actually think it is more to do with organic matter than poo. the organic matter is food for whatever bugs are in green water, and the green water is food for daphnia, mosquito larvae, blood worms etc

thats where I favour the malawis. I remember going into wet pets in palmy, and they had this display of different malawis. absolutely stunning. the gravel was white, and there was a large rockwall built at the back of a four foot tank. Then the fish, stunning bright flourescent colours darting all over the place. wonderful.

glad you enjoy the site, there always seems to be plenty to learn from others.

Discus. Probably Malawi cichlids, they seem to be reasonably hardy. It comes down to what you like though. every cichlid has its merits and its annoying habits. Pick a fish and then do some research on it. Then if you are happy with what others say you need to do, and you think you can reasonably provide the care needed then go for it.

difficult to tell from that photo. I find the best way to determine gender is to look between the ventricle fins and see whether there is a white egg spot. If so it is likely to be female.

thanks caryl, i will check it out now

I have multiple plants growing on a flower stalk. what is the best way to remove these. thanks in advance.

from what I understand some people will argue that the bubbles do nothing, and that it is the water turbulence at the surface that encourages the absorption of o2 into the water. I think that bubbles aren't necessary, but watch your fish, if they are gasping or acting strangely then maybe that would be beneficial.

by my calculations if you invest your 17.1 million at 5% p.a. you are looking at a further $850000. minus your power off that and you are still making a profit on the interest. I'm sure most people could live quite comfortably on $200000 a year, so your surplus should be enough to start up another fish tank. (provided you are willing to invest your money straight away once you have won it.)by the way I think if you plan on donating some to charity those of us in the fishroom could all do with a newer larger tank.

any size.

There is also a brackish tank at Jansens, with monos and scats. also occasionally archer fish. From memory prices are better at hollywood, and they tend to have similar stock.

Does anyone have any guppies (in auckland) that they want to cull. I would like some live food for my oscar. Thanks

for those who have seen "about a boy", a large tank separating the kitchen from the lounge would be great. an eight foot dutch tank would be quite cool, although I don't think I could leave it as a dutch tank, probably end up as a community display or maybe a snapper display tank.

my impression is that I would be more worried about the other fish than the gobie. They are a rather agressive fish, and despite their small size than can give your other fish a good going over. My crown tail fighter often has extra nips out of his fins. I kept some in my community tank without much trouble, although they tend to be picky eaters, preferring live foods. I found blood worms in a good current tended to be the food of choice although daphnia, white worms, and mosquito larvae are better if you can get them. They have a large appetite. I remember a time when I fed my fish a large amount of mosquito larvae, the larvae (large sized) accumulated at the bottom of the tank. The gobie then ate all he could, even though the larvae were almost as long as him. I don't know where he put the stuff. Hollow fins I guess. They are a brackish water fish, and hence if you can add salt to the water they will appreciate that, however it is not necessary. A species tank is also a good idea if you can set one up, and tailor the tank to the needs of the gobies. Hope this helps Matt

That tank looks spectacular, makes me want to get a reef tank. so many different tanks I want, now if only I could find time, money and space for them.