Matthew

Barrie will give you the full run down on this. The difference between aquarium silicone and silicone is that the company has paid to have the silicone tested to be safe in aquariums. Otherwise all silicones are fine provided they don't have additives (mould inhibitors etc). Our local glazier - Barrie - has made all of his tanks with non - aquarium approved silicone. They don't leak.

Red pine is also a type of aquarium plant - of which is being referred to in this thread. I am not sure of it's scientific name but I am sure someone else will know it. In the second picture of the tank it is the plant in the middle at the back.

I am sure that there would be a number of people who would like to have a "problem" in there tank like you do. Nice looking setup - are you planning on adding discus?

Doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong. Under high light conditions some plants will develop that reddy brown colour. I am not sure what you mean by "one of the taller ones is bending back down" - Does that mean it has grown to the water surface and is now growing along the top of the tank?

Back when I was a boy there was no CO2 injection and no flourish excel for our tanks, most people didn't use fertilisers yet still had great plants. In short you don't need to add things to your tank for plant growth, a well stocked aquarium will provide the nutrients required through fish waste (from both ends). However you can add a number of products that will help your plants grow, I found just using flourish excel did help the plant growth, and by lighting standards I am at the lower end of the required watts. Because I am sure I will be told off for this post I am using Co2 presently and flourish excel, laterite as a substrate and prob a number of other recently available products that make plant growth easier that I can't think of presently.

A further option would be to buy a breeding net or similar. Given the fish you have in the tank are mainly relatively peaceful tetras, and that gouramis can be aggressive and territorial - esp when spawning, you should be able to leave the parents to do their thing without much in the way of problems. The guppy is probably the most likely to cause issues - you could place him in the breeding net while awaiting the spawn. You can then wait until you have fry and then transfer them to the breeding net, or alternatively just float the eggs in the net (obviously after you have removed the guppy) Good luck with it, although if you do manage a large spawn it is going to be a necessity to buy a new tank.

Lupus is a disease that is always suggested as a reason for someones medical problem on House. It tends to never be Lupus on the show, and from memory I think the time they did think it really was lupus it ended up not being.

I'm with Barrie on this one. Purchased a heat pump a year back - no condensation problems since and a temperature that I find comfortable any time of the year. I'm happy to come home to NZ's favourite air - Thanks Fleming

It is refreshing to know that some people working in stores such as animates care enough to want to ensure the fish survive However the reality is that there would not be too many tanks that are maintained at a pH of 7.0, as the fish wastes increase the pH level tends to lower ie tank water becomes more acidic. Water changes help to keep the pH from dropping too low. Some fish breeders have been known to keep their pH around the 3-5 range to prevent disease outbreaks. These fish are then sold to the consumer who probably would not know that the pH was that low. Slow transitioning from the bag to the tank is the best way to acclimatise fish. Float the bag, add a cup of tank water every 10 mins and then after 60mins you would have completed a 1.5L water change (roughly 100%)remove the fish from the bag and add to the tank - you shouldn't have any problems. Alternatively you could do what I do - get home, float the bag while I sort other things out, and then pour the fish into the tank (prob takes 5 mins total). Not the best way, but most fish are hardy enough to tolerate the change. Also be wary about adding chemicals such as pH 7.0 they act as a buffer in the water, but if your pH does decide to crash it will do it in a big way. Most people rely on water changes to keep the pH at an appropriate level

Apart from changing it for daylight savings

I understand that the Madagascar lace fern was brought into the country recently. The gentleman that was "importing" it was found out however, and had most of his gear confiscated. I would imagine that if these were passed on to anyone they would be very quiet about it. However if anyone does have this plant and is wanting to pass it on then feel free to add my name to the list :lol:

I have e-mailed Alisha - she will be able to forward you the a/c details, then you can do a bank payment. Cheers Matt

Bryan stopped breeding cardinals prob around 2 years ago. He used to say that the hardest part was feeding the fry - once they are feeding on brine shrimp then you get the best results. Use SFBB brine shrimp or smaller if you can find it. I can't remember what the first food was, but I imagine it was green water / infusoria

Adodge Sera had a brine shrimp hatchery set. Inside these were brine shrimp nets. I bought two of those set ups solely for the nets. I find them quite useful, but did find they could block because of the fine mesh - hence why I bought the second one - when the flow rate through the first one was dropping I would start filling the second. I found this quite useful as you could easily flush the shrimp with freshwater. Evil Sometimes fry don't like having the addition of salt into the tank - Killies don't seem to be one of those species

Happy Birthday What presents did you buy for yourself :lol:

The peat in the "dried up moss" form would be sphagnum moss. It is the breakdown of this moss that forms the peat. That article was written by Bryan Jones a number of years ago. He supplied large numbers of tetras including cardinals, rummy nose and neons to the pet stores in Auckland. I managed to see his breeding set up prior to him closing it down. His secret was to keep the conductivity of the water low and to sit the peat in fresh rainwater for a period of time prior to using that water in his breeding set up. I never saw him use any moss in his tanks - the parent fish would scatter the eggs through the tank and then they would be removed for reconditioning. The fry would hatch and he would begin feeding them - I think he goes into detail about this in his article. I am sure Bryan would be willing to give some advice if needed.

I use a tablespoon of salt per litre of water

Or alternatively you could encourage a shecave in the garage as Barrie has - half yours, half mine - although if you measure it out I think Barrie has slightly more. That way you can share and make everything much better - mainly because she will still have her kitchen, and hopefully won't find a use for her cave. You may as well use it in the interim. I'm thinking of getting in touch with Mike from Biosuppliers to do a talk for us - Will this be alright for you, or will you get in trouble for using the kitchen sink to grow worms.

So should I have asked Barrie to do the demonstration or not. Your point of view - not your wifes

Maybe next time then Cheers Matt

I'm heading up to Paihia next week (Sat 19th leaving Auckland). I could be convinced but will need to confirm things with the boss. How far of the main route north are you?

welcome from # 310

16ft Bonito from memory the Mk II hydrolift Powered by Yamaha 90 Hp

The snapper only looks big because he is holding it real close to the camera :lol:

Just about anywhere in the gulf is firing well at the moment. I'm having huge success with the softbaits 3-4 lb pannies would be the average size with a few bigger ones thrown in for good measure. We picked up 18 one week ago with around 3 hours fishing, 7 today although I spent most of the day teaching two others in the boat how to fish. How often do you get out smcoleman