Tony

Hi Robbo Yep - I also bought a couple of skunks and can say that they immediately set to hassling each other and chasing around the tank. Lots of loud clicking associated and and fish wrestling i.e lying on their sides and flexing. At first it kind of hacked me off especially since one was a little larger than the other and seemed to be bullying. But now say four months later behaviour has diminished a bit and they are roughly the same size. They also interact a bit with my clowns but only at feeding when they are jostling for shrimp pellets. If I was setting up another tank I probably would only have one per tank. As far as I can see though they dont bother the other fish and I suppose on reflection it adds to the general character of the tank community. Cheers T

Last night I bought a ph test kit and tested my tank water which I estimated against the colour chart to be a few points into the alkaline say 7.4 from memory. I then tested our tap water straight from the tap which gave a reading of pretty much neutral maybe a shade alkaline. Anyway I was pleased with both readings which indicated a reasonable stability as I hadn't done a water change say for 5 days or so. Now I am wondering how you folk would go about lowering the ph to just below neutral into the acidic regions i.e to soften the water. I'm not an expert on ph readings but based on the condition of my fish who all seem happy I assume these readings are perfectly acceptable. Anyway your thoughts re ph lowering with discuss in mind will be appreciated. Thanks guys Tony

Thanks for those thoughts, I'll mull them over on a slow burn. Sorry Caryl, I went home last night and checked my water temp - 27 to 27.5. Not sure why I said 29. Temp is a bit warmer than norm cause I was preparing for a few discus. Not sure about this now though. Tony

The Decor in my aquarium has reached the point where its approximating my imaginings. This has been after much tinkering and contemplating. The tank is 500 ltrs probably reduced to 400 ltrs after gravel, rocks, bogwood and plants are taken into account with water displacement. So now I'm seriously thinking about how to properly stock it. Its quite well planted but in a way that has good swimming space for the fish. Its well lit and the temp is set at 29. There are lots of hidy holes and rockery. Two plecs. Two Skunk Loaches. One Clown and One Red Tail Shark are pretty happy campers. Will Probably add one more Clown, maybe two Kuhli Loaches and a couple of Bronze cats. Have one rainbow, two krebs and 6 tiger barbs, but what else should I add. What would you guys do. Cheers T

Many thanks Paul for your comments. Will put your advice to good use. Tony

Hi everyone Many thanks for the comments re my post discus and blue rams. All comments have helped me heaps. One of the comments by Caryl was that my Electric yellow shouldn't be in with my community tank. I agree. However I purchased two E Yellows for a small 600 x 300 x 300 with only rockery decoration. After about two weeks one EY was totally dominating the other and if I did not intervene, would have killed it. This despite both coming from same holding tank in same outlet and at first being seemingly tolerant of each other. The EY in the community tank is doing nicely now and its fins and body recovered from the battering. I reintroduced him to his former tank and roommate the other day in the hope that time apart would have quelled the animosity. But no way. The fighting commenced immediately. So back to the community he went. I have since heard that it would have been better to get more than two and not necessarily just EY's. Anybody have any suggestions. Should I just leave things be and have one EY on his own in the smaller tank or is it possible get a couple other species who will all get along to make the smaller tank a little more interesting visually. As always your thoughts are much appreciated. Cheers t

Hey Everbody Its been a while since I posted my first about setting up my tank 1200 x 600 x 700mm I have a community tank that has 1 clown loach/2 skunk loaches/1 red tail shark/ 2 Plecs/ 1 Rainbow/ 1 Electric Yellow/ 2 Krebs/8 Tiger Barbs and small group of Tetras. All room mates more or less get along. My setup is reasonably well planted and well lit. The filter provides a medium current. My questions are will discuss like this setup or is it too well lit or maybe they wont like the movement in the water or will they get along with the other guys. Also will they devour my plant life. I have had conflicting reports about discuss being sensitive we fellows and then I have been told that they are hardier and not as hard to keep as some folk make out. Although I appreciate they need looking after, which I do for my existing fish. Regular water changes. Gravel vacuuming, good regular feeding in small quantities etc . I purchased a couple of blue faced apisto's recently which was like introducing two mini chain saws into my tank. Will blue rams be equally adept at deforestation. Anyone with advice will be much appreciated. Regards Tony

Thanks Guys for the reply's and encouragement. Yep the tank that I set up is a fair size. But when I was deciding on what to do and now that I dont have to rely on the generosity of my parents, I just thought what the hay. I only ever had one tank that was about 600mmx300mmx300mm, so this is a real step up. Plus also the room that I have it in is a basement type very large double bedroom and is on a concrete block retaining wall plinth, so if I wanted I could have doubled the size (well at least lenght ways) Also the area has very little direct natural light. So it's perfect. Actually if I was advising anyone about setting up a large tank like this, I would say that one of the most important factors for me was being able to stand on the base next to the tank at either end to work in it. This allowed me to bend over at the waist and actually get right into the tank. Having a tank this size on a stand and having to use ladders would have been a real hassle and physically I think too demanding. Also bloody expensive. I've spent all up $2000.00 but have spread costs over 4 to 5 months. Initially was going to set over period of 8 months to ease burden on my cashflow but my family started getting impatient and needling me about it especially my wife. My wife and inlaws never had an aquarium before, but now that it's nearly done they all dig it so to speak. Breeding - initially tank has been established as display only, but must admit thoughts of trying to breed have crossed my mind. I was tweaking the heater and the temp of the water rose to about 27c. My tiger barbs (these are cool little fish by the way) started some interesting behaviour and some assumed a ruddy hue. I thought this could be the beginnings of courtship. Have since lowered temp to a conservative 25c. Things back to normal. Had two Krebs one vanished after 2 days and the remaining one female, very content on her own. Might introduce male see how he fairs. Tried to look for missing Kreb body nowhere to be found. Don't know if this was another female. Um - fish kept as a young enthusiast, danios, 1 or 2 angel fish, red tail shark (always liked these fellas - hence one of first fish I bought this time round), corydoras, chinese algae eater, siamese fighter, neons. swordtails, guppys. Sorry for droning on. Regards Tony

Hi Everyone Just joined site and have been reading with interest some messages posted. Didin't want to join and post nothing. Was a hobbyist in the seventies when I was a kid. Am 38 now and just set up tank after long time with no involvement. Have to say that keeing tropical fish has moved on a lot from when I was first interested. A lot more variety of fish and plants to choose from and better equipment etc. Have a 1200mm x 600mm x 700mm tank just established with 2 bristlenose plecs 1 red tail shark 1 clown loach 8 tiger barbs 1 kreb 1 rainbow 2 dwarf gourami and about 18 emerald eyes. Am establishing plants at the moment and then will look at some blue rams and thinking of discuss. My experience in Auckland outlets - Jansens is the pick with Three Kings the best branch. Looking forward to Silverdale opening. Tony