Spink

Hey Paul how are you going with the checker barbs outside? I have some indoors and quite like them, and wondered what the temperature ranges were with your tank they're in? I might consider something like barbs rather than minnows if I know the temp range is ok in the area where I's put my tank.

I just got my 4 foot breeding tank back, and I'm thinking I'll try putting the spare 4 foot tank outside and breed something in it. It's on the shady side of the house, so I thought minnows would be ok and not get too hot

Getting back to the topic... I recently spent 6 months off work after being made redundant, and so I was desperate for a job when I finally got offered one. I was 23 days short of my mortgage insurance money running out too! Anyways, I took the job with a huge pay cut and not fantastic conditions, but it was either take the job or lose my house, go figure. So, I'm working in fashion retail as a store manager, and my store and two others are covered by the same area manager. All of us at different times had some issues with the way our area manager worked, and so after 3 months I decided she and I needed to have a talk. Many of the other stores and staff had issues they were concerned about, but they were all too intimidated and nervous about talking to her themselves, so I stuck my neck out and offered to talk to her for them. I thought I would try and do right by the staff to make us all have happier working conditions and get things dealt with. Well, instead, I got dealt to. Someone said something, who told someone else, they told a different area manager who then told the national manager, and there ended up being a pretty serious meeting called about it. The long and the short of it was that everyone turned on me and has made it look like I have been digging for dirt on my area manager and basically stirring it up between all her stores. I think I have done a fantastic job going in to something I knew nothing about, and thought i was doing the best thing to help the staff. Instead, they all backed down and pointed the finger at me. Now I look terrible in the eyes of the national and area managers, and the other stores are too afraid to talk to me about anything anymore, not even to ring and tell me they got scarred and couldn't go through with it. (talking about their issues that is) Lesson learnt - go to work, do your job and dd it well, keep your nose clean and DON'T TALK TO ANYONE! It hasn't been a great week for me...I'm in need of a stiff drink!

OOOHHH! I would be keen to go! I have seen photos from previous ones and it looks like major muddy fun! You just need old clothes, good sturdy shoes and a really big net!!! I could car pool too as I have an Odessey that fits up to 7 people (although it wouldn't with all the buckets and gear we'd need!) I SO want to go now!

you just need to look at your fish and they spawn!

Have you actually thought of breeding goldfish Paul?! I took some algae riddled oxy weed out of my pond and put it in a chilli bin with some water, and low-and-behold I ended up with goldfish fry! :roll: My mistake came when i decided to catch them and move them to a smaller glass tank so I could keep a better eye on them and target feed them - the tank got way too hot and I think I cooked them all :oops: Will give it another go when I get more weed for the pond, but this time won't transfer anything to the glass tank!

Hmmm... Definitely nitrate and not nitrites - nitrites tested fine as did the ammonia. The tank looks pretty good at the moment, no algae growth, and touch wood no fish deaths in 24 hours or more. I'm really stumped as to what has gone on in there, but it seems ok - I'll keep doing the water changes and make it a priority to look after my tanks a bit better, and keep testing to see what the readings are

My pH in that tank has always been really regular, pretty much 7.0 neutral all the time. I have no idea what happened to make it drop so low, and I'm hoping when i test the water again tomorrow it will have gone up slightly with the water change. Am i doing the right things to to the tank back in balance or do I need to look at other options?

It's the standard API test kit, and it says ppm on the card that you measure it against. I can't think of any other reason that all my fish would die off, the ammonia tested fine and there doesn't appear to be anything else out of the ordinary going on other than the pH and nitrates. Any ideas?

Hey Ira, Measured about15-20 on the test kit card

Will a Meyer cope alright if it's planted in a huge pot, or something like a wine barrel? I've also read Lisbon is good too, but not sure... Is there a dwarf one that doesn't grow as big but still fruits well?

Hey all! So I had some drama with my tanks lately. I started a new job a few months back, and as a result my tanks have been a little neglected. My idea of neglected is a fortnightly water change and grooming rather than weekly. But recently, almost daily, my fish have been dying off. I decided to test the water, and found my pH was 6 (although I suspect it's lower than that but the kit doesn't read lower then that) and the nitrates were through the roof! I changed one of 2 filter wool pads, added in some carbon, and then did a 50% water change, and although my tank looks clear, the fish are still suffering and the pH is still low and nitrates a bit too high. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to help the tank recover and save my fishies? I did another water change today of about 40%, but is the water change alone enough? On another note, since the pH has been so low, and I've become quite partial to tetras, I'm considering changing some of my fish and having a tetra tank. I'd have to get rid of the mollies and the honey gourami, but I'd keep tetras, checker barbs, cories, khulis, and maybe chuck in some of my red wagtail hi-fin platies. Does it sound like a good idea? Anyone else got a tetra tank set up that can offer advice? Any suggestions, help or advice would be greatly appreciated as I'd like to keep what fish I have left!

If anyone with a green thumb can help me put here I'd be forever grateful! My husband and I want to buy a lemon tree, for one reason only - he drinks Corona beers and it tastes better with a slice of Lemon in it. We live in Wellington, and would love the plant a tree in a large pot outside so we can pick a lemon as we need it, but what is the best type to get? It needs to cope well in a large pot, and preferably produce fruit all year round, though not necessarily large fruit. Any ideas or suggestions? I've heard Meyer is good, but wondered if anyone else has any experience?

I think I will start with the black out and try the erythromycin as well - unfortunately I have lost some of my fishies already so i need to get on to it as soon as I can. Does anyone know if a Tiger Lotus will kark it without light?

So if I get hold of some erythromycin and use that, I'd be better to do it when i'll be home for a few days so i can keep an eye on the tank and siphon out the gunk? Where do you go to get it? (maybe I'll have to take Caryl up on her offer and write her an article for the AqW mag!)

why do I only have this problem in one tank though? Will sunlight have any effect on the increased cyno?

I got both my lots from Hutt Pets - the first time they were already there, the second time they had to be ordered in for me. I have pics but it won't let me post them because of the size they are on photobucket now.

The reason behind the val in the container was i was thinking about the double dose of flourish, but I think that will feed the cyno rather than getting rid of it. (double dosing flourish will dissolve the val plants completely) I was planning on trying the black out for a week, and doing partial water changes daily, and still feeding small amounts of food, just to keep the fish on good condition. If it hasn't worked in a week, i would keep going until it was gone, as long as there were no adverse reactions from the fish and the plants, but there are only a few crappy val plants, one java, a cardimine and a crypt left in the tank now.

I have Badis - I've actually had two lots now. The first lot were awesome, red with the bright blue sparkling line through it. They unfortunately dies, so i got some more, but they are slightly more boring - more of a plain red. I think it's one of those fish you have to ask nicely for someone to order in for you.

I know this is a "Been There Done That" topic, but I used the search function and can't find any answers, so I'm hoping someone can help. I have cyno in my 60 litre lounge tank. It currently houses sparkling gouramis, pygmy cories, celestial pearl danios, a few killi's and a male fighter. unfortunately, a few of the fish have been dying off lately, which I'm putting down to the excess cyno in the tank mucking up the water parameters. I had fluffy algae in the tank but couldn't do the double dose of flourish thing as i had twisted val in there which I love. Now I have cyno all over everything and I want to get rid of it. My plan was to black out the tank and do small water changes daily. Questions: - will the black out have any adverse effects on the fish? - if I put the val in a small black container, cover it over and float it in the tank as well, will that kill off the cyno but not the val? - will the other plants suffer from the black out? If anyone can help I'd appreciate it because it's a favorite tank that I love and i just don't want it to get out of hand any more than it has.

OOOOHHH! I just had a play, and it's cool!!!!! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: Some of my pictures are there too, and there are some plants that have 2 or 3 pictures This will be awesome when it's all done! YAY!

Thanx, that's cool. So for the plant page looks pretty good, it will be a very useful tool for people!

I know I sent through a lot of photos, but some of them aren't there and there are no other pictures of the same plant, eg java fern. Any reason for this?

My husband won't let me have lights on my tanks - our street has all our house lit up outside, and he threatened to turn all my tanks off if I put too many lights up! :roll: Now when the fish lights go off the house lights come on! The gold fish think it's Christmas, they get all the twinkling lights around the pond.

I wanted to have a photographic tank made, but now I'm considering a smaller species type tank that can be used for good photos as well - a specific photo tank might sit around for a bit, whereas a species tank with the right specs would get used more, more versatile.