Floater

99% sure it wasn't there when I bought it. I'll see if I can get a picture.

I recently purchased a golden algae eater and it has developed some brown speckles on either side of his body near the top fin. It is very minimal at the moment, and I have been watching it carefully and it hasn't seemed to have increased in area or spread. I also have a golden bristlenose in the same tank and it doesn't seem to be exhibiting any similar signs. Both fish to be active and eating. Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be and how to remedy it? Cheers, Scott

I've got a 100watt heater. The tank is 60x30x30, approx 50 liters of water. The heater is set to 28 degrees and seems to maintain it at 25 degrees.

I live in a cold Dunedin flat. The temperature of my tank seems to be fluctuating between 26 degrees and 24.5 (day/night, and also depending on whether or not we have the fire going) is this ok for neons? As this was the first fish I was planning on getting for my tank. Should I invest in another heater for the other side of the tank? Or would they be ok? I've already put polystyrene on the sides, back and bottom of the tank to help insulate it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Scott

Thanks for the advice guys, I think I'll chuck it in the tank now

Currently don't have any fish in the tank as I just put water in it today. How is it good for the water? What about the fish? (future fish) Also you got any idea how long it takes for chlorine to evaporate out of the water?

How does one stop driftwood turning the water brown? I've been soaking mine for about 24hrs now and I've changed the water about 4 times each time replacing it with hot water out of the tap.

Thanks for the information, greatly appreciated.

That doesn't work so well for plants that feed through their roots primarily ie. hairgrass, from what I understand.

Has anyone ever used "First Layer Pure Laterite"? Results? http://www.brooklands.co.nz/article/109.htm **EDIT** It seems to mention gravel alot, do you guys think it would be ok to mix with sand?

What is the plant in the middle at the back? The big leafy one. **Edit** The green one lol.

Wow, that is an awesome looking tank! Looks really mature too, how long have you been running it for? Those plants look really well established. **EDIT** I see what you mean about snails! lol

A picture would be awesome Zev. What is the deal with bubble walls (can't think of a better way to describe it) I really like the look of them, would my tank be too small for that sort of feature? I plan to use a sand substrate too, would that cause problems in conjunction with a bubble wall along the bank of the tank?

I wanted to put in some dwarf hairgrass but that's as far as I've got on plants. What plants do you have in your tank?

Ordered a 60L 60x30x40 tank which should be here in a few weeks. I was thinking I'd start small and see how it goes. Probably get about 10 neons or cardinals, a bristlenose or two and I really like the look of blue rams but that's a big MAYBE at the moment, I want to do more research on them. The few websites that I've read on them suggest that the tank I'm getting would be big enough for a pair. What do you think?

Haha one step ahead of you already got myself a big 20mm thick piece, just waiting for the tank to arrive so I can cut it to size!

Haha, I'm not so worried about the initial setup cost as I am about my power bill sky rocketing. The heaters and lights surely use a fair bit of power yeh?

Wouldn't the salt content in the beach sand be an issue? Or does rinsing remove that?

Hey hey people, my name is Scott and I'm currently a student at Otago University doing a Bcom. The wheels have been set in motion for me getting a small tropical tank setup. Ordered a 60L 60x30x40 tank which should be here in a few weeks. I've kept tropical fish before, about 6 years ago now, I'm ashamed to say I didn't do a very good job of it. This time round I plan to research thoroughly before setting up as well as put in the necessary time and effort. I hope to one day get myself a really large tank and set it up with some discus, really beautiful fish in my opinion, will only happen though once I'm out of university and found myself a decent job to supply me with the doe to do a really good job of it! Should've probably made this post sooner but only just saw the Welcome forum! **Edit** I was recommended to this forum by BlueMoon (who is my sister) she says you folks are a wealth of information and experience!

umm I'm fairly new to this lol, can you suggest a product for micronutrient? Is it liquid and mix it with the water or do you mix it in with the sand?

Can anyone suggest what plants will do well in silica sand? The tank has reasonably high light. I want to put hairgrass in to carpet the tank, any other plants that are reasonably easy to grow?

Thanks for the information Alanmin4304. I'm assuming silica sand would work? A-town I think Parvalus is the Dwarf variety, I could be wrong though lol. Some pics would be awesome! Also what substrate are you using?

Geez that doesn't sound promising at all... lol. Here I was thinking I'd found an easyish carpet plant :-? Quite a few things I've read on the web suggest that it's fairly easy to grow, havn't come across anything that mentions the substrate though.

Can anyone give me a run down on this plant? What substrate should I plant it in, and where in NZ can I get it from? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Cheers