David R

They won't get that big in a 200L tank!

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure....... :roll: What are the dimensions of the tank? Footprint is more important than litres for long fish like bichirs.

Bonsais are too much hard work IMO, I'm no good at regular watering. Bonsai succulents on the other hand... http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k186/ ... ilius1.jpg

Get on the chop and go to danger danger.... :lol:

I found having all the tanks together in an insulated room makes a big difference, as opposed to having them all over the house. Building your room will be the biggest saving in power, even if you add more tanks.

On this forum? Virtually nil.... Nation wide? Probably not enough to make a living from. I imagine with the increase of Asian businessmen in the country the demand has increased, but it would still be very small and quite variable.

How big is the third tank?

I used Cemix Mortar with black oxide for mine. Still have about 975g of the 1kg pack of oxide left if anyones interested in it....

I'm sure there would be plenty of people out there willing to swap!! How big and how many? Post up some pics...

I doubt its going to coause any problems, in habitat there would constantly be able to feed and simply wouldn't eat if they're not hungry. Its probably not necessary though, 3 feeds a day is fine. If you feed them too much the nutrients won't be used and all you'll be doing is creating more high protein [and expensive] waste for your filters to deal with.

There's a video of a chimp with a frog that makes that pic look tame. Monkeys are sick........

+1 The temperature is the last of the problems IMO, unless its been sitting around for hours and gone cold, a few degrees change won't make much difference for most fish. The difference in water parameters is a bigger concern IMO, could easily have stressed them with a big change in pH by letting them straight out of the bag.

I'm in a similar sort of situation, been keeping fish for over ten years, but only started checking the kh/gh when I wanted to see how my DIY background effected the water. As for "doing it right", unless you've had lots of fish dying you're not "doing it wrong" because you're not testing the hardness. The fish you're keeping aren't exceptionally fussy when it comes to water parameters (like say wild caught discus or apistos for example), so don't sweat it too much. If you want to buffer it up a bit try adding some coral or crushed shell to the filter.

I'd love to know how many in captivity make it to anywhere near that. I think the slow growth and long lifespan lulls people into thinking they can get away with keeping them in small tanks and small numbers, when both of those things are probably large contributing factors to premature death.

Yep, although IMO its a myth to a certain extent, from being kept in too small a tank. Ideally they should be started off in a 4' tank, then once they're about 3-4" they should be moved into at least a 6' tank. They are from fast flowing rivers and really need room to swim.

Probably not the one you got them from, but yeah, I'm in Auckland, everything is close! :lol:

Thanks Barrie, unfortunately its not worth the drive! Will try the local hardware shops tomorrow.

Like bunnings, or little ones like hammer hardware?

Pharmacy don't have them, foodtown don't have them, any east Aucklanders know where to get them from????

So why do you want to lower the pH? What fish are you keeping? Your best bet is to let the tank reach a natural equilibrium, add some driftwood, or peat, or any of the other things Ryan suggested, and keep an eye on the pH. If it drops too much then take the peat/whatever out, or try adding some coral or crushed shell to the filter. Just remember its far better for it to be stable than to be bang on what some book/website tells you it should be for your fish [within reason of course!].

Thats what I do, and I use a length of thin air hose to slowly trickle the water into the bucket. can't say I've ever done it over a week, even when moving big clown loaches! You said you tested your tank water, did you test the stuff in the bag also?

How big were your clowns when you got them? IMO anything under a 4' tank for clowns will stunt them fairly quickly, even at a small size when they appear "perfectly happy" in a smaller tank. Perhaps some of the ones you got had been sitting in the small tank at the shop for months but others had come in more recently? Genetics also plays a big part. We say clowns grow to 12", but that is like saying people grow to 6', when in reality that could be considered the usual but it can vary greatly. I doubt the growth of the smaller fish is being suppressed by the dominant fish, biologically it doesn't make sense for a schooling fish, and the growth I've seen on the 10 or so smaller clowns I've been growing out from a small size in my group of 30 certainly indicates that it isn't the case. If you aren't feeding enough food then obviously the smaller clowns will suffer, but with proper feeding and water changes it shouldn't be a problem.

And if they get feisty and try to spike you that mix can always be administered as a suppository.

Must have got the pronunciation wrong, either that or you circled the cup of food in the wrong direction.

If your group of clowns is an odd number, always feed an even number of pellets, and if it is an even number then feed an odd number of pellets. Always use Halal shrimp, and put all food in a cup on the ground and walk around it in a circle three times while chanting "maging mas mabilis kang mangmang!" before feeding.