phoenix44

those log things look pretty cool. the brand is "blue planet". bear in mind they cost a bomb for what they are- like $40+ so i think it's better to just get some more drift wood. either that or some ambulia. plant it in front of the filter and it will grow to the top, and you will not know the intake even exists.

I tawt I saw a puddy tat. I did, I did taw a puddy tat!!!! :lol:

It looks absolutely beautiful whetu. this is the reason I like planted tanks so much, and have spent soooo many hundreds of dollars getting the right equipment for the plants. Clown loach paradise you don't have to make the intake disappear. A bit of x mas moss and string goes a long way on those intakes - as long as you prune it, it should look great. alternatively a piece of driftwood can cover the pipe perfectly.

Welcome! :bounce: have fun on the forums! :bounce:

put 1 table spoon in 12L or so. although I recommend treating the tank that has the white spot as opposed to the fish with it.

I use rock salt. plain old rock salt. i chuck a handful or two in the tank, and all the loaches come out to play. its quite amazing. I haven't had white spot in my tanks for more than 10 years. the other day I got 8 Clowns that I had myself quarantined in a shop for 9 - 10 days, and medicated against white spot just incase they got it. feeling happy that there were no problems, I bought them home, and left about 6 of them for the shop. Alas, the next day I saw white spot on them! I was furious and nearly hitting the wall in rage. chucked another handful of salt in the tank, and they came to play. they literally rolled around in the salt which i thought was weird yet cool all the same. the next day the white spot was gone! so i went into the shop and saw the loaches that i myself had quarantined also had ich! re-quarantined the fish and now all is well. I think the parasites (like most other external parasites) are intolerant to salt, and must have dropped off or something. Stress can cause ich - (it sounds weird for an animal to stress itself to the point of contracting a disease), but the stress of not being in a big group (juvi's like being in groups, adults are not as fussed or twitchy if not in a large group) reduces the immune which makes them susceptible to diseases. Much like students (if you call us humans :lol: ) who stress them selves before exams and then fall sick. :lol:

don't let it discourage you. clowns are incredibly easy to take care of provided you give them good food and high temperatures (28 degrees +). despite the popular belief that they do not have scales, fact is they do have very very tiny scales, but their heads do not have any scales. they are more resistant to salt than most are willing to give them credit for, and are far hardier than you would be led to believe. I now have 12 clowns (4 of which i have owned for more than 3 years now) and they are my favourite fish. put some salt in your water, and you will be surprised at how they play with the crystals, and swim around the salty water. how many clown have you got? (you will be surprised how many people wonder why clowns are stressed and unhappy when they get only 1 or 2 of them). so if you have a group they will be happy as.

everyone can post pics. resize them to 640x480 and then upload them, or just let photobucket resize it for you. then once its up there, click on the "img" code and paste it here, and presto your pic is here. like this: leopard is just another one of those common names with the fish. other names include gibby, red spot plec, sail fin plec. that's why some people like using the L number if the fish has one assigned, cause there can only be one L number per fish.

Bit i hated was when one of the girls passing by stopped, squatted next to me, and told me how to assemble it. :oops: :lol:

don't lie! look at it. its awesome! I have no carpentry skills. it took me an hour to assemble one of those put it together your self tank stands, and finally when it was done, turns out it was upside down :oops: Columbian tetras are awesome. shoal of 25+ would look mint.

hi megs, I think your red spot pleco is too young (and small) to breed. you however have to vent sex them. AKA we need lots of very good pics of his / her belly - but its pretty hard sexing small fish (bearing in mind they can get to about 50 cm or more). HTH :bounce:

pairing macaws is a hard task. they pair for life, and choose their mates. $6500 for 1 is pretty cheap. If you haven't had a macaw before, id seriously recommend getting a ring neck, and hand rearing it yourself, and then move onto a macaw if you are happy with the results you have achieved with the ring necks. Ask about the genetics (line breeding, in breeding etc), as a lot of this has been happening unfortunately. females are more placid, males more dominant - but males talk a lot more. having said that they are very intelligent, so you can teach them just about anything. are your intentions to breed some eventually, or to have a friendly pet bird?

ask hans if he has some PMDD. only one that sells it AFAIK. I am unsure if egg shell would work, as they don't break down easily. maybe a bit of a calcium block will be better (or even better some bird grit under the root). then again egg may be fine, ive never had to use it though so can't say.

clean the impellor. it is very simple. once the impeller is in your hands, use an old tooth brush to clean it, and also use the tooth brush to clean the cavity that the impeller sits in. then rinse it out. the narrow pipes on the 2213 are also slightly more prone to things getting lodged in them, so check for that too. it helps that you can see through the green pipes, so if there is a build up of grime it should be easy-ish to see. if the pipes are filled with grunge and you cannot see through the pipes, it may be an idea to clean the pipes with a hose. (fluval owner's wont have this problem :lol: )

buy a broad range pH indicator solution. $20 I think, and will last you longer than one of those stickers.

I swear on rusty that it was all true.

yes yes i agree. cycle the tank just as normal - with lights on etc. plants are your friends.

yeah me too. All those years of putting pots in the tanks for kribs and other fish to spwan in and I had no problems at all - then I heard of what happened to her and I started doubting too..

get an oversized HOB filter. definitely under $100. cram it with media and some filter wool.

you and I shall get on just fine :lol: welcome to the forums! now let me tell you a story- I once sold a goldfish to a lovely lady and her young daughter. I was slightly worried when the lady asked me what she should give the fish to drink , needless to say I convinced her that living in water was all the fish needed. However I did not expect what was about to happen. The next day the lady comes to me like a pit bull charging a kitten, demanding I give her the money back as i sold her a defective fish - looking at the frozen, scale less, mangled body of the fish I looked at her in horror and asked what happened. "Its dead she said, and now my daughter has gone off animals for life, and I want my money back" I think she presumed that my brain cell was not fully functional that day. But never-the-less I played along and found out that the dear daughter had decided to give her pet goldfish a bath - in the kitchen sink, with hot water, a scouring pad and detergent. It appears I overlooked telling her that they not only lived in the water, but did not need to have a bath. and so now, when a child asks me about keeping goldfish, I put my usual cynical hat on and trot on ha ha

yep. the water goes inside the terracotta, displacing the air that is in the terracotta. those pores are the reason that pH neural tiles, ceramics, and pots make great filter media

that i do not know unfortunately.

yes they do, but so does alage. then again, my planted tank had alarmingly high levels of phosphates and no algae at all. tank got afternoon-evening sun and great lighting.

sorry that was a very half hearted post. :lol: when you do a gravel vac do you siphon the gravel? swords like nitrogen and phosphorus. EDIT _ I mean Potassium not Phosphorous :oops: plants will not die without CO2 injection in theory; the CO2 injection just makes the plants grow faster and better. try a DIY co2 setup for a while, the flourish may be a good idea too. have you tried pmdd? PS- the green on your avatar is my favourite shade of green - matches m&m green and Lamborghini green perfectly

a mere 12 clowns