Romeo

Thanks Whetu, used the water method and it worked perfectly! 1) Cleaned the back of the tank 2) Dried it 3) Got a wet cloth and blew through it to get a fine mist on the back of the tank 4) Applied the poster, starting at the top 5) Worked my way down with a credit card wrapped in a cloth smoothing out the bubbles

Hey, I just bought one of those Jewel Double Sided poster things for the back of my tank. It's the Blue/Black one. So how am I supposed to attach it? Cheers, Romeo

Java Moss, I was reading about that just a minute ago. Everyone seemed to think that it was some sort of heathenous weed?! I'd like some weed, but not if it's impossible to get rid of if I ever change my mind. Is it really as bad as it sounds - what are the downsides of Java moss? Plus, wont my (future) Koura just tear it all down? RE Cycling Would it be a good idea to populate my tank only with Shrimp for the first few weeks/months while the tank gets established and settled down? PS: Found a great substance to put under my fishtank at the Warehouse today. Foam camping mat roll, 1cm thick foam rubber that compresses down to about 3mm. Heat reflecting and waterproof. 1800*1000mm for $7.99 - beats paying $40 to $50 for proper stuff from Para Rubber!

Thanks for all the advice, especially Stella, Spoon and Snorkel! I'll read through it all a few more times then get back to cleaning my tank. RE the chiller: My room's in the basement and it rarely reaches temperatures above 20°c, even when it's 32°c+ outside! Plus, if the water temperature gets over a certain threshold I can always put a small bottle of frozen water into the tank right? RE the weed: I'd love to put some weed in of some sort, but I've read that Koura will turn them all into floating piles of despair literally overnight. Is there any truth to that? RE stocking: Will my tank be able to comfortably sustain a Koura + 5 to 10 shrimp? My filter's only designed for 50+- litres so I wouldn't want to put the tank's full limit of 70 litres in. RE Koura food I hear they eat just about anything, but is one thing better than another? They were feeding them long blades of grass at the Southern Encounters aquarium in town for instance. Some people feed them on worms and stuff, others carrots and vegies.

If someone knows of a good spot in Christchurch can they please flick me a PM. I'm looking for: - 1 Koura - 5 to 10 shrimp Cheers

Oh right, don't exactly know why that's a good thing but each to his own! Any advice on setting up my fish tank by any chance ;P?

Well, I couldn't honestly tell you as I've only had it for about 24 hours - 12 of which it's been soaking in a hot bath (supertub). It didn't seem to be leeching all that much but I'd imagine that it would leech over time. Maybe run it through a few more hot baths and it would be fine? It's got a few snail eggs, and some grass stuff growing on it, but other than that it's fine. I can take some better pictures of it later tonight if you'd like.

Thanks for the advice SpidersWeb! I'll pop them in her tank and see how they go. If they do become a menace, how do we get rid of them?

Or will their population just explode out of control, will they poison the tank, or are they poisonous themselves!? I have NO idea ;s! They're about 4-6mm long and I got them from a tropical fish tank that had been sitting for about a month with an inch of water. Cheers, Romeo

Hey Dixon, feel free to make an offer (or better yet, swap for smaller bits). I don't really want that huge piece of wood to be honest. I was just going to cut it up into smaller pieces anyway, but I guess that would be a bit of a waste of a nice big bit of wood. Bear in mind it has been soaking overnight in hot water, so I don't know if it's still fit for your purposes. Don't suppose you want to buy the (nearly) brand new Masterpet 50w heater as well?

Gidday, //Before I start, I warn you that this is a bit long winded. Plus I don't have any idea what I'm talking about - so take it easy! I just bought my very first tank today - $57. It's an 80*30*30cm tank, mathematically that's 72 litres, but I only plan to put about 45 litres in. It was only a few weeks old before it was put into storage and there's no signs of scratches or damage. It came with a 2 week old Eheim 2006 180lpm filter thing and a 2 week old Masterpet 50w heater. I've got them running in a bucket downstairs to test if they're working alright. The filter is incredibly quiet, I can't believe it - I'm watercooling my next PC for sure! ... and that's the sum total of what I know about keeping fish - and I read all of that line for line off the Internet aswell! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where it's at now The tank had been sitting in the previous owner's garage for the last month with an inch of water and "substrate" in it, as well as a huge bloody lump of aquarium wood. When I got it home I found out there were a LOT of snails growing in the tank. The water, if you can call it that, is really thick with what's left of the bottom of the wood from where the snails have attacked it. The tank still smells fresh though, there's no bad smells or anything (just smells a little woody). Apparently the wood was leeching quite badly and staining the previous owner's water. The Filter thing, Eheim one, has been out of the water for the last month or so. Will there be any "good" bacteria left in it? Actually, how do you get into the bloody thing anyway? The heater, well, I don't think Koura like warm water. So I'll just sell it, or try and do a part swap + cash for a lamp? How much am I looking at paying for a lamp for my 80cm wide tank? Is there a DIY method to making one on the cheap? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where I want it to be I want to have 1 Koura in there, with 5-10 freshwater shrimp. I've seen this exact setup at the Southern Encounters aquarium in central CHCH. Bloody awesome little shrimp too. This is the part where you tear my dreams to shreds by telling me I've bought the wrong tank or something ;s? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to get there This is the part where you tell me where to start, I've read a few of the suggested articles but they don't really seem to be that suited to my needs. Can I totally clear out my tank and start afresh? - Buy new buckets and towels from the Warehouse and not use anything that's had nasty chemicals on it. - Take out all the "substrate" and give it a damn good cleaning in the sink? - Take out the wood and give them a good soaking in some hot water? - How can I get rid of the snails? - Once it's all clean, where to next? PS: What kind of snails are these (4-6mm long)? Would it be safe to put a couple into my GF's Goldfish tank? Thanks a lot, Romeo

Gee wizz, thanks for the monster reply Stella! That's answered pretty much all of my concerns! Now, I've got a bit of reading to do, but first, off to the aquarium! Cheers, Romeo

Gidday, I've always been a fan of freshwater crayfish ever since I was a lad. I recently stumbled across a YouTube video of an Australian Marron fighting an earthworm and I was completely resold again. So my new project is to get a freshwater crayfish. BUT, there's a few bits and pieces I'd like to know before I start. If you can answer ANY of the below questions I'd appreciate it very much. 1) What're the minimum dimensions for a yabbie tank? I've had my eyes on an 45*30*30 (40L), but could probably stretch it to an 80*30*30 (72L) tank. Would I be able to half fill the larger tank without too much harm being done to my yabbie friend? I'd only want one yabbie though, as they apparently have a habbit of eating each other. 2) What's the deal with filtering and aerating the water? Would these have to be running 24/7, or just during the day, or even not at all? What about power consumption? 3) How often would I have to change the water on the larger tank (80*30*30) to keep my yabbie happy? 4) I'm sometimes away from my place for up to 3 days, but generally no more. Could my yabbie sustain himself on a piece of carrot/other for this long? 5) Legalities, apparently they need a licence or something. No problems, but would appreciate the clarification. 6) Summer heat? Will it just adjust to the changes in temperature, or will it just drop dead. There's no fun in growing attached to a wee critter just for him to die! 7) Where on earth could I source a suitable yabbie in CHCH, I've been around at least 10 streams at night and haven't even come close to finding one. All the streams are filled with big eels, so I guess that means there wont be any yabbies. 8) Does anyone have any links to fish keeping guides that are especially applicable to keeping yabbies? There's a lot of information out there, but nothing really suited to what I'm hoping to achieve. 9) Does this sound like a good idea at all, for someone with NO fishtank experience to go ahead and try and grow a yabbie? Thanks a lot, Romeo