Romeo

LOL, I hate it when that happens. You get so engrossed in something for long periods of time and it's all you can think about. Happened to me when I was doing 60+ hour weeks programming for my final paper at CPIT! PS: Nelson lakes district is a pretty epic place, especially Rotoiti!

Hey all, My sister lives in Melbourne, and she's looking at buying an AR-380 for her two fighters and 3 Julii's. Currently they live in seperate 10 litre tanks, but BOTH have started to leak. Problem is one of the fighters is very aggressive towards other fish, yet the other male is very placid. So, what's the best (cheapest & simplest) way of dividing off an AR-380 tank? I know Spoon has a very good setup, but I think the engineering involved would be a bit over my sister's head! Is it possible to get one custom made, and if so, for roughly how much? Cheers, Romeo

Hey, I plan to tear the tank apart in a week or so and redo it all. I've got new 2-3mm substrate and a few other bits and pieces. The sag was taken from a well established tank, from a fellow FNZAS'er. Will the AquaBasis be a problem with moving the tank in the future? Is it quite a silty mix, or is it more gravely? PS: I've got a DIY Jello C02 system on my native tank to help with the Java Moss (Jello worked pretty good too, was consistent 2bps for 2 months!). Sorta gone off it because it's so variable and it throws the pH off quite a bit - it does help though, but it only seemed to help when I had over 2.5WPG.

Hey all, Just wondering what would be best for our low maintenance AR-380 "planted tank" <-- setup notes here. I want to add something to the substrate to help the crypts and dwarf sag, but can't decide. I'm sure they all have many pros and cons, and am aware of some, but would like an expert opinion. My options are: JBL AquaBasis Laterite Daltons AquaticMix JBL fert balls Which will be best for my tank, I don't want explosive growth, I just want healthy plants and less hassle.

Inanaga, White Cloud Mountain Minnows or Paradise fish if you're after a change ;P.

In the past I've used bleach to clean off incredibly stubborn BBA and it's worked a treat. Used about 5ml per litre and soaked for 48 hours. Came up like brand spanking new, the algae just turned white and disintegrated. Rinsed everything down in cold, and then hot water a couple of times and left in the sun until dry and crusty. The white crusty stuff that's left after it's completely dry is NaCL - Sodium chloride (salt) :].

Why not put a post in the Private Exchange forum? I did, and Spoon sold me his AquaOne 80cm wide single tube lamp with a new bulb for $30 - you can always rely on the kindness of FNZAS'ers!

Do you have a lamp?

Thanks for the advice guys. Flourish excel says add 5ml for every 40L after a 40% waterchange/initial use. Then 1ml per day/other day per 40L. Leaf Zone says add 5ml per week for every 40 litres. So to start off I'd be sweet to dose 3ml of Flourish, then dose 5ml of leafzone a week, and 1ml of Flourish every 3rd day? All of the plants have been in the tank for over a month now.

Gidday all, We've got an AR380 34 litre lightly planted tank that we're trying to plant up. Looking to create a moderate maintenance, low tech and clean looking tank. Today I picked up some fine gravel (2-3mm), 250ml of Flourish Excel and a small bottle of API leaf zone. I'm going to get either some of those Klugen balls, or some Daltons aquatic mix from Bunnings. I'm not after an uber planted setup, I'm just jealous of the planted display tank at Organism that's on the counter - so I'm trying to replicate it. Everything in the tank has been growing fine for the last month, some of the leaves are a bit brown - the crypts are going great though. Main question: How much, and how often should I be dosing Flourish Excel, and API leafzone? Second question: School me as to how I should continue to plant this tank. -----------------------------------Photo taken before redoing the tank Current plants are: Various Crypts Dwarf sagittaria Windelov Java fern Normal Java fern Indian Fern Ambulia Cherry leaf Green algae Wanted: More Windelov Java fern Anubias Get more Ambulia and move it to the back Stocking - the "Bowie" tank (from the 1986 movie Labyrinth): 4 Sparkling Gouramis 2 young female Fighters 1 CAE Moving the 3 Guppies out in a few days PS: Don't say "increase your light" - because the tank at Organism is in MINT condition [using these plants with only a couple of water changes a month and weekly dosing]! Thanks for your time, Romeo

Just to confirm, it's not harmful to my Koura? I'm guessing no, since humans often eat it with pork and puha.

Excellent, that's what I was hoping for :] Cheers, Romeo

Hey all, was down at a local creek today and came across this plant growing submerged. Just wondering what it is? I took some to throw in for Yabbie to nibble on, hopefully it's not poisonous [or illegal to take]! Cheers, Romeo

My Cray is about 12cm long from snout to tail. When I got it 8 months ago it was probably 6cm long. Since then it's shed every 3 months or so, growing by about 2cm in length every time! I feed it one Hikari bottom-feeder sinking wafer per day and that keeps it happy. I don't think there's any problem with it shedding too often, the only reason I can see it becoming a problem is if you've got the temperature too high. According to Vince Scully, Koura farmer extraordinaire, the optimal temperature for growing Koura is 19°c. Under that they don't grow as fast, over that and the mortality rate starts to increase. Though as far as keeping them as pets goes I'd say that the colder the better :] - anything over 22°c is generally considered to be detrimental to their health.

http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_a ... hp?aid=107 I used that, and completely cocked up the reseal. It's a good guide and would have worked perfectly if I wasn't so incompetent. MY TIPS: The thinner the bead of silicone the better, it's incredibly hard to get a thick bead to work properly. Have a large glass of Isopropyl alcohol for dipping and smoothing. When you're smoothing, re-dip your finger every 6 inches, or else it'll grab your finger and gouge a big hole in the soft silicone. Use the rubber gloves, it's impossible to get silicone off your [my] hairy fingers! LOTS of rags to wipe your hands on, I had a big sheet of cardboard to wipe my fingers on - it worked good :]. LOTS of masking, it'll save you lots of time if you mask the entire inside of the tank with newspaper.

Are the tanks new or second hand? Because in some cases where old tanks that have been sitting empty the seals will perish and leak. Also, how big have the tanks been? As bigger tanks are probably more likely to leak - especially if they have been poorly handled during transport. I've found with my Jewell stand that it's slightly bowed in the middle, putting all the weight on the far left and right sides of the tank. Could be the same case with your tank, especially if you're not using polystyrene (or my personal favourite, a black 0.5cm thick camping bed roll from the Warehouse - $8) under the tank. Or, could be what you're putting in your tank. I know of one case where someone tried to remove a slippery rock from their tank and it slipped out of their hand and cracked the bottom through the gravel substrate. While I doubt that's the case for you, it could be some sort of unbalanced load like a big rock or piece of driftwood.

Yeah, go to Kaiteriteri! http://www.iantraffordphotos.com/galler ... riteri.jpg http://www.happycamping.co.nz/photo/rev ... _large.jpg http://www.goldenbayconnections.com/pho ... riteri.JPG

From what I've heard, you're more likely to get them closer to the sea, or outflows from lakes.

Wow, 26°C? I figured they'd be really sensitive to water temperature - did you find the attrition rate was higher in the tropical tank more so than the cooler one?

What kind of aquarium do you have - cold water?

Good advice guys, I'm planning on dividing a 60cm wide tank into three 20cm blocks, and running a 10cm in-tank sump across the back with a 400l powerhead. Hoping to make it cost neutral within 6 months ;P. They certainly multiply fast, that's all I can say. We've got a 15l tank for fry, and it's got about 40 in it at the moment. They'll be split up and moved over to our larger tanks when they're ready. There's no point trying to breed them unless you've got room for HEAPs of fry, there's no point just leaving the fry to get eaten or die from overcrowding ;D!

Should be fine, but the biggest problem is making it sink! I find that hot water for 5 mins, then cold water for 5 mins, then rinse and repeat. Usually that gets it sinking in a few days depending on what sort of wood it is. If it's from the beach, and it's light, expect to spend quite a while soaking it! Or you can just get a piece of rock with some silicone on it, or tie it to a rock, lean a rock on it or suction cup it to the bottom of the tank.

The fish is doing well, seems healthy and strong. The tail is starting to shred back a bit, but it's not too bad. It's gone back to hiding a lot, I guess it'll come right when it's feeling a bit healthier. Other than that I'm stoked with the outcome :]

Yeah, Rome Total War was pretty epic. Especially the battles, where you've got like 20,000 dudes all going at it at once. Good graphics for an old game as well, it's playable on older machines which is nice! May have to invest in Empire Total War come to think of it :].

Gidday, My 12cm+ Mystus Castaneus is hopefully off to Wellington to frolic in a huge tank with others of his species, BUT, how do I get him there? I've read through the Fish Shipping thread, but I'm wondering if anyone in Christchurch can make some recommendations, or better yet give me a hand with it? A) Who should I ship through? B) Where can I get the necessary poly boxes, heat pads and bags (sizes etc)? C) What's the process for shipping him? Cheers, Romeo