Jennifer

http://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/dominance/

He will fertilise the eggs when she lays them, and then he will be a proud papa. 8)

There are pros and cons with the fancy tubes but there are plenty of us that grow amazing plants under ordinary cheap Daylight tubes. Proof is in the pudding! With that shallow tank, I personally think you would be fine with either option.

The others above have given you good advice. Don't worry too much about the pH. Most fish that you will be keeping will adapt to a pH in that range with no worries at all. Avoid using the pH up and pH down chemicals as they can cause rapid swings in pH that can stress the fish a lot. It is the rapid changes that affect fish more than the pH in almost all cases. Tap water is usually around pH 7-7.6. I don't live in Dunedin but I believe the water is slightly hard (someone down there should be able to comment on if this is the case) so it may be slightly more alkaline (higher pH), but that is good because it is more stable. People who keep specialised fish that need a pH that is very acidic (low) or alkaline (high) will add things to change the pH: 1. Things that raise the pH (alkaline): limestone, coral, shells all create 'hard' water that gets more alkaline over time (it also resists pH fluctuations). 2. Things that lower the pH (acidic): soft water (like rain water), bog wood, leaves or peat which leech tannins into the water and make it softer and more acidic (soft water is much more prone to pH fluctuations). In short, I wouldn't worry too much about pH unless you start keeping some more advanced species like those that originate in the African lakes or Amazon river, and most people that you would get these types of fish from will give you good advice for how to set your tank up to create a good habitat.

:happy2: Evil, evil woman.... !drool:

I think you are right regarding the UV filtration. It non-selectively kills microorganisms of a certain size (including both free swimming parasites and beneficial zooplankton that the tadpoles would eat). As I have said before, I am not an expert on frogs but my own experiences show that these zooplankton are very beneficial to development of fish fry so I personally would be reluctant to use a UV filter. Also, keep in mind that snails are intermediate hosts of some parasites, but I believe that these are limited to some species of snails and not others. Either way, if your frogs are not eating wild caught snails, and you aren't using 'raw' water from wetlands, then it shouldn't be a problem. If you are trying to remove larval (?) forms of snails, the UV filter may need to be a high intensity/low flow if the larvae are large. Just thoughts... :dunno:

Whoa! All those people tonight...and all that food!! Nice to meet some new faces. It was very interesting having Rupert come and speak to us about biosecurity, pest fish ( ) and the genetics of identifying fish. Rupert is next investigating detecting if a fish is a hybrid so if anyone has found a confirmed hybrid, and you are sure of its parentage, let me know and I will forward your details to him.

I’d say go for it and don’t even worry. I have used sumps with plants before with no worries. Many different types of plants will thrive in those conditions although you may be slightly more likely to get BBA depending on your water change regime so liquid carbon may be a good solution to maintain a constant level of carbon in the water column. Good flow is essential for fast growing plants as it keeps nutrients available at all times. It is good to have the plants moving constantly as if in a gentle breeze (although this is more important for higher tech setups). In addition, surface agitation is not a problem at all for a planted tank. Even with injected CO2, affinity for CO2 in water is high so you don’t lose as much as you might think). There is not much CO2 in the atmosphere compared to oxygen but at aquarium temperatures, the solubility of CO2 in water is about 200 times that of oxygen so a good amount will actually go into the water from the atmosphere if you have a good water turnover rate. That is one reason why the Earth’s surface waters (shallow rivers and streams) contain between 10-20ppm of CO2, very close to what we are trying to achieve with pressurized CO2 injection. That is also why water right out of the tap contains a higher concentration of CO2 causing plants to pearl pearl after a water change (it is also due to higher dissolved O2, but that's another discussion). However, if you have hard water, the CO2 will react with the water to create carbonates and bicarbonates and that will act to reduce the available carbon in the water column, but the pH will of course be more stable too.

The fish committee is having another meeting this coming week. We are working on several projects and will be putting forth our proposal to the executive by the end of the month. 8)

And so good at taking pictures! We are lucky to have you in our club Donna.

Oh Sam, I couldn't be happier for you and your fur baby!! :happy1: That is just great. Kudos to that woman for doing the right thing. I would advise a blood test to check his overall health and organ functioning. Cats that loose weight too quickly (i.e. starvation) can get liver problems.

Good one! Are those ferts what I think they are?

We would like to extend a warm welcome to David R who has kindly offered his time to help as a moderator for the Fishroom forums. His role will be developed over the coming months under Caryl's guidance. Thanks David, and welcome to the team!

Nope, not even a little bit. What is not apparent in the photo is that there are glass lids that sit on top of the tank (I had them off for this photo while I was doing maintenance in the tank). The lids are well sealed to minimise excess humidity in the lounge and and to keep the hatchets from jumping out. Also, the lights get very hot and the steel reflects the heat into the hood (T5s operate best at a temp around 30 degrees), the hood is open in the back for ventilation. If there is any moisture at all, it is well dried out each day when the lights go on!

Yep. 4 ballasts + 8 x 3 foot T5HO Powerglo tubes + one custom stainless steel mirror reflector (made by Cameron at PetWorld)

Lovely pic, that looks just fantastic.

That big one was reassessed to be in my neighborhood. Have a look at the last 24 hours of quakes, zoom in a bit and there's Halswell, right in the thick of it. :tears:

Actually, Boesmani come from an area of high pH but they can tolerate a wide range. They are sensitive to rapid changes in water parameters though.

+1 :happy1: I never thought anyone could displace my current hero, the 30 Second guy.

+1 +1 +1

We had a really good feed and chatted about the conference and upcoming Pet Expo. We played with some turtles and talked about the quakes and how fed up and discouraged some of us are. It helps to talk to other fishkeepers to try and keep spirits up (and discuss the best methods of drying out carpets and getting new tanks made). All around, it was a really good time.

There have been a few cats found trapped under houses by liquefaction sand blocking the exits, may be something to consider if you have lots of liquefaction in your area.

You can get the bulk macros separate. Stocker Hydroponics is a good supplier. All the NPK you need can be provided with KNO3 and KH2PO4, I think the dose rates are earlier in this thread, if not, let me know. They are based on Tom Barr's EI method. For the bulk micro mix, PM me if you are interested and I will tell you where to get it and the dose rate I have calculated for optimal growth. I should just be clear that you might be fine with PMDD or some combo fert mixture. What I am commenting on is the EI method and I personally feel like I can get better control by dosing the macros separately. It's all preference

I talked to a steel worker, one of Alan's friends, and quickly discovered that you shouldn't be messing around with trying to cut costs by getting smaller gauge steel, especially in Christchurch. He could get the steel pretty cheaply but his cost for it was about $500 just for the raw materials and he then had to make it and paint it. This was a tall stand, 4ft wide and 450mm deep. The heavy duty Rimu stand was less than half the price of the steel and it is really solid. I don't regret it a bit.

You can also get rid of some types of algae by going low tech. Mind you, it is always easier to prevent algae than it is to get rid of it. Hair algae is pretty tough, you need to remove affected leaves and even then it can be persistent. Even if you do go low tech, I would try adding more micros and Excel for a few weeks to see if you can get it under control. Alternatively, you can always do a blackout. In terms of the type of micros, it is good to get a broad spectrum micro mix that is separate from macros, that way you can increase the micros without making your tank toxic from too much Nitrate. I personally wouldn't pay that much for a liquid. You might as well get Flourish Comp from your LFS since you know for sure what it has and that it is good quality. if you want to get some bulk micros, let me know. As for pressurised CO2, yes! If you can, that would be ideal. If you go that route, be sure to get a solenoid. A drop checker and drop counter are also really useful. Diffusing the CO2 depends on the size of your tank. If you have a small tank, a ceramic diffuser will be fine. If you have a large tank, you will need a lot more going in and to prevent it rising to the surface you will need some system of dissolving it. Putting it into the intake of the filter is a good temporary measure but the carbonic acid can break down the rubber gaskets of canister filters over time so it is not ideal in some setup. I can get good reactors made in the workshop here at near cost for the parts. They fit right onto your filter and you pretty much never have to think about it again. I might not be doing it for much longer though since the supplies are almost gone now.