Jennifer

The sprouting will be due to the change in photoperiod that you instigated. Just that little change will set the plants off. You are covering the tank to kill the algae. The plants have energy reserves but the simple algae does not. Black beard alage and cyanobacteria are less affected by blackouts. The cause of the situation is just an imbalance in nutrients. The plants need carbon and all the macro nutrients and trace nutrients to flourish. While they can only use nutrients while the lights are on, the algae is the same and if the plants are using up the nutrients with good growth, the algae will not be able to get a foothold.

Cover the tank with a blanket for three days, the fish will go to sleep and not need feeding during this time. Then, go in and clean things up and all the plants will start to sprout again.

Sometimes they bury the unused shells, I just left them to it as they were happy enough to breed me out of house and home! Might be good to look at why there is so much muck around if it is settling, perhaps too much food, or not enough filtration? Or maybe a bacterial imbalance.

Droncit = praziquantel = dog and cat flatworm dewormer (cestodes/tapeworms' trematodes/flukes) Aviverm = levamisole = bird roundworm dewormer (nematodes)

Usually the shellies themselves go in and flush the shells out so no gunk builds up at all. :dunno: I found they like to have lots of shells around them and will go into them regularly but if yours aren't using the shells, perhaps remove the unused ones? Very odd

Is there a bird rescue place in your area? That would be ideal as they are well equipped for care and rehabilitation of exotic species (assuming your duck is not a native). http://www.nzbirds.com/more/centres.html The duck will need some medical care as soon as possible. Overnight, you can keep it in a warm dark place and encourage it to be still.

Plaster of paris is calcium sulphate. That is usually the recommended calcium source to boost GH for aquatic plants. Bunnings is fine, or a hydroponics place.

To get a pressurised CO2 setup, you will need a CO2 tank and a regulator with solenoid. You can get 5lb CO2 tanks from HFF for around $200 I think. That is a pretty standard price. As far as filling, you can get them filled at Air Liquide for around $30 (lasts around 4-6 months). You get what you pay for with regulators. They vary in price from $50 on up. Several shops have them and eBay also has them. Be sure to get one that is suitable for the power source if you get one overseas. It would also be useful to have a steel one-way valve for the gas line so that water doesn't back up into the regulator when the gas goes off; as well as a drop counter (to count the amount of gas going in) and a drop checker (to see how much CO2 is dissolved in the tank water). These things aren't too costly if you shop around.

I agree with Ira. This is so hard to explain and I am not on a computer that I can download the photo and add labels... the inside horizontal barrel is pushed out of alignment. Push the middle back to the left. That should make it easier to fit back together. Btw, just about all Fluval parts are easily acquired form your local shop. I just ordered a new one of these for one of my dozen Fluval canisters.

:tears:

Sorry I missed your earlier post. :oops: Try JBL Novo Pleco. They work very well for me.

The val will probably come back if you plant it somewhere that it is happy. Be worth a try anyway.

Er, it seems to change each time I go, usually near the other bottled water. I usually ask if I can't find it. My local New World has it as well.

I get mine from the Warehouse, it is widely available for use in medical autoclaves. Everyone is right, it's not good for drinking and will kill fauna.

About once a week is fine. :thup:

Great advice. Great comments. :thup:

Sophia, do you know if your water is hard or soft? Twisted val prefers hard water and brighter lights (pretty much the opposite of crypts so they don't often thrive in the same tank). Regarding the cobwebs, this is a bacteria and it can be solved by introducing beneficial bacteria for competition, or waiting for things to balance on their own. I find that smaller tanks often take a long time to settle. :dunno: There is a bacterial product on the market, I forget the name but it is made by TLC and it helps in balancing the tank and preventing that 'scum' bacteria. I would recommend that you add some dirty water from your other balanced tank and see if that helps first. A holistic (and free) option. :thup:

I breed these and have hundreds at any given time. They don't mind large temperature variations and they don't mind a range of pH levels (as long as it doesn't fluctuate too quickly). They also can tolerate a range of water quality conditions, and very large water changes, including low oxygen conditions as they can breathe some air from the surface. The one thing they can't tolerate is starvation and they can lose condition fairly quickly (the exception of this is males who will not eat for weeks when they are guarding a cave of fry). They eat much more than you would think and I find that if I over feed cucumber or courgette I have increased deaths. A good quality algae tab (not a tab that is exclusively Spirulina though) will do well and if they aren't getting any protein leftovers from other fish, feed some higher protein foods once a week or so. Feed as much as they can consume in 18 hours or so and always keep wood available. Just my 2c.

oh wow that is spectacular Nick. Great work. Joe, look, Nick has identified your Willisii as Lucens!! Awesome. 8)

Try adding Magnesium, Epsom salts at a dose of about 1/2 tsp per 100L. It is one of most common deficiencies that can significantly affect growth rate.

It's all a guessing game but I use 1-2 tsp of the dry trace mix per 300L every other day. I have also dosed with Iron in addition to the trace but I don't see much difference. :dunno:

Great to see you back. The Dunedin group also has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/421813681182547/ Good luck with your research. The Catlins will be amazing. :thup:

Winter $450/mo. Summer $250/mo. This is for 15 tanks, 7 of them planted with lights on 7 hours a day. Total litres about 1500L with 800L of that in an uninsulated garage. Moving this week though... :happy1:

Very nice. I look forward to seeing it positively identified.

I like Eheim Pro media. It seems to last longer than the others but it could just be my imagination. In theory, the best media has lots of surface area (like rough ceramic noodles). You can use all sorts of different media like bioballs and noodles but the rough ceramic (like Eheim Pro or other similar media) have the highest surface area so in theory will produce more areas for bacteria to colonise (this is important if your media gets clogged frequently). Media can get clogged with gunk and this will reduce the surface area so most manufacturers recommend replacing media occasionally (I think it is usually once yearly). I have to admit, I have never replaced mine but I do rinse it very well whenever I give the filter a clean (usually once a year or whenever flow decreases). To keep the media from getting clogged up, place coarse sponge as a prefilter, either on the filter intake (where it is easy to remove and clean) or within the filter. Here's one possible arrangement: water inflow>coarse sponge>small ceramic noodles>Eheim Pro/large rough ceramic noodles>filter wool>water out flow (Filter wool is used to polish the water, it is really too fine for prefiltering, unless you can change it every week or two.)