Jennifer

Exactly. The focal point is the path between the rocks and as such the path should be a little farther to the left (as with the golden ratio). That is why the second focal point of the dark ledge on the right was so distracting. :roll:

http://www.wimp.com/theoarfish/

I am loving this tank but I find the dark area under the large rock on the right to be distracting from the local point which is the path between the rocks. I'd like to see the path a little farther to the left as well but I can see that would be hard with the size of the tank. :roll:

What are your water parameters? Is it possible to tell if the white bit is fuzzy or is it lumpy? If it is lumpy, it could be viral or a parasite, a pic might help. If it is fuzzy, it is likely to be bacterial fin rot in which case the antiobiotic SMZ TMP (sulfa trimeth) is very effective, safe and inexpensive (most vets carry it). If this has been going on for a while it is probably best to treat with antibiotics rather than topical antiseptics like Melafix since the infection is likely in the tissue (not just on the surface of the skin). In any case, keep very clean water. If they are in a very small container, you need to change the water more frequently. Also, keep them warm and fed well to boost the immune response.

What is your ppm of CO2? If you have a pH test kit and a kH test kit you can use this chart to figure out the ppm. aquascapingworld.com Test your kH first and then test your pH and read across to see if you are reaching ideal CO2 levels for good plant growth. Also, try putting your DIY bottle next to the canister filter so it stays somewhat warm. You can put it in a bucket of warm water to kick start it again. Also, that tank looks big enough that you could use two bottles which are easy to combine with a Y connector. The ambulia requires quite a lot of CO2, especially with high light. If you see long internodes, it is growing well. I have tried many things to get it to grow compact but what has worked best for me is clipping it back so it is shorter (and not getting as much light). It gets much bushier that way and seems to stay more compact.

Great! We need plenty of tasters. Just need a few more bakers now... Woohoo!! Let us know how it turns out... I am drooling at the thought. :roll:

Sounds great! Let's have a bake-off! Who's keen for some baking and eating??

They look like they are settling in well.

Try Dyers Road Landscaping, or Birdlings Flat, or Halswell Quarry, or somewhere around the Waimak.

:bounce: Now I don't have to bake one anymore, I can just pop over to Ben's cafe!! Oh, I would only get the cereals with little or no sugar. Mmm, CornChex, GrapeNuts, Life, Kix, RiceCrispies, Cheerios, RaisinBran.... some are available here now but it is the culture of having cereal as a snack that I miss. It was so comforting somehow. I would love to have a pie competition (all flavours welcome) but we might be limited in who can bake (unless you have a stove in your motel room).

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, cereal.... brings back my uni days when I would eat cereal for breakfast lunch and dinner! :lol:

Now see, you are well and truly earning your keep with ideas like that!

Crikey! I used to sell hand fed baby senegals for $375...I need to get back into bird breeding...

Wish I could come. Would you all keep your eyes out for any poicephalus parrots, particularly Senegals or Meyers? Also, if you see any pionus parrots, let me know, I am so keen for a Maxi.

Anytime. Maybe you can pick up the syno at the same time.

That dosage in the article is half the dose rate which might still be effective but what worries me is the waiting 48 hours between each dose. The medication degrades significantly so after 36 hours I doubt the blood levels would be high enough, although I would need to look it up to be certain of the half life.

I have some of the dario and they are very cute, but they are very tiny and only eat live foods (unless you can wiggle a blood worm convincingly enough). They are also very slow and deliberate feeders so they don't do well with boisterous tank mates. Also, it is mostly the males that are imported due to their colour and they are very territorial and need a surprising amount of floor space per fish.

I generally use the 'lite' variety of SC milk - I know, it is like shoveling uphill but I figure it can't hurt especially considering the high fat pastry. Honestly, it doesn't make any difference in taste. What really makes it for me is the crust, the various premade types here just do not cut it. The crust must be short, and unsweetened but definitely not the 'savoury' premade shortcrust you can get which taste like meat - does not go well with the sweet pumpkin filling! :roll: Btw, I shall be interested in hearing a full report from whoever manages to make this in the near future - pics would be nice too.

Thanks for the advice Bilbo. 8) I was planning on the excellent Chch water with added peat in the filter. Good to know I am on the right track!

Good work on getting those other plants to grow well and great that the algae has stopped growing. It will not dissapear right away so you might try manually removing it from surfaces. If it were me, I would not add additional lighting at this stage, especially if your plants are pearling. Try increasing your CO2 if you can (e.g. another bottle) and continue fertilising and doing regular water changes. Once these things are humming along nicely and there is no additional algae growth, then gradually increase the lighting, and be prepared to add more CO2 and ferts if necessary to keep things in balance as the plants' demands grow.

In the same box as my hongsloi.

Perhaps it is the protozoa, hexamita (Malawi bloat). Not eating and bloating are some signs of that condition.

Sorry to hear that. Good on you though for trying to help.

I used to use it (many years ago) and figured that it helped, if only to prevent deaths from ammonia suffocation if things got too toxic. I had access to a tank of free oxygen so it wasn't like I went out of my way though. :roll:

Agreed, do large water changes every day. Stop feeding them for several days and increase aeration (ammonia can make it hard for them to breathe). Try and find some JBL Smart Start to seed your biological filter with the bacteria needed to break down the ammonia and nitrites. You will need to kep an eye on ammonia and nitrites for up to two weeks to ensure they don't reach toxic levels while the filter stabilises. Good luck. Now that you found the problem, things will start settling down.