Jennifer

I had to deal with a similar scenario when I was managing a hospital back in the states. The employee was pretending to sell items to clients but was not cashiering the cash sales and instead pocketing the cash. Inventory was going missing as well, but it was not a huge amount of money (probably a couple of thousand dollars) and there were no restricted drugs or other hazardous supplies that were missing. After consultation with the board I elected to fire the individual without pressing charges. It would have cost a lot for the legal case and we would not have gained any recompense. It was hard, I had trusted them as a valued employee for a long time...

Cheers. I totally agree with what you have said. As we all have been discussing here on many threads, limiting light, regular fertilising, water changes and fast growing plants are the major controls for most types of algae. I do the same thing using ludwigia repens. It partly blocks the light and soaks up all the excess the nutrients. I can even float extra bits if needed. When it pearls I know everything is in good order and each of the leaves are a good 5 centimetres wide so they must be doing a good job. No algae at all but believe me, I have learned about balance the hard way!

Good to see you here Joe. You will get some good advice here. As many of you may remember, Joe is the very keen junior member of MAC who attended the shop crawl in Chch. His dwarf flags are very nice.

I know of someone (a kiwi who was born here to a mother who was American so she too is a US citizen) who was denied entry to the USA this year based on a minor drug conviction she got while she was in high school 20 years ago. Missed a family reunion for one relatively small offence years ago but despite an appeal the US immigration would not reconsider.

Take him to a vet. It depends on the type of rat poisoning. But the most likely kind needs to be treated with emesis or stomach tubing with activated charcoal and then several days of vitamin k dosing and good supportive care. Act quickly and it may be possible to save him.

No, I haven't tried using a butternut squash, the buttercup works so well that I wouldn't want to change anything. Nothing worse than a stringy watery pie. Yuk.

Ah, very good question! No perfectly smooth tinned pumpkin puree here eh? :roll: I use the large dark green pumpkins, not the more common grey blue ones that don't have as much flavour and are far too watery. Sometimes if I can't get enough from the green one I will use a small part of a blue one as well. I have tried pies with only blue ones and they are usually not as tasty, plus you usually have to stew the pumpkin flesh on the stove after it roasts to get out the excess moisture and get rid of the stringiness (way too much trouble!). Actually, I find the green pumpkins here much tastier than the North American orange ones. Lucky us! The key is to dry roast it for a long time to make it smooth and to get rid of the water. Easy as with the green pumpkins - not so much with the grey blue ones! Mmmmm, putting me in the mood for the creamy goodness.

That combination is what Amano uses. Seems to work for me as well, but I am no light guru. :roll: Btw, congrats on your new tank!

Seeing as how you two are so motivated, it sounds like I could have myself a couple of kitchen hands! :lol:

Agreed. Domestic discus are the exception to just about every rule (and I too can speak with personal experience on that :roll: ). Incidentally, wild caught fish have much stronger immune protection (however the stress of capture and transport greatly affects this).

http://www.wimp.com/lyrebirdimitating/ How many construction materials, vehicles, voices, birds and animals can you hear? 8)

Bit farther south actually :roll: Well, I will do my best, but my birthday is Friday (registration day) so I may not be in a condition to do much baking. I'll see if I can arrange or someone to bake it for me. 8)

Ok, here is the secret family recipe - don't say I never did anything for y'all. Btw, if you think you don't like the idea of pumpkin pie, this will change your mind. The Best Pumpkin Pie There are really three keys to its goodness. The first is the pumpkin the second is the pastry and the third is the freshness of the spices (it is lightly spiced so the freshness really matters). The pumpkin must have very little moisture and be very smooth. To get this result, cut a pumpkin in half and then roast it (cut side down for 2 hours or until it is soft as warm butter when pierced with a knife. Let it cool in the oven over night. Then scoop out the flesh and blend it with a hand mixer until it is perfectly smooth. To make the pastry (unsweetened pate brisee): 1 ¼ cups standard flour ½ t salt 65 grams chilled grated butter 50 grams standard Olivani margarine (or similar oil based margarine) ¼ cup ice water Combine all ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Then add the water (stirring as you go) a little at a time until the mixture begins to hold together - without being to wet or sticky. To test, squeeze a small amount together - if it is crumbly, add more ice water. Press dough into a disc and roll out to fit a deep 25 cm pie dish. Chill for 1 hour. To make the filling: 2 1/4 cups roasted pureed pumpkin 1 400g tin of sweetened condensed milk 2 large eggs - beaten 1/2 t salt 2 t real vanilla extract 1/2 t cinnamon 1/4 t nutmeg 1/4 t ground ginger Beat well but do not aerate. Mixture can be refrigerated at this point if baking is to take place later. When ready, carefully pour the mixture into the chilled pastry and place the pie carefully into the oven (preheated to 190 C). Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the contents do not jiggle when nudged. The pie should not go brown at any stage! If the crust begins to darken during baking, cover it with foil (do not cover the contents of the pie or the moisture will not be able to escape. Cool and chill before serving. Serve with a dollop of softly whipped cream with added vanilla essence. Edit: typo in the title :roll:

It is possible, some nematode infections do not cause clinical signs of illness. However, other parasites like flukes and protozoal parasites can cause significant illness. What is he doing now? Not eating and less active? Any other signs?

Might be swim bladder problems. Try feeding cooked shelled peas and don't feed anything else for a couple of days. Then switch to a sinking pellet food (rather than floating food which will cause the fish to suck air). Keep clean water as that can play a part. If that doesn't help, there may be other causes for the swim bladder problem - if that is the problem.

Nice fish.... I would love to have some of them.

+1 A good canister can also be somewhat of a reservoir for some water, thus essentially increasing the total volume of the tank. It sounds like you are well on your way to solving this problem. Sorting the stocking and testing the water is a good start.

Excellent progress.

That will be no problem at all. Just don't add any new fish right away - theoretically the bioload will be the same and the existing media will deal with the fish as it always has. After a week or so, all the new media will be seeded and you can gradually increase the number of fish over time. To catch the loach, just remove nearly all of the water and it won't have anywhere to go! 8)

Cheers Milena! Edit: and Sam.

I agree, Excel won't touch hair algae but it will help kick start plant growth which is what you need to get rid of excess nutrients in the water column. Also, Excel can help prevent some other types of algae until the tank gets in balance. Being a strong aldehyde there are risks with its use, but these can be managed with careful dosing. Everything has its place.

One of my tanks is an AR850. I have a 200watt heater and have modified the hood so I can run a Fluval 405 canister on it. The cabinet looks like new after 2 years. I don't have any complaints about it (other than it is too small). (Pardon the forest, it is due a serious pruning. :roll:) I like the lighting on it as I can run a range of spectrums that enable good plant growth. It is heavily stocked (although in the pic they are all in the tunnel snarfing up some worms that I put in there).

Oh dear, if one pie serves 8 people, that is how many pies? We might need to have a pie raffle. Poor Milena....I do know how bad pie deficiency can be.... :roll:

That would be a few pies! Yes, I must make one though.

I agree with the above treatment suggestions. To clarify, Melafix is an antiseptic which is a substance that has antimicrobial effect on skin surfaces either acting to kill the microbes or halt their reproduction and thus make it less likely that they will cause disease. Salt also acts as an antiseptic as does formalin, some aldehydes and dyes like malachite green & methylene blue. Antiseptics differ from antibiotics which enter the blood stream and travel around the body killing bacterial invaders. Antiseptics are all toxic to a certain extent and will cause some irritation to skin. The application of antiseptics, while somewhat beneficial, can also cause pain and toxicity which both can inhibit the immune response, and thus delay wound healing. This is the balancing act. Like in surgery, it is preferable to start with a clean surface rather than have to constantly be cleaning up with antiseptics. The tenants of wound healing: 1. Keep it clean = the cleanest water you can provide 2. Promote a good immune system by reducing stress and providing the very best nutrition 3. Promote good wound healing properties within the body by slightly increasing temperatures and frequency of feeding