fishybiz

He needs to get that will sorted. We are going through hell due to a wicked stepmother who wants all the money and believe me a wife comes first and she can give heaps away to her own children and get away with it. Make sure he also gets an enduring power of attorney and has two people responsible for the financial side. You can only have one person for care but he could stipulate his wishes there too. I can't stress enough how important it is to get all this stuff sorted just incase he were to become incapacitated.

I see tinytawneykitten is bidding on her

Thanks Ira, I thought as much. Well if anyone wants one please contact me.

Do many people keep these and is there a market for them? Have come across a tank with a female around 20cm and not really sure it is suitable for the tank.

Wondering why you would clean this filter every fortnight. I would think it would only need doing every 6 months or more.

Well not one fish died but they water really smelt bad. The lady managed to scoop quite a bit of the flake out and we got most of the rest out today by gravel vac. Food has been moved out of children's reach.

Thanks everyone, I can't sleep for thinking about it. Dropped our van off for a service last night and have a grand daughters birthday today so won't be able to get there till later and I just know it will be a very distressing sight. It is a community tropical, from memory a severum, catfish, loaches and tetras and heavily planted. Tried to ring around 9 and they had left so will call first thing in the morning and get the bad news. We once had a very intelligent severum head butt the auto feeder into the tank one night and we only managed to save one angel that time. Trouble is that once the food has clouded the water the oxygen depletes and then they die. Will let you know what happens.

Thanks anyway. I have had this happen once before and we lost all the fish. I just can't believe they left the food within reach of a child and what is even worse is that this is a charity job and we don't get paid for it. The lady is going to try and scoop out what she can but has no aquarium experience.

I need someone to do a gravel vac and water change in Newtown tonight. I can't get down there as the van is in for a service and a child has tipped all the food into the tank. Happy to pay or supply goods in return. Please help as I don't want all the fish to die.

Thanks Ryan, will give it consideration. Lots of planning yet.

I can increase the depth to 600.

Yes that was what we were thinking. Not all the fish we have are fully grown and I was thinking of increasing the height to get extra literarge. What sort of fish would you suggest?

I have a long term customer that wants African Cichlids. We are worried about the size of the tank and the fact that it will be viewed from both sides with customers sitting and walking close to the tank (about 3ft away). Hubby is worried that the fish will freak out and bang into rocks and glass. We will be getting the tank and stand made but it can only be 1m long and 400 deep - height is negotiable and we also have to have hoses at the end of the tank rather than the back due to it being viewed from both sides. I had been planning the usual, electric yellows, peacocks, dolphins, lionhead, red empress, electric blues. I would really appreciate peoples thoughts on this. They have had a community planted tank for the last 10 years so something different would be nice but must be easily cared for as we only visit fortnightly once tank is cycled. TYIA. I really want to do this so that I can use the tank in my house for a discus tank and get rid of the cichlids that are presently in there.

Blue Hygrophilia, ludwigia, lysamachia, baby tears.

I have been waiting 2 months for a new o-ring from the supplier which is really not good enough. Lucky we were able to "make do" in the meantime.

LOL Zayne it is so easy for fish to pick up whitespot when transported and pet shops usually get orders of fish every week. It is not always apparent when they arrive that they are sick. His tanks are not dirty and I would be far more concerned about this shop: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Community/MessageBoard/Messages.aspx?id=788616&topic=19

I was in there about a month ago and all was well. Yes the tanks are small like most pets shops and I can't remember what sort of filtration is in them. There is usually only 1 person manning the shop due to lack of sales I guess and remember there is no money in fish. Deaths happen and I am sure he would remove a dead fish if he was advised. I have seen far worse pet shops than that one. i would imagine that most dedicated fish keepers would buy on here or Trademe and we will gradually see all the small pet shops disappear because of this.

Only just seen this post but Award Plastics in christchurch do tanks and I haven't found anyone else as competitive.

In defense of the Pet House, what do you expect in a recession? He is not stocking much because no one is buying! The only thing that keeps him going is pet food sales. Ich happens especially now with the changes in temperature and I am sure he is on to it. Surely he can't be that bad as he keeps a really nice marine tank but no one buys marines from him. If you support local pet shops they will be able to carry more stock, instead we are seeing large stores like Mitre 10 stocking pet products and putting the small shops out of business and you certainly won't get knowledgeable staff there. I think it is great that there will be a new pet shop but I very much doubt that it will do that well.

Keep an eye on it especially during the winter as moisture tends to get in. Generally use Hydor in these type of tanks as you can attach an airline to it to keep the food dry. Unfortunately these feeders have to be imported but agree the Eheim is a great feeder.

Another question. Is there anything such as a film that you can apply to glass to prevent people accidently scratching it?

Water parameters are fine. Started with the firemouth just sitting on the bottom of the tank and rolling to the side. Brought him home and the condition remains unchanged. Eats well but now is blind in one eye. Could be pop eye. Now a geo appears to have the same thing. Noticed a couple of weeks ago he had damaged his eye but not popped out so he could have had a disagreement with another fish, but otherwise appeared fine. Friday he began to sit on the bottom of the tank. Brought him home and still sitting but not rolling on his side. Talked to breeder several weeks ago and he thought it may be an infection in the swim bladder and that there probably isn't anything we can do. I would really appreciate any ideas you might have. Off to bed now but will check in the morning. Thanks in advance.

Bacteria in the filter will die in around 2 hours so turning it off is not a good idea and will lead to problems with the fish. Have the filter circulate the water around 3 times per hour. Put a bit of salt in the tank for the tail as this will help it heal.

We operate around 80 eheims and in the last year I can only think of having changed one impellor whereas of the half a dozen AquaOnes we have changed a couple and they are several years younger than the Eheims. I have never had an eheim die but do have one that is around 30 years old and we had to make an impellor as we could no longer get parts. I think that speaks well of the product and german made unlike alot of the others.

I just tried that aquatool calculator for a hexagonal and it is not accurate. I know for a fact how many litres mine holds and the calculator is way out