Ang&Vicky

I've never used charcoal in any of my tanks, and the only filter we have with media is the turtle's external canister filter. Call me lazy but I prefer boring old filters with sponges inside. Ah well, time to go feed the fish. Cheers

:-? I refuse to buy a stocking for the fish tank :lol: so into the filter it will go. ~wanders off wondering if anywhere sells single stockings.... in Auckland, ya just never know~

Ok... will be way easier to crushed oyster shell then marble chip... at least that gives me another reason to head to Auckland tomorrow

Cheers for that, how much do you add per litre of water please?

When we moved in to our new place about 2 months ago, tested the pH (7.2) etc of the water here and it was fine. At the time we knew that the roof was fairly new, but silly me, didn't really think anything of it as the water from the house supply tank seemed fine. Been doing water changes and gravel cleaning at the same time, regularly clean the filter (fluval internal with double sponges so only one sponge at a time so I don't murder all the good bacteria). In the past week we've had 3 neon tetras go belly up within minutes of each other which we put down to the tank being too hot. Now we're losing bumble bee gobies, and the kuhli loach has been zapping around the surface of the tank acting like he wants to climb out!!! In this tank we have 2 cory, 1 adult and 3 young bristlenose, 1 kuhli loach, 3-4 bumble bee gobies, 3 neon tetras, 1 black whiptail, and 2 port hoplo. Did a pH test on the fish tank and the water from the house supply tank and it's around 6.3. Apart from finding somewhere to buy water from tomorrow, what can we do to raise and keep the pH up? I have used liquid and powder agents in the past with no success on my part, but then I sometimes think you need a PHD in chemistry or at least lots of brains to figure out how to use that stuff :lol: The catfish tank (2 choccy talking catfish, 1 brown tiger whiptail, a herd of kuhli loaches, 1 bristlenose, and 1 golden barb), and the big tank (1 bristlenose, 1 golden bristlenose, 1 chinese algae eater, 1 still growing pleco, 1 breeding pair of angel fish, 1 pearl gourami, and a herd of platys) is doing fine even though the pH is pretty low due to all the driftwood in the tank. Any help or ideas would be awesome Thanks in advance.... Vicky Forgot to add, the crypt plant is doing amazing well, the water sprite is sulking, and the val is slowly picking up again. We have a mild problem with hair algae which we pick out when we see it, but otherwise everything looks a-ok

funny I was just thinking about that bit, thanks for answering the silent question that you must have just know was coming next lol. Just to clarify...for my 120 litre tank , 1 litre of natural saltwater is ok... slowly pour into tank (correct?)..all in one day or spread it over a few days? Re feeding these guys, is bloodworm enough? I read mosquito lava was good too (that could be fun lol). I am curious about these vinegar worms I keep reading about though, any ideas on them? Thanks again Ang

we havepersistant cats... the turtle won't be outside , the tank has to be tested and brought inside as even our frog got stolen from his enclosure last month (sad ay). mind you if we can secure the mesh tight enough..hmm... thanks for the idea, will have a play around with it. Thanks for the salt water advice, I really do appreciate it. From what I have read these wee chaps can survive in fresh water but that's all they do "survive".. I want them to thrive and be really happy while awaiting their new home.

ops I probably should have added that my tank is 120 litres. We have to find a piece of glass for the spare big tank outside to transfer the turtle to that, which in turn will free up the big big tank for the guys that are in the small tank, that in turn will free up the small tank. Going to be a few weeks sorting that lot out unfortunately. ummm this bit "a litre of natural salt water will help in the 620" ... excuse my 'dur moment' but what do you mean there?

AquaVicky... haha... I like it. So natural salt water is ok? any idea how much I can add to the tank and at what rate? ie: a teaspoon a week sort of thing. Thanks for the welcome too , much appreciated. Vicky is a fishy person and I'm the learner lol..she has taught me heaps but these wee cuties are new to us both.

Hi there.. I have recently purchased some bumblebee gobies and unfortunately being a beginner I wasn't told at the pet store that they should really be in a brackish tank... so here I am with these cool guys stuck in freshwater. I have another tank that's smaller that I will be setting up as brackish for them but at the moment we have to do a huge shuffle on fish to make that tank available. So.. my questions are: 1. Can I make the freshwater tank they are in a little brackish to help the wee guys? 2. I have 2 bristlenoses, 2 whiptails, 3 gourami's, neons, a siamese fighter and a chinese algae eater in there with them and if I can have it a little brackish will it harm them? 3. We live around the Mangawhai coast area and I am wondering if I can use sea water at all or do I have to get the marine salt which I haven't been able to find in anything smaller than 2kg boxes. 4. Can someone advise at what rate one should convert the tank (if I can) to slightly brackish please? I realize we can't just rush this. 5. I am feeding them bloodworm and have been reading up on what they can have. Vinegar worms seems to pop up a lot, can we get them in NZ? any other suggestions on what to feed? I think that's it. I do appreciate your input and apologize if I appear a bit 'fishy challenged' , I'm the first to admit I am a learner and will mess up and sound like an idiot a lot lol. Thanks in advance. Ang