TeeCee

I have found chocolate catfish (platydoras costatus) to be a very effective snail munchers. Did not bother the large brown apple snails but has made very short work of the baby apple snails and every other snail in the tank - got so fat in the first few weeks he looked a bit like one of those bubble helicopters Just a shame he hides most of the time :-?

I'll be there with bells on Marcel Well, actually - no bells but full of enthusiasm Will see if I can drag Mistymoo along too.

As a "freshie" who aspires one day to have enough of a grasp of aquaria to try a marine tank, I am pleased to see that someone has finally picked up the toys and thrown them back into the cot. I now have the feeling that it may be worth heading back into the marine threads to see what's up after a few months of thinking "what on earth is going on here?" I look forward with great enthusiasm to seeing and reading about the magic you "salties" are creating. Keep it up

In Chch - cardinals are about $5-6 and neons $1.80....much cheaper especially if you are buying a decent school of them.

This thread reads like an echo... Agreed though - Organism is good - gets my vote for most aesthetically pleasing - their display tanks are the best I have seen yet and Redwood's get the vote for best selection and lowest price.

Caryl's suggested method works well enough for me (I don't like the taste of fishwater to be honest). In smaller tanks though where it's a bit too fiddly to get the whole tube submerged, an easy enough alternative, with a bit of pre-preparation, is to get the lid off the tank, place bucket nearby - walk to nearest tap, fill hose and block both ends with thumbs...walk back to tank and insert one end of hose in tank, other end in bucket - remove thumbs (figuratively speaking that is) - hey presto - flowing water with fresh breath

In response to your intial Q Killifan, I had success (over Winter in ChCh) just draping a towel over about 2/3 of the lid and down the back of the tank.

The bouquets could go on for ever - but every one is deserved - it was an awesome weekend. Far exceeded my expectations. I too like the idea of one every couple of years as I suspect with all the organsising required, a year would turn up too soon for most and I'd hate to see it all fall over because no one is (or too few are) willing to put their neck on the line and do the hard yards. Warren and Co - you were simply amazing. If nothing else is learned from this event, let it be delegation, delegation, delegation.

Sorry Kim, I may be being a bit dense here - but - where's the list I'm wanting to put my name on???? :-? I followed the link but all I got was a product description...

Can anyone tell me what the active ingredient is in curex? Simply wondering as I had a discussion with my naturopath father recently about whether tea-tree oil would be effective on fish (we thought it would not mix with the water, just float) only to find when I got some Melafix that the active ingredient is 1% melaleuca (a.k.a. tea-tree) and 99% "inert" ingredients. Wondering now also what the "inert" ingredients are too... :-?

Goldie is the person you need to talk to - she's responsible for a large proportion of the bristlenoses living up and down the country right now if she's not replied to your by tomorrow I suggest you PM her. I do know she had discus and all sorts of tetra in the tank with her babies (and all the adult b/ns too) so unless you find them disappearing at a rate of knots, I'd not be too worried about them getting eaten - just make sure they have plenty of hiding places. Congratulations and good luck

I travelled Hamilton - ChCh with apple snails recently as hand luggage in a chilly bag. Did the right thing at Hamilton and checked it was okay with the airline - they said it was up to the individual "controller" at each airport as to whether they allowed it and let me through but gave no promises for the Wellington - Chch leg. I stayed quiet at Wellington and although the bag went through the xray machine, not a single comment was made about what must have looked rather odd on the xray...I think as long as your fish don;t look anything like a pocketknife you'll be fine Krib - enjoy your trip to Chch.

Thanks Pies for actually pointing that one out - I hadn't really thought about it but agree - the bar looks horrible - modifications in progress....

Well I must thank the wise one upstairs for my bladder (apparently got it from Harrod's in anticipation of a fish fetish in later life). I have my spraybar positioned just above the waterline and love the sound of the "waterfall" (when I can hear it over the bubbling BBS factory that is).

I have gravel substrate in all my tanks - 2 with and one without a UG filter. All plants seem to grow well (although the ones without the UG do seem to get along faster than the other two tanks). I also do nothing else to any of the tanks for the plants other than trim them - no additional fertiliser/CO2 etc - just good lighting and they seem happy enough.