Ymir

4x4' t5 HO tube setup is what I have been looking for but actually trying to find one that does not cost the earth and can be shipped to NZ has been the problem. I would also like a slim line type as it is less visually intrusive. With time and patience and I will find one. Something like this would be brilliant http://www.aquariumguys.com/current-nova-extreme48.html or http://www.thereefshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5_8&products_id=1549

OK. I think that I am pretty sorted. I have found this Aqua Japan 6x 5tho at http://www.fish-street.com/aqua_japan_6x_t5ho?category_id=144. I could do three in blue and three in power glo. Would that work?

Umm what wattage would I need? sorry as mentioned pretty green (no pun intended) about this whole thing.

Height from top of tank to bottom. I have read somewhere that the depth of water determines K rating (water penetration say between a 6500K and 10000 K :dunno: ). What size HO? T5 or T8 Can I get away with a 4ft light fixture or do I need 5ft light figure?

Hi all. I need some help on deciding lighting for my tank. It is time to help grade but I do not want or have the desire to become a led/t5ho/metal halide guru to work out the best option for my tank. My tank is: 150 cm long 48 cm wide 50 cm High I keep African cichlids and the tank has wood, rocks and finally, crypt and anubias species in there as well. So strong metal halides are probably not needed due to the low light requirement for these species. I have done some reading and the blue light spectrum is not good for the plants due to it being the wrong spectrum for photosynthesis. However, blue light make the cichlids "pop" in the tank. I am imagining that I will need a 50/50 mix of blue and whatever light the plants require. That way plants grow and fish "pop" What I need to know is what would people recommend. especially the maximum and minimum strength lighting for the plants. For the fish it is pretty easy, blue light is blue light (probably going to get proved wrong here :facepalm: ). And what type of lighting unit I need. Please help, I am tired if reading web pages of technical data and still confused.

Sure I have to update my tank log but only after once tank is clean, mosses have turned up and attached to wood and anubias is super-glued to rocks. so about 1-2 weeks away

It's a regular old photo competition within the cichlid forum. :nfs: btw Is it me or do the leleupi appear to have a bluish colouring to them? Having never breed them and growing out 5 now, I have no idea.

And there is another tick on my bucket list

Sigh. simple spelling mistakes, Tired It has been a long week and to squit, P44 and Living. In the famous words of the god tui. YEA RIGHT!! still pervs

Hehe two minutes and two pervs and 7 people to chicken to comment

Haha made you look!!!. I just wanted count to see how many people will at least have a peek..... "hope this does not get me in trouble"

Thanks for the feed back everybody. I will try the direct almost completely out of the water and not so direct approach (leaves just touching the surface) this weekend. Does the Anubias need to be on wood or would super-gluing it to a rock be ok? Will post some pic's and even log what happens.

I have done some reworking on my rock work in my tank and have a couple of pieces just above the water line. I want to see the difference in grow from being slightly above to being submerged. Question: Will it kill/damage the baby plants if I use superglue to spot glue them into position?

I am trying find online stores that will ship to Our fair shores. I am looking for a T5 lighting unit that is slimish. I have seen several at differing sites but they don't ship here. I am hoping to pick the brains of people who have find such sites that send here. Cheers Malcolm

Awesome pics as always :nfs: :nfs: :nfs: :nfs: :nfs:

Epsom salts is an easy way to harden your water. Step one: You need to test your water. Step two: Get yourself a standard size container which you will use to fill your tank with. Step three: add measured amounts of Epsom salts until you get your desired hardness. Step four: double and triple test the total amount you got for your desired hardness. Step Five: Check pH with new Epsom salt mixture. (pH can be raised or lowered when you add Epsom salts) For pH it is the same process for Epsom salts but use baking soda instead. However, 7.4 is pretty good, just depends on how fussy you want be. If fish are happy and growing well, then why add chemicals? As for buffering, they are a lot of natural products around. Google buffering and African cichlids. I personally use calcite sand/pebbles. Great buffer, but hard to locate and can be expensive. Just remember to double check your GH, KH and pH of your final brew.

Hi, Malcolm From Hataitai. I have keep Africans, happy to help out but I don't know to much about normal tropicals

CALVUS CALVUS CALVUS CALVUS CALVUS

On reading other peoples various logs, I think I need a place to keep mine in a place where I can keep a track of what I have been up to. If fellow African cichlid keepers find this helpful along the way, then glad to help out. Tank : 1500 x 500 x 500 mm approximately 375 litres Filter: Eheim Professional 2224 (Thinking about getting an internal filter as well.) Lighting: 5ft fluorescent light 2ft aqua-one twin fluorescent tube light. Heaters: 2 x 300w aqua-one Substrate: Calcite gravel Decorations: Rocks, wood, two ceramic caves, and soon to be added bamboo tubes. My current residents are: Fish 5 x Neolamprologus leleup Fry, approximately 1.5 to 2 cm last time I saw them out 12 + x Pseudotropheus demasoni From breeding adults to fry. 9 x Tropheus duboisi Breeding adults (Well truth be told, teenagers trying it on with no clue and no success so far :facepalm: ) 5 x Otopharynx lithobates Fry growing out and looking good 1 x cuckoo syno with four more coming very shortly :happy1: 2 x Aulonocara baenschi (for sale if anyone is interested, pretty sure male and female :nfs: ) 3 x Botia almorhae Pretty sure I have a female with 2 males. Their sole purpose is to keep the snail pop under control. Which is not really working out 9 + x GBA Algae control. I realise these are not all Africans but if MAF ever let in some decent African algae eaters, the GBA will go. Finally, if people have a guaranteed way off knocking of the damn Malaysian trumpet snail without adding nasty and dangerous chemicals please tell. The fish I desire Altolamprologus calvus (Black) Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan" (Taiwan Reef) I have had Altolamprologus calvus (yellow). However, a lacks in checking the tank properly one morning lead me to miss the spray wand, which had fallen into the tank. Coming home from work discovered that due to lack of oxygen, I had succeeded in wiping out three-quarters of my tank. :an!gry :an!gry :tears: :tears: I did learn that Dem's can gasp like a goldfish, who would have thought?? eitherway, thank god otherwise it would have been a 100 percent loss. In regards to the Altolamprologus calvus (Black), you know who you are. I have one message for the fry: grow baby grow. Plants Cryptocoryne wendtii Anubias sp. Microsorum pteropus (there types: narrow, normal and windlow.) I have tried the three types of java available in New Zealand. I had a particularly stunning example of narrow leaf. However after getting the dubs, they soon took quick care of that. They even ate the normal java and the windlow just did not like my tank. I have had three or four types of anubia species but the only one that has not rotted is the ‘nana’. The nana seems to go through periods of growing well in my tank to almost looking like it is about to die (not sure why yet). When I get my tank completely stocked. I will start working on trying to keep my plants alive, if the water chemistry fits within the water requirements of the Africans. Either way, Anubias is just too expensive to experiment with until then. Cryptocoryne wendtii has been a success story. A lot of the dem fry like to hide in it and it makes keeping track of them a little easier. However, the other day the trop dubs decided it looked like breakfast, lunch and dinner time rolled into one and they pretty much ate the lot. :an!gry :an!gry I am getting some more from various people and will try again. :happy2: Photos will come, I have to clean my tank and have made it look respectable first. :oops: Ymir aka Malcolm

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: NO WAY!

The Dubs ate the java months ago and my anubias plants are many but small.

I got home from work today and my &$@$#@!!!!!! trop dubs have gone on an eating rampage and absolutely nails my crypt wendtii, the plants are nude!!! :an!gry :an!gry :an!gry :an!gry I agree it is very not interesting in the whole plant scheme of things, but I have been nursing my crypt babies along for several months!! You plant peeps do a lot to grow certain plants types, try something as common as wendtii in a tank full of Herbivores. :slfg: :facepalm: Anyone have some wendtii for sale??? :slfg:

Ummm I tried to put money into that account but it said it was an invalid account. Would you please check the account number?? Looking forward to hearing back from you :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

The Giant isopod is so ugly I would actually want one. Is that a little weird?

Without trying to sound too cynical, are these completely new tangs that are on the list (something to get excited about) or repeats from previous shipments (IE. already in the country). It would be nice to know as well if new to country. As nav says: and in my case as well I would need to save some monies.