DennisP

Do I WANT to know what it really costs??? :lol: Hmmmm. I should start budgeting for insurance costs too... :roll:

I'm pretty certain I am still covered as I have asked parents if moving out has affected insurance and they said no. Also bank/insurance representatives who have spoken to us about flatting also have said that I should still be insured by the parentals. I will certainly check though. That's more than I thought! My Nano costs somewhere in the region of $20 a year! (If I did my maths correctly)

Flat lease has been signed for next year and flat mates are sorted too... You gotta be organised down here if you don't want a scummy flat. Landlord seems fine with a fish tank... as long as I don't get a pig as one of his tenants did one year. I THINK I am fully covered by my parents insurance too, but will definitely check that before we move in. I like this idea :thup:

No drunken idiots in our flat... They can go somewhere else... I suppose I should start looking for a tank then. I could always get a custom rimless tank made for cheap(?) But a stand would be the issue...

An answer to original question: I have Rotala Rotundifolia which has kept its red colour quite well. Even when the amount of light has been significantly reduced.

So next year I will be moving into a flat for the first time and as most people here will understand, would like to have a fish tank. :thup: At first I thought I'll get me a 60L tank because of the ease of it all, but then I thought if a bigger tank is viable. Things to consider: Running cost Room is upstairs - floor strength Unexpected/Overlooked complications. Has anyone had any experience with this and would care to share?

Last shot of the Flowering Hygro: I've also been getting a really slimy film on top of the tank. I remove most of it most days but every day it is back. The only thing I have been doing that could cause it dosing excel. Quite heavily too to get rid of algae (which is 90% gone!) Photo of it...

Before I left:

Update: 2 or 3 weeks ago my stock of live food died and so the puffers had to go a week and a bit without food while I waited for more to arrive. I was getting nervous towards the end as they wouldn't eat anything and were starting to look thin. However food arrived just in time and I got them nice and fat again. Skip forward a week, and I go on holiday for a week and bit a rely on my friends to feed them at least twice. I was worried again as they had to go 4 days without food before my friends got back to feed them...the puffers had only just recovered from their previous starving so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I got back last night to find both puffers and otto still alive and looking nice and fat. :thup: HOWEVER. I had been suffering from algae problems before I left, and I thought the holiday would be a nice time to reduce the photo period. So I dropped it down to 6 hours a day, and set off on holiday. When I got back... I found this: Somehow I had managed to flick the switch on the timer and the light had stayed on for 12 days straight. Apparently last Tuesday when my friends got back, they found the water level below half! (I don't know how much they exaggerated that) Also this is what my worms' food looked like. Disgusting but quite cool.

In a 200L tank I imagine so... Rams are usually bigger though, so if there were to be problems the apistos would probably take a beating

At this point there is no aggression from the puffers though. The Bumblebees were more aggressive than anything else. The puffers are completely docile which I find interesting.

Second options looks good to me, the cannister has to sit and hide behind the tank itself, because I don't have much room for it...

It is a sad day today. Just got back from being out.. And have found my last surviving Mosquito Rasbora, and my 2 new Bumble Bee Gobies have jumped. It happens I suppose... but still sad. My 2 puffers are still there though which is good. I had filled the water just under the brim, but that would hardly be the cause of the jumping. I might have expected 1 to jump.. but not 3. Any causes to this? Water temp is fine, the rest I cannot check, but I just did a 40% WC today which to date has not yet showed any signs of being a problem. I think I will find me some more nice fish, so If anyone is heading CHCH - Dunedin this week or next, let me know if you could bring me some goodies

Update: - Removed the H. Corymbosa "Stricta" at the back right, and replaced it with H. Polysperma. - Then trimmed the H. Corymbosa and put it back in, and hope it will grow out of the top like on the left. - R. Rotundifolia is growing nicely - Added 2 Dwarf puffer at the beginning of the week and they are getting on well. I think one is male and the other is potentially a female. A few territorial squabbles but nothing vicious. - Added more gravel to the back left where there was some required so now I have a little extra room for planting. - Algae is getting worse, so I bought some excel the other day but it turned out to be comprehensive so I may as well use it. I now have excel too, so I will try to kill the Staghorn algae which is spreading across my Anubias (any advice welcome) - Went to the LFS with the intention of buying a gravel vacuum hose (all I had was airline tubing which wasn't cutting it) and came back with: - 2 Bumblebee Gobies (Hmmmm... Impulse buy. We will see how it turns out) - 5 Twisted Val plants for $3.90 which is half the price of anything on trademe :happy1:

Its an option, but I would prefer a canister filter if its worth it. I've seen some tiny ones... I could try DIY one too...

Out of curiousity, what is the smallest/most efficient for size and cost external filter for nano tanks? I'm also considering glass piping. My DIY co2 didn't really work, so I have some flourish excel and comprehensive but I have no idea on dosing regimes, or how to measure such small amounts so any advice on that is welcome.

Bit of an update. Added DIY Co2 too see what happens. Moss is growing nicely... but algae is starting to grow so I've reduced the photo period.

Is there an accurate way of calculating the cost? I'll be in a flatting situation next year and am curious as to what it will cost to run my small 12L tank next year. 18w light run at 12 hours photoperiod (for the sake of cost calculation), 3.1 filter, and 30w heater. It will be run for about 30 weeks of the year. Most flats seem to keep their lights off down here, so if I leave mine running all day there might be complaints, so I guess I'll just pay up front to keep everyone happy.

I have a small plastic cup with glad wrap over the top with whiteworms in it. Of course there is damp earth and food for them, however everyday more and more worms are climbing to the top of the container and finding a way out. Why are they doing this? Should I change something?

Just rescaped my 12L nano into something more interesting two days ago. Been waiting for the water to settle down before grabbing some photos, however it still isn't very clear. Dimensions: Height - 27cm, Width - 28cm, Depth - 19.2cm Lighting: 1 x 18w 6400k CFL Substrate: JBL aquabasis plus topped with river sand and gravel Temp: 25*C Plants: Rotala Rotundifolia, hygrophila corymbosa stricta, E. Amazonicus, Hydrocotyl sp., Anubias Barteri Nana, Vesicularia montagnei Fish: 2 Adult Platy, 2 Young Platy, 1 Otto, 1 Left over Mosquito Rasbora Plan: Grow the hygro out the top, for a vivarium look, Grow rotala as background and let the rest fill in. I would like to swap out the sword for something else that but unsure what. Sorry for bad picture quality

Fantastic. Thanks

Angels like to eat small fish. Could it be that? Or are you finding corpses?

I kept a few discus for a while until I sold them. I never did anything special. My water was usually at about 6.8ph and 32 degrees but that's all I did. They were healthy

I'll take that as a no... :lol: Has anyone still active got anything to say about these?

Sorry to bring this up again... Is anyone still using these?