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Hello everyone, just a quick question, I want to cycle my new tank (305L ufo) - new substate, with already used filter (will be running right up until its swapped to new tank), my question is how can i cycle the tank relatively quickly? I used startsmart to begin with with my first tank, just wondering peoples opinion on this? Its a bit pricey since i need 2 bottles :facepalm: and im somewhat impatient haha I want to change the fish over as fast as i can, safely.. Thanks!

Thanks Stella, that helps me, i bought some uniodised, no anticaking rocksalt from the supermarket, so ill use that till im out (which will probably never happen) and if it does ill just use the normal stuff, Thanks for everyones help, i get quite stressed when something like this happens to my pride and joys!

update : have been to LFS and they have given me a quarantine net and some Tonic. I have treated the fish directly and quarantined him as the odessas keep nipping at him. I have also dosed the tank as some other fish have signs of finrot too (the tiger and my swordtail) tank is now a horrendous blue colour, hope its not going to stain everything including my driftwood Thanks for everyones help

ok, i wont put in that rock then... lol thats the only "crumbly" one, the others appear to have a copperish colour running out of them (they have been in the rain all weekend) although they did have that colouring before, maybe it looks worse now that they are wet.. hehe

hmm ok, thanks, I did a WC yesterday, so i might just step up the routine, twice weekly? they are due for another large one when i do the tank change this week :happy1: :happy1: :happy1: :happy1: until then i guess just add some stresscoat and salt the water, id appreciate anyone elses opinions too, thanks!!!

Thanks Ira, thats exactly what my bottle of salt says on it.. just aswel i checked aye!! Do you think this will help the fins? or should i be looking at some form of finrot type solution? Cheers!

Thanks for the info, as for the fins, does that look like something salt will help with? or is there something else I should look at using?

lol its just a lot of little little rocks all caked together 8) 8)

thanks everyone, one of the rocks is very crumbly, if i scrub it too much it might disappear!! I will post pics of the tank when its all setup correctly

great thanks, they are gorgeous and not too pricey either , how much salt do i add? Is there a specific teaspoons to litre measurement? Ive only got iodised salt... but this website says that it should be used? http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article5.html :dunno: :dunno:

Heres the picture of the gourami: Videos of the gourami and of the Geophagus Jurupari are uploading now, Ill add them to this post when they are done - pictures were impossible! sorry!! Videos: Thanks everyone!!

Hello everyone, Yesterday I added a few new friends to my tank, a Geophagus Jurupari, a Geophagus Surinamensis and two Opaline Gourami. Yesterday im certain that they were all looking fine, swimming fine, interacting fine, and their fins showed no noticeable damage (im pretty picky at my LFS). Thismorning however, I have noticed that the RHS of one of my gourami is red, and thin and is barely used, it looks like it may have got caught in the intake, I will try to get a picture shortly, the other fish that shows signs of damage is my Geophagus Jurupari, whos fins look like they have been ripped along the length, (they are a bit tattery), Ive read before that adding salt to the aquarium helps them to breathe and aids in the repair of fins, wounds, etc, is this correct? should I use iodised salt? The only other one in the tank with any fin damage is a tiger barb whos tail is always getting eaten by the other tigers.. so he needs a little fixing up too. Also, on a side note, what do my latest additions like to eat? so far they have not really touched anything ive put into the tank. The had a litte bit of a poke at the flake food once it came down from the surface but not a substantial amount.. :dunno: Thanks!! I will try to take some photos now.

lol yes much too big for a pot, the best I can do is put them in the sink in the garage and keep boiling the jug and pouring water over them, is this reccommended?

wow, that pretty much summed the whole lot up, lol thanks! ill see what I can find, and I will suss out the Fluval kits, thanks!

Thanks again Joe, where do these sorts of plants generally come from? I havnt seen many like this at my LFS, then again, they have alot of fish, not so much plants.

Haha thanks Im getting bored with the standard stemmy type plants, ive go a nice one on my piece of drift wood that looks like its dying but aside from that ive got not much idea about plants! Thanks guys!!

Hello everyone! yet again ive got the DIY bug, and this time its for a very nice sodastream co2 setup, but i have a few questions 1: Can you get the adaptors to fit the sodastream bottles in nz? Brewery shops? etc? does anyone know a metal fabricator that could make them to sell? After some reasearch there is a valve in the top that needs to be pressed down for the co2 to come out, which then goes into the regulator and into the diffuser. 2: What exactly is a needle valve? is this built into the regulator? 3: How do you work out how many bubbles per second you need? 4: Are timers reccommended? Thanks for the help and if anyone has already done this I would appreciate pointers, tips, and pictures! Thanks!!

Thanks Joe and Sophia, im quite new to the planting game, any suggestions? foreground, mid and rear? I might need to start another thread about co2 involving sodastream... Dont worry Joe, it will get fiddled with, and if its anything like my current tank, that could take months to get looking the way i want it. I could play with my tank till im numb in the face !drool: hahaha

Thanks joe, plenty more at Mt Maunganui Beach how would you do it?

Thanks Ira, you have put my mind at rest 8) :happy2: New idea?

hmmmm thanks Josh, anyone else done / doing it? Cheers oh ive had another play with the wood / rocks, ill take a photo soon

Thanks for the ideas, i will certainly try it, ive bought my gravel, its midnight express, so not really a river theme, i was thinking about going with the sand substrate but was told no... Anyway Ive just been to my LFS and got some more fishies and while i was there I was told that the rocks will NOT be safe because they are from the beach, that they will leech alot of salt, etc and that will screw around with the pH, he told me do not, under any circumstances put rocks from the beach into a freshwater aquarium........ Is he in the wrong here and everyones responses are correct? has anyone actually done this? - taken rocks from the beach and are currently using them in their tank? Did you have any problems when they first were added? I just dont want to kill any fish when I put it all together!! Thanks!!

yeah, the only one that is bracing the wood is the one on the right hand side, but it looked wierd with the others not there, yeah I need some smaller ones, I guess I will just see what it looks like in the tank, ideally I would like it without the rocks supporting the wood, and the rocks tumbled up in the corner. all opinions are looked at and Im after feedback! the last thing i want it to look like is artificial!!

Done it!!! Simplest trick in the world. Find a big rock, and put it on the unbalanced bit, I know it was mentioned before, pics of new layout : Just need the tank now, going to see it today :happy1: Front View: Right Hand Side: Left hand Side: Top View: What does everyone think? PS the corner of the concrete roughly represents the back corner of the new tank

Thanks for the replies everyone, Just to let everyone whos interested know, heres my proposed layout : :bounce: more pics on the album in the link further up. Just need the tank now! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: