kim

brown algae can be from over feeding as well , so cut back on feeding and see if that helps colinmarshall do you order it in from over seas ?

maf dont have anything else to do with it apart from red tape and paper work.

bringing in that few a fish is not worth the importers time , well it could be but it could cost you alot to do it. its not maf that touches the fish they just come to the importers place and take the tape off the box (maf tape needs to be put on before leaving the country they come from) they then mark the fish as doa or alive and come and see it a few times in the 6 weeks.

you are not silly some people find it hard to tell the difference between female swords, mollies and platys once you know the difference its easy

its a platy! well at least they got that it was a girl :lol:

maf are hard on importing but it has its ups and downs, in aussie they only have to quarantine for a few weeks, with salt water in nz you dont have to do it for the 6 weeks as well because most of the fish will not live in our waters(should i say all wouldnt but i have been told never say never) its been many years since my mum and dad had a quarantine room but i know in some ways they arent as hard on the importers as they did 31-25yrs ago but in other ways they are harder, fish get sick in the first few weeks and by the time we get them they should be 100% yes they do have to do something with the water , you cant just tip it down the drain. maf change the rules all the time so dont try to understand them, you never will beable to

we normally have a monthly auction of fish and plants as well somethings filters, heaters, tanks , food, books depending on what we have to sell. and we have a raffle every meeting as well normally just a bottle of plant food or something fishie

our club (north shore) normally does a bottle auction,We had all sorts of goodies; from jellybeans to wine, body gel to a mini fish tank in a bottle, sparkling grape juice a bottle of rum ect what each member does is wrap up a bottle of what ever you want in newspaper, wrapping paper, backing paper well anything as long as we cant see what is in the bottle. then we auction them off!! not knowing what we are getting is half the fun, we raise quit a bit of money that way mind you we normally have Jon Eastwood as auctioneer! we do this about once a year

im so sorry to hear that , i know what you mean fish are like family

welcome if you join a club you get a year book once a year and that has all the members names addresses and phone numbers oh and email if they have it, also we get a breeders year book showing who is breeding what. even if you dont have a tank set up going on a tank and pond comps , Caryl is a great judge and will give you tips and also you can get ideas from other peoples tanks.

they are lovely but will eat small fish as they get bigger so say good by to your tetras they are fun fish .... make sure you have a lid on your tank they will jump out

do a water change if you think that will help. go down to hollywoods and get an inside glass thermometer!!! check the temp

so sorry to hear about your loss temp is importent and also how long had the 700l/h been in the tank was it a new new one or one from another tank? never put a new filter in and take the old one out the same day because you want the new one to be working well before you take the old one out

i use bunnings as they match any price by 10% so get prices and if someone has it cheeper go to bunnings with the paper and they will do you a better deal. it is higher price than spray can but it will last much longer as i said mine looks as good as the day i painted it.

IF YOU WANT BLACK use black board paint i have that on my dupla tank and its been on for 12yrs and looks as good as the day i put it on. or as caryl said spray can works good but i do find black board paint gives a longe lasting finish

the light is the blue moon tube

yes you can put plecos in cold water but as long as it doesnt get to cold in winter.... i have a pair of b/n that will only breed in my coldwater tanks at work they love it ... mind you my tanks dont go below 18

:lol: yes i like jbl because its a natural food , the plecochips are the only one on the market that have wood in them and they make the fishes jaw work.... most of the other food is soft and the fish doesnt have to work for its food, also with the plecochips you can leave them in in the tank for 24hrs and they dont break down and go into the gravel. (go JBL :lol: ) the royals are lovely when they get bigger and you can get a good price for it if you want to sell it in a few years.... you could put a blue catfish light on your tank at night if you find he is shy after a few weeks.... that means you can see him and enjoy him more, also have you tried putting a black ghost home in your tank they are great if your fish will use it (you can use a gravel cleaner tube to see if it will go into it.

the trick with catfish that hide is to make caves that you can see them .... get some wood and make caves then you can have the best of both worlds, you dont want it to make the ship its home or you will never see it. i find when i put plecos in a new tank i feed them asap so they come out more and it works. i hate to say it but they are as hard as a goldnugget. but feed it right and good water changes and you will keep it for many many years feed it jbl plecochips it has the wood in the food!!! glad to hear your still coming up

great to hear you have a new pleco so does that mean your not coming up to say hi :lol:

royal are more green brown and are a fat pleco, they are nice i have had a few but they are shy. go to planetcatfish.com they have great info on cats

MysticVampyre i hate to tell you but it could have been ok..... most of the fish are imported and spend hours and hours in bags .... like 24 hours

good to hear they are lovely fish and become very friendly like the redtails , how big is the one they have?

most bog plants do well in tanks

:lol: alan it was critter_guy that wants grass .... ITS PLANTS!!