Caryl

Those with children should know the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. I made this for my daughter's birthday tomorrow. I will post more pics tomorrow with her and the class with it, and the rest of the items required. My neighbour, Emma, came over and iced them for me as I am unable to do so due to my injury. She did a lovely job The book starts with an egg on a leaf, in the light of the moon. The sun comes up and a tiny caterpillar emerges and looks for food. On consecutive days, the caterpillar eats through a single red apple, two (green) pears, three (purple) plums, four strawberries, and five oranges, which takes us from Monday to Friday. Saturday: the caterpillar eats its way through many different foods: chocolate cake, ice-cream, a pickle, Swiss cheese, salami, a lollipop, cherry pie, a sausage, a cupcake, and a slice of watermelon. The caterpillar develops a tummy ache as a result of eating all this food. Sunday: the caterpillar eats through a single leaf, which makes the caterpillar feel better. The now big caterpillar forms a cocoon (since the titular character is not a moth larva, this is poetic license). On the final pages the caterpillar is now a 'beautiful' butterfly. I bought all the foods the caterpillar ate as well so, as she reads the story, we add the various items to the table. The only thing I couldn't find was a cherry pie so bought an apple crumble and will write 'cherry pie' on it. The kids will be none the wiser since they will not be eating it! The caterpillar is gluten free as one of the kids in her class requires this. The bright green icing is gluten free but we did not have enough icing for all so the rest of it is not gluten free. The cake, one of the things he eats on Saturday, is chocolate cake as another child in her class is autistic and only eats 5 foods - one of them is chocolate cake, so all dietary requirements have been met! :happy2:

Farm troughs work well and come in all shapes and sizes. I have also used baths and my dad once used the inside of an old freezer. He stripped it back to the metal (very old style) and sunk it into the ground.

The only noise I ever noticed from the HOB is the water falling back into the tank. If you can fill them high enough to stop the trickling then they make very little, just a gentle hum sometimes, noise at all.

It appears brother accidentally registered 2x so it caused confusion. As soon as they delete 1 account he should be good. :thup:

It does if you carry it with you on a plane. It is an electronic book. You can download literally (no pun intended) thousands of books onto it to read as you travel. It is lightweight and saves carrying several books on extended journeys. You can make the text as large or small as you like so good for those with vision problems for who book reading has become difficult. The bookmark doesn't fall out of it either!

My brother has bought a Kindle but he can't order any books for it as it keeps asking him if he has moved countries. He set it up for NZ and has gone online and put NZ as his country but whenever he tries to do anything it says "Have you moved country?" Until it is set to NZ, he can't do a thing with it apparently. Anyone encountered this and know how to set it?

Sounds like you have black beard algae. This type of algae appears as short hairs, usually a couple of cm long closely packed together. Appears dark green, black, or dark red. It usually grows on plant leaves, and sometimes on decorations/substrate. It is usually found around the edges of plant leaves. Causes - A) Low CO2 levels B) High PO4 levels Solutions - 1) Increase the CO2 levels through a co2 system or using flourish excel (a carbon supplement) 2) Lower po4 levels, by doing a 40% water change, adjusting the po4 dosing to your tank or increasing your KNO3 levels 3) Using Flourish Excel, especially above the recommended amount. As stated above, the most effective way of treating this algae is to increase co2 levels in the tank. It could be that you are not able to invest in a pressurised setup, so try DIY co2. As also suggested, another successful way of getting rid of this algae is to use Seachems Flourish Excel. This contains an isomer of glutaraldehyde which is a colourless liquid with a pungent odour used to sterilize medical and dental equipment. Dosing this has been successful for many aquarists and is probably the easiest way to get rid of this algae.

But he is SMIDEY

Weird. I am sorry I have no suggestions as to what it might be :dunno: I wonder if there is a tumour on the inside causing the scales to pinecone but I would have thought you would be able to see that.

Perhaps rather than dropsy she is just tipsy? :slfg: Is she bulging on one side too or just pineconing? Is it possibly an egg problem?

I have no idea as I always got A's and B's with the occasional C

Ah, so E is for Excellence? I was wondering why you were all so happy to get such a low mark (says she from the days of A's, B's and C's being required for a pass.) :-?

To this one? :slfg:

A lot depends on your qualifications. If you have the right qualifications and skills for the right job then you can do very well in Australia. If not, then you will be no better off. I know a number who are making big money but they have specific skills in specific trades. Others went, couldn't get work, and came back. Have you looked for suitable work elsewhere in NZ? That way you can keep the animals.

It is a hard decision to make as how do you know if it is in pain? Do the other fish bully it at all? If it appears stressed at all then I would euthanase it. It must eat at some point or it would not last too long.

Have a look in the club section on the main page of this site and contact the Tasman Aquarium Club. Not only will they be able to help you but they can advise on stocking and probably give you used media to cycle the tank with I believe they are actually having a meeting this week so contact them.

It sounds like the whole family has got involved in the hobby. This is good :happy1:

Just got back from Quiz Night. We came second to those damned Microbes again!!! :an!gry Oh well, we won the Jackpot questions though so won $110.00 plus the $20 bar tab. I think we have about $170 on the tab now :roll: Although it is only Wednesday, Grant has already worked 42.5 hours (since Monday) and driven 796km so far (not much compared to usual) so those complaining about a few exams do not have his commiserations.

Good to see you haven't given up! :bounce:

I am a fan of the leopardfish myself.

Hi and welcome Post your questions in the saltwater section for the marine keepers to see.

Peas first. If that doesn't work, Google for how to do a bath in Epsom Salts.

If the scales are sticking out like a pinecone all over (including on top and all the way to the tail) then it is dropsy. If it is just distended over the belly area I would suspect constipation.

If it has always been like that I suspect genetics or something going wrong when it was growing. It it is otherwise OK and feeds OK then I would not worry.

Hippuris Vulgaris common mare's tail. Rotala Macrandra red rotala. May get eaten by the goldfish Myriophyllum propinquum parrot's feather, water milfoil. An oxygen weed that needs to be grown on the surface, or round the edges. Myriophyllum aquaticum is banned here and often referred to by the same common names. bacopa lenagera Hairy water hyssop. A large leaved oxygenating plant with light green leaves and yellow veins showing within the leaves. Plants will grow long when submerged but mat forming on the surface with tiny purple flowers. Various bacopa sp are available and often sold as nursery plants. One of the most well known of the Bacopa sp is commonly called Baby Tears gratiola sexdentata A wetland plant on the edge of lakes and swamps. As a pond plant it will grow half a metre tall. I collect oxygen weed from the local water ways, making sure it is from fast flowing areas so less algae on it and less unwanted critters hitching a ride. Goldfish eat a lot of plants so getting free ones is easier on the pocket. They do not eat lilies.