Caryl

Actually, it was the best one I had of you. You would not have been happy with the others!

I WANT ONE! :thup:

Hi Smurff. The forum is quite easy to find your way around when you stop and look at it. I hope you realise this is just part of a much larger site full of information? Click on the FNZAS logo top left of the page to go to the Home Page and see all the information in the various areas there. The forum is divided into 5 public areas. The first is called Start and that is where we put announcements, you can introduce yourself in the Welcome section, look up what clubs are posting about their meetings or events, or post in the beginner section if you are unsure where your question should go. The Community Tank section is a general holdall for questions on the broad subjects lists there - cold, freshwater, marine, technical, DIY, diseases and the trade and exchange. The Members Tanks is just for members to post photos of their aquariums (or ponds) with a detailed list of size, filtration, stocking, plants etc. for others to admire. The Specialist Corner is just that, for more in-depth questions on specific species and breeding. Finally there is Other Business where you can post questions to do with the website itself, read about, vote on, or enter competitions. It also has the Off Topic section where you can talk about stuff other than fish. Have a cruise around the Home Page and see what else there is to see :thup: Finally, the important tests are really ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. pH can be useful too. Some people test weekly and others never bother at all. If something goes wrong in your tank, the first thing you will be asked is the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. This will give you a good idea of what you problem may be and how to correct it. A bigger tank is actually easier to look after and should be more stable than a smaller one so less testing required. Whether you buy an all in one kit or individually is up to you. I think the all in one's are often cheaper but don't actually know as I have not tested my own tanks for years. Check the use by dates on them before purchase. pH tests will last for years but the others do not. This is the What's Up? thread where members tell us what they have been up to lately.

AWs are easy to spot as they are posted in clear plastic bags

I have just had confirmation from the printer that the magazines went to NZ Post this morning. :thup: Never believe wok unless he posts a photo of himself holding the current AW in his hand

Guppies will drop every 4 - 6 weeks, depending on temperature. They can get`really really fat and look like they are about to burst before they drop fry.

You believe wok???? :gigl:

I am thinking "Aucklanders have to buy rocks" :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: Sorry, I will stop laughing now. Different rocks are found in different parts of NZ. The flat grey kind are just what we have down here. Perhaps you need a holiday

Did you know there is a fish club in Nelson?

Thank you all for your patience with the delay in the August magazine. At least it is going to be delivered well before the end of the month! We have problems every year with members being very tardy in their club sub payments and then the club officers not getting the information and capitations in by the due date. This year was the worst ever! Anyhoo, what is in this edition? - Planting a Low Tech/Low Light tank - The real Hypostomus - a continuation of Darren's excellent series on plecs - Pics and info on a 100,000L Planted Aquarium (aka a biotop pool) - Read about the lovely Mapua Aquarium and the trip there by Tasman and Marlborough Aquarium Clubs - Learn about the Internal Anatomy of a Fish (complete with a detailed drawing by junior member Juliet Wilkie) - Conference Report and lots of pics from the weekend - How to "Plant" Aquarium Plants - Betta albimarginata - Whiteseam Betta. Hopefully this will one day be imported into NZ! - Read about Adrienne's problems with theft (a warning to us all) - Learn all about the Glowlight Tetra - Discover the ins and out of mass turtle relocations from quake ravaged Christchurch - Meet Willie the Galapagos Tortoise Plus lots more!! :happy2: Hopefully it will be appearing in letterboxes by the end of this week.

Check out the Christchurch Totally Tanked Club. They have a Facebook page too

Standard temp for a tropical tank is 25 - 27C. Discus prefer 28 - 29C. To speed up the white spot cycle I believe it needs to be 28C.

:smot: - what does Devin look so worried about??

Depends on how you set it up. Can we have a few details please? A tank needs to run a few days to check the equipment is all working correctly and the heater has settled to the correct temperature. How you then add the fish depends on whether you plan a fishless or fish in cycle.

View from my letterbox

It is snowing here too but not settling on the ground at all. This is only the 2nd time I have seen it on the hills next to my house in the 40 years I have been here. Will post pics later.

I got one of those 7 day pill compartment things from the $3 Shop. Put the right amount of food in each and ask your parents to feed once a week would be enough. That way the fish will not be overfed, they won't starve, you won't overwork the filter, and the tank should get by without any water changes due to the lower bioload (although if your parents are willing to do a water change or two it would help). Also there should be no need to scrub down the inside of the tank as the fish will have grazed on it, keeping it sparkling clean. I always clean my filter at least 2 days before I go away. This allows time to see that everything has settled back down well and the filter is continuing to work correctly (sometimes they don't after you have restarted them). I do a good substrate clean too. Fish do not need light but plants do. Easiest to get a timer to switch on to give the plants 8 hours daily. Dying plants, or removing the plants, will have a bigger, negative effect on the tank than putting the lights on a timer. Cut back on the feeding before you go, rather than feed them more. This way they will be used to lesser amounts and won't mind the sudden cutback so much. If you feed daily, cut back to every 2nd day then on weekends leave them 3 days without feeding.

I was about to say what Ira did (so figured I would still do so) - I think they come together.

They have to be wobbly rocks, with nowhere the cat can get to the water due to moving ground.

Check the impeller

We went up to the Top House pub (by Lake Rotoiti) for lunch with the MX5 Club. It rained, hailed, then snowed. Lovely. It is now 3.1C here and we have had no power for about half an hour after a car took out a power pole up past our place

If she belongs to a union she should contact it.

Many today do not know how to budget.

OK I am locking this as I can't believe how off topic it has gone. For goodness sake people, think before you post and stop letting others wind you up! It only encourages them and gives them a ready source of amusement and entertainment. :roll:

Well there you go. I think kiwiplymouth might have hit on the right answer there.