Caryl

I wouldn't worry about the alkalinity. I am sure the fish being sold in shops are in plain Wgtn water. You could ask them to test the pH of their shop tanks to check. The acidity is more important when breeding them. Once you start mucking about with the water you have endless problems keeping it stable, especially in such a small tank. I used to keep Africans and they were perfectly happy in neutral water instead of the alkaline waters it is said they prefer. The breeder pointed out he was breeding them in neutral water and since his fish couldn't read they didn't know they were supposed to prefer it a lot more alkaline How alkaline is Wgtn water? It surely can't be too bad as councils try to keep the water as neutral as possible to protect the pipework.

Odessas and Ancistrus are all I have left in my 4ft tank of geriatric fishes. Not all are old though as both keep reproducing. I have bred them outside in a kiddie pool over summer and the results are bigger, brighter Odessas!

You could also be annoyingly pleased or pleasingly annoyed It is waiting for you to go away for it to pack in totally.

I enjoy your mini profiles thank you Boban_nz. The black phantom is often under-rated but they can look spectacular in a large group.

Clown loaches are lovely when they are young and colourful. Impressive when fully grown though, even though they lose that bright colour.

Not that I can think of.

I don't currently have bacopa but did so, with no extra fertiliser, many years ago. I currently have Anubias nana, C affinis, Java fern, Java moss and mini sagittaria. Every now and then a tiger lotus or two appear, grow madly and overtake one end of the tank, flower, then die off again. Never add anything to my tank if I can help it.

I might be able to help you here. I will get back to you after doing some checking (see my PM. I sent it before I saw this thread)

I have Anubias nana and C affinis (tons of it). I will send you a PM

I will have to leave that for someone else to answer Chou99 as I have never used any chemicals either.

Thanks for that boban_nz. As usual, your photos and videos are topnotch I like zebra and leopard danios but am in agreement with fmueller in that I don't like albino and long finned varieties. Isn't it good that there is a fish for everyone?

It is an old joke fmueller but, unfortunately, accurate.

None of those plants require fertiliser balls. In fact, I have never used added fertiliser and have to keep hauling excess plant from my tank as it all grows so well. There are some heavy feeders who do require excess fertilising but the ones you have aren't in that group.

I was relieved to see the full subject heading as on the index it says " F/s guppies some with flu..."

Is she able to eat? Are her fins clamped? Make sure her water is in the best condition and give her a day or two to see if she comes right (assuming she does not appear too stressed at being upside down).

The bigger the tank the less aggression as they have space to move away. I found dwarf gouramis did not go well with standard sized ones but others have had no problems. A lot depends on tank size, planting and the nature of the individual fishes. Blue gouramis are stroppier than the others and, if I remember correctly (it was a long time ago) the pearls caused problems too. I would stay away from angels in a tank that small (and they will grow faster than the tetras so the neons would have a shortened life span) and stick to dwarf gouramis as a feature fish..

Hope you get another tank started, even a small one, and that you enjoy your time here.

Looks too wide leafed to be a spider plant to me. Whatever it is, I don't think it is a true aquatic plant.

I replied to this in the other thread where you asked and gave you a link to Stella's Native Freshwater Fish FB page.

Check out Stella's native fish FB page. Full of fascinating information and, if you ask there, she will probably reply promptly (or tell you to do your own research ) https://www.facebook.com/nznativefish/

It is finding someone local I would trust to install it that's the problem! The ones lining the big dams are not interested in little pond jobs.

Got a call from EQC today. Told them about the pond leaking since the quake and they said they would send an assessor to have a look. No mention of "sorry, we don't do ponds". AMI are handling it and they are also our insurer so if it fails from an EQC point perhaps we can get it under our own insurance policy. Fingers crossed! A decent liner will cost between $2000 and $3000 and that doesn't include freight/delivery of the liner, which is heavy! Not something we will be able to handle ourselves as we are old and, in Grant's case, arthritic!

I have crypts and some Anubias nana.

Ahh, hadn't seen that Ira. Thanks. We will see what happens. If they won't come to the party then we will try our insurance company instead. Have no proof either way as whether it was caused by quake except it did not leak before the quake (apart from when it was first built and that was fixed) but has done so since.

Damn, I will have to go and buy some stilettos then We thought the pond leak was worse but a closer look revealed a blocked bit in the filter meant the box inside the decorative housing was overflowing, hence the more dramatic water loss. Filter has been cleaned out and we reduced the water flow too. Would still like to line the pond but unsure if EQC will pay for it as I don't think we can prove it has only been leaking since, and as a direct result of, the quake.