Caryl

Sounds good. A good selection of bottom, middle and top feeders. Remember blue rams need a mature tank (has run 6 months or longer) as well as lots of plants so make sure they are added well after the tank is established. Why only lightly planted? As said, the blue rams like plants and the Bolivians like a densely planted aquarium. Ottos like to hide under leaves and need plenty of hiding places to feel secure. I assume your gouramis will be 1M - 2F? More than 1 male will cause problems. A large shoal of rummy noses looks great! Once the tank is set up and running, if all is well I would consider adding to their numbers. The more you have, the more colourful they get and exhibit more shoaling behaviour.

Guppies are tropical. They can cope with slightly cooler temperatures than other tropical species, so semi-tropical, but should not be considered cold water species - no matter how many advertise them as such. I hope you realise you will not be able to keep paradisefishes with leopardfishes as the former will eat the latter.

It can be hard to figure out the cause of a problem like that. He could have been in a fight and been rammed, which caused internal damage. Maybe he was constipated. If he was bloated and the scales were sticking out, it was probably dropsy. Internal bacterial infections or parasites can also cause swelling. If it had been a female, she may have been egg bound. A fish with this problem is usually swollen more on one side than the other. Sorry you lost him before being able to diagnose the problem.

Not only am I young looking but I changed sex as well . That's my 3 year old grandson. Any time I come into these forums I see what posts have been made since my last visit so I can see you replied. I have bred rosy, tiger and Odessa barbs outside during summer in 6ft diameter paddling pools. Filled them with water and bunches of oxygen weed anchored down with rocks, waited until the water temperature was warm enough then threw a few fish in (each type in their own pool of course). At the end of summer I'd empty the pool and see how many fish there now were. They grew a lot larger and more colourful in the pools. I always have Odessa fry of varying sizes in my tank as the rotala is so thick there is always a handful of eggs that survive. Fish have personalities and some are peaceful and some are not. Sometimes it is a matter of trying to see who gets on with who. For example, some tiger barbs will be peaceful, others will attack anything and everything.

If you had used the old filter media as well you probably would not have had this problem. The tank is effectively re-cycling and the algae has nothing to compete with it, hence the green bloom. See if you can find some live daphnia (stock ponds are a great place to look if you know anyone with a farm or lifesyle block, or someone with a garden pond). The daphnia will clear it up overnight but you might need to temporarily remove the neons as they will eat the daphnia. Turn the lights off and cover the tank to totally block any light for 3 or 4 days. The fish won't mind but the algae need light to photosynthesise. After 3 or 4 days, siphon the gravel well doing about 50 - 75% water change to get rid of dead algae so it doesn't pollute the tank. Green water looks terrible but rest assured it is harmless to the fish.

Good looking setup. 1. I think those who have trouble with with incompatibility do so because they have too few of a specific species. If fish are busy schooling within their large group they usually have no time, or interest, in other species as they try to keep their own place in the pecking order of the group. I never had problems when I kept tiger barbs but I know many claim they are nasty. 2. My tank is also quite lowly stocked and heavily planted. A lot easier to look after and you have more time to fix things if a problem develops (power cut, filter stops etc). 3. Sorry can't help with this one. I have never used fertiliser or anything else in my tank and we don't have chlorine added. 4. You could be right but it is a hardy, fast grower so will out-compete anyway I suspect. I am inundated with C affinis and rotala at the moment. The fish are getting out their wee machetes to fight their way through the plant! Good for the Odessas though and they keep breeding happily with the eggs getting lost in the greenery.

Would love to see pics of it in action once you have it fixed Jaide. Have seen them online but not "live".

It is times like this that you find yourself wondering why you keep fish

If you just get 1 female guppy you are sure to end up with many more Add 4 fish then wait a month, then add another 4.

The tank layout does look nice but I am concerned the plants in there may not be aquatic. Of course, if they are actually synthetic then it isn't a problem :-) Minnows are fine in both cold and tropical tanks. Keep to a few small fish for an aquarium of that size. I always suggest people get more of one species rather than a few of several species. Get more minnows. Good starter fish would be guppies, platys, any of the small tetras, rasboras and a couple of ancistrus for the bottom level, or 3 small corydoras.

Another fish that can look quite uninteresting until you get a large group of them and then their colours really stand out.

Your tale of your venture into fish keeping is not uncommon. I think many of identify with the "I started with one tank but now have 6" Welcome to our forums.

Merry Christmas to you too and keep up the posts

About time for a pond update. Here it is in the middle of having the left side trimmed. It has to be emptied and repaired as it has developed a leak since the big quake. Every quake since seems to have made it a little worse. I don't mind having to keep topping it up at the moment but once summer hits and water restrictions are required I don't like to use so much. We have decided on using liquid rubber but will wait until after Christmas to give the latest fry a chance to grow enough so we might be able to catch them! We were going to line it but it will be too difficult, especially with the built in waterfall at one end and the overhanging decks at each end.

I have always liked these fish but they are not so common down here. They can often look quite pale and plain when in the shop but given the right conditions (and calmer surroundings than a busy shop) they will colour up beautifully.

I think it more a case of the big one bit the fish, not the other way around

Oh dear.I am sorry for your loss but see Livingart, it wasn't albino it was sick! If you want to shift suspicion, always blame the severums

It is a chocolate gourami but I am sorry to say I suspect it is not well

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.