Caryl

I never add any chemicals to my tank if I can help it.

Hi and welcome. Adding your location to your profile would be good too This is done through the user control panel at the top left.

Cryophytum (ice plants) cascade in a variety of bright colours. I think they are banned to sell now but plenty of people have them in their gardens to get some Arctotis - wide variety of colours, pretty gray leaves aubretia (aka aubrieta or aubrecia) - trailing evergreen with pink or purple flowers lobelia - upright and cascade in variety of colours begonias - flower profusely portulaca (sun plant & drought tolerant) variety of colours. Die off and then self seed everywhere alyssum - hardy white and pink. Self seed like portulaca pansies violets Celosia (cockscomb) - look like flames in red, yellow, orange and pink look through plants in nurseries or Warehouse as labels will tell you what conditions they require. Look for the mass blocks rather than individual plants.

If given the choice I would rather do water changes

Hi and welcome. Thank you for rescuing Coby

I would have thought those flavours would sort of clash with the banana though. I react badly to passionfruit

It isn't natural growth in many cases - it is silicon. Oh sorry, I was thinking of the blondes. My mistake :oops: :lol:

People can charge more if they say they are fancy guppies Same goes if you give them a fancy name :roll: Fancy, as far as I can tell but I don't keep guppies, usually refers to the longer and/or different shaped tails. A common guppy has a spade or rounded tail.

What flavour icing do you put on banana cake? We always used banana essence and the icing was white but these days the preference seems to be for chocolate icing. As far as I am concerned, chocolate icing on banana cake is only acceptable if the cake is split in half with banana slices then whipped cream added to the centre.

If you are doing a thorough clean of the substrate you will probably end up doing 50% anyway by the time you have finished siphoning It doesn't really matter since your filter is already cycled (and that is where the majority of the good bacteria are) and new fish are being added straight away (I assume).

OK, if I have read your post correctly, you have a 2ft cold water you want to convert to tropicals? I would do a thorough substrate vacuum (just to clean it up as goldfish are messy) then add the heater. No need for a complete water change. When I set up my African tank I cycled it using goldfish then threw them out in the pond and added the heater to the tank. Once it was up to temperature the Africans went in. Leave the algae for the BN. If it doesn't like your particular algae, you will have to clean it off but, if you're lucky, the BN will do it for you.

Ah but now we know we have to get through security gates, past guards, and take something to distract the guard dogs Anyone know where the master switch is for the floodlights? :lol:

In the past, members have recommended; Selleys Fosroc Siliaflex RTV Dow Corning 732

I would do what Aquilam_11 suggests. Make sure you buy the newer model elsewhere though

My Jebo 819 copes well on my 280L. I would run two of them on anything bigger though.

The one bringing in the heatpads is a commercial importer. We almost pulled his thread when he started it but then figured he knew what he was doing and would not get himself into trouble. It is very easy for people to say "Yeah I want one and will send the money!" but then don't. Or come up with excuses and say they will pay later. The one organising the bulk deal can be left holding the bag, so to speak. Once goods do arrive, some will claim they are not what they thought, or something else. All sorts of things can go wrong when you try and bring stuff in yourself (although it is great when all goes well too!) and there can be more expenses you did not expect at the start. The final cost can be the same, if not dearer, that if you bought the item in NZ. Exchange rates can vary (and take into account the right rate when working out the cost) Bear in mind other countries, as mentioned, run on different voltages (or whatever the word is :roll: ) or have different shaped plugs to ours. It can be hard to make a warranty claim or get your money back if the item breaks, or does not perform as expected. On the other hand, my husband imports a lot of Ham radio gear from overseas at a fraction of the cost of buying it here (and it arrives faster too! :-? and has had no problems so far

A bristlenose would have great trouble coping in a tank at a school as there is no heating overnight and I have never been in a well insulated class room! As said, they can cope with semi tropical but they are not cold water fish.

Also Sam, the rules state; No posts are to be made with the intention of forming a bulk purchase or import by invite to meet a minimum order quantity . The FNZAS website is not to be used in any way for any individual or business to prospect customers or form a buying group. We have had major problems in the past, at least one leading to a lawsuit, hence the rule :roll:

Yes, note my black mop was a lot thicker than the demonstration green one If you use poly to float it at the top you don't need anything to use to pull it out as you lift it by the poly which is always on the surface.

Depending on the temperature of the tank, bristlenose will cope with cooler temperatures. I used to have one in a goldfish tank inside and it went well. If you have a well insulated home it should be fine.

To get both sides to bunch together, tie another knot around all at the top, just below the original knot Tease out the individual strands of wool Here is one I prepared earlier :lol:

Cut through the strands at the opposite end to the knot It will look like this.

I have been playing. Note I had to use green gardening twine as I currently do not have any wool Pretend it is acrylic wool ok? 8) First, wrap the wool around a book. Size depends on how long you want your mop to be (and how deep the tank) Then tie a knot at one end

The only time you have over-filtered your tank is when the fish are having trouble swimming against the current

Thanks for adding that Zev, I forgot I have a bit of poly holding mine up. You will also have to do a bit of squishing and holding down of the wool for a few minutes at first to get it waterlogged enough so the strands stay underwater