Caryl

When I was 15 or 16 (way back in the dark ages) my dad built a pond in the backyard (I have a photo somewhere of my friend and I swimming in it before he added the goldfish). Up until then we had some goldfish inside in a bowl. Once a week they would get poured into a jug while the stones and bowl got scrubbed out in hot soapy water then rinsed, filled up with very cold water direct from the well, then the fish were thrown back in for another week. Not only did they survive this regime but they went on to live long productive lives in the pond. Once married, Grant and I decided a fish tank would be interesting so we went to the local garden centre (our only option) and were told all the wrong things, sold the wrong things, sold the wrong fish - you name it, we did it wrong. Then came an advert in the local paper from people wanting others interested in starting a fish club. We went to that meeting (Feb 1989) and have been in the Marlborough Aquarium Club, followed by the FNZAS (1992), ever since. Thankfully our fish keeping also improved once we were better informed (no internet or Google in those days!) and have acquired, over the years, an extensive fish keeping library. At the height of our fish keeping we had 18 tanks spread throughout the house, including 2 or 3 each in the kids' rooms. This was because we often kept incompatible fish so always needed "just one more tank" to house the latest acquisition. We have kept tropical freshwater and cold and a local cold marine over the years. We now only have 1 x 280L freshwater tropical, filled with geriatrics plus a few younger ones who keep spawning and so keep the fish levels relatively stable plus a large goldfish pond.

I will probably be criticized for this but I did a water change on my tank before we went away on the 7th April. I think it was the 2nd water change my tank has had this year. It mostly just gets topped up. It is chock full of plants and has a low bioload of fish.

I would experiment and see if you note any changes.

I do not know what you have locally but I just gather oxygen weed from my local river. That many fish in a container of that size will be producing a lot of waste (fertiliser) which the algae will love. Is it shaded at all? Too much sunlight will also add to the problem. Being only 500mm, it will heat up well in summer so you will need to check for oxygen deprivation as the fish grow.

Hi. Good luck with the breeding programme

Welcome back. Taking your time will help you finalise your ideas and hopefully the savings will be enough by then to afford what you want.

Congratulations and good luck. I have just returned from visiting my 4 month old grandson. They grow up so fast! As for your comment Ira - you should know better than to flush something that large! It is also poor fish keeping practice. We do not suggest flushing anything like that into our waterways :facepalm:

I know nothing about marines personally but Godly3vil is nearby.

Hi and welcome. You have started the same way as the majority here 8)

I hope so. I also figured it was better than picking up the filter 4 days before any fish would be added.

Thanks for the confirmation. I did suggest he didn't feed them anyway until they settled.

I have fully cycled a filter on my 4ft tank, housing 30 - 40 Odessas plus I don't know how many Ancistrus, for a lad setting up a 3ft. He has had his tank running a while, checking the temperature is correct and stable, and planted it 2 or 3 weeks ago. He is ready to add fish at the weekend but I will be away and can't guarantee Grant will be available when he wants to pick up his filter. Would it be OK to add some fish (at this point he plans 8 danios) on Sunday but not add the filter until Tuesday? I can't see the waste from them building up much between Sunday and Tuesday when the fully cycled filter will be added. Once he has the filter on it he can then add more fish.

All right you lot, back to the original question - are tattooed fish legal in NZ? If you do not know the answer to this then please refrain from commenting in this thread.

They are good live fish food.

This thread was started by Godly3vil and as he has been contributing to the change in topic there has been no need to split the thread. I have been searching but can find no mention of them being legal or otherwise in NZ but suspect they have not been brought in because they know many would kick up a stink about it.

It is difficult if the room temp is high. Frozen bottles of water (I used to use 3L juice containers as they take longer to defrost) or Slikka pads work well. You could also try putting polystyrene around the tank if you are not home during the day. Aim a fan to blow across the water surface Turn any lighting off.

That tank is really not big enough for schooling fish larger than neons.

These comets aren't in the 50L tank you were asking for are they?

What about a gold bristlenose?

1cm should be thick enough. Try whiteware outlets as fridges and freezers come packed with poly sheets.

What sized heater do you have and how insulated is the room? You may need a larger heaterstat depending on how cold your room gets.

Access to a quarantine facility and lots of money ;-)

Pick the plantlets off the leaves before they float free. The three SanityChelle mentioned are the ones I know too. Java, like many plants, grows differently according to conditions and lighting so two plants from the same parent can look a lot different in different tanks.

Pull them away before they clog the filter, grow them to a reasonable size then sell them.

You are welcome to email pics to me and I will post them on your behalf.