Caryl

You are so right Barrie. We had to pay over 20% deposit. Plus, once we had the house we didn't have fancy new carpets throughout (in fact we had bare floors for several years) and no curtains, just sheets tacked up for privacy. These days people borrow more than they can afford, buy more than they need, then complain when they can't make the payments! We are now mortgage free after many years working and saving hard and have reached a time in our life where we can enjoy the fruits of our labours. Everything in our home we have cos we saved up for it and paid cash, that includes cars. Do not get sucked into the "buy now pay later" or "5 years interest free" cos they are a crock!

Young ones don't seem to realise these filter thingies are a new-fangled invention! :lol:

Shine a torch down on top and you should see their eyes reflect in the torchlight. Very tiny with big eyes.

Welcome rugz. Yes, swords are tropical but if you live in a warmer climate with a well insulated house (temp above 18C or so), they can live without a heater. That doesn't make them cold water though.

I must have been lucky then as I have sent many plants all over the place this way and all have arrived in good condition without leaking :-?

It depends on the plant. I send java moss in an envelope. I zip it into a sealable bag first then tape that bag down as an extra security measure. You can squish most of the air out of it, and don't need water. At the other end, the moss perks up once dropped back into water. Other plants I zip into a sealable bag with a tsp of water then tape the bag down. I then put that in a 2nd bag and seal it the same way (to be sure to be sure). Leave a little air in it so it doesn't squish the leaves. Put into a bubble bag and post.

I honestly don't know. Insects etc live in and on the bark in the wild though. I gather it isn't going to be submerged?

Bark appears to be very expensive and mostly available here as cork tiles. I gather these are not suitable. You can get small bits of bark as orchid growers use them.

Marlborough District Council - Blenheim An aquarium in the main council reception with banded kokopu, redfin and upland bullies, torrrentfish, inanga and crayfish. They do??? Never seen it. Must go look.

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling.htm

So does the dollar coin grow up to be a $50 note? :lol: (and I thought pet rocks were unusual) :roll:

Could be the hot weather. Also check it hasn't got a stone stuck in its throat. Goldfish are good at that :roll:

No - not allowed

Goldfish come in all colours. You may find they change colour as they age. I had white goldfish with long flowing red fins. After a few years they changed to all over orange :-? There probably aren't so many that colour around as people like goldfish because of the gold colour. Red seems to be most popular.

A filter should run 24/7. If it does not, you might as well not use one at all. 2 small fish in a 40L tank should be fine without a filter as long as you do regular water changes. Better to do lots of small ones rather than fewer larger ones.

TM I am now considering a UV unit. Yes there is a pump there as it runs the filter and pumps the water up through it and over the waterfall. It is a Laguna 6 which says it does 6200l/hr.

I get the online version. Read bits but tend to forget to read the rest. A very interesting magazine. I used to buy it but we were spending so much on magazines we cut back. I often use back issues for reference when doing the Aquarium World.

Tme watching fish is not time wasted. It is time refreshing the mind and spirit and lowering the blood pressure. unless the fish are dying of unknown causes, or the tank has sprung a leak, or the hose has fallen off the filter during the night and drained the tank, or.... :lol:

Thanks for the hints as none of us have done it before. We will probably have at least 2 kids with us so they will be warned!! :lol:

On Jan 21st we are planning a night club trip to White's Bay (20 minutes from town) to look for stuff in the stream there. According to the local freebie paper, it is possible to spot short finned eels, redfin and common bullies and banded kokopu.

This is true Simian. I was thinking of my own, which are different sizes, but mine actually sit in a reflector which sits on top of a glass lid. If the end caps are firm it should be OK.

You don't need to soak it to get rid of accumulated salt as the salt is only on the surface and in nooks and crannies. A good spray with the hose fixes that.

So you are taking in strays now too Stella? :lol:

Hi and welcome. Good to see you didn't give up!

The bigger the fish the more trainable they are. Ask oscar owners