Caryl

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

Very hard to see any other fish but did I see a hoplo catfish? Hoplosternum thoracatum Like this?

My pools were 29C yesterday and 19C at 7am this morning.

It often does this and new plantlets grow from the "rusty" bits.

Check with various ISPs about getting broadband installed. Perhaps it is time the people in the house where she is staying went to this :lol: How about the neighbours? Have they got broadband with a wireless link and are they friendly? I know it isn't the same but a lot of libraries these days offer free wireless, or some other form of internet access. I know ours does as you can't sit and read there anymore cos all the chairs and tables are taken up with young people and their laptops! Starbucks used to as well but I don't know if they still do. Telecom offer a month's trial for their broadband I think so that may be worth looking at (check their fine print though).

Manufacturers are now making fluorescent tubes narrower which is why you can't find matching ones. My concern would be moisture getting into the end caps but the heat from the tubes should be enough to keep them dry. As long as the caps can't fall off you should be right.

I find I often get a cloudy bloom like this when I do water changes over summer. It should clear on its own and isn't harmful to the fish.

Today at 4.15pm our outside thermometer (south side of house in shade) reads 30.4C. The 2 pools (183cm x 38cm) are sitting at 29C in partial shade. Thermometer at other end of house says 31.4C but it is a bit sheltered so reads a little high. Tanks are going to get too hot if sun hits glass.