Caryl

Probably because we are the only two who regularly post in here 😞 It saddens me when I remember how vibrant and helpful a community it was in the beginning.

I was amused to see that after many many years of moderating this forum from its inception by Cees Lensink (I was the original moderator even before he gave it to the FNZAS), this morning I received a notification that said "Congratulations, you've increased your rank to Apprentice." 🙂

Fast little growers!

Hopefully, as the plants grow, they will out-compete the hair algae and it will disappear as the tank matures since all your parameters seem OK. It particularly likes slow growing, wide leaved plants like Java fern and Anubias. Perhaps adding more fast growing plants might help, like more wisteria. I used to plant some and leave the rest floating. I don't remember reduced lighting having much effect when it came to limiting hair algae.

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Anyone in Blenheim (or surrounds) want a Blue Planet aquarium 58cm x 30cm x 42cm high? FREE to take away. Glass is in good condition. Has live filter bacteria in it at the moment as I just started emptying it after putting the goldfish outside in a pond. Comes with internal pump & filter. Has a lid with a light built in but the light doesn't go. Easy to replace the light I imagine. Must be picked up as I have no intention of trying to get it to a courier.

Why not just re-seal it?

You were very lucky and this is a timely reminder that water and electricity do not mix! We all know better but still make mistakes.

Oh well, at least you had fun considering options 🙂

Merry Fishmas to everyone! Hope you all had a nice Christmas day. My grandson got an aquarium, much to his delight. They used to have a tropical one (and his mum keeps frogs) but got rid of it when they moved (after quake mess in other house) but 8 year old has been asking for some time now and loves feeding my fish when they're here. Will be just cold water this time, probably with a couple of fancy goldfish as it isn't big enough for more. The boys have been with their aunty since school finished then brought straight up to our region so the parents, at home, had time to set it all up while they weren't there to see. He opened an empty box on Christmas day but was quickly assure the actual tank was already set up at home and waiting for him to choose a fish when they get home (heading home today). They (he and his little brother) have always liked helping do water changes so know how to look after fish.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300767665/huge-berlin-aquarium-bursts-releasing-veritable-tsunami-of-water-and-1500-fish

I rarely see 10 at once to register a breeding. I now have at least 4 (seen at once) brown Ancistrus fry zipping about as well.

Thank you. Has someone actually got the Common Seal mentioned in the constitution? I know it had been lost for many years and I have never seen it used in the 30+ years I have been a member of the FNZAS. Asking out of curiosity.

Google tells me (I have no personal experience with pukekos) that they are tribal birds so if you release one back to the wild the other pukekos will kill it. Apparently they can be great pets when hand raised so being on its own won't worry it. They have a life span of around 9 years.

I went tropical freshwater as I wanted an easy care aquarium that required little maintenance and would not be a problem when I went on holiday. As much as I love looking at marine aquariums, they are too much work for me. Good luck and show us your progress.

OK then. You need to look at the basic differences between the two and decide if you have the money and time to devote to a marine (I guess I should not mention a native marine which is easier and cheaper than a tropical marine). If not, go freshwater. Money and time are the main differences between the two. The money part especially will be ongoing. If neither money, nor time, are problems, then you need to decide which you like the look of the best as there are different pros and cons for either option with too many variables.

As you know, cost is the biggest factor with marines being more expensive to set up and run. Have you thought about hedging your bets and going brackish? 😉

What to do depends on the outcome you wish to achieve. If you only have a small pond, and no room for more fish, then there was no need to do anything. You could just leave the fish alone and they would do what comes naturally then eat most of the fry. One or two might survive this. As you decided to try and raise some fry, why not put the original fish back in the pond and raise the fry in the paddling pool? You can't raise goldfish in a bowl as they are very messy fish and produce too much waste. No gear needed.

Solder is only about 60% lead. On it's own it would too soft. You need a flux too. What are you trying to do?

The browns are reproducing as well.

Don't know if it is one of the previously seen two or another one.

Terrible photo as glass was dirty and lots of reflections from surrounding windows but I wanted to get some photos before they disappeared again. There is a teenage ancistrus (the one on the left side of the aquarium, you can just see a bit of the head) and 2 fry. You can just see dad's bristles bottom right

When you buy several fish from a somewhere, chances are they are from the same spawning or hatching, so the same age. This means you can get several die at once, not because they have a disease, but because they are the same age and dying of old age at similar times. I doubt the pH has anything to do with your problems. I have often seen a group of fish bully a single one that has been added at a different time.

This is not something I have come across before. I did a quick online search and found another fishkeeper with the same problem in his X-ray tetras but nobody had any ideas in that forum either. 😞 It does seem odd that you have lost a few fish, all seemingly for different reasons. Do you have a test kit to check the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? Water changes are all well and good but do you know what the council is adding to the water? Our local water used to be good but now the council adds lime water and caustic soda to raise the pH as it was corroding the pipes. I know of local fishkeepers who have had major algae problems since council started doing this but have not noticed any difference myself, probably because I am a terrible fishkeeper and do not do regular water changes! My tank is heavily planted and the fish load is small. Every time you add a medication to the water, you are upsetting the nutrient cycle, possibly meaning it has to go through a full cycle again. I rarely add anything to the water, especially if I do not have a definitive diagnosis of the suspected disease. If a fish needs medicating, I separate it and treat it in a small container. That just made me think - if it is only one fish getting sick at a time, it is unlikely to be something wrong with the tank as a whole or you would get several sick fish at once. It is new fish that are dying? Perhaps they already had something while in the shop. Do you quarantine your fish before adding them to your main tank?