Caryl

If you do it all at once you lose all the good bacteria and the tank will have to cycle again. Change one drawer at a time, a month apart. Hmm doesn't sound like the lights are on too much or that you are overfeeding. Could be just phosphates in the water. I tend to have trouble only in summer months when the water table is low. I do not do any water changes over summr if I can help it for this reason (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!) :lol:

Why would you stop feeding? You want to feed them extra good food to condition them!

It is probably in the tree and you can't see it cos it is camouflaged

We work from home so don't get days off. You would be surprised how often someone will ring Christmas Day saying "Sorry, I know it's Christmas Day but..." :roll: So we are going out for the day and there is no cell phone coverage where we will be :lol:

How long do you have the lights on? I agree with Stella, too much light or too much food.

I was impressed you actually started by stating it was your own fault. It would have been easy to tell us you had had an accident without owning up to that. Well done.

Are they sure it's dropsy?

Some don't have a choice of companies :-?

What is everyone doing on Christmas Day or is it just another stat holiday for you? Having lunch with sister in law and various other inlaws then evening meal is a BBQ at daughter's place with whichever of my relatives are about. Who will you be with? Husband (plus whoever else is invited) Where? Okiwi Bay and Blenheim Does your family have any special Christmas traditions? No What did you ask Santa for? I didn't as we are heading overseas next year so figure that is enough.

Hi Fraser and welcome. You are probably the last to join before we move the site to the new server later today. Hope it doesn't confuse you! :lol:

There was a club in the North Shore but I think are in recess. Anyone got an update on this?

It happens so fast doesn't it? :-? Good nobody else was injured and yours don't appear to be serious.

I think they are just standard colour and pattern variations. Probably some gold morphs in the lineage somewhere too. Some of my females get quite long, straight bristles around the mouth but other don't. A bit like the males' bristle length, and amount of curl, varies between the fellas.

If you are asking then yes, it is definitely illegal. It is illegal in many other countries too.

The person you are arguing with does not live in NZ. Perhaps their regulations and laws differ from NZ.

Were the closeups of the fish taken at a different time to the pond pics? The pond looks very clear but the closeups don't. What a pity it dries up during summer months

Why do you need to heat it if it is only over summer? I breed tropicals outside over summer using a 6ft diameter kiddie pool. Don't need to heat it as it stays as warm as the tank inside, if not warmer during the day.

It has had a lot of rainwater in in recently :lol: How much peat would be required for a pond this size? I have a large filter I could stuff full of it. We have calculated roughly 6,600L of water. I think I would need a whole tree if I relied on driftwood :-?

I was just reading through a club newsletter in which one of their members was concerned about the high alkalinity in his concrete pond and wanted to know how to lower it. Since I had never checked the pH on my own pond I went out with the test tube and testing stuff - WOW what a gorgeous shade of deep blue! Now, obviously the fish don't care about the high pH (way off any charts I have) and have been merrily living and spawning (and being abducted by aliens to go Christmas shopping) in there for almost 3 years now but it might explain why the plants haven't taken off as well as I expected. When first built the pond was painted with some sort of coating but it is possible the concrete is leaching at the top edges. Anyone any ideas of naturally lowering pH in a large pond? Perhaps if I can find some barley straw this might help. I am curious to see if a lower pH makes the plants grow, since they prefer slight acidity.

It can be just as difficult with a budgie helping! :lol: He tends to eat the paper, throw the small things off the table, and chew at the string :roll:

Do you have any problems with the native fish reacting badly to medication?

I have lots of ideas but none that would be of any help to you at all! :-? I assume there is nothing in the tank that may have sucked on it?

I think it is often hard to tell as many cichlids here are hybrids.

Are you suggesting God sent them shopping Alan? :lol: I am pretty sure the extract works on green water, not just blue/green algae. I was right about the impending downpour too. We went to have lunch in town to celebrate my dad's 77th birthday (didn't think he would make this one as he has been very ill with a perforated gall bladder and not long out of hospital) and it bucketed down! It is now bright and sunny and very humid :roll:

I FOUND THEM!!!! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: It seems they have been Christmas shopping :lol: I went down today and lo and behold, I saw a flash of orange. Dropped a bit of food in but little interest. Looked under the deck - and there they all were this time, swimming about. I can only assume a combination of the water turning green lately, plus the cool snap, caused them to go deep and stop eating. I was aware they might be there but the water was too green to see them but was worried because they didn't seem to be eating. It is also possible they have been frightened as well which has kept them out of sight. Here is the pond today. Love the black clouds in the background! I think we will get a downpour soon; Here they are, blurry cos they are under the deck, but you can see how green the water is; Has anyone used the barley straw extract? Does it work? Barley straw doesn't seem to be grown locally :roll: