Caryl

If you have no room for more fish then let it out of the net and "survival of the fittest". They will graze on fine food particles caught in the plants.

Why the baking soda?

Live bearers, like platys, need a sex ratio of 3 females at least to each male to spread aggression. Otherwise the males will eventually kill her.

I used to hatch BBS in 1kg Marmite or peanut butter jars. Just as good as "poison" bottles

What brains? :lol:

Stick your hand in with the fish, they will be most interested in what you are up to

I too would remove all the water. You are only going 3 blocks so the BNs will handle it cos the gravel will remain wet. They will also get moisture from the plants. I have had a BN out of the tank (hidden in a removed plant) for 2 hours before I saw it and put it back in the tank - no ill effects to the BN.

We made our own heat pad but the heat shrinking of the plugs etc was done by Argus Heating. They also worked out how much wire was needed and how many ohms. http://www.yellowpages.co.nz/search.ds; ... 0e3dc:xVGc

I think it needs the water flow through it. Even sponge filters have water going through. Just hang the extra filter in the main tank.

Those heating pads are not good under tanks and don't have thermostats

Bleach is often used and is fine as long as it is rinsed well and dried out.

I assure you I do check him for spots as well zev. And are you implying my shower isn't as clean as it might be? I know I don't do housework if I can possibly avoid it but I have been known to clean the bathroom on occasion :lol: I Googled for a pic of the fish and it is a nice looking specimen.

Well I hate to say it but your favourite is also the odd man out and will grow the biggest. He would be happiest in a pond. What about getting a fibreglass or plastic pond you can take with you when you move? Any space for one? You say you have 5 tanks. Is it not possible to spread the load out a bit over the other tanks or are they specialised (ie African, brackish etc)?

Grant does thorough checks regularly. I believe the last time was last night in the shower

Yes I have Alan, plus I am a Simpson 8) As I am not a male, I did not have blue spots on my flanks though

Guppies eat their fry whether they have been fed live food or not :roll:

Obviously named after me

He will last that long out of water actually. I have had BNs out of the tank (stuck in plant) for 2 hours with them surviving. Will one end of the ornament fot into a container? You only need the bit with the BN in it to be underwater. Yes, they are nocturnal.

Again that depends on the colour of the female. Pale ones will show the gravid spot sooner.

Why haven't you had the new filter on the old tank for the 4 weeks? It would already be cycled.

Not at all. You need at least TWO bigger tanks One for the angels and another for the guppy fry to grow out.

There are lots of diseases that won't necessarily show symptoms. Dosing the Q tank with all sorts of stuff "just in case" isn't the answer though. You have to hope the fish from the shop will not have any of these since they will have been treated in their Q tanks as well. Q is more for white spot and other stress related disease due to their move and new surroundings. I am never a fan of indiscriminate dosing for no reason. Fish will build up an immunity to some meds. In fact this is already happening - same as with humans. If you are Q tropicals then the Q tank needs to be heated. My daughter once lost all her guppies after buying a perfectly healthy guppy from a reputable shop. He happened to be a carrier for a disease her (homebred for several generations) guppies had not been exposed to before and the whole lot were wiped out overnight. No amount of Q could have saved them. The culprit was unaffected as he was immune to it from earlier exposures. Think what happened to the locals once the missionaries arrived with their bugs and diseases.

I have never had a Q tank set up permanently, just got water and filter out of main tank as needed. That is why I always have a small internal filter hanging in my main tank.

Jn as soon as the fish are removed the filter bacteria will start dying from lack of food. Assuming the quarantined fish had no diseases, clean out the Q filter then put it in a main tank to re-colonise until needed. The bacteria will not survive in a now empty tank.

Crushed flake