Caryl

MTS - multiple tank syndrome . A disease known to hobbyists who find they need "just one more tank" for that new species, those angel fry, that new fish etc etc etc :lol: Are you able to show us a pic of your fish?

North Shore meet 1st Tuesday of month, 7.30pm, at Sunnynook Community Centre, 148 Sycamore Dr. Sunnynook. President is Tony Black

These forums are here to help all. If people start just emailing individuals it will not help others who have similar questions but who won't see the answers if they are not posted here. Please keep questions and answers where all may see and benefit - and offer their 2c worth

There is also North Shore who meet 1st Tuesday of month, 7.30pm, at Sunnynook Community Centre, 148 Sycamore Dr. Sunnynook.

Why not? If you suspect something get them to check it. Sounds to me like poor quality fish.

Quite possible as I was not aware the two mentioned were two different critters.

They are two separate clubs (and Loopy belongs to them both). The reason you only see Canterbury in the clubs list is because they are affiliated to the FNZAS whereas, at this point, Totally Tanked are not.

Ask MAF

Water boatmen are quite big and nasty. They will also eat fish eggs. It doesn't mean there will be daphnia as well but a good chance there will be. I always get a few boatmen in my daphnia but don't know whether I would get daphnia just cos I had boatmen :roll:

The reason I remember you so well is because you were setting up some display tanks of very large goldfish. You filled the tanks from the fire hose and the smell of chlorine was very strong. You then just dumped the fish in. When I queried this, you said you didn't have the time to waste getting fish used to different waters and chlorine etc and that they had learned to cope with it!

Limestone will raise the pH, which is what you want with those Africans. I had limestone in my tank for that reason.

They wil get aggro if anything approaches but rarely do damage. Fry will be free swimming after 4 or 5 days I think once they have absorbed the egg sac.

If you get all those fish you will be overstocked. I agree with Alan re the golden algae eater too. I would also not add a Siamese fighter to that mix. 2 bleeding hearts is not good as they are a shoaling fish. Glass catfish are a mid water shoaling fish and are insectivores so their diet should include live foods as well. The emerald barbs are also a shoaling species. Try narrowing down your types of fish. A larger group of one type is more dynamic than lots of individual or pairs of several species. Instead of 2 bleeding hearts, 5 pearl danios, 4 serpaes and 2 emerald barbs I would go for a 13 of the same species. They wil look much better.

Tropical fish advertised as "cold" can usually take down to about 18C. This does not mean it is ideal for all of them.

They can handle lower temperatures, if it has dropped slowly, but only for a short time. As you saw, they could survive but were very inactive. What they can handle, and what they should be kept in, are two different things.

Yes you can buy under tank heat pads but they are expensive. We have made our own in the past but you need sound electrical knowledge before building such a thing. Also, I believe it is now very difficult to buy the separate thermostat required to control the temperature. A good idea would be to ask someone with an established tank if you can run your filter off their tank for a few weeks while you get your tank organised. This will mean you have already got a good bacterial supply to start when you are ready to stock your tank. Mitch should be able to help there.

Hi Jo. Good to see you are still around. We met once many years ago at the North Shore conference (hate to think how many years agho that was). 8)

Perhaps you ought to give your female BN some other options as she just might want to spawn with a different male

Zebras and leopards like 22 - 24C but pearls prefer a bit warmer 24 - 26C

Tis yours thank you evil. I am going to try and divide it today as I am assuming it is several plants now, as AMAZONIAN wants a bit of it and we are going to the Tasman Aquarium Club's AGM and 1st birthday meeting tonight! :bounce:

Certainly. If you leave the net in the main tank the adult angels will have great fun sucking the fry through the net 8) Leave a light on all the time (doesn't have to be much) to help the parents guard otherwise they won't last anyway.

Bet it was one of the other barbs. It should be fine. Just keep an eye out for secondary fungal infection (would may go fluffy round the edges). If this happens, isolate fish and treat with an antifungal med.

I only clean my filters when the water flow back into the tank is seriously reduced. My current filter was cleaned after running 12 months. Smaller filters will need cleaning out more often though as they gunk up faster. A lot depends on fish load and plants. If you have fish that like to nibble the plants they wil tend to block a filter a little more quickly with leafy bits. :roll: A weekly or fortnightly water change is good. 20% is a nice amount or a quarter.

Look at the plant growth on the red lotus between the 1st pic taken in May and the next in July. The other plants have been pruned 3x in between... I do not use any fancy substrate or CO2 nor do I use fertilisers.

They are harmless so don't worry. To remove the film, use paper towel or newsprint. Lie it on the surface then pick it up as soon sa it is wet.