Caryl

I think some people here will want to throttle you when you return gannet :lol:

Someone gave us some Prenzels Tipsy Topping and one day I realised the level was dropping dramatically. A quick check and I discovered our young son had been pouring it on his Weetbix! Anyway... back to the scratches. Have you tried any of the suggested methods yet?

Farm stores or vets ought to be able to supply you with long sleeved gloves. If they are strong enough to cope with being shoved up a bovine behind, they ought to be tough enough for work in your pond

A couple on this site have been advertising them. You can also try sports shops as skiers put little heat pads in their pockets when out in the snow.

Try removing as much as possible then doing a total blackout for 3 or 4 days. This will upset the plants a little but they will recover. If this fails, I can offer some erythromycin (a prescription only drug) that will kill it. Always best to try non med or chemical options first

Most plants will grow tall More vallis? Rotala. The rush ought to last 2 or 3 years before it rots.

A tornado would remove the sand (or was that Palmerston North? :-? )

You don't have to stay for the whole meeting. It starts at 5 but some come and go throughout the evening. Very informal. We will be there early and leave early as we have a house warming party to attend

There's lots of small and colourful barbs, plus rummy nose tetras and harlequins. The Rasbora hengeli is gorgeous.

Looking good but if I may make a comment... does the paler bit of driftwood have to be there? To me it looks out of place as though it was an afterthought and detracts from the rest as it catches the eye. Might be just the reflection from the camera flash of course. Is that Japanese rush you have at the right hand end? If so, it looks like it is planted a little too deeply (might just be the camera angle though). It is also not a true aquatic plant so won't survive I love the driftwood at the left. Did you find it somewhere on a beach or river bank or is it not real?

Welcome dcase. You will find plenty of help here. The first thing you need to learn is about the aquarium cycle. There is good information here; http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling.htm Your tank is not big enough for sharks or clowns by the way. The danios are a good fish to start with and cope with the cycling well. I think I saw the backgrounds you referred to at Redwood Aquatics.

I have never yet had a piece of driftwood that leached tannins. Just lucky I guess 8)

The subject heading says it all gatito :lol:

I can bring a poly box for you when I come down on Saturday if you like Milet. I have spares as my boss gives me all the flu vaccine boxes

Very nice nemines 8)

I bred rosy barbs outside in a pond. They are smaller than golden barbs and they never got liquifry or BBS. I didn't actually feed them outside mind you, they existed on whatever greeblies had grown in the pond over summer

Golden barb fry are quite large. They ought to be able to eat finely crushed flake food from the start but newly hatched brine shrimp is good for them too.

Come along to the next Tasman Aquarium Club meeting Dan for lots of helpful advice http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/tasman ... 22558.html

I knew there was a name for them Ira but I went blank! :lol: Had a blonde moment (thanks to the hairdresser, who touched up the silver today)

Send a PM to AMAZONIAN in here as he is president of the Tasman Aquarium Club. You will find posts from him in the club section advertising the date and place of the next meeting. Come and join us!

I am in ChCh this weekend navarre if you want someone to come photograph the fish for you. If you do, send me a PM with your address and a contact number so I can arrange a time.

Many people use the reddy/orange drainage pipes for caves for large plecs etc.

I was told that willow is toxic but not sure how this can be when most riverbanks have willows growing there :-? Look for native hard woods like rata and rimu. These are excellent. Mostly found up rivers or on the beach by river mouths, especially on the West Coast. Make sure the wood you pick is not rotting.

I have a mature tank (heavily planted, well filtered and understocked) and all adult fish which get fed once or twice a week so I can go away for a week or 2 without having to worry about getting someone in to feed them

Posting live animals like that, with insufficient protection is probably illegal. Complain to TradeMe itself as it is totally unacceptable whether he/she finally gives you a refund or not. :evil: