Caryl

Some fish cope better than others. I did 50% changes on my Malawi tank with temp differences of around 10C and a pH change of 7.4 - 7.0 and it never bothered them. I had a trigger gun on the end of the hose and the fish would play in the current as the water blasted back into the tank under pressure.

So are the lid fasteners poorly made, cheap plastic, or are you guys just too rough?

I suspect it was just the faulty heaterstat that was the problem. Upgrading to a bigger tank the way you have is the correct way to do it.

Remove the driftwood and test it so you know for sure. If it isn't that then you can put it back again. I really hate people being told to add meds to a tank "cos it might be such and such.."

Your plant pic was fine. 8)

Tell them it is a dam and you will be fine. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/landsc ... 11825.html is the link to my pond building saga but you will be able to go even bigger, deeper and better. Depth is good and you need it big enough so the bridge doesn't overwhelm it. Don't have something with pockets around the edges as this will give you dead water areas where algae etc will love to grow. Oval, square, rectangular or kidney are easy and good shapes. I don't think temperature is a problem where you are otherwise I would recommend at least 90cm depth. One problem you may have is with ducks. They will pollute a fishpond, make a mess and eat the fish :roll:

Apart from your plants not being true aquatics, the brown algae is common in new tanks. Just wipe it off and eventually it will disappear as the tank matures.

If you want to contact someone in here, you will see at the bottom left of each person's post, buttons labelled email, PM etc. Just click on one of these to send a private message to the person concerned. Make sure you keep your pic size down.

Those selling the product will always rave about it

Hi and welcome puddle. I didn't know Greymouth had a lfs

Hi Paul and welcome

The glass flat on top is easiest. Alanmin tells me they don't like their dirt to be too acidic. I feed mine luncheon and bread.

The pet shop was wrong. :roll: I suggest a newbie get a test kit for pH, ammonia, nitrates and nitrites so if something goes wrong, you will be able to tell us what the readings are for these and that will help us diagnose the problem. I don't know about the test kit you linked to as I have never used it (and rarely use test kits myself)

Yeah but mine thought faster by 1 minute :lol:

Why are you wanting to use it at all? What is the pH of your tap water and what fish are you wanting to keep? Using chemicals to alter the pH is fraught with problems and often results in the pH swinging up and down - to the detriment of the fish.

What sort of husbandry information? I have been training Grant for 30 years now but still can't get him to put a new toilet roll on the holder when required! Do you have any helpful hints? :lol:

One site I found suggested (for bettas but I guess any fish) 1Tbs Epsom salts per gallon (US) and bathe fish in it for 15 - 20 mins. Can be repeated up to 2x daily. A goldfish site said 1 - 2 Tbs per 10 gallons (US). Yet another said 1 level tsp per 4 gallons (US) :roll: I have never tried Epsom Salts on fish so can't say from personal experience. It will take a day or 2 for it to work I suspect, especially since its digestive system will have shut down. There is no cure for the carp pox, it is a virus I think.

Good idea Stella

Does Timaru have chlorine added to their water supply?

By tumours, if you mean white wart-like lumps, that will be carp pox. Highly contagious but not life threatening. Like warts in humans. What do you mean by "old"? A goldfish can live over 30 years.

If it has never been outside I would wait for warmer weather (depending on your temps). Our big pond iced over last night. No I do not feed the fish over winter as they do not eat during the cold months.

Beaut flowers (and pics) Alan

The bigger the fish the bigger the poo. In an enclosed system it has nowhere to go.

You have to be careful feeding goldfish once the temp drops below 10C as their digestive systems shut down (only partially in warmer areas) and they can have constipation and other problems as their systems can't process the food as normal. I stopped feeding our pond fish a couple of months ago. If they can, put the fish in a small tank and bring the temp up in it. The fish should come right again. Once it has, put it back in the pond. Just a tank inside a warm house would do, no need for a heaterstat. A cooked, shelled pea would help it's digestion too.

I would definitely appreciate an article please Stella.