Caryl

Snail shells are made of calcium carbonate. They need an alkaline pH to stay in good condition as acidic water will erode them. People use shells to raise their tank pH. Do you just have the shells or are they live snails?

My tanks are all about 22C unless it is summer then they heat to whatever the room temp is - anything from 24 - 33C

I think they are only waterproof on the Seratone side. The rest would rot under water.

CONGRATULATIONS! Yes we had a great trip away thanks. Will get the pics resized and photobucketed soon I hope. Trying to catch up in here first.

I am wondering why someone is aerating their gourami :lol:

Ryan there are Jebo tanks and Jebo filters. Two separate things. The tanks have built-in filters in the lid I think.

Pity air fares have just gone up. I was thinking a visit to Brad might be in order

Sea horses are very difficult to feed as they take such microscopic foods and feed constantly. I don't keep them so can't help you further sorry.

A bit late cos I've been away, but I get wide razor scrapers from the $2 shop. They work well.

OK I understand the Snow White theme but where does the skeleton in the coffin and headstones come into that?

If this is just a breeding tank evil then the fry will LOVE the green water. Leave it as is.

All that sent to me, with article, would be appreciated for the Aquarium World magazine Michael

I get my rocks and driftwood from beaches. Never had a problem. Never boiled any of it either for that matter.

I use old filling for duvets. I was warned not to use the new stuff as it has flame retardant in it which may be toxic to fish. Anyone know anything about this?

BNs love getting under filter plates. Don't clean out too much under there as that 'sludge' is full of the good bacteria doing all the work.

All I know about seahorses are they are very difficult to feed unless you live on the beach with easy access to live microscopic greeblies in the seawater.

Lorraine if that is a new tank you have set up then return the rams and clowns to the shop immediately. The tank needs to cycle and rams are too sensitive to use for this. Also, clown loaches need a mature tank and will die in a newly set up tank. The filter bacteria will build up slowly over the next few weeks as a few fish produce waste. This waste gets turned into good stuff by the bacteria slowly building up in the filter. Too many fish at once will die of ammonia poisoning as there is not enough bacteria to convert all that waste. This process of building up the bacteria in the filters is called cycling and it is important. Some fish are hardier than others and can cope with cycling. Clown loaches are very sensitive fish prone to white spot disease. They are very hard to treat though because they do not have scales like most fish and are sensitive to medications.

Hi Shaun and sorry for the late welcome but I have been away with no Net access for 12 days (and no, I didn't miss it). :lol: The FNZAS is certainly going ahead at the moment, thanks a lot to this site.

Mikel you are surrounded by fishkeepers there with a very active Kapi-Mana club meeting in Tawa as well as a Wgtn club that meets umm, can't remember but check out Sue Fleet's posts as she has the information in her signature line! :lol: Kapi-Mana are hosting the FNZAS conference at Queen's Birthday this year so now isd a good time to get involved!

Sorry for the late welcome but I have been away. Sharn knows lots cos she asks lots of questions and listens to the answers

Hi Steve and welcome. Sorry for the late reply but I have been away for 12 days with no Net access except for being able to quickly download emails to stop the mailbox filling. Only about 650 emails to go through now. Hate to think how many there would have been without the spam filters! I am editor of the FNZAS Aquarium World magazine and am always on the lookout for items of interest and articles. If you would be willing to send me articles I would love you forever . Especially marine ones as I do not keep marines and know little about them. The marine keepers here don't seem to want to help

What else is in the tank?

I am but only have to stay one night thank goodness. 2 nights the following weekend.

You should be able to copy and paste it from the original

Dropped 1cm overnight At work all day so will have to talk to guys tonight to see what's next. Perhaps they should leave it several days and see if it just drops a little (to show it is still just the top) or if it empties. It didn't last time mind you so I suspect it is still a problem at the top somewhere. What do you mean 'on holiday again' wok? We don't get them very often, just weekends away usually.