Caryl

I realise the topic here is 'loose braces' but if I may digress a little I wondered, since you say you are from Israel (I assume you are actually living IN it as well), do you have a good selection of fish and corals etc over there?

She has so little plant left, mainly Java fern, that it wouldn't mattre wok. Rona, I don't think I have ever seen SAEs in our garden centre shop. You also have to be careful as some that are sold as SAE are not at all but look almost identical, unless you know what to look for. One of them has the black stripe right through the body and the other doesn't but I can't remember which was which! I will be in Nelson tomorrow Rona and will check the fish shops there. If they have some I will get a couple if you like. Corys are Corydoras catfish. Most common are albino or leopard cats. Do a Google on Corydoras aeneus and C paleatus as they are the 2 most likely to be found in our local establishment. There are many others as well with a variety of different patterns and markings.

Hi Lisa and welcome to NZ 8)

Simple. The NZKA is a postal group only who share information, eggs and fish (all killies of course). They meet once a year for their AGM and often have a fish show at the same time. Great fun. I have attended a couple of them as we used to have the FNZAS exec meets at the same time and place when several people were members of both. They are dedicated to keeping the species alive and growing in NZ. They are affiliated to the FNZAS so all NZKA members also get free Aquarium World magazines and a Year Book plus the discounts offered by some retailers exclusively to FNZAS members.

Cath's link works for me now. Both pics loaded within 1sec but I have broadband I do not see what all the fuss is about. It is so simple to put a small pic in here and if you want then link it to a bigger image. Sorry about the meal Cees. Hope nobody suffered any ill effects. A friend of ours had a work trip organised to the local paintball game place. As arranged, 30 of them turned up - but nobody from the company did! At least it didn't involve food :lol: We are going out for a company meal in Nelson on Monday night so I hope we enjoy it. It is a restaurant out on the port road and supposed to have a good reputation so fingers crossed. Perhaps I will photograph the meal and post a thumbnail of it :lol:

OK I went and had a look. Rona has the dreaded black brush algae!!!! :evil: Anyone managed to get rid of this without stripping the tank? The following is an excerpt from www.thekrib.com in a disucssion on how BBA overtook one man's tank, after no problems for 3 years, and his attempts to get rid of it... "It was an exasperating experience with many drastic measures taken (ie. UV water treatment for 3 weeks, Diatom filtering for days on end, assorted anti-algae treatments) lotsa advice was received but not much seemed to apply or work. From some of these rather radical tests did find out some interesting things about this BBA: It has shown to survive a temperature range to 40 deg (F) to about 125 deg (F) as long as it has light. Removal of light does not kill it it just suspends/retards its growth. If a pile of it is removed it emits a real foul and pugnet smell immediately. If you were to squish it between your fingers it seems to feel oily in texture. Old Gravel with BBA on it that was used as a covering on several outdoor window box planters, retarded or limited the growth of the assorted outdoor pansys that were normally planted in them. Old gravel that has wintered outdoors on the ground, put into a container with aquarium water and left in the sunshine, will exhibit new BBA growth within 4 - 6 weeks. Tests at a LFS of every algaecide that they had, showed at best only a mild retarding of growth. Water PH quality does not seem to affect its growth or propagation." I found some sites said Siamese algae eaters would eat it and others said nothing would. One man claimed to get rid of it using a syringe of hydrogen peroxide (although it also killed the plants). Another site says use of CO2 gets rid of it.

All the well known brands are fine. Live foods are best for growth.

Hey Cath I have tried your link but it says the page can't be displayed.

Happy to come and look at it if you like Rona. Have you any live plants in the tank?

Not having done this I really don't know but would have thought 24 hours would do it. Hopefully someone who has experience with this will add their 2 cents worth.

The one time I used a banana skin, it formed a film on the surface and killed all my daphnia

To get rid of what's left, put carbon in the filter. This will remove all remaining meds very quickly.

Gee my rosy barbs are getting around! Perhaps I ought to breed more. I thought I would try golden barbs in the pond this summer. Enjoy the barbs tsarmina. 8)

They need rinsing (in a bucket using tank water) when they get clogged enough to slow the water current too much. If your filter has more than one sponge, rinse only one each time then you always have plenty of the good bacteria left to keep working.

Fish like to sleep too. leave lights on all the time and you will have big algae problems. About 12 hours is usual. I use an auto timer to turn them on and off.

The Warehouse is just up the road . He might to wander around in there.

Speights Brewery is not far away from The Pet Warehouse

My bristlenoses have never grown that big. I have 8+ in my 250L and the biggest female (who is over 7 years old) is about 10 - 12cm and the males are around 8cm.

I've got them too

Just keep it wet

Your tank is not big enough for 1 plecostomus let alone 2. Assuming that is what they really are. If you mean bristlenose (Ancistrus sp.), which are often referred to as bristlenose plecs (but are not plecs at all) then they are fine.

Not only have I already ordered but I have PAID too so I should get a bigger bonus than Blue :lol: :lol:

If it is light green it will just be a normal little algae bloom, common in a new tank as it settles. It should sort itself out as the tank matures and the plants grow. An inbalance of nutrients and stuff will have caused it.

I do know that thanks. It doesn't alter my reply.

Your council will have their own regulations regarding pool fencing alanmin4304, they may differ from ours. It varies from council to council. Since the weed was neither bought, nor sold, it is legal. It came from the middle of the council's park . Our local waterways are all choked with it.