Caryl

Mollies come in different colours - black, white and marbled at least. I never thought they looked much like goldfish Platies come in reds, oranges, yellow, marbled, and blueish. They also have variations like tuxedo platys where the body will be red and the fins black. A Mickey Mouse platy is red or orange with the shape of MM ears in black at the base of the tail. There are many variations. This goes for swords too.

Have you thought of mollies? They like a touch of salt in the water too. I would prefer to see angels in a bigger tank.

Good to hear you are considering the suggestions Dan. I assume we wil get updated pics soon?

I use a digital camera that is fully automatic. I love these point and shoot things! I don't have to know much about photography at all to get a good pic but agree with those who said... 1. As much light as possible in the tank. 2. Have the camera on a tripod or solid surface 3. Get the lens as close to the glass as possible and on an angle to avoid flashback 4. I use a flash too. In fact I just got an extra one which goes off a fraction earlier than the one on the camera and can be angled so it doesn't reflect straight back off the glass. My husband tried to show me how to focus manually but when we both took shots and compared them - mine looked a lot better and all his were fuzzy so I stick with the auto setting.

Thanks. I just ran out to the lounge and took them . Am off to the chat room now. Perhaps we will see you there Meg?

2 of my angels...

Good luck. Even with a fancier camera you do know how to drive you may still only get 1 good pic out of 100. That's what's so good about digis. Just delete all the bad shots.

Get as much light into the tank as possible. Keep the camera as still as possible - use a tripod or sit it on something solid Get the lens as close to the glass as possible and aim at a slight angle

You have been busy Dan. It is very difficult to landscape a tank that is to be viewed from both sides, hiding the equipment is very difficult. Move the heaterstat down as far as you can without it touching the gravel. I would also consider attaching it to the short side near the window. With plenty of water current it will still heat the whole tank. It also looks a bit bare. I realise it has just been set up but are you going to add more plants? I like the way you have stacked the rocks. I see you have an external filter, internal filter, plus ugf. I thought those tanks had some sort of filtration built into the lids? This is a personal opinion but I would remove the blue marbles. I think they don't look natural in any tank and detract from the whole. They are a pet hate of mine :lol:

We all make mistakes Daniel - the dumb bit is when we don't learn from them or if we keep repeating them. I prefer external filtration only because they don't take up space inside the tank and you don't have to hide them from view so they don't ruin your aquascape. You can also maintain them without having to get your hands in the tank.

Blanket weed is a filamentous algae. It is long and stringy and found commonly in ponds. The usual causes of blanket weed are high pH (alkalinity) and high phosphate levels. It can be removed manually by winding it around a stick, or rake, like candy floss. This only controls it though and doesn't get at the cause. If the pH is high - why is it so? An African tank needs a high pH but not a community tank. If your blanket weed is in a pond, what is the pond made of? Is there any unsealed concrete? Are there limestone chips or rocks around the pond that would leach into the water through rain run-off? Have you any shells in the tank or pond? Get a test kit to measure your phosphates. You can get phosphate removers to remove excess phosphate if this is the problem. Pondcare Algaefix is supposed to be effective on blanketweed and won't harm the other plants but I cannot personally vouch for that as I have not used it myself.

You do need something else - a bigger tank! Don't add anything more to the 32L. If it is a common plec, it will have to be moved as these grow up to 60cm and should be bettre in a 200L+. Are the holes in the plants in all the tanks? If not, I would suspect the plec is sucking holes in the leaves.

Multiple Tank Syndrome is well known :lol: There is no cure and you must feed the addiction. Whether you want them to or not, quite a few of the fry will survive. Even if only 2 per spawn survive, in 12 months you can have an extra 24 fish in the tank. After all, the other fish in the tank will only attempt to eat them when they are very small.

What fish are in there? I would suspect either a fish sucking holes, or snails doing the damage.

Not too sure what size a 130L is. What dimensions has it got? The amount of surface area is important. Since you say you have read a lot I assume you know not to add all those fish at once. You must also think ahead. Both sexes of platies will soon mean a tank full of them as they will breed every 6 - 8 weeks. Do you have somewhere else to put all the fry? The fish you selected are all compatible but I would not add the gouramis as I don't think the tank is big enough.

Is this blanket weed in a pond?

This used to be called Underwaterworld but now incorporated a kiwi house and reptiles. http://photobucket.com/albums/v490/Marl ... 0Ecoworld/

(Please recognise this was written with tongue firmly in cheek!) :lol: Well, with the hibernation period for driftwood ending September 30, our club decided to head to Hokitika to trap these elusive creatures in their natural habitat - the beach. The search was on... Finding a good sheltered spot among the rocks, the trap was set using a young piece of driftwood as bait After a tense wait, we finally attracted a mother driftwood and baby Caught!! Success at last as the mother and baby are unable to resist our lure We then hit the beach looking for free range driftwood. Here one attempts to escape but Caryl successfully holds on We later discovered a better bait than the one we were using and soon we had more driftwood than we could handle! Leanne proudly poses atop her "kill" While the rest of us hold down a particularly large specimen Another driftwood successfully tamed! We headed home after a fun day with a bootload of driftwood for our tanks. :lol: PS. No driftwood was harmed during the making of this mockumentary

Well done! Fins crossed they keep growing.

Oops. I didn't see your post come in while I was answering. No, a box filter is not the same as a sponge filter but both run off a pump so can be used together or get a second sponge filter. A bok filter is a plastic box you fill with filter wool and it sits in the back corner of the tank with an airline providing flow through the wool.

A quick rinse when the filter flow is lessened.

It's a wonder Jane gets any work done with that in front of her

They are cheap enough so why not put another box filter at the other end of the tank if the pump is large enough to handle both?

A member in Dunedin had trouble finding a home for his pacu after it got too big to turn around in his 8 x 2ft tank. They are big fish and IMO they should not be kept in aquariums.

The stuff you put inside filters for the bacteria to grow on. Siporax is a brand name for stuff (German I think) like ceramic noodles but many people use plastic 'bio balls' which can be bought from your lfs or hair curlers, plastic practise golf balls etc. They all give a large surface area on which the good bacteria can grow and feed. Sponges are a form og bio media too.