Caryl

A lot of people love them but personally I don't. They were very popular for a while with Asians as the markings on them were supposed to be lucky. As they grew (and often got vicious towards other fish) though their owners lost interest and parts of Asia now have a big problem with them breeding in the watrways and wiping out other species and decimating the plants. They were being sold for thousands of dollars at one point but the price has dropped a lot since the novelty wore off.

Brine shrimp will grow to adults if you don't feed them to any fish Shiuh :lol: . I too never fed my adult shrimps anything.

How long has the tank been set up breakaway? New tanks can lack fertiliser for the plants so they brown off a bit until the tank matures more.

15 fish in 3 weeks - I'd do a water change now. 25% water changes will not affect your bacterial growth. Do it weekly. Have you tested the water at all? pH, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia? That brown can be common in a new tank. There is nothing for the plants to feed on at first. As the tank matures the plants will improve. Remove the brown leaves. Got any pics?

I got my WCMM free as we had members giving them away at the time Cardinals I have seen from $6.95 - $8.95

They are two diferent issues. Dyed fish are injected, it damages the fish and they die quickly so should not be supported. GE doesn't.

Yeah I figured they were Graeme's. As I said, a bit slow tonight. See you at the meeting. Perhaps we will have to have November's meeting at your place :lol:

Duh I'm a bit slow tonight. I think I just worked out who you are :lol: . It's been a long day.

Have you tested it from the tap? Some areas have high phosphates in their water.

We do the rounds but Organism is my favourite. Redwoods, Critter Kingdom and Petworld also get a visit.

I bred mine in ice cream containers but was told by an old aquarist that a wooden box was best, like an old tea box, as it breathes.

Hi mis I am in Blenheim too. Hope you didn't go and add all them fish at once or you are going to lose a lot of em! Would love to see them

If daphnia eat brown stuff they go brown. If they eat green stuff they go green

Never heard of them. Do you have a pic? They aren't dyed are they?

When I fed BBS to my fish I siphoned them out using a turkeybaster and squirted them into a white (so I could see them) hankie cupped over a jar. The salty water went straight through leaving the eggs which I flushed with warm fresh water.

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.