Caryl

My dad has an endless worm supply in his compost heap. Do you have such a compost heap or a friendly neighbour with one?

Hi and welcome kelpy. Sorry there isn't a fish club near you. Closest would be Dunedin. Good luck with the tank.

Husband (who knows a lot more about photography than I do) says if it is a 12x optical, it will probably have trouble focusing close in but only at the high end of the zoom. Try taking your pic from further back then use a photo editing programme to crop it. You are better off using the middle of the range of the zoom because lenses with a high optical zoom usually have poor chromatic aberration and distortion at either end of their zoom range.

Check there is no sign of moisture inside the glass then put it in a tank or bucket of water, not plugged in, and leave it a couple of days. Check to make sure there is still no moisture inside. If there is moisture - throw it away. In none, it is probably safe to use. However for added safety you should have an RCD on the power outlet feeding the heater so that if there is any chance of electrocution or shock, the RCD will switch off the power. Leave it running a few days to check it stabilises and holds the correct temperature. Old heaterstats tend to stick ON, not OFF.

As far as I know Furan 2 works very well. Have not heard of any side effects. If you do not want to treat the whole tank, try quarantining the sick ones in a smaller tank and dosing them there hoping it hasn't spread to the rest of the fish who just haven't started showing any symptoms yet. The only thing I have ever had to medicate my fish for was white spot many years ago so I cannot help you with actual med information. Hopefully someone else can.

I know little about photography, I just point and shoot on automatic. You can see the results here http://img47.photobucket.com/albums/v144/carylnz/ I do know you need lots of light and preferably a tripod or something stable to sit the camera on. In case you want to know, my camera is a (she says taking it out of the case so she can read what it says) Sony DSC F828, 7x optical zoom and 8.0 mega pixies (as my mother calls them :lol: ) My husband has apparently ordered a 2nd flash unit. I gather it sits above (either the camera or the tank I am not sure) and goes off just before the camera flash or something to increase the light. See, I said I didn't know much about it

Been in the hobby 6 months and 8 tanks already??? Boy have you got it bad!! :lol: Welcome to the fishroom.

I agree with wok. You would only mix that stuff in if you were keeping fish that liked a high pH ie African cichlids. I assume your tank has the usual community fish and is not set up as an African tank?

I know of one man who has bred chocolate gouramis in NZ. Here is what oneof my books says... breeding tank - 50 litre capacity with thickets of plants diffused light height of water column c. 20cm 28 - 30C pH - 6.0 dCH- 1 degree dGH - 10 degrees filter through peat

Hygrophila polysperma is usually readily available. Usually sold as 'bunch plant' the assistant is probably unable to actually name it though. Java Fern Java moss Cabomba or ambulia (if you have enough lighting) Bacopa monniera (baby's tears) Lysimachia (another often just named 'bunch plant') Ludwigia (another often just named 'bunch plant') Hygrophila difformis (water wisteria) Ceratopteris thalictroides (water sprite) The last 2 are often mistaken for each other. If it is sold cheaply in the lfs it will be a hardy plant and easy to grow

Bobi I just Googled 'activated carbon pellets' and clicked the 'in NZ' button and it came up with a good selection. It seems they are used in hydroponics and the wine and fruit industries so they may be your best bet for a cheaper price for a bulk amount.

Can't get them through customs wok. Eating them was the last thing on our minds. I suppose you stirfry them with rice? (wok says rice is a main meal, not a dessert :lol: )

Hello again livebearer_breeder. We too talk a lot in the chat room but welcome to the fishroom

I am curious as to what you are going to do with it. I imagine most places would order it in for you if you asked and quite a few lfs have websites these days.

Well thank you Inter. I would like to point out that some of them were not mine though. Suemack took quite a few of them, particlarly if I remember correctly, the close-ups of the sea slugs.

Will do - thanks again

Always better to over-engineer. Warren is the expert on this but I would not be happy with a tank that size using less than 10mm glass. Both my tanks (similar size) are 10mm. I think pegasus said he has had a 6mm last for years though. Most important is to make sure whatever the tank is sitting on is level. It takes very little (maybe even a small bit of dirt) to cause a stress fracture. Was it also sitting on polystyrene?

Your 1999 - 2000 would be great Rob. I preferably need non scribbled ones though so hopefully someone will come up with an unadulterated 2001 - 2002. Are you going to the National Show? I could pick it up there.

That would be very much appreciated wok. Cut-off date for the November issue is Sept 30.

What a beautiful green Peter. Don't think I have seen one that colour before.

You should only rinse under tap water if your water does not have stuff like chlorine added to it, otherwise you will kill the bacteria. Most people have a bucket of water taken out of the tank from when they did a water change and once the muck has settled, rinse the sponges in that.

I wouldn't be adding any more. You may be able to return some and swap them - ask the shop. Make sure you swap for something that grows to a similar size so you don't overstock. The answer to your dilemma is simple - MORE TANKS!!!! :lol:

Do you mean like "Fish Food Recipes", "Disease" etc? Each magazine is different and does not have set sections. I try to make sure each has a mix, and something about, tropicals, cold water, marine, plants, disease and breeding at least. Trying to please most of the people all of the time :lol:

Much appreciated Kim

I thought it was the other way around Alan. My blooms always went right through all the layers, but mostly in the middle.