Caryl

Well done Cees. Boy Megan is growing up fast! I am resizing all the Fiji conference pics to send you so you can put them on site with the others. As there are over 600, they are taking a while! :roll: Don't panic - I am not sending you all of them :lol:

To stick my oar in too :lol: I have never had to strip an UGF (like Alan the only time I did so was when moving the tank) and I have had them running 7 or 8 years non stop. Everyone knows I am very lax in my water change and maintenance routines but never had a problem. As stated before I believe, the best filter for the job depends on which fish you want to keep. As to the original question - sorry fins, I have never tried to make an UGF so can't help you there. They are so cheap to buy and you can lock them together to cover most of the base. The do not have to fit snugly all round the sides either.

I have always found the peel and stick ones easy and accurate enough. Whatever you choose, look at the lot in the shop and check most are reading about the same. Don't pick ones with readings a lot higher or lower than the majority.

Did you actually pull the impellor out of its casing to clean it? It should not be noisy so soon.

Welcome to the fishroom cal. We have quite a few Canterbury members here. Pop into chat around 9pm and you should find someone there most nights.

If real plants are planted and looked after correctly according to their individual needs, there is no need to replace them as they die. I haven't bought a plant for years - unless I saw one I didn't currently have and it appealed. Most of the time you should be throwing (or giving, or selling) live plants away as they grow so fast!

They will be fine with no parents or other fish to eat them. They will sit on the bottom if there is no cover for them as they feel safer camouflaged against the gravel.

The fry zip all over the place but spend quite a bit of time higher up rather than at the bottom. Livebearers are usually found in the middle water level of a tank so that's where you need the hiding places.

Smaller males will often be less colourful.

Bet he has a smile on his face! :lol:

Sit wait and watch. Practise makes perfect

Well this silly old moo says "well done BG" :lol:

It isn't ground cover they need but floating plants. Java moss is excellent. Water sprite is good too. They will drop fry (assuming they have been inseminated at some point - remember females can produce several spawnings without a male) every 4 - 6 weeks.

You want to put the fry in one of those little acrylic Kritter Keepers? You need something bigger than that as they need lots of room to grow well. Unless you have lots of keepers and only putting a few fry in each.

Just because a shop says a fish is a 'community fish' doesn't mean it is compatible with all other 'community fish'. This is a rather vague term with lots of exceptions!

Whenever you add more fish your nitrite levels will rise as more fish = more poo. This means the bacteria in the filters have to reproduce faster to keep up with it. If you add too many fish at once the bacteria can't keep up and your fish will die from poor water conditions like too much ammonia. If you have added too may fish you will have to do daily water changes for several days.

I think you will have a hard time finding a culture of vinegar eels in NZ.

We have been there twice now and loved it. Lots to see, well laid out, you can spend all day in there and not get bored! :lol: Hopefully we will be able to visit again when we go to the National Fish Show (and auction and display etc) in Napier in September.

The most dominant male in the tank will often harrass the smaller males too. Many people assume they are male and female when one keeps chasing the other. A common mistake.

You are supposed to get muck under an UGF. Use a siphon to clean your gravel when you do water changes - whether you have an UGF or not.

I am very sorry but the rock I put in the suitcase took me well over the allowable weight limit and they confiscated it. The fish didn't make it either as the bags leaked when I shoved it down my sock to get it past MAF. Better luck next time! I will double bag the fish.

Hi beeko and welcome to the fish room. How long has your tank been set up? I am not sure what size a 110L tank is (never good at working it out) but I wonder if you have been adding too many fish too quickly without gining the tank time to 'cycle'.

Silly me. Too much excitement. Mitch is right - Taranaki are next hosts with Kapi-Mana the year after. Sounds like your club has conference plans well under way Mitch according to the report your representatives gave us at the AGM.

Yes but we will also be in the international terminal, not domestic

Am in Auckland now. Cold and wet day. Trip up was uneventful and boring since all we could see was grey Met a couple of our club members at the airport. They had flown in from Wgtn. The Downs family are here and apparently headed into town to shop. Will wait for the others to arrive later.