Caryl

Don't take this the wrong way Andrew but is it possible you are imagining it? It seems odd to me you seem to be the only one who can feel it. It will be interesting to see if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon. Perhaps he just loves you

The shark would be enough to start with as you slowly added fish and got the cycle going. The cycle will not start with just plants, you have to have some fish as well.

I would run both filters in it.

Brackish water is found in estuaries and river mouths where freshwater mixes with saltwater. It is between the two, not totally fresh but not as salty as marine. Some brackish fish are bumblebee gobies, most of the puffers, scats (Scatophagus argus) and archerfish.

Yes, Sicce make the Shark filters. I always found them good. Find a site that advertises these filters for sale as they should give the power output, or find one in your lfs. Masterpet distribute them in NZ I believe. Here is some info on the PF Shark series which I think is what you may have... PF1 - 150L, 33UK gal, 40USA gal PF2 - 225L, 50UK gal, 60USA gal PF3 - 300L, 66UK gal, 80USA gal PF4 - 400L, 88UK gal, 106USA gal PF5 - 500L, 110UK gal, 132USA gal

Try http://www.africancichlids.net Carla told me about that site last night. I had fun playing with the puzzles Lots of pics there. As for a themed tank, what about an Amazon rainforest stream? You would need soft water for this with a filter to provide good flow but not too much current. Suitable plants would be cabomba, dwarf swords (Echinodorus tenellus) Amazon sword (E. paniculatus), hairgrass (Eleocharis acicularis). Suitable fish: bristlenose catfish (Ancistrus sp), emerald catfish (Brochis splendens), cardinal tetras, silver tipped tetras, rummy nosed tetras, bleeding heart tetras, neons, angels, hatchetfish, whiptail catfish, discus South East Asia River: Plants; red rotala, hairgrass, crypts, vallis and if you vcan find them - water shamrock (Marsilea crenata), Japanese cress (Cardamine lyrata), onion plant (Crinum thaianum) Fish; kuhli loach, rosy barbs, striped barb, spanner barb, 5 banded barb, Siamese fighter, clown loaches, pearl danio, giant danio, red tailed black shark, harlequins, scissortails

A couple of oscars would fit nicely in a 4ft and you would not get any plants to survive with them. Any landscaping you try won't last either :lol: If you go for African cichlids you will get small and large (though not as big as oscars) as many are mouthbrooders.

Do you like one or two large fish or a shoal of smaller ones? Do you like a nicely planted and landscaped tank or a rocky one with no plants? Your answer to those two questions will narrow down your choices

I won't need a good signature. I will have my PA write it for me :lol: For those non NZers... Our Prime Minister gave a painting, signed with her signature, to an auction raising money for a worthy cause. A furore broke out when it was discovered she had not actually painted the picture, her PA or someone had done it, and she had merely signed it when finished.

Goldie and Fatman - you should both start a club in your area then you will be able to visit each other's clubs, have inter-club competitions and joint activities now and then. It may also perk up the existing Canterbury club and you would have 3 to interact! There are certainly enough people in Canterbury to support that many clubs, you just have to attract, and keep, their interest. Marlborough would certainly endeavour to visit too, if invited, as we have no other clubs near us.

I thought it might have been Paul at Trademe. I would guess if he doesn't know where to get them in NZ then nobody does! The plant name was ringing a bell and I thought Warren said he had one but obviously I was wrong.

Welcome Oscarfan. Hope someone can help you. Warren has some I think. Don't you Warren? Who was on Trademe? Paul here deals in plants.

mini vallisneria makes a nice ground cover.

Duh! :oops: It was late when I looked at the site. You'd think I would have checked the Contact button.

I found that Styles site interesting but couldn't find where in NZ they are based. Can anyone tell me where they are located?

Don't let the negatives put you off. Clubs seem to attract negatives who are never happy no matter what you do or criticise everything you try to instigate. The worst (don't hit me here) seem to be cat and dog clubs where there is a lot of competition and backstabbing. Fishkeepers aren't so bad (probably because we don't have the competitive bits too often) but there are always one or two in a club ready to whinge.

Having helped set up the Marlborough Club, any help I can offer just let me know. I am happy to give a talk at the inaugural meeting etc. I can also design and print advertising posters if you want. He knows the other group exists Warren Best of luck.

Some of them are generic names and others are brand names but it is the same stuff according to my medical database at work (I work for a GP)

Bearing in mind I have never had a fish develop popeye, my disease book seems to indicate it comes on more slowly than that so I would hazard a guess your fish damaged himself. Hopefully someone else may be able to offer you something more definite. If he is dashing about like that keep a close eye (no pun intended) on secondary infections.

Hi Elapid and welcome to the fishroom. Always good to see a new face. I am sure I have seen yours somewhere before. :lol:

Kerry that is a brilliant article! Very interesting too. One of our club members did something similar but she stuck all the gravel on by hand which took ages. Her hotwire was a piece of wire curved in a circle and attached to a wooden handle. The wire was heated with a blow torch then used to scoop out caves etc. Another slow process. The finished background looks great and will look even better once it has been in the tank a while and algae and plants have grown on it. Thanks for sharing your idea with us.

I gather most fruits and veggies are fine. Tough ones like cabbage need to be dropped into boiling water to soften them though and peas have to be popped out of their shells. Just make sure they have been well washed to get rid of any residual sprays (or get organic) and only feed a little bit. Remove any uneaten food as quickly as possible.

I AM president of NZ. It's just that most people haven't realised it yet. :lol:

All my bristlenoses turned their noses up at zuchini but LOVE cucumber. Suits me as it is a lot cheaper!

Well you are obviously happy about it so I guess congratulations are in order. err... What sort of star are you referring to?