Caryl

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?

With a bit of luck the fighter will calm down but I am not surprised the bristlenose is hiding! They are nocturnal anyway and more active at night. Mine are startled easily. Keep an eye on the fighter.

A day in which you don't learn something, or help someone, is a day wasted.

Many people confuse the huge plecostomus with the bristlenose catfish. They look very similar when small but bristlenoses, Ancistrus sp. only grow to 10cm whereas the plecs grow up to 60cm! Brown algae usually means too little light, rather than too much.

I don't have a tank permanently set up as a quarantine tank, it sits empty. What I like to have is a spare filter (either sponge or HOB like an AquaClear) running on an exisiting tank. If a fish needs quarantining, just fill the spare tank with water from the existing tank, transfer the filter over and add a heaterstat (one I know is accurate and works properly). You can't leave a tank running with water, heater and filter without fish to keep the bacteria fed in the filter. Of course, if you have had disease or used medications, do not put the spare filter back on the main tank, when finished, without cleaning it thoroughly first!

Yes but not got the Africans yet. It is running with 4 goldfish keeping the filtration going. I need another trip to ChCh to pick up the fish which are now ready. Hopefully it won't be long now

We use 4ft fluorescents, instead of incandescents, throughout the house and garage - all are double tubes so there's 16 tubes get used just there. Grant also buys them bulk for replacing old ones in local Telecom buildings in his work. I only have 4 on my 4ft tank.

It can be dangerous as it can infect all the other inhabitants. Get him treated as fast as possible and try and work out what caused it in the first place. Most likely is stress (is something chasing him?) or water conditions.

We bought 25 cool daylight tubes recently. Who said you can't get them?

The main problem with snails is they poo more than they clean and multiply faster than rabbits.

Putting them out of their misery would be the kindest thing you could do. Hopefully next time you will be more careful.

Oh dear. Sorry to hear about the axolotls. Hope they didn't smell too bad by the time you found them! We had a lovely overcast day and actually got rain!! YAY!!

Registration forms will actually go out at the end of March now as I am still finalising meal options. Goods have started coming in already from retailers and wholesalers kind enough to send products for use as raffles or prizes. I received a lovely big box of goodies from Jansens this morning.

Hi and welcome Christine. Information I don't mind providing if I can but - entertainment!!?? :lol: We are certainly a friendly bunch and hope to see more posts from you in the future.

No idea actually but is it always at night they do this? Fish rest at night and if you come into the room and turn the light on, many will be sitting on the bottom.

random

I am sure you could find someone with spare containers without having to eat it all yourself. :lol:

I try to avoid water changes over summer (well, actually I try to avoid them all the time) when the water table is low as I find I have a major problem with algae blooms at this time of year.

I would probably keep them if it was legal to do so as they are quite a pretty fish but am not worried about them being banned. I am quite happy for them to remain banned here. So Peety are you saying you went and caught yours from one of the local waterways? I know they are a problem up north.

Koi are banned in NZ koiboy - and for good reason. They totally destroy their habitat and wipe out other fish species, especially the natives. Idiots let them loose into our waterways where they create havoc.

Dwarf gouramis are fine with plants and will look beautiful. Grolux encourage algae growth and I would not use one. We use daylight or bright white.