Caryl

Why do you want to collect rainwater anyway? It tends to be quite acidic.

Never actually done it but I assume you just slowly raise the water level over a few weeks until it is totally submerged. Has anyone else done this? You might also try cutting a few trailing bits and planting them straight into the tank and see what happens.

Pardon my ignorance but by "chat room' do you mean just typing or can we talk using microphones too?

Babies tears is a common plant grown in aquariums. If you buy one as a houseplant you must slowly acclimatise it to underwater conditions. Easier to buy one which has been cultivated to grow underwater. Peace lilies can be put in an aquarium but they are not a true aquatic plant, they are a marsh plant. They will grow very slowly but tend to die.

We were lucky as when we built our house we were unsure where the fireplace would eventually go so the builder put in extra piles along a couple of the walls. One of them is just where we decided to put the big tank!

The rummys at Organism are $6.95

I saw a Via Aqua 750 for $259.90. The same shop had their Fluval 404 at $419.95. Pays to shop around! I was lucky and was able to get my Fluval trade but am not able to do so any more

I have often used those small fluorescents that fit the ordinary light sockets and they work well. There is another thread somewhere here regarding making hoods for them out of plastic guttering.

ChCh is 4 hours from Blenheim Dennis. Makes for a busy day trip but worth the effort.

I love a school of rummy noses myself. Organism in ChCh had some lovely ones there on Tuesday. I was SO tempted!!

How sealed is the lid? You might find quite a bit of sloshing going on if you fill it too far. If you have at least half the original tank water that will be fine. Take the canister filter home with you on the first trip and hang it off your tank at home until you get the new one home too. I would be inclined to suck as much muck out from the gravel as possible as it may cause problems with bacteria dying off in the move. Someone else may know more about it than me though, I have not moved an UGF.

Thanks for that kriber. Nice to know the top of macka's head is good for something :lol:

Obviously the whales offer cheaper freight costs :lol: All that belly space I guess (or was Jonah a midget?)

I believe there are 2 different 404's on the market. One comes with media and the other is cheaper as media is not included.

You have open organisms on the top of your head!!?? :lol: You can get treatment for it I am sure. Thanks for that Macka. I hope one of the ChCh members can find out definitely for me. Wanna meet up with us at Redwoods?

Can someone in ChCh please find out for me if Organism is open on Saturdays? Thanks

Grant and I were looking around fish shops in ChCh yesterday and were amazed at the difference in prices. One shop had 2 Fluval 404s in stock. One was marked at $322.50 and the other was $368.00. Another shop had them for $419.95. All came with media.

The planned Marlborough club trip to ChCh has had to be cancelled due to lack of numbers. Grant and I plan to go by ourselves (good to give the MX5 a run) on Saturday 18th January. If anyone wants to meet up with us we hope to be at Redwood's at lunchtime. We'd love to meet you. We were in ChCh yesterday and went around the bigger shops and were not impressed. The only shop with good looking stock and spotless tanks was Organism. This shop had a wider range of species - not just the 'bread and butter' ones. We went to Redwood's but they are closed until next Monday

I know someone who's got the fishbug BAD!!!! :lol:

Someone in one of the local clubs may have some too. I have kept leopardfish. They are a beautiful fish and easy to look after. Give them a tank of cold water, filtration, feed and there you are - happy, breeding leopardfish

Aqua said the plate covered 2/3 of the base of the tank. That is enough for the white clouds in my opinion although I agree the more covered the better. When I have had UGs running I have not used any other filters in conjunction.

Really? I don't think I have seen them. Mind you I haven't been looking either. I am not too keen on the Grolux myself as I find the algae tends to get out of hand.

The thingees are too small to do much good as far as I am concerned but there may be others who disagree. We all have our own ideas of what works and what doesn't. If you only have white clouds mechanical filtration is not going to be a major requirement but I get the feeling you will go on to other species as the hobby sucks you in :lol: The hang on the back filters (like AquaClear) work really well.

In Auckland your coldwater tank is not going to actually get that cold. The picture of Java moss in the survey is of a single strand. The moss forms a dense clump which very small fry can swim through but the bigger fry can't so the little ones have somewhere to escape to. I have never seen it costing $30!! We give it away down here. PM me your address and I will post some (I am sure someone in the local club will have some at the moment). If I put it in a sealed bag it will be OK.

The plate doesn't have to cover the whole base of the tank Aqua, very few will. As long as most of it is covered, as yours is, things will be fine. It is so long since I bought filters and stuff I originally forgot the UGF these days have a cartridge on top of the uplift. Never saw the point in them myself. As I think John said, someone added them as a sales gimmick I guess. The older UGFs with the thin uplifts didn't have an airstone in them either. It wasn't until they started making them with the fatter uplifts that they added the airstone.