DubbieBoy

The JBL stuff is at www.jbl.de but I think one can assemble a better system for less dosh. That sort of kit can be terribly overpriced. If you should decide to go down the pressurised route (soooo worth it)... IMHO, this would be one good way to go about it... CO2 bottle – try and get one of these... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/cheap- ... t8340.html A good buy. Regulator – BOC or welding supply shop can provide a cheap, bog-standard CO2 regulator ($70-80) which will bring the bottle pressure down to manageable levels. With one of these though, you also need a needle-valve for precise control of the gas flow. For this, you cannot beat these http://www.swagelok.com/PRODUCTDETAILS. ... SCKey%3D69. These are fantastic needle valves, available from Fluid System Technologies NZ (about $90) (http://www.swagelok.com/auckland/), or call the Christchurch office on 338-1830. These valves offer extremely fine control of the flow and are worth every cent. For an extra $30 you can install a Vernier Handle on it so you can actually dial up a particular setting by number! Alternatively, you can opt for an all-in-one regulator/valve combo for more $$s of which the Aqua-Medic is one of the more reasonably priced ($169) and a good quality regulator. (discussed here... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/comple ... t3589.html). Don’t be tempted to order one of the, admittedly very nice, CO2 regulators for aquarium use from the States, they are not compatible with NZ bottle connections. Although the regulators are fine, it’s a different thread to connect to the bottle (although you may be able to find some sort of adapter...). Reactor/diffuser; In vogue at the moment are the sintered glass diffusers which break the gas into very tiny bubbles so it dissolves quickly. Also, tiny suspended bubbles of CO2 coming into direct contact with the leaves has been suggested to greatly increase plant metabolism. These are inexpensive but not readily available in NZ, of course. I got mine from aqua-essentials in the UK for £14.99 http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... cts_id=501. These diffusers are not powered, so no additional pump is needed. An additional, highly desirable but not strictly necessary, accessory is a solenoid valve to turn off the gas at night. Roughly $65 from www.valves.co.nz But there is LOTS of info on these pages describing different ways to assemble the gear. Have fun!

Some, but not all, of my rams seem to be pretty fastidious in what they will or can eat, to the extent that they become quite emaciated and skinny compared to the others They'll take in regular flake but usually just spit it straight back out, regardless of brand or how hungry they are. Same goes for granules, even those tiny granules from Nutrafin. The only thing they get really enthusiastic about is frozen bloodworm, of course, and 'NovaFill' from JBL which is dried mosquito larvae but I can only get this off the shelf once in a blue moon down here. Oh, and freeze-dried tubifex, which is probably not all that nutritious... I don't have time to serve them frozen livefoods daily - any suggestions for dried foods that your rams seem to like and fatten up on?

misnoma - sorry to hear your Ricca didn't take off. I suspect the number one requirement for this plant is light and lots of it... If it does do well the possibilites for aquascaping wth it are huge. hummingbird - glad to hear yours at least is going well! dally - have PMd you, should see it Thursday... MRskz - ain't duckeed a curse! Horrible horrible little plant matt_mann - got lots; PM me

Don't tell NZ Post; they'll want a dangerous goods declaration...!

Hi Guys, I think it might be worth pointing out that, although Riccia is not a fussy plant under good conditions, 'good conditions' mean HIGH light levels (and we're not talking about the single, sad flouro tube that came with your tank here...), some degree of CO2 injection (important) and a good fertlilisation regimen. If your conditions don't fit the bill, then there's little point in my mailing it out as it will die (I'd be curious to know who of the folks I've sent some to has actually had success growing it up...?). IF you think your tank can support it (i.e. your other plants are all doing quite well), then I'm only too happy to send some. But if you're struggling to grow the regular stuff, then the Riccia is unlikely to do very well. Having said that, if you cover the postage, I'll gladly send some to try, no worries at all In light of the steady and ongoing demand however, I'm going to have to start accepting folk's offers to pay the postage cost too (and most everone has freely offered I'm very glad to say ) I had hoped I wouldn't have to but... I usually have sent it out in one of those $5 Fastpost prepaid envelopes which holds a good sized pottle so handiest thing is probably just to mail a self-addressed one of those to me and I will try and return it stuffed full of lovely Riccia! - Dubb.

Thanks Candy, I certainly wouldn't claim the idea as my own, look here... http://www.aquabotanic.com/ricciaarticle.html or google 'riccia aquascaping'. Yes, it just grows through and out over the mesh until eventually you can't see the mesh anymore. Then you can just keep it trimmed with a scissors. It does look very neat though (needs muchos light!). Give it a go

Hi there dally, No worries dude; PM me your details and I'll get some your way in the next week or so. Hey check this out, my Riccia-Rock! I started with some plastic mesh (an unravelled shower-scrub thingy) with some hat-band elastic woven through the edge, like a hairnet but with a coarser mesh. Stuffed some wonder-weed inside and popped it over the end of a piece of driftwood. Its been going for about 6 weeks now and looks great, particularly when completely covered in O2 bubbles. Riccia - more than just a floater :lol: - Dubb

Eeek; unfortunate timing as I chucked handfuls of it last week Can certainly sort you out with some though, PM some details and we'll arrange a time? -Dubb.

I would just point out that cheap'n'cheerful non-return valves sold at the LFS for air-pumps can be prone to failure when used with CO2 as the gas corrodes the rubber nipple thingy over time. Sometimes they fail, sometimes they don't. I wouldn't trust one myself.

Well who'da thunk it... A trip to the LFS over the weekend and I picked up four Rams - three of them have distinctly pink bellies and short dorsal fin rays and the boys, well they took an immediate interest so I'm almost certain I've got three girls. yay They're pretty small still, will have to fatten 'em up some. With many thanks to casserole and MRSKZ for their interest in helping me try and introduce some female rams to the south. - Dubb.

Sadly, I'm not breeding 'em at all :-? It takes two to tango... How about, they're one of the most beautiful fish :lol:

Hi y'all, I'd love to get my beautiful blue rams to spawn, my angels lay rings around themselves constantly so I figure conditions must be close. (I think) I just haven't been able to procure any females; just showy males who are happy to spar off each other and show off their colours belligerently. Is there a general dearth of girl rams in those that come through the lfs? Are there any south island breeders out there who could supply me with a couple of ram-inas? Aren't these just the most beautiful of fish??? - Dubb in Dunedin.

I have cracked two (6mm!) cover glasses due to the heat from my lighting setup (3 x 55W compact flouros, they run quite hot...) . The localised heat causes the glass to crack from the corner where I need to have a small space cut out to accommodate the filter tubes, this seems to overly weaken the glass causing it to split. I have tried 3mm clear acrylic but it quicky becomes very warped and no longer lies flat. The lamps don't lie directly on the glass surface but the reflectors do. Other than increasing the distance between lights and covers, which I'll probably get around to doing if and whenever I get around to constructing a proper hood, any suggestions for how I might get around this? Would 5 or 6 mm acrylic be as prone to warping under heat? Would toughened/tempered/laminated glass cut the mustard? Suggestions most welcome. - Dubb.

Ed, No problem with the regulator either ways; liquid CO2 pressure will be the same regardless of the cylinder size. How's it all working our for you anyways? -Dubb

Name: Rory Age: Just the far side of 30... Occupation: Research Scientist (Molecular Biology; University of Otago) Sex: Male Books: This'n'that; just finished The Road to McCarthy's Bar (Pete McCarthy). Brilliant. Car: 1965 VW Beetle (Ernie) Hobbys: My Planted Tank, Badminton & Squash, keeping the Dubbie going! Family: Partner, Mum, Dad and 2 brothers at home in Ireland Other pets: Cat - Phoebe. (Isn't it odd how many of us have cats too! Coincidence?) Location: Dunedin. Irish originally, been in NZ almost 5 yrs now; still having fun! Favourite food: Butter Prawns and Garlic Naan with a pint of Guinness. Mmmmm

I'd agree with Warren; its not that there's too much light but that something else is out of whack. Is the tank sufficiently heavily planted? Are you adding CO2? I'd say you need to make sure that everything else (esp. CO2 and (macro)nutrients) is optimal so as to allow the plants to really use that light, o'wise they start to falter and the algae move in and take up residence... If there's too much of one particular nutrient present, it may be because something else is limiting and preventing it from being taken up. If you're not already supplementing CO2 (but have high light levels), this is definitely the first thing to correct as without the CO2 the plants just can't make use of the light. I would have though that brown algae were associated with lower light levels though... And those SAEs (often sold/mislabelled as blackline flying foxes) do a great job on the green stuff...

Interesting; that may be a good option for my limited space. The tank is about 200 litres Are these older models convenient to clean? Much spillage or mess? Certainly cheaper...

Is the 204 any shorter? How about the Eheims - I wonder would an equivalent model fit into my space...? What would be the equivalent Eheim model be to the Fluval 304 anyway? They seem to have dozens...

Could somebody with a Fluval 304 external canister filter please measure it for me and tell me if you think it would fit in a space 42cms high, (including the aqua-lock hose connector thingummybob...) Cheers! -Dubb

Further to my previous post, I'd just like to add that when I was putting together my lighting requirements, I got everything from here... http://www.ahsupply.com/ Even after shipping, they were cheaper but the best part is the reflectors that they supply which are very efficient and do a great job of focussing all the light downwards. Sorry if we have wandered a bit off topic....

Yep; those are the lamps I'm using - they put out a LOT of light. Electronic ballasts to run these are available from Rexel electrical (or any electrical suppliers I'd imagine), they're not very expensive as they're a common enough fitting. The ballast gear that runs your regular flouro tube is not compatible and would have to be replaced. You could just ring Rexel for a price on an electronic ballast for a 36W power-compact flourescent tube; they can supply the bulbs too (6,500K, Osram) but may have to get them in (from Christchurch). Alternatively Plantman seems to have some... Disclaimer... You may need to have your friendly, neighbourhood, fully-certified electrician replace the ballast for you...

I agree, you want to be careful about adding any kind of fertiliser until you remedy the lighting situation. Best case scenario - no benefit to the plants as they simply haven't enought light to use it; worst case scenario (and probably the more likely) - algae heaven. Just adding fertiliser, or indeed CO2, will not compensate for poor lighting just as putting on huge amounts of light won't help if there's a CO2 or fertiliser shortage; it's all a question of balance. I'd be inclined to investigate the 36W power compact tubes - the U-shaped tubes mentioned. I use three 55W power compacts on my tank - these really put out a lot of light. You might be able to fit a 36W in the space you have available...?

Hi Hamish, Can you PM me your details please and I'll get some to you early next week. Regards, - Dubb.

Hi Buzzy, The Sera CO2 gear is pretty new to the market so there's not a lot of information around. It should be well constructed though. This thread may be of interest to you... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=3589 - Dubb.

Unfortunately, most (all ?) of the moulded, pre-fabricated tanks and hoods are just plain unsuitable for decent plant growth. They often accommodate just a single flouro bulb which provides enough light to see your fish by but that's about it, they just don't have the space to add more tubes and the reflectors are naff. So you can either chuck your hood altogether and beef up your lighting or, as suggested, tailor your plant species to make the best of what you've got... I suspect your Riccia's not going so well...