DubbieBoy

I agree; your lighting sounds too wimpy. You need to at least double, and preferably triple, it. The CO2 alone cannot act without sufficient light. Sounds like an appropriate bulb tho', although I suspect folks get overly hung up on colour spectra and K ratings when its light intensity that makes the most difference.

Assuming you're talking about the JBL '7 Balls'; I use them and think they're a good idea if you're otherwise just using a plain ol' gravel substrate rather than a more plant-tailored substrate. They allow for localised fertilisation for those plants whose root systems may benefit from it, presumably swords and grasses. They don't appear to leach anything nasty if left undisturbed and stay pretty much where they're put. If you do uproot anything in the same area though, it does release a bit of a cloud but this seems to quickly settle again with no obvious side-effects. I wouldn't worry about upsetting anything through using them. Other than root fertilisers such as these clay balls, you also need to consider lighting intensity, CO2, macronutrients (nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus) and trace elements (in that order of importance methinks). -Dubb.

A metre tall ? Ye GODS! How thick is the glass??? Or is it one of those hexagonal, plexiglass jobbies? You might find you have some trouble getting any lighting arrangement to penetrate that kind of depth; what have you got?

No probs and don't sweat the cost, I haven't asked anyone else for any $$s (although I was a bit taken aback at the number of requests...). Now that Misnoma is handling the Auckland contingent, it takes a lot of the pressure off. I've gotten a lot of value from this list and its members so just pay it forward when you get the chance...

Hi Peanuts; welcome to the forum I got your details ok; will send some on up to you this week. -Dubb.

By 'eck, that's quick. Only mailed it yesterday afternoon...

Misnoma has kindly agreed to act as an Auckland redistributor Cheers Dude. Will get some your way this week.

Its not that I want to get rid of it It just seems a pity to toss it if it might be of value to others. Can you guys (clarkeymaster, Bluetom and misnoma) PM me your details please? Maybe if I were to send a biggish pottle to Auckland, you guys could distribute it amongst yourselves? Anyone volunteering to look after this? - Dubb.

Jude, You're right and I guess first you'd need to decide what sort of algae it is before you decide how to eliminate it. My guess is its just green and slimey right? If this is the case, I suggest firstly a good wash through in clean water followed by soaking the piece of driftwood in a MILD solution of bleach (half a cup in a bucket, ish...), ten minutes should do it. Java Moss is, lets face it, so completely indestructible that it hardly qualifies as a living plant at all and 10 mins in mild bleach won't bother it one bit (but you could do the experiment on a small piece first just to be on the safe side; I have no experience of Christmas Moss however). This should hurt the algae. After it goes into a tank, if conditions are favourable to algal growth, its going to have algae anyway, regardless. If conditions do not support algal growth, any remaining on the wood should dissappear. If its truly blue-green algae you've got, I reckon a bleach treatment can't hurt either - Dubb.

Happy to oblige, I think its a neat plant. If only everything else grew so well!

Gotta throw my two cents in here... Inappropriate use of antibiotics is what has us in the mess we're in with regard to multi-drug resistant bacteria and human health and, IMHO, any application of an antibiotic other than for medical reasons, is inappropriate. This includes the aquarium hobby. Erythromycin might not be high up on the ever-decreasing list of effective anti-microbials but the principle is the same. In any case, erythromycin is only effective against blue-green algae (which are in fact bacteria) and even then it will only eliminate the current bloom but will not rectify the cause so inevitably the bugs return, only next time slightly more resistant to the drug. There are other ways of eliminating algae but I think one has to address the cause rather than the result. - Dubb. PS - I am not a crank

Thanks for the offer Neill; can't think of anything at the mo but if I do I might take you up on it... Essential visits in Christchurch must include Organism (cnr of Ilam and Clyde) and Redwoods Aquatics.

Good to know everything arrived intact and hopefully didn't leak too much... I shall try and get to everyone else in the coming weeks. I think a Plant Exchange would be a wonderful resource if anyone would care to take it on. Maybe some sort of central register of individuals who have particular plants that do well in their tanks and would be willing to send small amounts out on occasion; it doesn't take much - its availability of different (named) varieties that's the problem. The shops, at least down here, don't generally have much and tend to re-stock the same stuff; and even then they rarely know what they've actually got.

Hi Deeveus, I'm in Dunners myself - you wanna just pick some up? - Dubb.

Hi PeneJane, Yep, got your details. I held off mailing until today to minimise the time it would have to spend sitting around in a mailroom over the long weekend. You should see it Thursday or Friday I guess... (Ditto Hummingbird & DiverJohn ) Neill, MicB and Matt - Will send yours on this time next week? Anyone else the week after... Steve and Matt - Can you PM me your details please? Hooray for Tuesdays :roll: - Dubb.

Riccia action shot...

First come, first served etc... Bear in mind that it does need good light to really take off. I will try and meet any requests but if I send any at all I'd rather send a decent sized lump as its more likely to take hold than a piddly little piece so if I get a lot of folks interested then it might take a week or two to bulk it up sufficiently. PENEJANE, Yes, its possible to grow submerged attached to rocks by tying it down with fishing line etc... but IMHO that's more trouble than its worth as this plant is a natural floater, it doesn't attach readily like Java Moss does. It would be fiddly and high maintenance but you could certainly give it a go. As a refuge for baby guppies, Java Moss is probably a better option, plus its virtually indestructable. PM me your address and I'll get some down to you, got Java Moss too if you'd like... Hummingbird Happy to post if you PM me your details; you can 'pay it forward' when your own batch gets going And you Diver; just let me know where to send it. - Dubb.

Hi Group, I've been using (floating) Riccia as an algae preventer to good effect, the theory being that it grows so damn fast (under high light, with CO2 and plentiful ferts) that it effectively consumes any of the 'algae triggering' nutrients (such as NH4) as fast as they are produced, leaving the higher order plants to flourish using the standard ferts. There's no doubt that the most effective algicide is fast growing competition, as the algae just don't get a chance to take hold. And its a beautiful colour, especially when frothing with oxygen bubbles. The fish seem to appreciate the extra cover too which softens the otherwise harsh overhead lighting. The upshot of this approach is that I'm removing handfuls of the stuff every week to ten days when the floating carpet gets too thick and starts to cut down the light penetration. So I remove 50% and let it go again. Rather than continue to toss it on the compost, I though I'd offer it out to anyone, particularly folks with good lighting but a persistant algae problem, to try (and its absolutely duckweed-free...). Of course if anyone would like to trade for some other plants that's always good too... - Dubb.

Nope. The only difference is likely to be how strong the water current is. In a planted tank, a steady, gentle circulation is often best (you don't want your plants bent over in a strong current) in which case the spraybar might be best to modify the filter output. Horizontal, vertical, top pointing down or bottom pointing up, makes no odds. Fishies won't mind either way. Nice planted tanks are just the coolest

Hi Heather, If you're actively adding CO2 (as in a true planted tank) then you are best to leave the water surface as undisturbed as possible. I'd suggest you put the filter output well below the surface to minimise surface agitation and omit the venturi altogether as the bubbles will only cause CO2 loss which is the opposite of what you're trying to achieve. There's no need to worry about O2 unless your tank is heavily overstocked; in a properly stocked tank bubbles are pretty but serve little other purpose - Dubb

Hi Freshwest, I think that, rather than attempt to measure actual fert concentrations, folks tend to estimate what the levels should be and aim for that, along with regular 50% water changes to prevent gradual buildup of ferts in the water column. This is known as the estimative index approach as put forward by Tom Barr. Its an approach I've been using with success, no algae to be seen whatsoever and lush plant growth. Two indispensible tools for this approach can be found at http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plan ... e_calc.htm and http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... ilator.php (you need to register to use this one...) These calculators tell you how much of each nutrient to dose to achieve a desired final concentration. The second link, the fertilator, is particularly useful as it sums the concentrations of individual components of each ingredient, i.e. if you're dosing KNO3, K2SO4 and KH2PO4 it will give you a final concentration for the Potassium arising from all three ferts. My own routine at the moment is to dose dry macronutrients in the form of KNO3, K2SO4, MgSO4 and KH2PO4 maybe once every 10 days to two weeks (for my 200l tank, I add 3/4 tspn of KNO3, 1/2 tspn K2SO4, 1/4 tspn MgSO4 and just a pinch of KH2PO4), with Seachem Flourish for trace elements (2ml) and Flourish Iron (3ml) weekly and a 50% water change monthly. This is lower dosing than many would suggest but it keeps the workload down a bit; I don't want the plants growing tooo fast as I just don't have the time for all the pruning and water changes... I don't see any sign of deficiencies. The plants are thriving, no algae troubles and my angels spawn every two weeks. Touch wood, all seems to be going well. Hope this might be of interest, Dubb.

Just a followup to this post and a plug... I managed to get everything from Stockers horticulturalists http://hydroponics.co.nz/ Potassium nitrate (1kg, $4.49) Potassium phosphate (250g $1.47) Potassium sulphate (500g, $2.00) Magnesium sulphate (500g, $1.77) Prompt delivery, friendly service, happy to recommend as aN NZ source of PMDD ingredients. Dubb.

Thanks folks for all your suggestions; will try and check some of them out if I get half a chance... And thanks Ballistic for the offer of a brew which I would most surely take you up on but sadly this trip will probably not allow time. But cheers anyway mate. Now I just hope its not too windy up there...

Hi All, I'm going to be in Wellington over the weekend; any interesting fishie-shops worth visiting?

Hi John, Yup, those are cardinals; big fat ones! I can try and take some pics for Cees I guess but they're awfully hard to photograph! They won't hold still and pose! Originally, when running the gas 24/7, I got exactly 6 weeks between fills. Since I put the solenoid on, about 10 weeks ago, there's been no sign of a pressure drop in the bottle (yet). I'd be hoping to get 12-15 weeks between fills now. The small size of the bottle makes up for the need to get a fill every few months IMO. Its very neat and easy to tuck away and I have nowhere to hide a large CO2 cylinder in my living room. The solenoid wasn't part of the kit although I did source it from the same place (Aqua-Medic, via Barry, $80) as I'm impressed with the quality and the price is not at all bad. These guys <http://www.valves.co.nz> did say they could get me something similar for $65ish. The valve has made a big difference and I haven't experienced any pH swings or other nastiness associated with switching the gas off at night. It just lasts a lot longer!