Sunbird73

See i thought of breaking their web. But then that would leave 2 very large spiders that would need to wander around looking for a new place to build. Not so keen on wandering spiders, they like to come in windows. At least when they are in their web I know where they are. When I first got one in my house a few years ago I rehomed to just outside my gate, but the next morning I caught him cruising back down my driveway into my garage... The last one my husband found next to our bed, so he would have come in the window directly over my head and walked over my side of the bed to get to where he was So I *really* do not want a repeat performance of that!! I just read on the web that they are NZ's largest endemic spider. Certainly are pretty blardy huge!

LOL would hate to miss and have giant angry spiders coming after me

I have 2 (possibly a m/f pair?) of NZ sheetweb spiders that have set up residence next to my back door steps Much as these huge spiders are fascinating they are just too close to my house and are giving me the heebiejeebies. Anyone want to catch them for me? The move too quick and are too big for me to even attempt it. I just don't want to have lots of baby sheetwebs wandering around my house. I can't take a pic (DH taken camera to chch) but here is one off the web. http://soilbugs.massey.ac.nz/gallery/IMGP2114_tif.html I am in Wairau, near sunnynook, north shore.

hoping they find her safe and well. Our family and friends down there are all well, tho one through pure luck stepped out of the cathedral literally a minute or two before the quake hit. Thinking of everyone down there, and those who are waiting anxiously for news.

Agree but think an Eheim pickup 2010 would be better, as 50-60L is the 2008's upper limits. My daughter has one in her bedroom tank, very quiet. Tho I calculate a 60X35X35 tank to have a volume closer to 70L not 90L.

We have a 380 and I think swordtails would be a bit cramped in this tank, females can get quite large and they are fastswimmers that need a lot of swimming space. We had a bristlenose in there but he outgrew the tank in a few months and quickly got territorial with the other fish ( we had a bristlenose and 2 cories) because of lack of floorspace. He got to about 10cm in less than 6mths. I second the neons, and maybe a few guppies (tho careful as these breed very quickly and you can soon be overwhelmed with fish). Or rasbora or other small schooling fish. Plants grow very well in ours (check your tube is not too old tho) so neons and plants and one or two platties/guppies would look very pretty. You could probably keep one dwarf cichlid in one - a single cockatoo would work. But go slow if its a new tank that is not cycled yet, just add one fish at a time and wait. Too many fish at once will be disaster as the good bacteria needs time to grow in order to process the fish waste. Read up on cycling a new tank and you will be fine

Thanks cichlid7, I had a look at that website before I posted. Looks kinda like hair algae but then wrong colour (mine is grey/brown, no green) and doesn't really seem to have individual filamentous strands? Seems to be like a cross between dust and cobwebs, wondering now if it is a fungus. Anyway, am "vacuuming" it off the plants every 2nd or 3rd day and have upped the excel. It is still there but doesn't seem to be growing as fast now. It is also coating the small amount of BBA which makes me think fungus??

alright alright, my camera's not great and no i didn't clean the glass as they were spawning at the time of these photos (that is my excuse and am sticking to it) Mr. Willy Wonka Little Precious Mr. Willy Wonka again, just cos so my algae is definitely algae? or is it fungus?

Have to say I agree with Joe re: light sand. For the reason that, with the fish trying to camoflage you may not see their nice golden colours. I have light brownish sand (not silica) and I wouldn't go any darker than that personally as I prefer them more gold than blotchy. But the tank does look great with black sand.

No activated carbon. It is an eheim pickup 2010, sponge cut in half and with aqua one noodles added to the top.

yes, eagerly awaiting pics

yes, he loves the camera! I have a pair, had some fry from the first spawn but didn't get them out of the tank before the next spawn and they all disappeared The last two spawns haven't managed to make it out of the cave so think the male may have developed a taste for eggs. Ok, will start upping the excel then, I wasn't sure if it had caused it or not. LOL Bishop FYI I am a laaaady ... yes there is just too much there to dose directly and I love my fish too much to risk giving them a straight dose (they are nosy buggars). That stuff stings my skin so would hate to get it on any of them.

soo... am having issues with a greyish brown cobwebby algae at the moment. Found that I had managed to uncover some JBL balls a few weeks back, so put some more gravel on top, and have done several water changes since. Had been using excel as well roughly every 2nd day, and flourish comprehensive about once a week. Had also put in some driftwood (I had scrubbed and boiled etc prior to putting in) that went in just before the algae came. Fish are all happy tho. Got some cobweb looking algae (or fungus??), that was easily removed from plants by vaccuuming and toothbrush but small bits remain esp in the moss etc. After I remove it it looks like I need to go around and "dust", very soft looking. I googled it and while it sounds like thread algae (easy to remove etc), it doesn't seem to grow in individual strands and is not green. Looks just like cobwebs, same colour and texture. I reduced the lights to about 4-5 hrs a day, and in a panic stopped all ferts and excel cos it started around the same time that I increased the amount of excel I was using - previously had been only using a fraction of the recommended dose. Took out the driftwood just in case but that has been submerged in water outside since and no algae growing there. Have also cut back on feeding the fish quite a lot in the past week in case it was caused by overfeeding. The growth of the algae definitely slowed down but it is still there. tank size : 60x30x30 Light - had been a PL 24Watt but as of yesterday have got 24in T5HO twin powerglo's.... :happy2: So, how do I get rid of the algae? More excel? less? more ferts? Seeing as I have just upped the lighting significantly should I go out and get more plants now? I have put them on for 2hrs on 4 hrs off 4 hrs on today - is that too much? How DO you fix things if you suspect you get your JBL clay balls or Daltons in the watercolumn?

With the gradual introduction of the ACVM act, I think there are a few grey areas. I found this tho:

What are your oxygen levels like? If you are not sure if you are getting better, go to a GP clinic that has a pulse oximeter (measures the oxygen in your blood quickly and simply). If your oxygen levels are low you may need to go to hospital to get some supplementary o2. If you were someone in my family I would be taking you back for a checkup earlier than a week with pneumonia, like 2-3 days tops - often if your oxygen levels are compromised you may not be able to judge how well you are, as low oxygen to your brain makes you spacey and less able to judge your state objectively - you might think you are ok when you are not. (I have had very low 02 before and I was dangerously sicker than I realised).

FYI - Am in sunnynook just sth of Albany - our tap water comes out at 7.8 - 8.0 consistently, measured with both standard pH tests, and an accurate expensive one from DH's work.

Best way to get a petstore to remove their dead fish right away is to get a preschool child to go and tell an assistant... There is no reason to even bother with Albany animates - HFF Albany is just around the corner!

I think the ones they have (or had recently) in-store are steel blues labelled as borelli.

:bounce: Awesome!!

Thanks - will keep with the microworms and crushed flake. They seem to be hanging around the xmas moss so hopefully they have been feeding there for the last few days (checked the pot on the weekend and found no eggs just a lot of debris :oops: maybe the debris was actually babies!!) Will have to move the pandas out tonight I think, my daughter is getting a bit nervous about her precious pandys as the female is very narky with them and they are confined to the distant corner. It is looking like there are about 20-30 of them now that my eyes know what they are looking for Nice little cloud around her, she is a very proud and vigilant mum

Well, just fed the fish and noticed the female cockatoo being vy nippy to the guppies and hiding in a dark corner. Wondering whether she might have laid another batch outside the cave, but nearly fell over in surprise when I saw at least 5-10 babies around her! There may be more, but hard to see as they are just swimming bits of dust OF course, just when I was going to change the water.... and when we are going away in a few days for a bit over a week *sigh* But YAY! She didn't eat her eggs, and yay! my pretty pretty boy does love the ladies So exciting!! Now, being caught out in that I was so sure the eggs were not fertile, I haven't got any brine shrimp going. They look too small for microworms? Would decap brine shrimp eggs work? However, as we are getting a friend in to feed the fish once every 3-4days it might be redundant worrying about what to feed them I will move out the guppies this afternoon, what about the panda corys? Will they eat fry or not really? Just need there to be some for my daughter to see over the next couple of days.. :happy1:

Good info thanks ryan! So shall I just leave these ones alone - she will eat them if infertile? I didn't really want babies just before xmas anyhow, but am vy pleased with having a definite female

How long after laying the eggs should the male visit the cave and do his business? My fm has definitely laid eggs, think yesterday morning from her behaviour, but the male seems to be oblivious to his job. She constantly tried to entice him to the cave all yesterday but he always got distracted just before getting there, and would wander off. She slapped him in the head a few times with her tail but it didn't seem to work. He flared at her a little, but nothing else. Today he seems to be hiding behind the cave like a naughty little shirker. I just checked for eggs, and they are there, not red like they should be, more whitish I think (hard to tell tho against the orange terracotta) so not fertilised? Well, at least I am sure now my pretty girl is definitely a girl

ok, reviving this thread sorry... We are about to do a pre-emptive flea bomb of the house, animals have been frontlined but our kids are a bit allergic to fleas and we want to make sure we stay clean this year... Have got tanks in the garage that I am moving fish to tonight. So they will be out of the house. I can't be bothered moving the canister filter as well (unless absolutely necessary) - will that survive 24hrs turned off without killing all the bacterial goodness? My question is - how long would the fish need to be out of the house before its safe to bring them back inside? I was thinking 24hrs should be plenty long enough... ??