matildanz

I have to agree Henward, they sure love the silica sand! I've found they are so much more active now that they have sand as a substrate. I'm sure there's a competition between the clowns and the bronze catfish as to who can dig the deepest hole!! I'll definitely stick to something fine but perhaps just a little heavier than the silica. Thanks Jennifer, I'll see what I can find - it's slim pickings down here :roll:

Thanks I've had playground sand before (Mitre 10 Mega had playground sand that was guaranteed free of 'bits') but I wasn't overfussed about the colour - kind of yellowy/brown, almost like the Daltons. I'll have a look for some builders sand, see if the colour is what I'm after It's fairly slim pickings down here! :roll:

Thinking about changing the substrate in my 5 ft tank. Currently it is white silica sand over Daltons. I used it mainly because it was sitting in the garage, but cripes it gets filthy! I've been doing regular partial water changes mainly with a syphon trying to clean the bottom up but it stays clean for all of a day, and by the time the clowns have spent the entire night re-landscaping, the entire tank is covered in a fine layer of sand. Can't be good for the filter either! I'd like to go darker but not sure what to use. The LFS here is awful and has nothing in the way of sand/stones unless you want neon/coloured ones! Any suggestions on what I could use -preferably still sandy (for the loaches) but not so fine as the white? Cheers

Thanks Jennifer, I wasn't blaming your microworms, they've been great and the fry love them ........ I'd read somewhere that a constant food source like microworms can sometimes fuel a population spike. I'll give the bleach a go. Truth be told, I'm probably overfeeding the fry - I'll try feeding them less but more often.

Gee thanks

I have an infestation of hydra in my fry tank. Where do they come from? The only new thing to go into the tank is some twisted val from a very reputable lfs in CHCH. I have been feeding the fry microworms, would this cause the sudden influx of hydra? Neither of my other tanks have any sign of hydra. At what size will the fry no longer be a target for the hydra? They are around 1cm give or take 1mm either way. I'm not keen to start throwing chemicals into the water - will cleaning/scraping the glass help or will they just regenerate like some starfish? Thanks

goatee indian or thai

Thanks for that, seems I'm not entirely abnormal then!! I never suffered from glue ear as a child and this is the first time that flying has ever affected my ears. I did end up with the flu while on holiday in Oz last week so I wonder if this may have been the cause. On the upside, I think the antibiotics are starting to kick in - my hearing is starting to come back so here's hoping the grommets won't be needed!

Has anyone ever had grommets inserted as an adult? I thought it was a 'child' ailment but it appears I might need these. cheers

You should never be made to feel that you've been an inconvenience. I don't know if the Wellington Ambulance Service has the same operating procedures as St John, but I would have been shot for saying that to a patients family. I know down here that you most definitely get seen quicker if going by ambulance - how long you sit in a bed waiting for a doctor after you've been assessed is another thing entirely though!

We have a cycled 3 foot tank sitting in the dining room, empty apart from a few bristlerats of differing sizes. I've handed it over to hubby ( apparently I'm still in charge of cleaning it... not sure quite how that happened!! ) and he can choose what he wants to put in it. He's ALWAYS wanted a Redtail black shark but we've decided that it's probably not the best of choices seeing as he'd quite like a small community setup! So his next choice is one of the dwarf cichlid varieties......... any opinions/pros/cons of different breeds? OR any other suggestion I can tempt him with?? Cheers

Thanks for the suggestion, will look out for some schist. I like the look of the wood but don't want to risk losing any more clowns. Yes they're pretty good at squeezing into small spaces, I had a ship (shock horror ) in my last tank and they're nothing if not pig headed stubborn when it came to taking it out!! There was always at least one wedged into the ends.

The wood in question came from the established tank I recently purchased, it has housed clowns for the last 5 years without a single loss from being stuck in the spaces.

That was my thoughts too Adrienne, either that or he snuck up there while I had the filter disconnected to change some of the media. I don't think I have any fish small enough to swim through the shield on the intake but if do end up with any babies, I'll be covering the intake with net as well!

My apologies for not being able to fork out for an Ehiem. I most certainly would have attached guards had the filter come with them. I'm not a complete blithering idiot to leave something vital off and I'm quite versed in the english language to be able to read the instructions fully - perhaps you would have preferred I ask for my husbands help. The inlet does have a strainer and I have now covered the outlets with net to stop this happening again. I researched filters well before deciding the best I could afford and so far is doing the job it's supposed to extremely well. Had it been suggested that a filter bar was necessary I certainly would have bought one.

Strange question but has anyone found the depth of water in a tank having any effect on certain fish? When our last tank was set up a few months ago, as soon as the Clown and Kuhli Loaches went in we never saw much of them. The Kuhlis disappeared and I honestly thought they had died, didn't see them once in months. Never saw them out feeding or swimming around. Same with the Clowns, they came out very rarely and only if it was completely dark and nothing moved outside the tank (I'd spend half the evening sitting in the dark squinting at the tank hoping for a glimpse of my elusive fish - yes I know, I need a life!!! :lol: ) There were plenty of hiding places, subdued lighting and dithers to keep a Clown happy!! I understand about water pressure and atmospheres when diving but I wouldn't have thought it would make diddly squat difference in a home aquarium! Anywho, when we were removing water from tank as soon as it got perhaps 1/3 down, all the loaches came out - Kuhlis, Clowns, Zebras, the whole tank was a party!! :happy1: The tank we've just replaced was a fairly tall one 75-80cm tall to one that is just as long, fractionally deeper from front to back but not as high - I can at least get my arm to the bottom in this one!! I understand about water pressure and atmospheres when diving but I wouldn't have thought it would make diddly squat difference in a home aquarium! I was starting to lose a little interest in my fish since I never saw anything other that Neons and Rainbows but since the weekend I don't think I've watched a single programme all the way through........... much more interesting things to watch in the tank now!! :happy2: :bounce: I did wonder if it had anything to do with the substrate in the new tank being silica sand instead of stones but that doesn't explain why they came out all of a sudden in the old tank with less water........... :dunno:

Yep, plenty of cover - 3 big logs covered in Java Fern. Two are riddled with nooks and crannys for them to swim into and one raised off the substrate for them to hide under and supervise the world going by! The inlet is about 20cm off the ground but has a good grill on it, it'd have to be a contortionist to get through it. The only thing I can think of is that he/they wriggled up the outlet while the filter was off then when the valves were opened again he was forced into the filter (although that doesn't make much sense since the flow is going in the opposite direction :-? ) I don't think he'd been there long and apart from a slightly deformed head and a scrape down one side he looked fairly fresh.

Neither can I. Only found him when the impeller cover was taken off. I can understand the one in the filter outlet, nosey little blighter, but how this one got into the impeller is beyond me. Everything was set up correctly, it's been working fantastically since we've had it. And even through I've seen the odd zebra loach scoot in one outlet and out the other, I've never seen a clown go near it!

Cleaned out my FX5 this evening then when I turned the filter back on it wouldn't go. Didn't think to clean out the impeller or I might still have a full quota of clowns :tears: took the impeller to bits and there he was, Removed said fish, put filter back together again, covered the filter outlets with tulle and cable ties then turned it back on. Couple of minutes later went to check the filter was still going and there it was.... another blimmin clown, on the wrong side of the tulle no less!! :facepalm: I don't think I'm cut out to have clowns, the nerves aren't what they used to be!! I swear the sods are worse than toddlers!!

Thanks for that.

I've decided I need a new tank. I love the quirkyness of the old fibreglass one BUT it's just too deep for me to clean properly or trim plants so I'm looking at a 2nd hand 'Aqua One 150'. The current tank is around 500l so I'd be losing around 130l. Will this have an adverse affect on my current clowns? All the research I've come up with say that 5ft is the smallest length recommended but also it shouldn't be any less than 500l, so I'm not sure what to do. I can't fit a longer tank in the lounge so 5ft is about my limit. Also this tank comes complete with 6 clowns and asst bristlenoses - what do I do regarding quarantining? I know the seller and she's fastidious with her fish care (I'd be more concerned about my fish giving hers something dodgy!!) I'd have to tear my tank down to put the new one up so my fish would have to be housed in my old 3 footer but since hers aren't 'fish shop' fish would the quarantining be necessary? I'm thinking no, but I don't want 11 floating clowns!! Lastly and probably most importantly , I have 5 clowns (at least that's what went in the tank, haven't seen them all for a few days!), same with the 5 kuhlis, 5 rainbows, 2 GBA and around 30 neons - will this tank be big enough for all these guys?? Cheers guys

I have a 3foot tank and a rather small tank probably around 30ish litres, you are welcome to borrow them if you like. I don't know much about looking after skinks but if you give me some good instructions I'm sure I could keep them alive until you get back on your feet . I don't have any heating though. 027 2726 223 or 684 8787 Melissa

Have just heard that the Caroline Bay Hall down here in Timaru has been designated a welfare centre for anyone from CHCH wanting to get out. Red Cross and Sallies there. Beds, food and phones for anyone who needs it.

I've sent him a PM but no reply as yet, I'm guessing he's pretty busy at work at the moment.

I have a couple of spare tanks if anyone needs them also a couple of sofabeds if anyone needs to get away. Please don't hesitate to ask 027 27 26 223