hovmoller

Well... call me a geek but I like to read up a bit on potential fish I will put in my tank.. :lol: I'm sure the "normal" one will be fine but just wanted to find out if there are different sp avaliable and then find out what their subtle differences are..

I'm sure someone out there can rattle a few names off by heart..?

Would like a few Otos for my planted tank, but wondering what's avaliable out there? Thanks

That is great Stella.. another plus for cycling Not sure if you are referring to me here Barrie.. if you are it would be interresting to hear your guess? In any case I am certainly not a fan of the "I'm right so I will just go" attitude and that is not what I said before either..

Rather than assuming I'm invisible (cos it would be a pain in the a.. cos I would be too scared to go anywhere) I like to (as my mom told me when I was younger and learning to cycle) think of all other motorists as potential idiots.. That way you don't actually have to stop for everything in sight but just make damn sure they have seen you..

Barrie I think we get your point now But I don't agree with just automatically giving way to anything that is bigger than you just because you would come out worse off.. If I'm going straight on my bike and an oposing car wants to turn right into a street on my left then the car has to give way.. I will certainly not stop and let the car go just because it is bigger than me.. Of course I make sure the car has seen me because you can never guard yourself against idiots not paying attention.. What I mean is that IMO we HAVE to follow the road code... cyclist should be very alert because they get damaged easily but we should follow the rules set in place.. If people start making up rules of their own on who should give way then I think even more confusion and dangerous situations can happen.

We don't actually ride around the inner city.. then we'd spend half our lunchbreak waiting for red lights But we do have to ride through Newmarket to get out on some good rides around the hills in the Remuera, Kohi, St. Helliers area and also a tour of Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill is really good for a lunch time work out.. Traffic is not bad in those areas around midday but as always you have to be super alert in Auckland. What I notice here is an incredible hatred between motorists and cyclists.. I guess it's because road space is limited which causes all these problems so people get really worked up on this issue.. Where I come from we have bike paths everywhere and cyclists ALWAYS have right of way... it works really well and everyone seems to get along just fine (I know you can't just make bike paths everywhere in auckland)

I work in Newmarket (Auckland) and we are a bunch at work that ride every day in our lunch time.. for excercise.. and yes auckland traffic is pretty dodgy with the crappy roads and the different characters that David has described so well .. I had an encounter with a truck a year ago and broke a few ribs but actually just the other day a work mate smashed into the back of a car going into the roundabout at the bottom of Ayr st. at full speed (Aucklanders might know that this is one of the steepest streets in town). The term "friends don't let friends ride carbon" came to mind after picking up the pieces of his carbon bike.. The frame had literally cracked/snapped straight through in 7 PLACES!!! (see pictures below) Guy was ok though apart from a lot of missing skin (damn lucky he was!)

Although I am not very knowlegable on how the whole importer/LFS system works I would certainly like to help out if I can.. My interrest has always been with south and central american cichlids - eartheaters in particular.. The paper I referred to earlier gives a lot of very in depth scientific information on the Geophagus genus. I have a copy of "South American Eartheaters" by Thomas Weidner which, as far as I know, is the best compilation of information about Eartheaters ever written. If any of this can be of any help let me know.

Hehe.. I take it you don't do a lot of baking then?

Not a very discrete spy is he! Straight to the point! Zayne did you not know that Koi's are baddies here in NZ?

Ok my discus was NOT happy with pH going from 6.0 to 6.7 in one water change... They all went completely black and went into hidding.. they are usually quite inquisitive during WC.. So the co2 production came to a halt after only 4 days! I followed P44's recipe of 2 cups sugar and 2 teaspoons yeast.. but after googling other recipes found that most recommend 1/4 - 1/2 tsp yeast to two cups sugar. this would explain the massive production of co2 - low pH - and only 4 day duration. So I've made a new batch with only 1/2 tsp yeast (as Supasi recommended) and hope that will last longer and not drop my co2 so much.. As P44 wrote it's definitely about tuning it in to your setup..

I agree Sunbird but very much depend on the plant I think.. I have done xmas moss as well no drama but when I did Riccia for only 1 min in 5% bleach it died..

I would do a combination/variation to the above... Tank: Wash with a scrub sponge thingy with soap, rinse thorughly then spray all over inside tank with 5% bleach solution (could be stronger I guess).. then rinse very thoroughly and dry for days.. the drying will evaporate the bleach but you could also spray with a dechlorinator to be on the safe side. Gravel: If it looks really naff I would just throw it out but if it's good stuff I would just wash the hell out of it and soak in 5% bleach again.. rinse and dry in the sun as mentioned above. Plant: IMO 10% bleach for 5 min is way too much/long. It depends how hardy your tiger lotus is, I don't know. I did anubias in 5% (1:20) solution for 4 min (had read that that was absolute max somewhere online) and it completely anhialated the black beard algae on it and the plant was fine. Filter: Just wash with soap and soak in 5% bleach, the rinse and let dry for days..

Excellent! If my fish are floating belly up in an hour I will report back

So after setting this up (thanks for the guide Supasi and P44) my pH has gone from 7.2 to 6.0 Will this be a problem when doing water changes? I mean my tap water is around 7.4 and I usually do 50% per week. Is there a direct correlation between % water changed and pH? eg. if I do 50% will pH end up on 6.7? and is this too big a shock for the fish? (discus, cardinal, corys) Thanks

Give it a read (if you have the time) and I think you will find that it is.

Agree.. Here is the link to the publication where I read it. It talks about the addition of three new species to the genus Geophagus but especially describes the differences that defines the different Geophagus species (14 in total in 2004). I'm guessing articles like this would serve as evidence in a MAF application. http://www.aquatic-experts.com/AQUATIC-EXPERTS%20PDF/Donald%20Taphorn%20Reprints/2004%20Geophagus%20abalios,%20dicrozoster%20winemilleri.pdf

Perhaps the Geophagus "surinamensis" currently on the list will automatically expand to a number of species once it is properly looked into by MAF.

Hey Jaxxnz.. No excuse for not insulating the back of the tank If you put 25mm poly on the back you could save $30/month during winter!!

Sure.. In that case you will need minimum 385 Watt heating... If we assume there will also be a layer of plywood or similar under the tank and that you will have a layer of sand/gravel inside then you are only saving 12w by using 50mm instead of 25mm under the tank.. and that is only at the very extreme part of the year.. I would put the tank on 25mm only unless you already have some 50mm lying around. If you do then the 50mm is better used on the back or sides of the tank. Here is a link to the calculator: (It's pretty straight forward to fill in but you need MS excel) http://www.fnzas.org.nz/uploads/media/Aquarium%20Heatloss%20Calculator.xls

Thanks for the comments.. The "sword like" plants in the background are a mix of amazon and argentine swords so they will get well big especially now with the co2.. The light green patch front left is chain sword and front right patch (left of the anubias) is micro chain sword.. I'm thinking of getting rid of the ambulia in the back and replace with another plant but unsure which.. an amazonia plant would be great to go with the theme but doesn't have to be. Oh and temp is around 29-30 because of the Discus in there..

UNcool tank thing

Ah thanks for reminding me Josh Yes I use the PMDD (poor mans daily drops or something from a guy on TM) 8 drops/day

Yes I have a little eheim internal with no foam in it pointing from his side over to hers onto the stone I had selected for her to spawn on.. but of course she chose another one! (Murphy's law at work I guess ) When she is ready to spawn next time I will try to remove the divider at the exact right time and see if it's possible for them to get it done without that divider..