Glenn

Our deepest sympathy to Rose and family.

dont get distracted when refilling tanks with a hose.

Do not run oxygen.If you feel the need to run air into aquarium do so only after lighting has gone off at night and stop airation before lights come on in morning

suggest you goggle diatom filters and find their home page.I have bought replacement parts (bags,seals,impellors,etc)off their on-line store with no problems.Also I would suggest contacting your local swimming pool to see if they use (and will sell you) the diatom powder.

If they are prohibited MAF will probably have a full time team of people concentrating on trying to remove them from the lakes and streams around Rotorua (they are in their thousands in certain parts down here). P.S. If they're to fast for turtles imagine the problems MAF (or fish &game)will have!!!!

Where do we find the import list of allowed species. It has been very difficult for me to find what species are in NZ and available to purchase. Can you shed some light on what is here at present and how to obtain them?

I'm using Sera heaters.Have had no problems(except with price).Seem to be very reliable to date although still relatively new to the market.

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Yep. Start off in the blue and slowly increase to green.Yellow is to much CO2. Cheers

under the white filter wool.Be very careful as any pouches knock the hell out of the volume flow rate of eheims(from my experiences)

The best thing IMO would be to invest in a CO2 test kit(Sera have one). The rate of CO2 injection is then based on the reaction(colour change) in the test chamber. Cheers Glenn

those are ideal conditions for ambulia.

Hi Billaney Is "platters" a brand name. We don't have a goods shed in Rotorua.Would you know any other stores that carry this? Looks a good grade for general use Cheers Glenn

Dip the moss into a solution of potassium permanganate for about two minutes.Try with a small piece of moss first. Ideally you want the solution to go from red to brown,which is when the potossium p. has lost its intensive oxidising characteristic. Repeat this a couple of times over several days as it will also kill any hydra etc that you may not be able see at the moment. Cheers Glenn

If phosate and nitrate levels are low algae are less likely to be a problem.However plants require both phosphate and nitrate to grow well therefore it becomes a matter of balance between lighting and nutrient levels along with how heavily planted the tank is that will determine algae either being controlled or blooming IMO

I use a 9 watt Pondmaster on a 400 litre tank and it does a good job of keeping any floating algae at bay.Would suggest a 5 watt on your 180 litre tank.HTH

With fifty tanks, and the admission on this forum that you have bought plants off Henry, I fear you may have sealed your own fate as far as a Biosecurity visit is concerned. Therefore the need to go out and kill plants immediately will possibly not save your remaining stocks of plants and fish. I wish you all the best with your current setup and trust that you will never make a mistake in the future. Regards Glenn

Thanks for your posts Henry. It does make a difference,to me at least, to see that you have apologised for any inconvenience caused to others. As Caryl said,and I agree,it would be unfortunate to loose your knowledege of plant care etc from this forum. I trust that the experience you are going through will not carry a sentence which outweighs the crime either financially or emotionally. I wish you well and look forward to your continued involvment with this hobby and this forum.

I hope Henry is reading this forum. I recently bought a filter from him and as recently as yesterday was asked, by him,to give feed back on this trade.(The trade was good /the filter works well) Had I known Henry had already been through a court process regarding illegal trading with plants,and thereby subjecting all previous traders to some sort of home invasion by biosecurity officers, I possibly would not have bought the filter,and if had I proceeded with the purchase, I would have been aware of the possible outcome. I am not in favour of anyone 'pulling the wool over my eyes' to acheive a financial gain,no matter what their justification is,if the process is against NZ law and may jeopordize our natural ecology. I am sure Henry had the best of intentions in his endeavours but when it impacts on others there is obviously a lack of thought or a certain amount of greed involved. Perhaps Henry may wish to put his point of view(or an apology) on this forum.

normal under good lighting

I am striving to reach the perfection of your tank! Have not yet reached mediocrity!!!! Looks brilliant.Well done

I would advise of caution if adding Jurapari or Surinesis to a planted tank as these "eartheaters" live up to their name and spend their lives sifting through the gravel and creating quite a cloud of debris in their wake. The lotus can be encouraged to stay submersed if the taller growing leaves are regularly trimmed off (ie it starts trying to reach the surface again) and it then forms a thick submerse form which IMO looks very good.

had the same response as Psyc to using Drontal.I guess worms are gone but so are 20 to 30 fish.Yeah, did the dosing/water changes/testing etc then removed the bodies.Seemed an extreme way to get rid the problem but I suppose it worked.Just starting to restock tank after complete clean out and 1 month of carbon in filters.Don't think I'll try this method again as maybe there is something a little less drastic available!

Hi 2Fishy Did you get these in yet? Were you able to get pairs or just the males?

Got the book today.Looks good,just got to find time to read it.Thanks Henry