cichlidman2010

Smart!!

An update: I filled a bucket with hot water and added some bleach. I left the plants for about 5 minutes as recommended. They seem to be OK now. Obviously the smell of the yeast is gone due to the bleach - I will keep rinsing them until they smell like nothing. Seems to have dome the trick! As for the ornament - Similar result. Might need a fair bit more rinsing than the plants due to all the little nooks and crannies. Will update later!

Brilliant - I will get onto it today Thanks!

They will be! Even if I can sort some of it out, it's still cost me lots of time trying to save it all :cry1:

I know - It's such a pain. They don't realise how delicate these things are. Thanks! Usually this is a paid service but this particular client had not been charged for any work done. Thanks again!

I have used very hot water to wash them/soak them several times. May need to try boiling water next. Bit hesitant on the alcohol - I'm sure you can understand why. Hmm, I just can't think of anything else that could have done it.

Interesting. How do you know this? Thanks for your input

I seriously thought about bleach in this situation but I'm worried it's going to damage the colour in the plants and ornament. What do you think?

I maintain an aquarium for some folks that run a restaurant. Earlier this week, they thought they'd be friendly and give the fish some bread to feed on :facepalm: Obviously I am not always there so I didn't find out until my next maintenance visit the following week. As you can imagine, the bread was broken down through the gravel, smelling pretty foul and even growing a little bit of fuzz on the bigger pieces. I managed to siphon all of this out and get it looking OK again but the walls of the tank, the pipes, the silk plants, etc were all slimy. The slime was not visible but you could feel it over everything. I'm sure this is mainly due to the yeast in the bread. Other ingredients would have also contributed, Im sure. Anyway - The tank was in such a shocking condition that I decided to pull the aquarium out and completely do it over and get it cleaned up. I managed to get this slimy feel out of the filter box (AR620T) and all of the pipes, heater, UV filter, etc. but can not get it out of/off the silk plants, the ornament and the filter sponges (ditched the carbon cartridges). Has anyone gone through this before? What is going to break down this stuff all over the plants, ornament, filter media? It's going to cost a lot to replace it all! Please help!

I wasn't aware that you were struggling to get contributions to the magazine, I'm sorry. I'm not on here enough to know. Feel free to remove this thread Sorry again

I'm more than happy to chuck in a few old articles if they're around instead of new ones ! Not trying to be any competition ! :bggrn:

Hi everyone, I'm looking for a few people that would be interested in writing general articles on the basics of keeping a freshwater aquarium. Topics like, feeding, lighting, algae problems, etc. I m going to put some in my new blog for others that are interested in keeping fish but need that extra bit of help Full credit will be given to you below the article and a link to other work of yours if you have any. If there's anyone that's keen, let me know ! Cheers

Thinking about worms, ants, slaters, etc.

Hi everyone, I'm setting up a 5ft Terrarium soon and am stuck on what i should use as substrate, Does anyone have any experience with this ? Not sure how many layers I should use or even what I should use because I've heard mixed things about what is best. Plants will include some NZ natives such as small ferns and also some exotic species that are able to thrive in the same environment. Any help would be great ! Thanks !

Good point !

Selling my Ricoh PX Digital Camera as I've hardly used it and need the money ! :slfg: 16MP and 5x Optical zoom Water, Dust and Shock resistant - 60 minutes at 3 metres deep - Photograph your fish from INSIDE the tank. Comes with a 4GB memory card and a nice case too Offers around $300

Does anyone have contact details for hendasin on Trade Me ? Is he on the forums ? I was purchasing fish off of him but he has no auctions on at the moment so I can't leave a question! :tears: THANKS !

Good idea ! :lol:

if the room was relatively sealed and insulated well as stated above, how many hours a day do you think the heat pump would be on for ? thanks for the info guys, its helping alot ! Ross

thinking it may be cheaper to heat the room rather than tanks..

what do you pay in power a month ? how many tanks ?

would it the be cheaper to run all 300w heaters on 200 litre tanks ? or would it cost more in the end, or the same ?

always wondering how long a heater is in operation for over a 24 hour period. If the tank was in a well insulated room and providing your heater was the right wattage to run your litres, how long would a heater be in operation for over a 24 hour period ? 6 hours ? 12 hours ?

Hi Josh ! Looking good ! How is this room heated ? Ross

Hi all I'm building a new fish room next year, so I'm starting the researching and planning now ! The room won't be huge, about 10sqm. It will hold 15 4ft tanks (5 bays long, 3 tanks high). The top two rows of tanks will be able to be split into two 2ft tanks. The room will be fully insulated with batts, plaster boarded and painted with water resistant paint and will have a decent sized basin with hot and cold water and also a drain for water changes. Here is a list of questions: What to use as flooring ? (already a concrete floor underneath) How should I heat the tanks ? Should i use individual heaters or heat the room and keep it sealed ? What is the most economical way to filter tanks this size for fry ? What will be the cheapest way to light the tanks ? (enough to see the fish) Has anyone got this many tanks ? If so, what do you pay in power ? Does anyone have any experience with solar power and tanks ? Any answers will be greatly appreciated ! :bounce: