Stretchhh

Hi Rob. 'ya sound a bit like me. I last kept tropicals but 30 years ago and have just started up again. And for a bit of unsolicited but useful info, A good way to get your wife on board with the bigger tank idea is to, when you have money (not easy these days) but if/when you do have cash promise her that thing she's been hankering for-you know, new couch, holiday whatever...it's a payoff but it worked for me!

Saskia. I would clean it out once more, refilling with tap water from a hose is ok. Then place a large water lily in your pond...in the middle would look nice...or in a corner. A tropical water lily for this time of year would be best. Then an oxygenating bunch of plants in another corner and a marginal plant such as Pontedera or dwarf papyrus, Jap. iris or similar in another part. Note. Don't scrub the sides of the pond if it's just a bit of algae. Algae is beneficial in certain forms and on things such as plants and pond sides it's good. The green, suspended algae will almost definitely return within a few days but don't worry,don't do anything, just leave it. The algae will out-compete itself feeding on the limited supply of nutrients in your tap water and the waterlily and other plants will help too and one day 'voila' you'll have achieved a balanced, clear, but not crystal clear, clear water pond. Good things take time.

Thanks people. I've pretty much decided to go with the built in undergravel filter arrangement. That way I can get the whole set up before Christmas, including some fish. I've been reading those posts by kuhli loach and it's got me enthused thinking how many different fish are out there. I'm going to go community fish definitely for starters and that means the valid points raised re the bigger fish, African cichlids, oscars and the like ... won't be an issue...for now. Now what about gravel..that's another post i believe. Thanks Guys. Just as an aside. It was my darling daughter who put that stuff up there about me living on a planet other than our own...took me a day to notice it. I live in Franklin District, South of Auckland.

Point taken Joe Fish but as the aquarium is sitting in the middle of the lounge I don't have the space/place for another aquarium albeit small for a stand alone sump. The FX5 would fit nicely into the stand though. Anyway i've decided to go with the Chinese pump and the undergravel sewer system. The worst that can happen, I now believe is it simply won't work very well and I can upgrade/replace with the FX5 then (after cleaning out the tank). I'm not 100% sure on the type of fish yet but I think small ciclids to start with like Rams, Kribensis and the like...the daughters would like those and I want to get them interested...and some fast swimming middle/top layer fish like the danios, I love those. It's my belief that if I start with smaller fish then I can have some plants at least...cost will determine if I do... My end aim is to have African cichlids maybe, I had those back in my teens and another time I had Red Oscars, maybe those.

Thanks. My aim, if possible is to get away without the FX5 and rely on the glass pieces across the bottom which the tank builder has built in. and his cheapie Chinese pump. That way I get to get my fish a lot quicker than I would if I have to 'shell out' for an FX5. The down side risk is if, having got everything together,all set up and that, (with the pump and glass method ) and it doesn't work properly, I have to take everything out again, clean it (the tank and gravel) and put it all back along with $600 worth of FX5 filter. I've just tried the pump outside in a bucket and it seems to have the power.The vertical tube heading down into the glass at the tank bottom has a powerful suction. The pump has two outlets toward the top at right angles and these both push out quite a bit. The packaging states '3 in 1' so I guess that's that, 2 outlets and 1 inlet...Some of the extraneous parts as shown on the package didn't turn up either. I think i'll try it just the same,thanks Ryan, n get the fish in before Christmas . Wow i'm getting close now, how exciting. Stretch

Here's the thing. I've got my new 648ltr aquarium to the stage where I can start setting it up. It's on a good stand now and it's been full of water over the Winter and Spring. It's now empty again. Thing is I bought the aquarium from a Chinese gentleman in Mangere Bridge about 2.5 years ago and with it came a new pump, a made in China sun sun JP-025B. On the floor of the aquarium are 3 or 4 strips of 10mm glass across the width of the aquarium at an angle. Lying on top of these strips width ways along the entire length of the tank are strips of 10mm glass about 100mm wide. The futhermost strip to the left is wider and has a whole drilled through to receive the the end fitting of the tube from the pump above. This set up leaves the 10mm gap under the gravel across the entire tank bottom. This arrangement is to be the undergravel filtration system. Will this system work or should I ignore it and go for a Fluval FX5. I can afford the FX5 right now 'cause i've been saving. Just means i'll have to wait longer for the fish. Aquarium is 1800mm long x 600mm wide. ... formally known as Stretch

hmmm. Cheers people. ' pretty sure it's that chytrid fungus. I'm thinking, hoping that any surviving frogs now still alive will either build or have already some immunity. But i'm not holding my breath, still i've got a couple of hundred tadpoles coming along so there's still hope...

A sad note to come back on to this forum i'm afraid. My frogs are dying or have died already. I'm talking about the aussie frogs that have been inhabiting my 2.5 acre paradise...for the 18 years or so I have been here. This time last year I would walk around the ponds in the middle of the day and spy maybe 20 frogs or more basking in the sun and at night I would fall asleep listening to their mating calls. This year...almost nothing. I had maybe three pairs lay eggs early Spring but since then almost nothing. It's a job to even see a frog now. 2 years ago I would've seen thirty or more so you can see how rapid the decline. I've been finding sick, dying, dead frogs for these last few years but mainly in the Winter and I put it down to Aussie frogs being caught out of climate...you know not being in hibernation or that other state-can't remember the word...semi-hibernation. But these frogs have been found dead or not moving prior to death at random times all seasons, not just early Winter I now realise. They (the frogs) just go into a kind of stuper, just sitting where ever I find them. Not jumping away like you'd expect and sure enough dead right there in a day or so. What's going on? Has anyone else experienced this or heard of it in their neighbourhood. Is it that bloody chitrid? virus we've all read about and there's another one called red leg I read. I'm ok with letting nature take it's course but it's a real downer if they all go... I live in Tuakau, South Auckland.