ichthus

If you're into goldfish - that's cool. Stick with it. You may get into tropicals later, but some people do not. It sounds to me like you are doing everything to the best of your ability. Your tank is small, and therefore a little harder to keep stable than a larger tank. But if that is all you can afford, stick with it. It suits your fish for the time being. I look after a goldfish tank for my daughters kindy. It has 2 fancies in it, and is quite similar to your tank. All I do is a 40% vacuum and water change, once a week, with water straight out of the tap. The fish are in good health. They will out grow that tank in time, but at the end of the year they'll move to another home anyway when the kindy year ends. Blackmoores, I have found, are a little weak - perhaps not an ideal first fish. But stick with it - and yep, perhaps joining the club in Dunedin will help.

Yeah - it can get easier. I think we all get rough patches, but if you follow a few basic rules keeping goldfish should be an enjoyable hobby. My advice - avoid getting advice from loads of different sources, as everyone has their different ways and recommendations. Find someone you trust who keeps a nice tank, and offers simple straight-forward advice, and stick with them. Good luck.

Got ya - thanks. Looking forward to photos of further progress. As you know, we live over the road from some clean sea water...so was thinking...

Hmm...not sure I'd jump online and make fun of my wife's cooking - or anything else about her. But I'm with Caryl: you've just made yourself head chef in the relationship. Good luck.

Hi Obstacle just wondering, when you mention "dew" water used for water changes...is that the stuff labeled as "Pure Dew" from the supermarket? Basically, I'm wondering if that would be a reasonable source of water for a marine tank as opposed to RO/DI water? Just wondering...I don't think I'm going to try a marine tank. Am I? No, don't do it. Thanks....

Well - turns out i was very wrong!

Got a link to that article? How do they demonstrate that the iodised salt would be okay?

Do NOT use table salt. At the aquarium store what you want will be labeled "Tonic Salt" or sometimes simply "Sea Salt". But yes, table salt with anti-caking agents will not help your fish.

Got a larger Aqua One branded sponge filter in my grow out tank. Works perfectly, if it wasn't so damn big I'd happily use them in other tanks...simple things can still work well.

Instructions are on the bottle I think. From memory, isn't it a full dose on day one, half dose on day three, and water change on day seven? Better check that!

Think so - my plants survived, and it was only short term.

Last time my tank got whitespot I added 2 grams of salt per litre of water (so 0.2%). The bristlenose theoretically may not enjoy the salt - but mine was fine.

Yeah - it's normal. Don't worry about it - unless they appear elsewhere. They should look more like small pimples than actual ich/whitespot.

i thought this was a great idea for catching tetras http://www.youtube.com/user/pondguru#p/c/2D314B22D809B66A/5/LuA97UniMd8

So...turns out it was just us then!

I helped a friend set one of those CO2 sets up - it was IMPOSSIBLE to set a correct pressure (toom many bubbles per second - or not enough)...the valve just wouldn't work for us. He went back to DIY in the end...maybe everyone else is cleverer than me, but it put me off.

Great Dan - thanks!

Why are you wanting to put the two together? Feed the turtle? Scare the fish? Or just because you want to?

Thanks - will try them. Anyone else - or is Hollywood the go?

I have a bolivian ram - not the prettiest of the dwarves, but pretty hardy...

I rearranged my tank yesterday...and have decided I'd like more crypts in there for two reasons. a) they look cool b) I can actually keep them alive - unlike almost every other plant I live in Auckland - so where do fellow Aucklanders go when they want to buy a nice crypt for their tank. A few stores I have tried either don't really have them, they're quite expensive (or so it seems) - or one was covered in that cynobacteria stuff...so before I drive around for ages, I thought I'd get your advice. Thanks.

I leave my fish without food for a weeks holiday. Never any problems. Rather do that than stink the water with a feeding block.

Animates free water test only looks at PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Not excess phosphates etc, unless you ask.

My only suggestion is to get a friend/family member to relieve you from time to time so you can get some sleep. It can be tough without a break. One of my four kids slept through at 8 weeks - another took 18 months! Now we know why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture.

I had a similar problem this year. I starved the fish for 1 week (assuming it was due to waste in the tank causing a bacterial bloom), added more oxygen (air stone) and additional filtration. With 2 weeks of solid water changes (20% every 2-3 days) it cleared up. But now just have to watch the feeding. Try taking it to a pet store and asking them to test the water. It may provide a clue.