FraserNZ

A-Town, where do you get yours filled, and do they fill it on the spot?

I talked to one of the guys at HFF and he told me 2-3 months was normal for that size bottle... (purchased from them) the reg only ever had a reading of 50 which was about a third of the way round? Is it possible that it just had a rubbish fill?

Yeah I was thinking that. I was really hoping to get at least 6 months out of it

I guess this question is a bit like asking how long a peice of string is... but, anyway... The reason I ask as is that I purchased a 7.5kg bottle which I hooked upto my 300L. I adjusted it to the recomended PH&KH level as per the reference chart that is on the internet. Unfortunately I had some trouble reading my bubble counter, however, I think it was running at around 2 bubbles per second. The problem is I only got just over a month out of this tank at this rate?? I thought a tank this size would normally last 10-12 months??! Any advice would be great cheers! PS, I have the reg setup on a timer so is only running for 8 hours a day.

The bottles from HHF are old fire extinguihers with new taps fitted. I scrached the paint off the side of mine and you can see the old fire extinguiher directions underneath.

all so has anybody successfully mixed this stuff with normal fine gravel to save money?

swords, glosso, and other root feeding plants... The main reason I'm attracted to this substrate is that you don't need to layer it underneath gravel. I need something like this as I'm flatting at the moment and the house is for sale so I will probably be moving the tank within 6 months... Are there any other quality nutrient based substrates on the market which don't need to be layered under gravel?

I'm looking at getting some Flourite for my new setup however I think I'll need about 3 + bags so at $200+ its very expensive!! Can anyone confirm its worth the investment for me?

Vervo, If the stand is giving with only 80kg of weight, you can all most guarantee that it will sag over time with 120kg on it. Furthermore, you probably won't get much warning before it goes....

Yeah I purchased some plant from HHF that isn't an aquatic plant... why sell them?

I have two GLO light hoods, and the only thing that concerns me about them is the lights are placed very close together. This doesn't really give a good spread of light in my opinion.

Hi guys, Over the weekend I setup my new CO2 system. I removed my breeding pair of ram before installing it on the tank as I didn't want to take any chances of a PH swing effecting them. I think I have it running at the correct amount of C02 as the drop checker I have changed to the correct color. I have tested the PH & KH before the system was added this reading was 7.2ph with 2.0KH After the system had been running for a day the PH dropped to 5.9 with the KH at 1 drop (Test was taken just before the system cuts out when the lights are turned off) The next morning I measured the PH and this had increased to 6.7. Is this an acceptable swing or would this be concided bad for fish?

Yeah I have one of the C25 models... I have to say it was probably the biggest waste of money I have spent on fish related items. I purchased mine in February and it couldn't get the tank even close to the stated 26c that it's meant to achieve on correctly sized tanks. The box states it's designed to increase the water temperature by 4c from room temperature... I guess I should of read that bit :roll: Anyway if anyone wants one I have a hardly used one going cheap lol

Mine have only ever raised the fry to free swimming stage once... Most of the time they just disappear...

Sorry left out the meth blue and airstone bit... already in there. Any other tips? I have about 20 or so free swimming now, so I guess I'm doing ok so far...

I have heard of people hatching ram eggs in a bottle due to their small size, and I'm attempting this myself, however, I'm not 100% sure if I am doing it the same way as others. I'm using a small tank with a heater and then just cutting a coke bottle in half and using the bottom half of the bottle which I am just sitting in the small tank with water filled to the same level as the tank. I then place the ram eggs in the bottle. The problem I'm having is when go to check on the eggs I have to tip some of the water out of the bottle in order to pick it up. This disturbs the eggs on the bottom, and when I place the bottle back in the tank everything is disturbed again. If I don't have the water in the bottle at the same level of the tank it ends up floating. What does everyone else use to hatch their eggs?

Update: I found the male guarding some eggs on another piece of wood tonight so I got my small 13L tank ready with about 4 liters of water from the parents tank. I decided I would attempt to remove some of the eggs from the piece of wood and the return the wood and the remaining eggs to the parents tank as it was way too hard to work with the wood in the 13L tank. I managed to remove the eggs into the bottom half of a 1.5 liter water bottle. I placed this into the 13L tank which has a 50w heater which is set to 30c however the temp unfortunately dropped to 27c while I was setting everything up so I hope the eggs have survived! Anyway, I'm hoping now that the eggs are in the bottle of this bottle they will be a lot easier to look after during the wriggling stage. Here's a photo of the setup after I added 3 drops of meth blue... Hopefully I get some fry this time :-?

Nice, I would keep up with the flourish if you can afford to. I stopped dosing mine and my glosso just went all yellow but I don't have Pressurized co2 yet, just DIY stuff. I'm looking forward to finally getting Pressurized co2 sorted as I really want my tank looking like that! How long did it take to carpet?

Elmo, That's some impressive glosso you have growing there... what type of T5's are you running? Also, what ferts, and any CO2? Cheers, Fraser

The pair are at it again... So if anyone has any further advice that would be very much appreciated

Yeah most of them went all white, about 10 or so got to the wriggling stage. I think the main problem for me was keeping all the eggs together as the log they were stuck to was pretty large it did take up most of the space in the tank, and I couldn't lay it flat. So when the eggs go to the wriggling stage they just fell to the bottom of the tank and they were so small and so few, I couldn't make them out from the debris that came off the log. Is there anyway of removing the eggs from the log? I have learnt abit from this anyway. 1. I need to purchase a pipette... where does one get one from? 2. If there is no way of removing the eggs from the log once they are laid, I will need to remove all the large bits of wood and replace them with small bits, or small rocks.

Ok well I have now had my second failed breeding/fry raising attempt... I made a small log of how it all unfolded in the hope that someone could comment on where I'm going wrong :digH: 22/04/2011 6:00pm The pair started preparing an area on a log to lay the eggs. Tank temperature 29.5c PH 7.4 22/04/2011 8:00pm The female begins to lay her eggs on the log with the male following close behind. At this stage I had a party to attend so I left them too it. 23/04/2011 12:00pm I find the male guarding the eggs, most of which look brown so I guess he must of done his job fertilizing them. 23/04/2011 4:00pm finish setting up a 13l tank to move the eggs into. I have set this up with water from the main tank (the tank the pair are housed in) and set the temperature to the same as the main tank. Added Meth blues as per the instructions on the bottle. Setup two small are stones in the tank. Removed the log with the eggs on it and put it in the 13L tank. Moved the stones so they were close to the eggs without blowing them around.

This is your best bet if you want to grow plants... http://www.theledshopuk.com/fluvaledgeaquarium.html A little pricey though

I reckon the best bet is to find out which LED lights fit as plug in replacements.

My Regulator just arrived today :nilly: Also, When I first setup the tank I put a layer of aquamix under the gravel, as I knew I would end up with pressurized CO2 one day! I'm currently only running 4 of the T5's I'm hopping I can get a least 6 going.