rockgurl89

Cats prefer to drink running water as opposed to still water as they associate it with being fresh/clean. They can taste chlorine in tap water where as you tank water has had it removed, so they will prefer it to tap water from a bowl :f77:

Hello and welcome I can help with some of the questions you have. You can buy spare parts for the filter and light at some shops http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/prod ... ts/m/1191/ gives you an idea, and once you see what the filter actually needs to run you can improvise with cheaper alternatives (I have a blue planet and never buy the refill kits). http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/heati ... eguide.htm gives you a guide for heating, I would say 50 watt should be fine, but I would buy a new heater just to be safe (for the sake of $30 is it worth risking!?) Yes, you have attached the heater right with that suction holder,and yes the long thing is the intake for the filter. In terms of cycling, I usually buy the bacteria from the shop and do it that way, could never find pure clear ammonia. Hope this is even slightly helpful for you :thup:

I was wanting a bit more colour than what the Bolivians have, but might have to increase the pack as my only means of having something particularly eye catching. If I add a couple more, after having the 3 I currently have for so long, will the newbies be okay?

okay so no angels, thanks for the help there. Are there any other fish, that I would only have 2-3 of, that are dwarf cichlid size or a bit bigger, and would fit in with everything above (obviously not the angels)?

I am wanting a bit of variety but keeping it down to a few types, hence the rasbora and two tetra types. I was wanting the angels for a bit of size in the tank, are there any other cichlids that would fit in better than the angels?

Hello After re-homing a couple of fish that were outgrowing my tank I have compiled a list that I wish to stock. Currently I have 3x Bolivian Butterfly Rams, 4x Baby Kribs and 2x Red Spot Plecos (which will become one shortly). I am going to add about 15x Harlequin Rasbora (gold, purple golden head and standard), 5x Black Phantom Tetra, 5x Red Phantom Tetra and some angels, only small-medium sized ones so that they are not too big in comparison to the Rasbora. I have had varying advice on getting only one and having a pair, or even 3 angels. What is everyone's advice on the compatibility of this list, and the angel dilemma? My tank is approx 900wx300dx500h(mm).

Okay, thanks your input I will find the Balas and clown loach a loving new home and reasses the situation. I am thinking Angels with my bolivian butterfly rams and barbs and large tetras (will keep the redspot plecs for now as they are still small) with the kribs, does this sound suitable?

As stated I am aware that the Balas (which I have had for two years) and plecos will outgrow the tank, and I had a school of clown loaches but they fell to skinny loach disease (even after I wormed them) hence him being the sole survivor. I am intending on re-homing the Balas eventually.

Also I have 4 baby Kribensis in there at the moment, which I am aware I may need to move into another tank when they get older to separate from the Rams.

I had two Bala Sharks for a wee while now, and suddenly a lot of mysmall neon tetras are mysteriously disappearing without a trace :ske: The larger rummy nose's I currently have are fine but when I got some new smaller ones they disappeared too. My only conclusion is that the Bala's are snacking on them! :facepalm: So after some research I feel that I am going to have to re-home my remaining tetras and re-stock. Will my 160l happily stock (my current) 2 Bala Sharks, 2 red spot plecos (I know they both get large), 3 Bolivian Butterfly Rams, 1 Clown Loach (the sole survivor), with the addition of either 1 rainbow shark or a couple of angels (possibly both if anyone knows if they can be happily kept together), and some barbs and/or larger tetras (such as black widows)? I have a lot of low light plants (crypts and java's) will the barbs and tetras be fine with the plants?

Maybe a bit late now, but I bring my tank temp up to about 32 degrees (over a few days) and then bring it back down over a further few days once the symptoms have well and truly gone. No additives, no mess, no clean up :happy1: successful with 2 different sets of clown loaches and bristlenoses.

I cut the roots of all my plants (especially crypts) and they are fine, so go for it :thup:

You can go to a signwriters and ask for the vinyl to apply direct to the tank (so it would be one colour applied to the tank and the next colour applied over the previous) to give you your two colours. Might be a bit more costly than your standard backgrounds though.

I had goldfish in an unheated tank, added a bristlenose in summer and it was fine as the temp stayed above 18 degress, but once it got colder and it dropped below 18 he did not last very long (stupid lady at the shop told me he would be fine :facepalm: , I now know better!)

looking good, mine took off and filled up within 3 months (with xmas moss) keep us updated :spop:

They got lovingly rehomed as my bumblebee gobys were not winning in the dinnertime sweepstakes when they were in there.

Bit of an eclectic mix, 3 BN and 1 GBN, couple of clown loaches, a balloon ram, couple of leopard danios 2 silver sharks and a school of neon and rummy nose tetras.

For those who asked to be updated on if my project worked - 3 months down the track I think it has :happy2: Needs a bit of a haircut and a retrain but the christmas moss has take off.

As a signwriter, I custom print my backgrounds. But vinyl on the back of a tank looks a heck of a lot better then anything else, I love the metallic you went with :thup: Also you should be using baby shampoo not dishwashing detergent (for next time)

It is not the only thing I am feeding them, they have a very varied diet, was just to show how much they are getting.

:evil: Phosphates! Went and had them checked and they were off the chart. Thank you everyone for coming to that conclusion for me. I have got a few things to sort it and even a test kit (they should include it in the master test kits I think now)

I defrost the worms but do not rinse them, so I will be doing that from now on, Thanks. All my plants are happily growing away and I am running a blue planet vista serene life (filter is a R60 if that helps). I am happy to report that there are no dead fishys this morning

I have approx 10 Dwarf sagittaria, 5 Twisted Valisneria, 1 H. corymbosa Stricta, a few bunches of Hydrocotyle verticillata, 5 of amazon swords, 5 crypts and attempted a christmas moss tree which has taken off. I also only feed every 2nd day (one block of frozen blood worms is the amount I feed).

My lights are only on 8 hrs per day and I keep the curtains closed in the morning to keep any additional sunlight away from the tank, so have no idea why the water is green and why I have algae! It doesn't bother me toooooo much (most days) but would be nice to get rid of it and make my tank look perfect to me. You are always your harshest critic. I'm using Seachem neutral regular, but had the algae before I switched off Ph down. I plan on only using the UV Sterilizer initally to correct these two problems and then only when need be if the problem arise again sort of thing.

would the amount of water that did pass through the sterilizer be enough to make a difference and start declining the algae and bacteria in the tank?