GrahamC

Wonder if it would be overkill to use cross laminated timber to build this tank ...

Err ... read the comments .. all the fish gone except the sharks. Or, perhaps they also died during the power blackout caused by Hurricane Sandy.

Basically sounds like you're offering unskilled labour, but aren't willing to travel. Good luck on that, or, you can create your own opportunities as David says by upskilling.

I'm reminded of the Aesop fable of the turtle vs the hare .. how do these turtles nip the fins of comets?

You got it wrong .. the Betta is the bully!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dio ... atmosphere

I can't even see the fish in mine and I only use sunlight, and atmospheric CO2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lungfish

Just have to wait 40 years to see the effect first manifest.

What did you use to cycle the tank?

Well, it's not clear what killed your fish then. You're still not adding that pH down stuff are you? Can you put some pond snails in to see if they live? Or mosquito rafts to see if they hatch?

Just reading your thread again, I think the problem is your water still. Are you using tank water ie. rain water? If so, you'll need to add some minerals to it to make it suitable for the fish. In the same way marine fish keepers make up marine water starting with RO or distilled water.

I'm looking to rebuild my house which is on a steep slope. If I could stack multiple insulated/lined shipping containers after terracing the slope, I might be able to cut down the costs considerably in the build

Spray on foam is the insulation. You then line on top of that. But I was thinking more of just an insulated fish room and not a quarantine facility.

So Celestials are preferred?

I've been looking at housing, and see that converting shipping containers into affordable housing is quite the rage at the moment. There's a young architectural couple in Wgton that did one that was featured on TV3 ... their prototype sells for $90K. But you can pick up used containers for a few $k, spray the insides with insulation foam, and use it as a fish room?? http://www.port-a-bach.com/ - $90k container as a bach And there's also a crowd in Tauranga making houses of multiple containers. Seems you could easily get quite a large facility this way. http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/portfolio/5.html

That's the rationale for just buying nitrite because if there's an ammonia spike, the nitrite will also spike.

Tanks can undergo mini cycles so I would think testing for nitrates is the least worthwhile. If you had to choose a single test, probably nitrite is the best but it's also the one I use the least!

Hmm. that's not good. She should have bagged the fish with the water they were in.

If the fish died within a few hours of adding to your tank, I'd say your water is the problem. You've been adding food? to the tank for a week so the ammonia levels will be high, and likely you've been testing incorrectly. How about getting your water tested by the LFS?

Where do restaurants buy their whitebait from?

So, is it correct that someone could take whitebait and sell it live, and someone else can raise them in an artificial aquarium? I.e. I wouldn't have to go and catch them myself? ( season ends Nov 30)

The 50 applies to Koura .. does it apply to anything else?

You're only supporting an illegal activity if they don't have a license.

Huka Falls has a license to import prawns .. but their license states that no live prawns may leave their site. So, they are consumed on the premises in their restaurant .. dunno what they do about the ones people catch though ... knock them on the head as they leave??