GrahamC

I was just curious to what was available in Auckland and accessible by public transport. Actually the airport bus goes through Mt. Roskill but I was hoping an ordinary bus did too. I did find a pet shop in Newmarket but they had a very limited selection with pricing consistent with high overheads. I will try HFF again when I next visit Auckland and will hire a car!

I was in Auckland this morning and ran the HFF in Mt Roskill asking them how to get there from town. The reply was that they were west Aucklanders and didn't know! Gave it a miss.

The other thing is that is a significant population of bacteria on your gravel ... so you might want to bag up as much as feasible into some hosiery and leave it inside the tank sitting on the sand for a period until the tank is stable ....

Most of the filter bacteria are in the filter material and on the gravel. It should not matter if you change all of the water for the new fish. Vacuuming silica sand is easy enough .. just hold it above the sand. If it has been washed properly it won't cloud the tank. If you suck sand into your buckets, you can just put it back in again.

Yes i knew what you meant ... but if used it is more likely to have small scratches than brand new glass.

Or, more likely, the unbranded pump is from the OEM manufacturer for the branded one...

Does the recycled glass have any visible visual surface defects?

There's one on TM for $26, 22W which does 1.6 m lift, so one wonders how the linked one can do 2m for the same power.

My vertically placed heaters are in the path of the filter output. Where I don't have a current running, I have positioned the heater diagonally.

Tank not deep enough?

Would be useful to have more information on fish species, and chemical measures of water. Causes include incorrect pH, parasites, and infection from trauma.

Commiserations .. . hard to conceive of managing to look after a pet for so many years

Sponge filters are already very effective ... so the principle is the bigger the better!

Spontaneous mutation or reversion http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=44541

This is my reference http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5294672/Fish-survive-swimmingly The point is that fish can survive for longer than many of us think they can ... and live food is better than a ton of dead food.

Not really off topic. There were two goldfish survivors, and one dead one in the tank uneaten. The claim was that the missing fish were eaten by the others but no bones were reported so I suspect the continued quakes just shook them out of the tank, rodents did the rest.

filter wool will quickly clog up and reduce your filter efficiency. Better to get something with a pore size below that of what you want to avoid going into the filter to maintain maximum flow rates.

I'm thinking I should get myself a microscope now to complement my failing eye sight! One of those digital USB microscopes to examine pond critters, and a binocular one for staining bacteria ... oh, this is definitely going to blow my aquarium budget! Has anyone used a USB microscope? Any recommendations?

I found this site an informative source of information on the different types of sponges and why you need to avoid cheap knock offs due to poor filtration, and rapid clogging. http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/sponge_filtration.html Of course it could all be pseudo-science so if someone can do some controlled comparisons ....

Are people saying that the stuff that Para rubber sell is functionally the same as this expensive German foam filter material?

How long did those goldfish survive in the red zone?? Months, though they ate all the plants, and possibly each other.

Missed this line

I did actually use my neighbour's 60D :thup: I bought a Sony DSLR for my daughter a couple of years ago but the lens jammed under warranty, and then again out of warranty. Currently thinking of getting a replacement lens.

Try this link instead http://www.volkersaquarium.com/specials/specials.htm

Since the aim is to remove nitrates why use expensive plants that need to be maintained? I've got some craft canvas lying against the waterfall of a HOB to kill the noise ( spouse objects to the sound of running water in the kitchen ) and it seems that if I rub some algae into it, and shine a light on the canvas, it should be able to create a (ugly looking) algae scrubber. My neighbour has his filter running across the top glass which is tilted downwards so that the water runs across the glass and back into the tank ... and it's covered in algae. It's by a window to encourage the algae growth.