Dr A

Ah, cunning.

What did you end up doing for a heater? I can't see any cables in the full tank shots.

Diabetes at a guess?

(Pressurized) CO2 sounds a bit OTT for those plants/setup?

Hygrophilia grows super well in my tank. You really need to figure out your wattage and other lighting parameters are though...? Once you've got that sort of basic stuff down any plant care-sheet should steer you in the correct direction.

In simple terms where your laptop is and how it's connected to your router is a mute point. In all likelihood going to be connected via a ~54mbs wireless connection or a ~100mbs fast Ethernet connection. Both of which move the bottleneck out past your control. The minor differences in up and download you noticed are so small you could run the test repeatedly with the same network configuration/topography back to back and see exactly the same fluctuations. As for cabling for a TV, look at a EOP (Ethernet Over Power) set-up. It may be a more elegant solution.

Ha, I'm no expert, but to muddy the figurative waters more there's side by side comparisons floating about online vs a guy called Tom Barr (who runs his own website)'s technique for low tech tanks. Evidentially his outperform the walstad technique in a few different metrics. As for what people in NZ use, you could use any organic potting mix. I've got Dalton's Aquatic mix in mine, which lots of people on here use too (avail at bunnings).

Sounds like a good time to give the walstad method a go?

You should make one of these.

This guy, featured some of the same stuff - if you want it in video form.

http://www.mitre10mega.co.nz/how_to_gui ... rden_pond/

Not a dumbo but my lavender butterfly (imported) has had no end of problems.

Yeah I'd imagine they'd be very lethargic slow growing crocs. Might be easier to get wetsuits built for them F15hguy.

Did you guys see the Clarias cavernicola / Crazy blind catfish on the BBC Africa series last night?

Depressing.

My Siamese (now a geriatric) was is so cross eyed that he had a hard time catching anything.

Yeah that could work, I think I've done OK with no wood in mine for the time being. I would have posted pics last night (threat useless without) but I was too busy last night fishing (catching stingrays).

I've seen people advertise various special glass and I'm sure I've seen an NZ post about a build with low iron glass, surely people can make very similar tanks here. I assume it's more expensive but must be cheaper (and safer) than shipping a glass tank in from overseas.

You can get high temp spray-paint for rust protection etc that can withstand constantly high temps. It's pretty cheap too if I recall.

I have a sneaking suspicion The Onion first "reported" on this and it's just been picked up by real media. I can't check at the moment however.

Oh and more questions. I'm getting good growth with a 7hr photo period and daily 1ml dose of excel flourish. I've read conflicting reports about the need to dose other ferts - is there anything good out there in the market? I want to set-up a DIY CO2 reactor, and was going to wait till my 100ml bottle of flourish ran out, however I've since read (Excel's own) information that says you can actually use injected CO2 + flourish simultaneously - has anyone tried this ?

Rescaped everything in the weekend. Very happy with how it turned out. Didn't use any driftwood in the end, it's a bit of a struggle maintaining a depth of perspective in a small tank but I think I've done OK, learning from my mistakes and following the golden ratio as best I can. I'll take some pictures later. I moved my fighter back in - small change to the filter (pushed foam media into the outflow pipe slowing the turnover rate), which should help his tail re-grow. He's spent the last few months living in the hospital tank with no lights and just a bit of wood/moss to keep him company. Despite perfect water param's he got fin-rot AGAIN and I just finished a Furan dose. Anyway he seems happier mucking around in the main tank now. Long term I'm not sure what to do if he get's fin rot again, it's certainly disheartening. I feel confident it's him not me, but still.

I see. Off-topic but does anyone import them/make similar ones here?

Is there anything special about the ADA tanks? Do they just use special high-clarity glass?

Otto's like groups don't they?