Bilbo

They look really nice and shiny. It will be interesting to see how long they last. Good price HFF

I use the big yellow bags of peat too. Have done for years without any problems.

Otos are my favorite algae eater and I would love some O.cocoama but I think the one we usually get is either O. affinis or O. vittatus.

Fantastic news. Lets hope that everyone gets behind it this time.

The junk corner of the fish room :oops: and the filter does leak which is why its no longer plugged in, nor is the power cord Anyway- I had no idea how to make this so I asked a fire engineering company to fit a tap and they are the ones who said told me that it could be done this way, and they claim to have seen a number of these types of conversions before. Being a bit sceptical I took it to another certified gas retailer who said the same thing and put it all together for me. After that I took it to some other companies to check over and they said it is (not ideal but) perfectly safe. It was only after that that I got it filled. It was during the filling that we found a leak in one of the brass fittings around the regulator which freaked me out a bit but that was soon fixed. Not one person so far has said a bad thing about it but a few did say that a tap might make it a bit easier to handle so I will get one fitted next time I have to fill it. The bottle could do with a paint job but has passed its pressure test. The gauges and regulator aren’t the shiniest but work correctly. I know it looks a little rough but it has passed all the checks. I am quite wary of high pressure cylinders so I tried to tick all the boxes I think. I have to concede that if someone does break into my shed and locked fish room to pilfer something or remove the regulator then they could end up hurt, one way or another

I finally got sick of the 2 litre bottles and yeast so I splashed out to get a proper pressurized system. The main supplier didn't want to be identified but I want to say a huge thank you to some of the other companies who offered good advice and helped out. Firewise Longburn for offering the how to guide. These guys are really good and best prices for parts. Torch and Regulator Services Terrace End for fitting the reg and the fittings all together. and especially National Gas who went above and beyond by checking and locating a small leak and then fixed it at no charge when I got the system filled today. It isn't the best setup around and I know about the problems of having of a valve freezing open when using the squeeze handle as a tap but for the moment I am happy it works. After spending quite a while on the phone to many companies all around NZ I found that it is possible to do this for well under $200 complete. I actually finished this for under $50 and then $24.50 to fill it so total was a shade under $70. It pays to ring around. Even if it turns into a complete failure I haven't spent a fortune and its in a plants only tank so nothing too serious can go wrong. Just looking for a good diffuser and a check valve now.

If you are working in feet and inches then 12.5 imperial gallons (56.8 litres) Work on 45 litres after gravel and stones.

I use the yeast and sugar system and a ladder. I haven't been able to buy a decent diffuser yet. Plants a going totally crazy. Gave a shopping bag away today and have sold a similar amount last week too. My tank is only 600 x 300 x 300. It works and its easy. I find the only real issue is it isnt consistant, It will start off gang busters at 2 - 3 bubbles per second and slow to 1 bubble every 2 - 5 seconds after a few weeks.

South American +1 for Dicrossus filamentosus Dicrossus maculatus Apistogramma borellii (Has been imported twice but none made it past a few months) Apistogramma bitaeniata Taenicara candidi And sneek these two in also aren't on the list but should be. Apiastogramma baenschi /inka 50 (Has been in NZ) Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis

Fantastic news Stella. From talking to you I got a bit of an idea of how important this was to you so I am really pleased that it has become a reality. Hope I get to read it.

I have 1 harlequin that I would happily swap for a glowlight male or you can just have it. Does anyone have cory's other than bronze or albino?

Take it out, have a cuppa and relax. What do you mean by a huge tummy? Has this happened since you last saw her or has been swelling up for a few days or was she pregnant? When you say you are scared of a plague do you mean other fish are looking sick or you hope that whatever killed this fish isn't contagious. Often livebearer females who are heavily pregnant become totally exhausted due to being chased by more aggressive fish looking for a free meal of newborn fry. Healthy fish don't just pop their clogs out of boredom so if you can then post a picture of her, your tank and a list of inhabitants along with the water parameters (pH, KH, ammonia etc)

I can do some live food if anyone wants a starter culture. Flightless Fruitflies Grindals Whiteworms Microworms Daphnia (yet to be confirmed) CFK price $5.00 ($2.50 for mercury energy and $2.50 for the club)

Where? The cheapest I found so far was almost twice that price for a bottle half that size.

The certifier wants an extra large pile of cash over the price of testing to supply and replace the tap so I though I would ask if its possible to locate one and do it myself so I just pay the $35 for testing.

I picked up a 3.2kg fire extinguisher bottle today and I have a CO2 reg put aside for me but I need to try and locate the tap to replace the fire extinguisher squeeze handle. Without this I cant attach the regulator. Does anyone have one spare or know where I could get one from cheep.

IMO the yellow borellii is the nicer than the opal. But no doubt about it neither are in NZ at the moment. Doesnt always help shops when they research. http://theaquariumwiki.com/Apistogramma_borellii

I loved the Hobbit book at school, way before Peter Jackson's LOTR, and it kind of stuck. I'm not hobbit sized though, if it went by that I'd probably be Jabba

I have had agassizi for many years and have never heard of the gill plate thing. If true then that's information that would have come in really handy a number of times. The sex ratio argument is still not properly understood but temperature is a supposed to be a major factor. Other ideas like TDS and pH are supposed to be important too. My last spawn of agassizi was mostly females (Didn't get a single male to maturity) and I think it was about 26 - 27c but it would have been when I started using filtered rain water and peat so I guess the water would have been pretty soft and full of tannins with a pH in the high 5's to low 6's.

Yes that sounds a bit like it. Did you feed them out?

I will take a photo next time sorry. Yes I had a few of them too and the apistos loved them. I might have to go to a better collecting spot next time to get some more.

Anyone got a legal opinion in this statement? :roll:

So add 12 days and The growth is amazing. So I gave it a little prune today. 50+ plants up for sale

I dont think they are mysis unless they are babies. I have a few mysis too but they are way bigger and black or grey. These things are blood red and tiny. They have mostly died now anyway. Simon you got my PM I hope

I bang them into an icecream container outside and then into a clean wide mouth jar. The jar is put upside down in the tank held down by the tank lid. The flies fall down to the surface of the water but cant swim down out of the jar to get out. The fish just swim up and eat them. None ever escape except when a fish is to greedy and cant eat what it has in its mouth. I also feed grindals