Bilbo

If it is dropsy then IMO its more or less incurable sorry. Dropsy is a fluid retention problem caused by failed kidneys or liver. What was the furan-2 treatment for? Epsom salts can help ease the pressure sometimes but I have never had it cure a fish.

Took Miss 8 for a drive near Foxton. We got to a small shallow swamp a few hundred meters away from the beach and found heaps of tiny swimming animals about 1mm long. They look a little like daphnia with slightly over sized antenna but only 1mm long total and bright red. They are really fast and extremely hard to catch with a syringe. Second thing I couldn't ID was millions of tiny swimming spheres similar to cypris but smaller and white about 1/2 - 1mm round. They hover at the bottom of the jar. The water had a few aquatic plants and thousands of tadpoles and tens of thousands of baby water boatman so I think it was fresh.

I also think if your water is stable then don’t play unless you need it for something specific. Why do you want to lower your pH and raise your Kh?

+2 If it’s not obvious already, try not to run it like that because the diaphragm is designed to cause resistance and slow the moving parts down, without it or if it has a hole in it the metal pistons are banging away at the ends. They are made of 'muck metal' and can break which will be the end of your pump.

Phoenix is pretty much on to it and Ryan is exactly right. First leak test in the shed last weekend and it passed I had it planned out with some nice big sheets of glass I got and then I visited Phoenix and he said how awful and ugly it is to have traditional bracing like that and no one should brace a tank that way. Pity I had it all cut up already or I would have taken his advice but over all I am really happy with it. I have been really inspired by reading a great book called 'Ecology Of The Planted Aquarium' by Diana Walstad so I am really wanting to do something very cool at some stage.

I have never tried fly eggs but I cant think of any good reason why not. What a great idea, would be even better if you didnt have to have a blowfly to get them. How big are the fry now?

Thanks guys I . The pink one is a grolux and the rotala is looking really cool. Just now it is completly covered with bubbles. The other plants are pygmy chain sword, dwarf sag, indian fern (mostly gone now) glosso, Echinodorus ozelot, Echinodorus red special, cabomba, tiger lotus and one other I dont know the name of. Fish 1 x oto (other one died and I havent seen the remaining one in 2 days ) 1 x small bronze cory 2 x baby bristlenoses (15mm) 2 x baby GBR (6 - 7mm) 15 x baby dwarf neon blue rainbows (5mm) Going to need a few more plants for my next project But more likely this tank will have to be sold. Its the nicest tank I have ever made but its just to big.

I have been able to put together a tank that is starting to show some promise. I am not wanting to create a great show tank but a great method for when I make a display tank. This works for me and I am happy not to be fighting bba, cyno or staghorn this time. No algae at all and even the plants that had algae on them when I put them in have had it die off. Sorry the camera isn't better. Tank 600 x 300 x 300. Substrate is 2cm of mineralized top soil and vermiculite under 3 cm Dalton's propagating sand. CO2 ladder (Found in Phoenix44's misc items box(Thanks you Phoenix)) at 1 BPS from DIY sugar and yeast mix. Anyone have a spare diffuser? or another ladder? Lighting is 1 x 18w 865 (6500k) and 1 x 18w growlux (10,000k?) 12 hours a day. Dosed 2 mls macro's and 1ml micros every morning. Been setup only 2 weeks and I have already had to pull out a pile of cabomba, Indian fern, pygmy chain swords and dwarf sag. Thought I would try one of P44's fancy pants angle shots. I probably best stick to the straight shots Indian fern Tiger Lotus

Awesome news. Well done. Cant wait to see the fry swimmng around. Water + ammonia + sunshine = green water.

I have had a male that mimicked a female until all the other females had gone and he had to 'come out' because the male was trying to breed with him. He had no male markings at all, was well over a year old, full adult female size and even put on a pretty yellow dress sometimes but, of course, never spawned. When he changed it happened really quickly, over a month or so he grew all the fin extensions and developed male markings. This has happened to me with cacatuoides recently and agassizi a few years ago but with agassizi it was reversed because he didn't change until the dominant male died and it was a tank of females. At the time I was sure that I had seen a sex change.

If she is doubled up or swimming in circles then I think she is beyond help. That is usually a sign of a water quality issue with some of the more fussy apisto's but I haven’t seen or heard of it happening with the Steel Blue's.

I wouldnt think a slow heat loss due to a power cut should hurt enough to kill a discus unless it was already sick. I have dropped the temp by 10 -12 degrees in 10 minutes once doing a water change from the wrong bucket and apart from being grumpy they were fine. Sorry to hear about your loss.

The shavers are supposed to be good layers but the big Rhode red is by far the best so far. We got the shavers from a poultry farm for $4 each. They have all laid a few eggs but we have only had them a few weeks so they havent settled in yet. I was told that the best layers are the ones that look the worst. Ours looked like a dogs breakfast so hopefully they will start producing soon.

Just caught up with this. That is awsome news. Best of luck that sounds like you are doing a great job.

I dont know where it comes from but every ditch and creek round here is full of it and every dent in the ground is full of water at the moment so the stuff is everywhere. I saw an auction add for it recently and thought if someone can sell that then I might list an auction for Onehunga weed.

I think tinfoil barbs eat it as well.

Those photo's are awesome

Our water in Bulls is more or less instant death for Rams, literally they will die in a week here, so to keep them alive I use carbon and then peat filtered rain water now (or I would if I could get some). They are really hard work and I would say they are as hard or harder than apisto's to keep alive. I have seen what you are describing too and I hope you have better luck than I did.

Well said Ryan and Stella. Bacteria doesn't work that way and even if it did given the right conditions it multiplies so fast that adding a teaspoonful to a tank is a complete waste of time and money. I have never had any problems with ammonia or nitrites and never had a mysterious fish death caused by cleaning a filter to well. I don't think I have ever even cycled a new tank properly and I have set up hundreds.

Sorry about that Phoenix. I had one jump once as well.

If someone is finally willing to get this club off the ground then count me in too please.

A SPCA worker once told me they would far rather face a savage dog than a cornered wild tomcat. Hope she has a fast recovery.

I am not the biggest fan of silica sand either but I think you have done a great job and the tank looks really well set up. Perhaps try the tank out the way you wanted it first and see in a few months how you like it?

Thats funny. Probably not so much for the fish though. We have all done silly stuff like a fish caught half way up the sypon pipe or still in the bag 10 minutes after you thought they had been put in the tank. Bet you wont do it again Well done getting her back so quick.

You're welcome and remember me when they are big enough to sell Liquifry is pretty easy to make. I stole this recipe but its almost the same as I made I think. 1 tablespoon powdered whole egg 1/2 tablespoon of live yeast. (rehydrated bakers yeast will do) 1/2 tablespoon spoon of chick-pea flour. Mix with cool boiled tap water till its a smooth thin paste about the consistency of yoghurt. Will keep for about a month in the fridge. I prefer to culture paramecium now though. Won’t spoil in your tank, wont use up the oxygen, better food for your fry and they move around so the hunting instinct takes over and they eat more. The same reason we recommend using live freshly hatched brine shrimp, fish will stuff themselves because they cant help chasing and eating something that is dancing in front of their noses.