blondfish

Yes, he does Doesn't normally when I'm in the room, but if I look from the doorway I often catch him swimming into it. Came home today from a short trip away, and found the filter had shredded part of Zeus's (what I've named him) tail &c:ry I'm out of dechlorinater ATM and won't be in town until Thursday (at the earliest), so I'm paranoid about him getting fin rot. Are there any ways I can prevent it, apart from doing water changes?

Sorry for the lack of updates. Since Carine was having trouble locating DP breeders (have now heard they're not ordering anymore in) I got a betta. This is my boy FTS Tank looks crap, I know. I suck at aquascaping, sorry. He has settled in well, and I'm happy with him

Awww, that's a shame!!! I'm sorry for your losses &c:ry At least you get all the guy of Bettas now though Where do you sell your fry, once they're at a suitable age?

Wow, looks like they will be spoilt in their future tank! Is that set up as a sorority? Must have been horrible in the quakes! How many tanks/fish did you loose? What size are the parents tanks? They look quite small :-? Another good thing, is with tall, broad leafed plants, the Bettas often like to rest on them, especially when they're near the surface, as they don't have to swim as far to reach the surface to breath.

I've ordered a GH/KH kit now, should be here Thursday or Friday. I'll let you know the results. So, you think the Ghosts Cat's would already be acclimated to our pH? Yeah, I normally don't worry about messing with the pH but with the strong likely hood of the catfish being wild caught, the risk of the pH being too high and "shocking" them is just too strong for my liking . That's the thing that puts me off using RO/DI is the cost, and also the on going cost of having to add the minerals. You say about established tanks having lower pH, can you please explain how that is? Surely, if the tap pH is high then with weekly/bi weekly water changes the pH would remain the same?

:phb: That's annoying! I'll ask Carine what they do, next time I'm there, since they sell Ghost Cats. Any other ideas? I'm worried about using rain water, because of the pollutants and that during summer the rain fall might not be constant enough.

Congrats on the spawn! They are gorgeous Bettas! I'm sure their fry will be gorgeous too. I'd love to see some pics of their tanks!

In the future, I'm hoping to keep Ghost Catfish, Kuhli Loaches and Harlequin Raboras. Whilst doing research, I found that most Ghost Catfish are wild caught, therefore being harder to acclimate to hard water. I normally don't worry about my pH but Ghost Catfish are a fish I really want to keep, which is the only reason I'm even thinking about changing my pH. If keeping the pH stable will be too hard then I won't keep Ghost Catfish, I don't want to subject them to fluctuating levels. I was googling ways to reduce the pH naturally and I saw where someone suggested using 20L bucket with holes drilled in the bottom and a layer of cheese cloth, then a layer of peat, then another layer of cheese cloth. The person then suggested getting another 20L bucket and putting the peat bucket inside the other bucket and then pouring the water into the top bucket before pouring into the aquarium. How effective would this method be?

Cheers. Once its water logged I'll put it in my tank, hopefully it will be safe

Okay, I'll collect some and test it. Will the rain fall be constant enough for weekly water changes? What about pollutants?

Cheers! I'll have a look around and see if I can find some So jealous of your pH

I don't have anything in my tank that could effect the pH. The pH is 7.8 out of the tap, but after 24 hours of "degassing" it rises to 8

How good are they long term? How often would they need replacing? Also, where would I be able to get peat fibre from?

Dumb question, but is that like, if you can make a dent then its not suitable or is it if you can like, properly put your finger in?

In the future, I would like to get some softwater fish, the problem is, my pH sits at around 8.0. What are some effective ways of lowering the pH to around 6.8? I've heard of peat moss being used but I've never seen it for sale and I have no idea where I would source some from. Any ideas are much appreciated

Still no news on the dwarf puffer The danios are back in the tank after a break and all tests are coming back good Was at the beach (Anzac Bay) on Friday and found some nice pieces of driftwood, unfortunately, most of them were too big but there is one that fits and I'm curious to find out if it is suitable.... Soaking at the moment and I've already poured boiling water over it. Is it suitable?

Okay, thanks for the heads up

Since the shrimp had completely rotted away, I added two Zebra Danios to the tank to check it is cycled. They seem relatively happy at the moment, I'll test on Saturday to check though. I also bought some Val, while talking to the lady at Carine, she said it could be awhile until they get their DP's in So, I'll either just have to wait, find someone wanting to rehome their DP or get a Betta or school of Pygmy Corys instead. Pic.... The boat won't stay, it's just in there because the Java Fern on it wasn't doing so well and with the better lighting on this one, I thought I'd see if I could get it looking healthy again.

Oh, looks narrower than my Java Fern. :dunno: Never mind........

Nice tank! Thanks for sharing Is that a narrow leaf java fern?

I got it from Animal Antics, I have no idea what type LoL, it just said "washed sand" on the packet. Really? I put the dimensions into a volume calculator thingy and it came up with 35 litres :dunno: Might have been the wrong dimensions though as I think I included the hood. Thanks for the heads up though The tank has finally cleareed up :dnc1: I can't wait to get some more plants. I haven't seen any pieces of driftwood yet that I like but I'll keep my eyes out, anyone know any good places to collect driftwood/buy driftwood?

Got my sand today After washing the sand for several hours, it has still made the tank cloudy :facepalm: The only plant I got today was some Java Fern. I thought I would let the tank settle for a bit before I add anymore.

Yeah, true. I'm going into town tomorrow so will pick up some sand and add it along with some plants :bounce:

Sand Yellowy colour I've just done some more tests and it appears that nitrite is being processed too. Here's my results... 0.50ppm ammonia. 2-5ppm nitrite 20-40ppm nitrate. Almost finished :bggrn: :dnc1: :happy2: :happy1:

Yeah, I will. I was just cycling without it as I heard the shrimp can be messy so I thought I'd save myself some cleaning and add it once the cycle is finished