blondfish

Well that's rather stupid. :facepalm: It the Uretara stream I'll just use the silica or play sand then. Are any brands better than others?

I'm pretty sure that the "less sensitive" fish can handle up to 100ppm of nitrates. It doesn't mean they should be made to though. Its best to keep nitrates as low as you can though.

I think its freshwater (?) it might be slightly brackish though. Lots of whitebaiters go there when its in season if that helps.

There is a river pretty much just down the road, however it's full of crabs which I don't want to pick up.

I want some Pygmy Cory's in my 84 (along with some danio's) and in my 21 I'll only have a Betta. Would I just be better to stick with the silica sand stuff from the LFS? I'll probably be able to clean it heaps. Whats the best way? Do I just stick a hose in a bucket full of the sand and let it run for awhile? (seen this suggested on other threads)

You should be doing water changes every time you see ammonia/nitrite during the cycle. After that 20-50% weekly is a good amount.

Hi all, I'm wanting to put sand in my 21 litre and 84 litre aquarium, what sand is safe to use? Is regular play sand safe or do I have to stick with the sand sold at the LFS? Are any particular brands better/safer than others?

Haha yes I am serious. Do you know about the cycling process?

Just another question: When I'm cycling this tank, I'll want to do it fishless so where is the best place to buy pure ammonia. I looked at the supermarket closest to me but they only had cloudy ammonia.

Thank you. I hope to keep you updated.

Okay, another question: What would be the best way to catch the bullies and shrimp? I'm going to just catch the Inanga during white baiting season as I figure I will have them for longer. Also one more question: If something was to happen (say my tank cracked) and I could no longer keep my fish, would they be fine of I just put them back in the river or would they have become dependent on me so they would then die in the wild?

Thank you, I will try that tomorrow when I do my water change. EDIT: Just checked and I don't have that siphon thing, any idea where I can buy one on it's own without having to buy a whole new gravel cleaner?

What's the best way to "vacuum" the tank? I have a gravel cleaner thing but I can never get the siphon started.

With using the driftwood from the mount/papamoa, won't the sea water affect the wood? I know you have to soak them but would it get all the salt out and be safe for my tank? You said earlier I might be able to catch a kokopu, are they schooling fish?

Is that a Kokopu in your profile pic blueether? I really want to get this started now lol, just hope we hurry up and move (I will have to wait until I move house till I can get it started) :cry1: Hopefully I will be able to find some good Driftwood either down by the river or at the garden centre/fish and parrot shop (Carine) Am I right that the Bully's like lots of rocks in their tank? Or do they prefer just a few. What substrate would be alright for them? Could I use normal sand or the river mud/sand stuff? Should I have some moss in my tank for the shrimp (Providing I can find some) and would Java Moss be alright?

I have been keeping fish for about 3-4 years though about 1 of those was trying to keep 3 goldfish in a 21 Litre. (Not a good idea and I regret taking the pet shop staff's advice that they would work). I then stopped for about a year and then got back into it about 2 years ago and until recently I was pretty much neglecting my danio's who are in the original 21 litre (again I took advice from the pet shop staff), I'm upgrading my tank soon for the Danio's so they can actually have a good life lol. (I'm just waiting till I get home from a trip to Aussie in the near future before I begin cycling my tank). So, now I'm into fish keeping and doing my research before hand. I like a challenge and hopefully this Native tank will be that challenge that I can succeed well in without losing to many fish. (I plan to take good care of them and I hope my previous experiences won't make you think that I'm a bad fish keeper because they were only because I didn't do my research). That was very helpful thank you. You were saying about not adding dechlorinater....doesn't chlorine kill the "good" bacteria that you establish by cycling the tank so ammonia is made into nitrite and the nitrite into nitrate? The Inanga and Bully's sound good and I would also like some shrimp. How many of each could I keep and could the common and red fin Bully's be mixed? I did the research and I like the Blue Planet HPLED Vista tank. Would that be good for the above fish? With the Inanga...would it be best to catch them in the white bait season as they're still young? I will probably use the frozen bottles of water. I'll have a look at the food when I'm next at my LFS. Thank you all for your help so far.

:-? So is there anyway to help keep the water cool during the summer?

Hi all, I'm interested in setting up a native biotope and have some questions.... First of all...what size tank should I be looking at? I would like some Bullys, are there any other fish I would be able to have that are top-middle dwelling? What would I feed? With waterchanges...is it alright to use dechlorinated tap water or would it be better to use the river water? Would the decorations all have to be from the river? i.e stones, drifwood, gravel/sand etc. What size filter? i.e do they like fast or slow flow, how many litres per hour? What plants could I have and what lighting would I need? That's all the questions I have ATM and any help would be much appreciated. :thup:

What about Carine (near Te Puna) and Kiwi Petz (Frasercove)?

Thank you all for you reply's. I would love to get some Otto's or BN's but as I'll be having the bigger tank at subtropical temperatures (around 20) I'm not sure how well they would do which is why I thought the Borneo Sucker would do better. For the Danio's...what size tank would you recommend? I was looking at the Blue Planet Classic 40 but I'm not sure if that is too small. Is there a tank you could recommend that is around 75 litres and is longer rather than taller? The Danio's would be: Leopard's, Zebra's and Pearl's. I currently have 1 Leopard and 2 Pearl's.

Hello all, I've just recently joined. I'm from Tauranga. I have a small nano tank (21 litre) which I'm converting to a guppy tank soon (or Scarlet Badis/ dario dario if I can find some). I just have to wait until I get a bigger tank for my Danio which I currently have in that tank. I know it's too small which is why I'm getting a bigger tank soon . With that bigger tank...I was wondering what a good "cleaning" fish would be? I was thinking either a Borneo Sucker or some shrimp (I've never seen any shrimp for sale so any ideas on where I could get some? Are you allowed to have the native shrimp?) I would love to hear which pet/fish shop for you recommend that's in the Tauranga bay?