SanityChelle

They're definitely in the tank. From left to right there's a spiderplant, a plant that I've completely forgotten the name of, a decent bit of pothos (which is a wonder nitrate eater!), and a type of palm in a pot sitting inside the tank.

Thanks so much! I love scaping, it's like mini gardens. I don't really like stem plants, I find you end up spending way too much time trimming and replanting. Short plants I use are anubias, Java fern (both of those attached to rocks or wood), different types of crypts, and mini chain swords.

I love to scape my fighter tanks. I find they naturally interact with the environments so much better, sitting on plants, pushing their way through if they're after something. Below is a 20l Chi, a 30l Leo (was used and scaped for fighters up until recently, either a single male or a female sorority at one point ), and a 60l sorority with mollies and swordtails. All have lids even with plants sticking out the top. I have had breeding tanks in the past, and tended to have them pretty bare, save somewhere for the girls to rest like a small terracotta pot etc.

I have a little wavemaker (this one: https://www.fish-street.com/jebao_wp-10_4000l_wave_maker ) and I've used it in tanks as small as 45L without a problem with the fish in there. You can turn it right down if you need to, as well a heap of other functions. I totally recommend it.

This is stunning! How is it growing so fast? Or are you just buying large amounts?

That looks gorgeous. I'd love to steal this idea for a future Geo tank.

What you can do with the Ecostyles is to ditch the carbon cartridges and put in bionoodles and larger sponges instead. Its much more media for good bacteria to attach to, which means your water parameters are more stable. I had up to 20 mountain minnows in a Ecostyle 47, and it was my most stable tank, only needing water changes once every two to three weeks.

I can't wait to see this with water in it!! Such a cool project.

It definitely wasn't lied about.

Hi, you bought my old tank. I specified the seals would need redoing in the future, and that I had repaired part of it while I had it, and that it was a rough job. You also left good feedback on the trade, and made no mentioned about it "being junk" at the time. Kinda uncool dude saying that here.

Though it's our first Christmas in Christchurch, I've been ordered back to the northern motherland for the actual event, so I have to fly to Auckland on the 19th, before driving up to Whangarei. Nothing like a beachside Christmas. Most of the members of my family are adults, so we've ditched the presents idea and just concentrating on food and company. Though my sister is coming over from Aus and bringing her brand new twins over, so I figured I would at least buy them presents, only to make sure they're dressed correctly for the rugby.

Just figured I'd add this little picture I did for the Facebook group last year.

I have a sorority of fighters in a 30L tank (5 currently, but I have had a max of 8 in the space). It has a good footprint and lots of planting to break the space up. There's always going to be a little chasing for the first few days, but they'll settle in eventually, and if they don't, you may just have one that's over aggressive. It's good to have a back up space if one of the girls has a bad temper.

I think the picture size limit was raised, so you should be able to upload a picture now.

Isn't it bad luck to put up the Christmas tree before the start of December?

Thanks! I'm hoping to breed those two together soon, so hopefully I'll have a few more of them around.

Are you breeding the Geos? Just curious as I would be looking for some next year.

Marble boys My girls

I'm feeling like I'm finally properly set up down here in Christchurch now. I've got two small fighter display tanks inside, and two garage set ups for all the extra fun stuff. At the moment, it's just plant grow out, but I'll be breeding fighters once the 60l is cycled. 30l Fighter Sorority Display 20l Male Fighter Display 3 Bay Garage Set-up (45l per bay) 60l Garage Grow-out Tank

Way to rub it in when I'm selling the rocks today. :cry1:

Hello! It seems a bit strange that water changes are making your tank murky. Is it like dirt brown murky, or like white cloudy-ness? If you're having high ammonia readings, you'll need to be doing large water changes until you're reading 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite and low Nitrates. Cleaning the gravel shouldn't really affect your cycle at all, as gravel holds very minimal beneficial bacteria. What is your filter like? IE what media, and do you ever touch/clean the media when you do water changes? Do you have fish in the tank yet? If so, what are they? If you do, you'd be surprised how much fish can poop (and it can look like dust in the gravel when you're siphoning). Do you have any pictures of your setup?

Looking great! I'm loving keeping up with this project.

It's probably much better to catch them and bag them, or put them in a 60L plastic container from the Warehouse or something with tank water in for the trip. That way you can empty the tank itself (you don't want anything in it while moving, as it won't be supported well). Keep your filter media wet, and the filter going up until the last minute, even just in a bucket of tank water, and set it up as soon as possible on the other side as well. That way, you will avoid losing your good bacteria in the media.

This is a really good read: http://fishwise.co.nz/index.php/article ... and-bettas

Your tests should be showing Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate between 5 and 10ish. Seeing as there's no nitrate, but nitrite instead, it looks like your tank is going through a cycle, which would have caused your gourami to stress and become unwell. I would keep doing water changes and water tests daily until you're reading Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate between 5 and 10ish.