SanityChelle

Those are really cool driftwood pieces, and they're going to look great when the java fern gets going. Where did you find them?

I've been a bit talkative lately, so I figured I'd upload a pic of my little starter tank. I would love to get a bigger tank, but in an apartment with wooden floors I figured it wasn't such a good idea. Pretty happy with these little guys though. The tank is an Ecostyle 47 from the lovely guys at HFF in Mt Roskill, which seems just perfect for a beginner like me. Not too sure what I'm doing with the plants just yet, kinda just seeing what works and what doesn't. I do a half teaspoon dose of Excel every couple of days which the ambulia seems to be eating up, and the lights are on for about four or five hours after I get home. The occupants are everyone you can see. One little hillstream loach with obligatory vacuum related name (Dyson), and five WCMM known as the Scooby gang after the boyfriend named the biggest female Buffy. Not the best photo of the minnows, but I've only got my phone to work with and they're rather quick. It's probably not the most mindblowing of tanks, but I've certainly caught the bug.

Hmm, that's what I thought, but I figured I'd throw the question out there. A few more white clouds it is. If I got a few longfins, would they school with the others?

Hi, this is a just a question on a whim, but I had a little blackmoor in with my 5 WCMM and loner hillstream loach, but he's just been rehomed after getting a bit gobbley with the minnows. The tank feels a bit empty without a larger fish. The other option would be like more minnows or a few danios... If I got a heater and slowly raised the temp to about 21-22C from room temp, would a betta be okay in the tank? There's quite a bit of current in the tank at the moment to keep the loach happy, which might affect the betta being able to breathe.

They look quite cool schooling like that. How big are they? I've never heard of minifish before.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/danio ... neubes.htm Second link down after googling them. It helped me heaps to set things up for them. They're awesome little fish.

Ooo, definitely going to remember that.

Oh cool! There's some rather nice plants in that list. I don't mind if they're small, I don't have too much space anyway. Though, my partner has started making noises about getting a tank for himself, so a pack or so might be a good option.

That all sounds awesome, but does anyone remember some of the types of plants you got?

Okay, cool. What kind of plants did you get?

Hey, has anyone here bought from waterplantz on TradeMe? Or better yet, is waterplantz on here? I'm curious about their $10 plant pack deals, but since they really don't seem to want to say what plants they will be sending, it feels a little odd to me. They have really good feedback on their auctions, but none of it says what plants they are selling.

They are about maybe 4mm at the moment, and I can only spot maybe two or three in a certain corner at a time. I do have a small blackmoor in there with my minnows (already has a home waiting for him when he gets too big, poor man was bought when I first started and didn't know enough), and he's probably cleaning up the ones he can catch. Definitely fallen in love with the WCMM as a schooling fish. I know the bigger fish seem to get a lot of love around here, but as an apartment dweller, these little guys are perfect.

They seem to be alright, and everything appears to be in order with the water. I did recently put in quite a dozen or so cuttings of ambulia into a corner which has gone nuts and turned in to a ridiculously bushy wee forest that they've been enjoying. Perhaps before then, they didn't have anywhere to put the eggs. Who knows, google says you basically need wet water to breed minnows.

Random news, but I noticed tiny little tadpole like fish swimming around my tank this morning, mostly close in with the plants, and my white clouds having a fun time gobbling up the ones that were too slow. Should I have anything to worry about? I'm not too worried about keeping them alive as my tank stocking is about 80-90% at the moment, and the adults seem to be enjoying their cannibalistic snacks. It's nice to know my minnows are happy though.

Hmm, probably can't fit that many bristlenoses in my little tank. :lol: Ah well, something to aim for.

Well, if you've got any advice on alternatives for a beginner, Ira, I'd love to hear it!

Now, I may be behind the ball here, but old plastic cards seem to make damn fine algae scrapers. I saw a video of someone using an old voucher card as a scraper, and as I've been battling green spot and hair algae, I decided to give it a go. It works so well, I don't think I'll be ever buying a proper scraper. My little butterfly sucker seems a little miffed though. [[ Wasn't sure where to post this little discovery, but as a total newbie, I figured this was the best place. ]]

I've made up a blackout cover from rubbish bags (preparing to do the blackout this weekend), and I'm wondering if keeping the cover and putting it over during the day while I'm away at work, and then taking it off for four hours of light in the afternoons/evenings would work to keep the algae away. I know too much light is my main issue, so I'm trying to figure a fix in the long run.

I might have to give a blackout a go. Will it screw with the fish at all, or the plants?

Sorry, still getting the hang of things around here. What type of lighting do you have over the tank? The inhood strip of LEDs in the AquaOne Ecostyle 47. Not sure what else about it. How long is said lighting on for each day? 4 hours after I get home from work. I have a north facing apartment, and there's a lot of indirect sunlight in the room. Does the tank receive any direct sunlight? About two hours worth max in the afternoon, but I try pull a curtain across in time.

Hi guys, I'm having some trouble with hair like algae growing on my plants. It's on my glass too, but I'm scrubbing it off on the front side. The tank is about a month old now, and the plants are cuttings about the same age, so I was hoping they might start fighting back soon, but I don't want the algae to overwhelm them before they can get decent roots going. Is there a plant safe way to get it off? Rubbing the leaves and rinsing them doesn't seem to have much of an effect. The types are ambulia, hygrophila polysperma and a myriophyllum. There's also a fair bit of brown algae on the ambulia, but I've been told that goes away after the first few months.

That could be it. Perhaps it just needs some love at the moment. Thanks!

How's that? Sorry, still getting used to posting things here.

Hi guys, I'm kinda new on the block, so here's a quick hello and a question for you all! Any idea what this plant is? A friend picked it up for me as a gift from a regular garden centre (Palmers, I think) as a submerged plant, and it came without a label. It looks like a really bare ambulia. Is it native? Any help would be very much appreciated.