Mudguard

One of my cherry barbs has always been very fat, since the time I got her. I noticed last week that she had been scraping the front of her chest, and there was a kind of red lump there, so I moved her to a quarantine tank. I came home today, and found that she had a large blister further down her abdomen. I didn't really look at her yesterday, so it may have come on then. I'm not sure what it is, but guess maybe ulcers so have added a dose of furan 2. I did notice some small worms in the tank as well, so did a big water change before adding the furan 2. I think they were just planaria rather than parasites?

The bloodworms don't offer greater nutritional value than flake, and should just be an occasional treat?

What food do you normally give your fish in one week? I've got some cherry barbs and kuhli loaches. Four days a week, I feed flake to the barbs and vegetable pellets to the loaches(and the barbs sometimes get some). Once a week, everyone gets boiled peas. Twice a week, I feed frozen blood worms. Just wondering if I could improve the diet a bit.

A few people use this for substrate? http://www.daltons.co.nz/commercial-mixes/bulk-nursery-mixes/propagation-sand/propagation-sand-no2 The description describes it as hard sharp sand. If you've had experience with it, is it ok for loaches and catfish?

I've got a ceramic diffuser, and it produces bubbles and some smaller bubbles. I guess a diffuser that can produce a finer mist might be better? Another question, if the co2 drop-checker is indicating green would that also necessarily mean safe for fish? Or, how do I figure out how much carbon dioxide in tank is safe for fish?

I got flourite black sand in my tank. It's a bit expensive, but got a couple of bags for a slightly cheaper price at lfs. Here's a good article about how to wash flourite http://www.vickisaquaticplace.com/fluorite.html. The drying-it-out-under-sun part is indeed important, and it worked for me. Makes planting stuff pretty easy, too.

Cheers. I finally got it set up, but wasted 3 bottles fiddling with adapter, and also broke a bubble counter and a check valve while trying to unscrew them from hose. :cry1: I'm not sure if need to replace bubble counter as can see bubbles entering bottom of diffuser. I also guess co2 drop checker of some kind will also help me figure out correct pressure. Any advice on what should be looking for when measuring co2 in tank?

:gpo2: Thanks for the information. I got some instructions from Raymond, too. I think between your ones and his, I should be able to figure it out.

If I take the ring out from the bottom of the adaptor, and then place reg and adaptor on bottle, the bottle releases gas, but it's not going up through the adaptor into the regulator. Hmm...

Here's what it looks like: :fshi:

Hmm, well the stuff arrived. I took the regulator and put a plastic ring in the bottom of it. I screwed the sodastream adaptor into the bottom of the regulator. I put a plastic ring into the bottom of the adaptor and screwed the sodastream bottle into it. Now at this stage, something should have happened? I plugged in the solenoid, and still nothing. There's an instruction with the adaptor, that if nothing is happening to use an alan key to turn part of the adaptor...I don't have a small enough one, at moment but can get one. I was just wondering if there was something else I hadn't done. There is another alan key supplied with the regulator, but not sure what that is for. Any ideas? I can post photos, if necessary. Have also contacted supplier to see if he can shed light on the matter.

Thanks for the recommendation. I picked up that model, and tubing, check valves, bubble counter, suction cups, glass diffuser. I think that should be it? Will have a go at setting it up this weekend.

Nice looking tank, above. :cophot: Cool.

Ah, ok. I've got mine sloping from about 4cm in front to 6.5 cm at back. Perhaps could be a bit steeper? Do you reckon it places stress on the tank to have the extra weight at back or not really?

There seems to be a good bit of information on here and on the web about making a Co2 system with a soda stream bottle. I'm sorry if the topic has been done to death, but I'd still like a bit of advice about what to get. I've picked up a second hand sodastream maker with two spare co2 canisters. I'll get those filled at a supermarket. I also bought this adapter: http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/food-beverage/other-beverages/auction-734411011.htm I'm looking at regulators now, and wondering if I can get away without a solenoid. I suppose if you didn't have a solenoid, you'd have to turn the regulator on and off every day, and make sure it's adjusted to the right level every time you turned it on(which could be a hassle?). Do you think it's better to have some safety valve stuff on the regulator, too? I'm looking at these regulators: normal: http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/lifestyle/home-brewing/auction-731791618.htm with safety valves: http://www.trademe.co.nz/home-living/food-beverage/other-beverages/auction-733112538.htm I'm looking at these regulator/solenoid combos: http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/aquatic-plants/auction-734170439.htm http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/aquatic-plants/auction-734169257.htm I'd welcome any opinions on pricing and quality of above items, or recommendations of other good places to pick these items up.

If it's labelled "aquatic mix" it'll probably be alright? Check the label, maybe? Out of interest, what's the rationale behind low at front, high at back?

I got mine at Bunnings. I understand garden centres might have it, too. I have a little tank I just set up to temporarily house some plants. It has a layer of Aquatic Mix covered by pea gravel. Plants seem to like it, so far. That's cool. I just got that figure(3") after doing a quick search online on substrate depth for planted tanks.

I picked up a couple of bags of flourite black sand a few weeks ago at a slightly reduced price. It seems like I may need another bag or two to get a 3" depth in my 80 long x 35 wide tank. I could buy more, but it is pretty pricy. I was wondering if I could use it over Dalton's Aquatic Mix.

I picked up an Aqua one AL-15D light hood from courier office, today. I noticed it didn't have a perspex cover to protect light bulbs from splashes. I've emailed the supplier to see if it should have been included. I was just looking round on the net, and it seems like you don't have to have one? I have a glass cover on the tank.

Thanks for the recommendations. I was down at the LFS this morning, and they did very well out of me. :f77:

Any recommendations? I probably need a 250 watt heater, and the power of the filter will depend on the type? Animates has a "special" on an Eheim 2213 filter at the moment. It looks like its an external filter suitable for tanks up to 250 litres. Would that be a good one to get?

I've got some plant cuttings arriving tomorrow, and haven't had a chance to set up my tank yet. I have a tank, and a heater, and substrate. Picking up a light on the weekend. Could I just put water in the tank, get it to temperature and then bung the cutting in? Or should I plant the cutting in some substrate, as well? Another question, the light I'm getting is 45 cm long with two T8 bulbs. I had bought it for a 50cm tank, but I've also bought an 80cm tank :digH: , and was wondering if would be useful on that? I guess there would be a brightly illuminated section in the middle of the tank with darker parts to the side...which might not be bad if you've got some shade loving fish. Shade loving plants might be...?

:f77: The schist stone surface looked pretty glossy, so I had my doubts...Anyway, sounds like applying 80 grit sandpaper to the wet stone might smooth off sharp edges. For pumice, I read in another thread here that boiling it, and then dunking the stone in ice-cold water will make it sink. I guess pumice is probably pretty good for some plants to grow on.

I'm trying to get bits of stone for my tank. I stopped by a landscape supply place and got some fragmented pieces of a schist paving stone. Is the processed schist ok to use? The pieces have some sharp edges too. Is there a good way to soften the edges? Or am I better off just trying to find the stone in its natural form? Are quartz, pumice, mica stone, or the stone out of the local river (sandstone?) ok, too? I read that a good test is to see if the stone fizzes when vinegar is applied. How about cleaning the stone?

What did you do to make the light usable here in NZ(110V in America; 220V here in NZ)?