Vjarn

very nice and very jealous

still pondering but maybe if you check the water parameters, enough oxygen??? hows his breathing it may be gill fluke or worms and blueandkim suggessted, a good sign of this is long poos other than that the only thing i can think about is age, how old is he, i know that some fish lose colouration with old age in my experience. thanks

my guess would be too many tank mates, clowns aren't reccomended for discus tank mates as they are quite active when in groups nor any other fast moving fish, he may be bullied by the other discus too. but probably if he's darkened then he's not feeling well, is he eating???? it mite be the water quality have you changed the water, you said you moved house twice it could be the water supply also. something to think about.

ah cool, have to look into this bilge pump, and getting containers. only have a small car but seat folds down. thanks

what kind of containers do you use, i have to get heaps so do you make more than one trip??

just wandering cause it would be hard to bucket back and forth from the water to your car. how much at a time can you's collect, do you use pumps connected to car battery??? is it better to collect away from populated areas?? (just starting out into cold water marine)

man, thats heaps, you get them for $1.50 here, or 10 for $14

can some one tell this guy they're cheaper a the LFS http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-animals/Fish/Fish/auction-30644325.htm

do they eat tetras? may think of adding to my discus tank. what you think?

i dont think it matters if shell is in the sand, but you will need to keep your ph down for a while as an acid plus a base gives you co2 and water. CaCO3 + HCl = CaCl + CO2 + H2O eventually the calcium carbonate will run out. then again, it may pay to watch out. unless you soak it acid before you add it to the tank. Vinegar is a good acid. soak for a few days and rinse out with water. just my input :-?

im gonna try black sand from murewai. its high iron content should leach out and lower my pH. i read an article where they put metal salts in degraded lakes and it lowered the pH which wasnt good for the lake but it'll be good for my tank. i think i'll use a little at first and monitor the pH and gradually add more. mix it up with gravel. the discus are amazing, thanks martin.

ok just got an old soda stream maker and ripped it apart. so i got the top part the screws the bottle and the button that pushes the valve open, connected it to a hose and it goes into a wave maker that disperses bubbles of co2. its was a bit of a mission to figure out how to slowly push the valve open but i took out the small rod that pushes down on the valve and replaced it with a screw so you screw it down and it pushes the valve open. trying to get the right about on bubbles . got it at1 bubble every two seconds. $9 a bottle so see how long it llasts. i'll get some pics up soon. took a pH reading and it went from 7 - 5.5 in onne day. so trying to slow down the bubbles but its hard.

nah they couldn't get up cause it'll be full of CO2, i might try something else like a spiral so the bubble can spiral upwards in a long slow journey to the top. thanks for the idea. still going to use a sodastream bottle, get a second hand one and it only cost $5 to fill. i bet that'll last a month.

im keen

havent done it yet but heres the plan and was hoping for input. CO2 soda stream bottle release valve pipe glass or plastic tube the way it works is that it'l be all connected air tight and the glass tube would be attatched to the back of the tank upside down to hold air in (CO2) and the CO2 would diffuse out of the tube at a steady rate. to refill the tube just let some more gas out every now and then. what you's think??