KiwiGal77

I'm wanting to upgrade my lighting so I'm getting more of a low-medium level light in my low-tech planted tank. On a budget, so basically looking for one of the cheaper but still effective options. Tank is 90cm long, 37cm wide and 40cm deep (150L). This is the one I'm looking at: http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... le/m/2978/ or if required maybe this... http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/deta ... le/m/2977/ Thoughts?

Thanks everyone for your replies, very interesting Sounds like there's definitely some differing opinions on the necessity of frequent water changes. Will stick to doing small weekly changes regardless of nitrate levels, just to get some fresh water in there. I'm finding my main reason for doing water changes is to suck up any loose plant matter which is hanging around rotting or attached to the filer intake. Alanmin - can you please explain why the plants would like less frequent and smaller water changes?

My planted tank currently has quite a low bioload, and I'm finding that when I test my levels before my water changes they are all really good - 0 ammonia & nitirite, 0-5 nitrate. I've been doing weekly 30% water changes anyway as it's recommended, but just wondering if they are necessary? Are water changes solely to keep nitrate levels down in established tanks, or is weekly fresh water always required anyway to keep the tank habitat healthy for the fish in other ways?

I think I have some of this on my plants too, along with some brown algae, and it seems to be causing them issues so want to get rid of it ASAP. Getting some Otos to help with the brown/green algae, but know they won't touch the BBA. You mention flourish excel can be harmful to some fish - I have cory, harlequin rasbora and soon to be 3 new otos. Are any of them sensitive to the product?

Unfortunately a quarantine tank isn't something I'm going to be able to set up in the long run due to lack of room. Would be ideal though. I probably should have taken those two back before I had even got them home. Lesson learnt, will definitely be paying more attention to the look of the new fish when purchasing! Good point about the resistance issues as well Adrienne, a real concern in medicating. Thanks for the advise

Just wondering if people routinely medicate new fish they get, either in a quarantine tank or treating the whole tank? I bought 4 new cory a couple of weeks back and instantly noticed they were all looking a little pale, but two especially had very red gills and red streaks down their bodies as well being much smaller than the others. I immediately did a week's treatment of melafix and 3 doses of prazi as heard cories can be prone to bacterial and parasite infections. 2 have recovered very well and darkened up nicely, one is still quite small and pale but no longer red and behaving normal so just keeping an eye on that one. The fourth never really picked up, was eating well but looked very weak and skinny with slightly clamped fins - so he's currently in his own tank and going back to be replaced tomorrow. Noticed another one a couple of days ago flashing with one red gill, so dosed with prazi again and he's instantly improved - will do another week of prazi to ensure what I believe to be gill flukes are totally eradicated. It made me wonder how people deal with ensuring new fish who arrive are healthy, cope with the stress of the move ok and don't introduce diseases into your tank? I was lucky in that there were only two other fish in the tank before these 4 arrived, so haven't ended up with a mass spread of infection. But would be quite concerned if I had a tank full of healthy fish and then new ones brought disease with them and infected the lot.

Yea definitely need to organise a background. I tried dark on my old tank, but as I have no lighting it just made everything dull. Medium blue seemed to work well and brought out the sand and plant colours nicely - will pick up a couple more sheets next week

So yesterday I got some help and we set up my new 150L tank :happy2: Looking a bit bare at the moment, but have some more plants on the way and things need to grow a bit more as they'd all been chopped off to fit in my little 45L tank. The two Cory have settled in well, but are looking a touch lonely in such a big tank so will be getting a couple more buddies tomorrow, then a couple more next weekend. The filter had already been running in my old tank, so hopefully that will smooth out the change over. Some (crappy) photos of initial setup:

If sealed/painted MDF is suitable I'd rather go with that... ply is so expensive, and I've already blown my budget on the tank lol

Would this be suitable? http://www.trademe.co.nz/building-renov ... 734510.htm Or this? http://www.trademe.co.nz/building-renov ... 020369.htm

The surface of the desk my 150L will be sitting on isn't quite flat - the edges appear to have raised a bit and there's the odd small lump or dip (all only a couple of mm off). I'm wanting to put a layer of ply between it and the polystyrene for the tank to sit on. What type and thickness would you recommend? Structurally the desk itself is solid enough to take the weight of the tank, it's just to give it a nice flat and smooth surface but needs to be strong enough to ensure it does remain flat and doesn't bend or crack due to the unevenness. Treated or untreated ply? Would MDF be ok or would it warp if it got any water on it? Thinking 15-20mm thick? Thanks!

My tank is going from around 24 degrees to 28 degrees throughout the course of the day. I currently only have cory in there, and know they definitely prefer lower temps so I'm a bit worried. The room gets so hot on warm days - second story, metal roof and sun all afternoon - even with curtains closed and windows/door open. Is there anything I can do help stabilise the temp and stop it rising so much?? I've read people float bags of ice or frozen water bottles in the aquarium, is that a safe option?

Awesome, thanks for your help!

Will keep in mind about the second filter thanks Yea I really like the dwarf spotted danios, saw them for the first time last week. Albany had them in the cold water section and Mt Roskill had them in a tropical tank, so I am a little confused about that. Websites seem to say they are tropical (24-28), so if I was to buy from Albany would they cope ok with the temp change? Not sure what their cold water tanks are set up as, but they have a lot of guppies, cories and danios in them so can't be too far off 25C? I've heard GBR's can be aggressive towards cories (and other tank mates) if they are breeding, so figured it would be best to get two females as to avoid those issues. Assume a pair of females is ok, or does it have to be 1 male & 1 female? Could probably up my cory school to 6, but would be worried about over-stocking with any more. 6 of them together would be pretty cute! My two remaining ones would appreciate the extra company I'm sure, although they are both rather boisterous already.

Both Hollywood stores have them

Well the 130L tank I bought fell through, BUT I have just ordered a brand new 150 Litre / 40 Gallon one 8) (funny how the size keeps increasing isn't it?!) Decided against the blue tetras due to possible fin-nipping limiting my options for other fish, and I wanted smaller fish in larger schools. I've decided on 10 harlequin rasbora and 15 dwarf spotted danios as the schooling fish to go with 1 bristlenose, 5 julii cory, 2 female german blue rams and a dwarf gourami. AqAdvisor reckons I'm sitting at 95% with that, so hopefully that is ok for the planted tank with a CF1200 filter? Obviously stocking to get to that final goal will be over about 3 months to spread the loading out. The filter is already up and running in my current tank due to the other one failing last week and killing one of my cories over the weekend, I didn't realise the fault soon enough I put all the media from my old filter into the new one to help seed it, so far so good *touch wood*. Expecting to get the new tank up and running next weekend. Now instead of doing my uni work I am busy doing aquascaping designs (I'm an arts student). Think it could be something I really get into! And I'm going to fit this in with what spare time I do not know...

Thanks, might give Hollywood a call and stop off at Mitre 10 Mega on the way home. How thick should it be?

So I've bought a 130L tank.. Decided on a 200W heater and the CF 1200 filter. Might get an air pump, will see how expensive they are. Next question - I'm thinking I probably want something between the tank and the desk to protect the desk. What is the best stuff to use (polystyrene, thick rubber etc) and where in Auckland would I find some? Thanks!

. That's good to hear! Maybe the Kiwi ones are a bit more laid back than their overseas cousins If I can comfortably add a few more fish, then I think I will up the school of Harlequins to 10 as well to make them happier and look better. The rams are a maybe - I want some sort of centerpiece fish, preferably in a pair, which is around the 10cm max mark. Haven't really looked into what's available at that size for a community tank. Any other ideas?? Oh... and I just bought a 130L tank :happy1: Hopefully pick it up this weekend.

Filter will be an AquaOne CF1200. Designed for tanks up to 250L, so should be well sufficient. Will be fairly densely planted with low-light & low-tech plants. If I remove the BN it drops stocking level to 67 %, so he's taking up a fair amount. Did you have issues with the blue tetras getting aggressive and/or nippy towards your other fish? Some people have found them total prats, bullying anything and everything - but it also seems like people don't keep them in big enough schools or tanks.

Just wondering what people have in their 115ish litre / 30ish gallon tanks? Trying to get some ideas Thinking.. That seems like a lot of fish, definitely more than the inch of fish per gallon rule, but according to the advisor it's only 80% so should be about right?? Also not sure if I should give the cochu blue tetras a go or not. They are absolutely beautiful, but have a bad rep - hoping a school of 10 in that sized tank would keep them happy and out of trouble.

Unfortunately the platy died last night From what I've read and photos I've seen I believe it was internal parasites. So since the Cory are still in there should I continue to give the tank the remaining doses of praziquantel and melafix? Wouldn't want anything left in the tank that could then infect them. I did a 50% water change today and cleaned up the substrate as much as I could in the process.

Ok thanks. I think my current one is only 100W, so will upgrade to a 200. Already got a glass thermometer in the tank so will stick with that if they are the best. I don't think the 1200 are much more expensive than the 1000, sounds like it would be wise to stretch my budget that little bit further for the 1200. Now I just need to find the tank I want! And then decide on the decorations and fish.... sigh, start all over again with making decisions lol.

Does anybody know where I could go around west Auckland area to find some driftwood for my tank? Muriwai Beach?

Was just coming on here to ask about heaters! The room isn't very insulated at all and has large windows, so does get quite cold in winter (for Auckland anyway lol) and hot in summer. What power/type would you recommend?