KiwiGal77

Hi all, I would love to eventually have a fully planted tank, but currently haven't got the time or money to set it up properly. For now all my plants are of the silk variety, but I was wondering if it would be possible to get a real java fern growing on my piece of driftwood? If so, how do I go about it (java fern for dummies) and is there anything I really need to know before I go ahead? FYI - it's a 45L tropical freshwater tank, good hanging filter, only lighting is daylight and current fish are 2 platys (over the next couple of months will be adding corys and a small schooling fish too) Cheers

Thanks for that info Albany HFF don't get them in at all, but Mt Roskill does they just haven't got any currently and expecting some more over the next month or two.

I just received an email back from HFF saying they aren't available for them to order. I don't know if that means at this present time, or at all. Might ring Mt Roskill, as I believe the website email enquiries go to Albany?

I've read a few posts on here about them, but they all seemed to be 2012 or earlier so was wondering if they weren't available any more. Sounds like everyone who has them really like them

Cheers. Gave Pupuke a call (didn't even know we had another LFS in Auckland) but they didn't have any. Still waiting to hear back from HFF, will give them a call tomorrow.

Ok, thanks. I was looking around the LFS the other day and saw there were chemicals for adjusting pH, but I generally prefer natural anyway so good to know I made the right decision not using them. I was thinking of getting the corys next weekend (if my ammonia etc levels are ok), then a 2-3 weeks after them the gourami, then a couple of weeks after them the schooling fish... since the first two are ok with higher pH I'll leave it for now, and see how it's sitting in a before I add the mosquito rasbora (if I end up with them). If it still needs adjusting I'll carefully give the peat a go. Thanks for your help everyone

Corys & Honey Gourami which apparently both prefer slightly acidic but are ok around neutral. Then possibly Mosquito Rasbora, which are the ones I'm most worried about as their recommended is below 6.5 and as low as 5. So was thinking if I could get it stable between 6.5 and 7 that should keep them all happy?

Thanks, will check out the peat, have been reading about the use in filters. Staining the water a bit might not be an issue, again the types of fish I'm looking at apparently like slight stained water anyway. By permanent I just meant an affordable, simple and preferably natural way to provide long-term lower pH consistency, not a one off-fix all forever solution

Has anybody had any experience with these little guys? They look like a good schooling candidate for my small community tank to go with cory and 1 honey gourami, and I would be able to have 10 of them. Much better option than getting another type of slightly larger schooling fish but only being able to have 5 or 6 I haven't seen them at Hollywood before and they're not on their list, but have flicked them an email. Carine Garden Centre in Tauranga and Pure Aquatics in Waikato both have them on their websites (about $4.40 a fish), so they must be available in NZ. Any comments on them greatly appreciated. Thanks!

There is a piece of driftwood in there, guessing it may take a while to have an effect on the pH? One species I'm looking into really needs acidic water, apparently even 7/neutral is a push. So for that particular one it could be important I get the pH to max 7, preferably a little less. But I understand what you're saying about stability. So is there a way to permanently help lower the pH, without causing instability issues?

My pH seems to be sitting around the 7.2-7.4 mark and I would prefer it sat just under 7 for the fish I'm wanting, who prefer slightly acidic to neutral. So how do I go about lowering the pH, and maintaining it there?

Went and got the sponge and tried it in my filter, but unfortunately due to the design it blocked the water flow when the noodles were added as they pushed it right up against the back. Seems to be working well with the solid carbon filter piece which also has wool on, and the noodles in replace of the plastic biogrid. The carbon piece keeps the noodles where they are supposed to be and water flow is good, so will just replace that every few weeks as needed.

Thanks Adrienne! That looks like a much more cost-effective way than buying the specific carbon cartridges, which are nearly the same price for one. Would you recommend a zeolite one for a new tank to help with ammonia?

Ok, so I've removed the carbon cartridge and the plastic bit, which I've learnt was for the bacteria to breed on, but not a particularly effective form of media. Got some Aqua One Bionoods to put in the filter instead. I'm guessing now I've changed media, my bacteria population is going to have to recuperate again and I'm almost back to the start with my cycling? I rinsed the carbon cartridge and plastic bit in some tank water with the noodles sitting in and rubbed the ceramic noodles over the media in the hope of at least picking up some of the bacteria. Also, do I need a sponge as well for mechanical filtration, or is it ok with just the bionoods? If so I'm not sure where to put a sponge, there isn't much room there! Maybe I should keep the carbon cartridge in and that can be the mechanical filtration (it's wool covered so picks up a lot of crap), then the bionoods where the plastic bit went for the bacteria?

Thanks for all the info, that article is really good I'll do some more research on the schooling fish that it lists as being suitable and have another chat to the guys at the LFS. Cheers

Thanks nzcookie I thought of the three the corys were the most fragile, then the honey gourami then the neons? I knew they were all pretty fragile and sensitive to new tanks, which is why I got the platys first. Don't think I can afford the corys at the moment, and would want to get 3 at the same time. Platys been in there two weeks now, when I checked levels last week ammonia was at .25, the other two were at 0. Will test again this weekend before getting the new fish, whichever ones it may be. I know what you mean about changing your mind.. My friend originally suggested corys but I dismissed them for not being "fish-like" enough, but the more time I see them the more I fall in love with them. So they're now a definite, so cute! Like you I currently want a colourful tank, but also want the individual species to be different in behaviour too to make it interesting. I'm already looking on TM for a larger tank, unfortunately just haven't got the room for anything. But it's definitely on the wish list! Although I don't think a bigger tank would help the decision process, just more possibilities :slfg:

There seems to be quite a reflection from the sides of the tank, something one of my platys isn't overly impressed with lol. Have done a bit more research and spoken to the people at the LFS, and this is what we came up with: 1 honey gourami as the feature fish 6 neons as the school 3 julii cory Means I will have to say goodbye to my two little platys They've been good first fish and done a good job at cycling my tank! Before I go ahead and get the neons this weekend to start building up the community, I just wanted to make sure people thought the above would work? Any issues with those 3 species being together? I know ideally I would have 10 neons and 6 corys, but I just haven't got the room without being really over-stocked, and I've been assured they will be happy in those numbers. Thanks!

Thanks everyone Doing first 40% water change today, will try to get the water within a couple of degrees

And another quick newbie question.. How often should I be changing the carbon filter? Every 4-6 weeks seems to be common, but wanted to check.

Thanks guys Will try to get an overhead photo tonight so you can see how the two bits fit in. I don't think there would be any room for added media as is, but maybe as you suggested Caryl I could remove the plastic bio-grid and add some noodles where a sponge normally goes in the other versions. Is it correct that the water flows from the tank, through the carbon filter first, then the media (sponge, noodles, plastic grid) and back into the tank?

Hmm, so after doing a bit more reading it would seem the cochu blue tetras are actually complete prats, well known for harassing, fin nipping and even killing other fish and probably not suitable for a 45 litre tank. Maybe I should swap them for green neon tetras to get my blue/silver schooling fix?

Thanks everyone Will look into the pygmy corys, a school of 5 of them would be very cute and according to AqAdvisor is similar bio-load to 3 three-lined corys (which are my fave look-wise). It looks like I can actually get away with the below: 2 platy 7 blue tetra 5 pygmy or 3 three-lined cory

Oh ok, thanks for letting me know. I thought from what I had read it was minimum of 3 for corys and 6 for tetras? Lots of people seem to keep them in those numbers, but I don't want unhappy fish Well that means option 2 won't work. What else could I do?

Awesome site, thank you! According to that, both those options are sitting at approx 95% capacity. Good to know I'm on the right track for stocking levels Can't decide if I want to see more fish swimming all around the tank (option 1), or a bit more variety but possibly a quieter looking tank (options 2). Hmm, decisions...

While my tank is cycling with the first 2 platys, I'm trying to decide how I want to stock it. I'm mainly after variety - colour and shape/types, but I also like to see small schools of fish. It's only a 45L tank, so quite challenging to get that variety without overstocking. My original plan was: 3 platys 7 cochu blue tetras Then when feeding pellets this morning I was thinking how cute some corys would be scurrying along the bottom of the tank, so now considering: 4 platys 1 blue dwarf gourami 3 corys What other peaceful and cheaper combination options can people think of?