[Triops - not really a fish]

Here's a fantastic article from 1916 in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand about some experiences with Lepidurus viridis:

http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_ ... 05150.html

[Triops - not really a fish]

Triops do sound cool.

Here's a page that lists an incident where a school imported some triops eggs:

http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/no/compliance ... s0405.html

I asked Andrew Broome if he knew anything about them, and apparently there is a native relative:

"I've seen them in the US and always wanted to

have a go at them. There is a native version,

Lepidurus apus viridis. I used to see the occasional

one in ponds out at Longburn when I was a kid. They

were never common though, even then and are probably

even rarer now since many of the small, seasonal,

farm ponds have been filled in..."

Might be worth trying to locate some and have a go at breeding them....

[identify some plant please]

> and these plants below.....what are their names and are they to be grown submerge or emerge?

The green plant forming runners in the top photo looks to be Ranunculus amphitrichus - a NZ native (I had it in my tank a few months ago, growing well, but it's a bit sparse looking for my liking).

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/plant_survey/aq ... 467febf140

I've seen the rounded-tips version of "star grass" before - I don't think it's Heteranthera zosterifolia like the normal one. Perhaps another species.

[Anyone know what this moss is??]

Looks like a selaginella to me.

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=1 ... tnG=Search

[Laterite balls?]

Laterite is only good in a tank for 2 years or so then the iron content is all used up.

The iron content of laterite is only one of its benefits. Laterite also acts as a binding site for trace elements, making them available to plant roots.

See

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... ndall.html

and

http://home.infinet.net/teban/substrat.htm

for some good information on substrates.

To answer the original poster, what I did years ago was get regular laterite and make them into a whole bunch of ice-blocks, which I then just pushed into the gravel at regular intervals. Over time the laterite distributes itself through the substrate as you disturb the gravel with plant uprooting etc.

[Macronutrient mix source?]

Len *may* want to go to Otaki since a mutual friend

lives in Levin, you see.

Well, I did a quick ring around a few places in Hamilton. Most chemical places didn't want to sell anything less than 25kg bags at a time :-).

I found a garden center that actually had all the raw ingredients (although they called them funny names like potash, nitrate and magnesium ;-)). K[2]SO[4] was $3/kg, KNO[3] was $4/kg, and MgSO[4] was also $4/kg, so I got $20 worth of chemicals should keep me going for another few years...

Cheers,

Len.

[Macronutrient mix source?]

Hi guys,

Last time I made my macronutrient mix (based on the Sears/Conlin approach) I used chemicals that I was able to get via the University chemistry dept. But now I'm no longer at Uni I need to find another source for the suitable chemicals.

Any pointers (either for raw chemicals / recipes / premixed) gratefully recieved...

(My micronutrient mix, on the other hand, should last me for another 5 years :-))

Cheers,

Len.

[from diy to pressurised in NZ]

Hmmm... Even more reason to DIY. You could make small cap over the adjuster to make it kid-proof. Why pay for it if you can make it.

When you get kids, you'll understand that the most significant factor against DIY is the time factor :-) (unless you can get the kids into helping, like when I made a new whiteworm culture today).

The amount of time I've got available to spend on my fish and carnivorous plants has taken a massive dive since they arrived on the scene...

[from diy to pressurised in NZ]

I make my needle valve. First go to a car wreckers and get the threaded needle part off an old carburetor.

Don't skimp on anything when it comes to CO2. If you make a mistake, or the needle valve has a mind of its own (watch out for temperature changes - they can change the gas flow), it could wipe out all your fish!

Gads you're hard case, Warren -- making needle valves sounds like a ball!

Another data point (I had this info kicking around on my computer...)

My CO2 bottle hire is $9 per month

My regulator is a "mini reg" oxyturbo made in italy ($70)

My needle valve is a Pneumax 6.01.18/5 ($50)

They all work fine. The CO2 bottle (6kg or so) lasts at least a couple of years on my 200l tank.

I don't bother having the co2 on a timer and the only fish-killing experience I've had was when my (then) 2.5 year old daughter cranked the needle valve right open while I was at work. (from 1 bubble per sec to about 20 per sec). Goodbye everything except a few killie fry.

Cheers,

Len.

[Tell me about Laterite..]

How do we actually recognise this ??

If we are talking of a red to orangy brown soil then my upper paddock has literally tons of the stuff. Personally, it never seems to grow anything on it, not even weeds, so perhaps this is not Laterite at all

Laterite is the iron-rich red clay that has been indurated (which basically means naturally baked). This process ensures that it doesn't cloud the water too much.

The geographic maps I've seen of laterite distribution show that it should be available pretty much all through the north half of the north island (and probably in a few locations elsewhere). Usually on elevated sites, often where there is erosion.

The laterite I have collected previously was at a site just north of Orewa where there was a lot of erosion that had revealed the laterite, and you could easily see the difference between the good hard stuff vs the wet clay.

Before putting into the fishtank, I crunched it up into much smaller granules with a suitably hard implement.