jude

Sheeeeshhhh! That should have said "into my existing tank........"

Yet another question!!!!!! I just went to some of the links posted recently. One was aquaria.com I think and it mentioned selling plants that are attached to rocks and roots - very expensive. I presume it should be possible to do this myself but what plants? Would I just use a rubber band to attach the plant to the rock until it anchors itself? Can I just drop one or two into my existing plant or should I have a separate tank just for growing plants? Cheers Judy

Thanks Kim, I am seriously considering joining a club locally because I agree, I would learn a lot. As far as learning until the day you die, its possible you might learn something that day too ............. although what it is is anybodys guess .......... LOL Cheers Judy

If you put a layer of peat under the gravel to encourage plants does it discolour the water at all? And don't you risk sucking it out when you clean the gravel? I presume you can't use peat with an undergravel filter. Cheers again Judy

I know you should 'vacuum' the gravel regularly to remove the muck but doesn't this interfere with the biological process of an undergravel filter? If it is supposed to 'digest' the rubbish then removing it must interrupt the process?

What fish shouldn't I have if I want a heavily planted tank? I am worried some might pull the plants out or burrow under them etc. And I guess some fish like a more open space Cheers Judy

OK, thanks everyone - I will separate the questions into types at least The answers aren't needed urgently but I just get curious and want to know things

Hi again I have several questions but I guess the most important one is "am I being a nuisance and asking too much?" The trouble is, the more I think about stuff, the more I want to know. Question 2 for this topic is "I guess it would be sensible to ask separate questions under separate topics rather than all at once - is this the best way to do it?" Cheers Judy

LOL, at least he hasn't tried to give them a drink yet. And I did put the food out of reach but then his mother used it and didn't put it back - I'm not taking the blame for that one ............ rofl

LOL to both of you. I hope Liam has learned from this - wouldnt want to have to do that every day We have been wondering what to name the platys - salt and vinegar seems appropriate now

I meant the old fish replaced in the new setup - so far we haven't had to replace dead ones

Just thought you might like to know - I set up the small fishtank for my 4 yr old grandson. Yesterday we took him to buy 2 platies and he was as proud as punch. We took them home and he put them in the tank and fed them. His mother said he watched them all night and couldn't stop talking about them. This morning, he got up before his mother did and fed them again .............. 1 whole container of fish food and a packet of salt and vinegar chips!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She rang me in hysterics and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Apparently she couldn't even see the fish to catch and remove them. The whole tank has now been dismantled, the gravel washed, the filter cleaned, new water, and the fish replaced. So far they still appear healthy. LOL Jude

OK, I'll go into 'profile' now and change my nick to 'sucker'. Another way to make us spend money huh? Cheers Judy

OK, I think I'll exchange the kit and stuff. I can always get them to test the water if I have any reason to worry. And sorry, I'm just too embarrassed to admit how many fish are in a 2week old tank. Its 16 US gallons and the fish are tetras and loaches. But I'm not saying how many! I actually started with just a few but then somebody else got carried away and bought more ................ so I decided that if he was going to fill it with the fish he wanted, then I had better get in quick and get the fish I wanted ............................ Something tells me we will end up owing his and hers tanks ........ LOL So far so good though. The fish seem healthy and I am doing frequent small water changes. The tank came with a bottle of stress zyme which is probably like cycle - it says it sets up the good bacteria which makes biological filters work well so I've been using that Cheers Judy

LOL,not so far. I just lose what it was I was going to do next. Gives life a lot of flexibility really!!!!!!!!!

I agree and its done now. I sat down to do it last night but then that perpetual question arose ............"What was it I was just going to do?" LOL

Sorry Polgara, I'm from the Wellington area - Wainuiomata.

thanks both of you. I went to the room tonight and enjoyed it. Polgara? I read David Eddings years ago and remember that name Cheers Judy

Hi everyone. I just joined today. I spent ages last night looking around all the forums and today I asked some questions and have already had great help. Do many people use the irc chat room? I tried going to it through the link with no luck so I added it to mIRC and am sitting in the room now - all on my lonesome. What is a good time to go there? Cheers Jude

See, I told you I'd be screaming for help soon. Actually, this hasn't reached scream point yet but I know I've overstocked my new tank and I'm doing frequent small water changes to combat this. I have an undergravel filter and I refuse to admit how many fish I have in the tank! I browsed the site last night and found heaps of useful information but by this morning my aged brain had scrambled most of it. I have a ph test kit and use that regularly - the ph seems to be OK - between 6.5 and 7 and I have mainly tetras. The ammonia/nitrate/nitrite tests are what is confusing me. I went out and bought an ammonia test kit and some ammolock, thinking that if I kept the ammonia down then the nitrate/nitrite problems would also be controlled. But now I read that I could still get positive ammonia results even if I use ammolock because the ammonia will still be in the water even if it is in a harmless form - so that seems pretty useless to me. Should I be using ammolock and testing for nitrates or nitrites instead? It possible to maintain a healthy tank using only one of these tests - and which one would you think is the most important? I haven't used either product yet and I'm sure the pet shop would let me exchange them if necessary Cheers Judy

Well b*****, I didn't realise they liked cold water and I've now gone and bought the heater. Still, I'm not sure that freezing Upper Hutt temperatures in the early morning would be classified as normal house temps. I doubt the room would be heated overnight. Cheers Judy

LOL - I want him interested in fish .......... not scared of them. He almost walked into a floor height tank holding a huge gourami (I think) in the Hutt Pet Centre and came running back in fright. He wouldn't go round that corner again! What is the pet shop in Upper Hutt like? I do plan to take him to (semi) choose his fish but I plan to point him at the tank I want him to choose from. Cheers Judy

very true - its not much bigger than a goldfish bowl and holds 20 litres. But its a tank. I got it from Animates and it has a filter plus a built in light. I didn't want anything bigger as my grandson is only 4. Thanks for the welcome Jude I am in Wainuiomata and gson is in Upper Hutt

Hi everyone I've just spent a fascinating evening reading many of the posts. As a newbie to fishtanks I figure I've made every mistake in the book - so if you hear screams for help in the future don't be surprised. My 4 year old grandson helped me set the tank up and was fascinated. Because he has no pets of his own I've bought a small tank for him. It will be good for him to learn to look after 'pets' and his mother will closely supervise him and do the more difficult bits. Now I have to decide what fish I should get him. I don't want goldfish and am wondering about platies or guppies. Obviously I want something tough as I don't want the poor kid to keep finding his fish dead ....... LOL Cheers Jude