petplanet

Are the fish mainly feeding from the surface? Some may swallow air when they are eating and as a result float for a while. Try letting the flakes go under the water to see if it makes a difference.

I thought the Edens were crap to start with. Tried them without sponges on a U/G and they clogged within minutes. They do derail on starting sometimes but once up and running, all good. If anyones as them to give away I will take them. Mine would go three months+ between cleans.

I have a chocolate knife fish that I have had for the last 4 months+. It has white things on its body that are up to 5mm long, 1mm wide and are spread over its entire body. They are raised so I am sure they are not some sort of marking. Have treated with Malachite Green and Fluke tabs. Neither have had any effect. The fish is eating and growing. Other fish in the tank are OK. Any ideas?

If you can beg, borrow, steal, or at a last resort buy a copy of The Reef Aquarium Vol 1 and 2, read them. Heaps of info on hard and soft corals, anemones, clams - how to keep them, feed, breed etc. Lots of different ways to set up a tank. As for a sump - just like a cannister filter you will at some time have a big water spill. I run my tank off a couple of cannister filters (one with a surface skimmer), a protien skimmer and 4 internal powerheads. As for lighting - I like lids, damn fish like to jump. I use T5's. If you are going metal Halide, have a good hood set up so if fish jump they land back in the tank. Try Eden self rotating powerheads. I have three in my tank and they work really well on a sponge filter. I would go for the bigger size ones. A bit pricey but worth it. I would not get a tank deeper or wider than the distance you can reach. Cleaning will become a chore. Most tools are crap. The best cleaning tools are a tooth brush and a plastic card (eftpos) for scrapping the glass.

Using oyster grit has been recommended in the UK Practical Fishkeeping Magzine. It does work really well used in small doses. I would only add 2-3 tsp to a 50 litre tank and retest after a couple of days. I use it in my store (and know of other stores that use it). It sure beats using litres of Ph Up with no effect. Tap water here just has no buffering. I would not recommend throwing the stuff in a new tank.

Just trying to find out if anyone is using T5 lighting. I have an Arcadia quad T5 and have had a few problems with it. It only works on two of its 4 tubes and has blown 6 in twelve months - have to wait for a replacement to arrive so I can get it checked out. Most of my corals seem to be growing well. I have a small tank grown pearl bubble to trade if anyone is interested.