suphew

Suggest you have a read of some more posts in this forum. A setup like this is only really suitable for fish, and maybe some mushies. Every thing else requires more light and better, more stable water quality than you can be provided with this setup.

I'm no expert on loaches, but am replying since no one else seems to be. I understand that loaches don't take well to white spot cures cause of their scales (or lack of). As I say I don't no if this is correct but suggest that you keep a really close eye on it and if you see any bad signs do a large water change and put the carbon back in. Maybe a low dose (half) would be a good idea to. Hopfully someone who knows more will be able to confirm.

Quote from a search on the internet. http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_algae.htm "Red algae: Also called Black Beard Algae (bba), or Black Brush Algae. Short hairs (1/4" long), closely packed together. Appears dark green, black, or dark red. Grows on plant leaves, and sometimes on decorations/substrate. Often grows all around the edges of plant leaves. BBA thrives in situations of high phosphates. Phosphates come from fish waste, excess food, and occasionally will be present in the water supply. The best way to eliminate BBA is to let the plants out-compete the algae for the nutrients. In heavily planted tanks, BBA will often show up when the plants have used up all the nitrates. This causes plant growth to slow or stop, which leaves the excess phosphates available to the algae. By supplying extra Nitrate to a planted tank, we allow plant growth to continue until all phosphate is consumed. Then plant AND algae growth will slow/stop. As long as a usable (5-10ppm) level of Nitrate is maintained, the the plants will continue to use up the available phosphate, effectively controls BBA and other phosphorus-dependant algaes. See the article "Adding Nitrate to a Planted Tank" for detailed instructions on how to increase your Nitrate levels. Very few fish will eat BBA. The most famous one is the SAE (Siamese Algae Eater). I've got 5 of them in my 75g. I added several BBA infested stems of Bacopa to the tank recently, and overnight, the SAEs had completely cleaned it. But even these amazing fish won't be able to control it you don't have the phosphate level under control. Another fish rumored to eat BBA is the American Flag Fish. In tanks with very large amounts of BBA, the BBA covered leaves should be removed once the phosphate level is controlled."

Are you using kalk with your top up water as well?? I'm no expert but was told not to add buffer and calcium at the same time. Also my buffer states on the container not to mix with ca or mg. Comments??

I have family in Hamilton so would be keen to drive up if it was there. Might be able to offer some locals a lift, if the date suited me. Think your biggest problem will be convincing the Aucklanders that the earth doesn't end at the bombay hill.

I remember my sister and me deciding to try out the cat food one day, the tined stuff was OK but the biscuts were a bit gritty. Anyway the point of that ramdom wee story? I was 7 at the time, what was your excuse pies??????

Gez! $40 a month, I would be looking at what was causing the algae instead of spending so much just treating the symtoms. If you have a good balance of light, CO2 and nutients plus all those algae eating fish there is no way you should have an algae problem. First thing I would do would be to reduce feeding and have a good think about your light. Do you have enough, are they the correct type, are the bulbs/tubes more than 12 months old?

Leave the stones gravel etc in water for a week testing the water before and at the end for PH KH, and anything else you can think of.

CO2 from the bottle is far better if your will to pay the price for a setup. More stable/constant and far less mucking around. You can also get units with PH sensors and cut off valves so you know you are getting just the right amount of CO2

I kept a very large male with my Discus for a few years with no problems, but he was very placid. Watch out because they will dig caves under rocks wood etc, so make sure anything like this is sitting on the tank bottom not on the top of the gravel or you might risk it falling over.

Hi Shiuh, I use organic compost rather than potting mix, its a bit chunkier than potting mix so doesn't get as damp and compact down as quickly. You want your mix to be quite dry (about the same as you would keep a plant or even a little less). I keep mine in an old 2 foot tank with UGF plate in the bottom to allow air to circulate and keep the mix a bit dryer. I keep them upstairs in a very warm room, in mid summer I did need to 'water' them a couple of times, but for the rest of the year the wet bread I put in to feed them keeps the mix damp enough. Oh I use organic cause it doesn't have anything added to it like pesticides etc. Most plant shops sell it.

Ops, should have pulled out the calulater before I spoke. Thats alot of water to pump for fresh water! If your looking for a cheap pump I have used a resun king 4 for about a year pumping salt water (from memory they pump about 4000lph to 3 meters) it's still going but upgraded now (just because I could, not because I needed to). Mine cost $130 from the hydroponics shop in Otaki (the one near you should sell them as well). Remember you get what you pay for but better then $500+ for an Iwaki

Its the same place the shops get it. Just boil it first to kill any nasties. If your going into a planted tank I suggest you look into adding something to your substrate as well. I use 50/50 aquadic clay (about $12 bag from plant shop) gravel mix. And some peat moss cause I keep Discus. Then a 3-5cm layer of just gravel on top to stop it getting into the water to much.

Oftem see ehiem pumps here and on trade me. A 1060 would do the job, secondhand for round $100

Not sure I agree with the 'see before you buy' comments, most of us know what we want so don't need to browse. Buying a fish that has been in an extra tank (or two, or three) and had to adjust different water parameters, exposed to an extra bunch of fish with possible diseases, stressed by have lots of people looking at them with nowhere to hide. Against paying half for a fish that came from the same place......

The batteries are really the important thing, they are similar to lead acid car batteries but different so expensive plus normally 4 or more batteries per UPS. I have 4 larger (3000kva) UPS's at work and they cost $500+ to have the batteries replaced and serviced. The charging voltage needs to be checked when the batteries are replaced otherwise you can over charge them which damages the batteries making them fail. I have a 2kva UPS at home, the guy that services my work ones gave me a tested second hand set of batteries for a donation to there social club. When they replace the batteries they do the whole lot and normally it is just one that has failed so if you talk to them nicely...

I understand it's not unusual for Discus to eat their eggs the first few times and that they grow out of it. The extra stress of having other fish in the tank might not be helping either. If I was you I would take the view that it is better that they don't hatch until you have the breeding tank setup.

Doing the over flow this way wont work because if the pump stops it will become a syphon. There isn't anyway I know of of sucking the water from the bottom safely. The normal method is to have a power head or similar to keep the crap off the bottom and in the water so it drains down the over flow. Most Discus breeders that I know of (which admittitly aren't many) vacuume the tank every day to remove uneaten food etc so if you did this what you are trying to do isn't really neccessary. Also rather than putting in a sump have to considered putting a couple of bits of glass in a corner and using a small pump to put water in the top and drain from the bottom, this is very common oversea's esp in Asia. Besides if you are cleaning the tank daily your filter shouldn't really be working very hard.

Its a bit difficult to tell how well the bactria (that break down all the fish etc waste) survived the move around. Also because you don't have any fish in the tank your water parameter readings dont really mean much. For a start I would treat it like a new tank and just put 2-3 fish into it wait a few days and redo your water tests, this should give you and idea if the tank needs to be cycled again. When you move the fish make sure you acclimatize them to the new tank, do this by putting them in a bag with water from the small tank and float them in the new tank then over an hour or so, add 1/4 cup of water every 10 - 15 minutes from the new tank to the bag. You might want to change some water in the small tank each day cause with no filter it will get bad pretty fast. If the fish start to look unhappy (gulping, clamping fins etc) you migt just have to risk it and move them all into the new tank. Acidic cure is just a type of silicon and will smell very strong when you use it, also make sure it doesn't have a mold killer.

Wait. as long as your not doing anything stupid it will sort itself out

It's possible you 'over cleaned' that tank, it's not good to disturb the tank too much. Also are you sure your rag didn't have anything on it, maybe from being washed? Any soap, washing power, bleach, etc residue might have killed the bactria in your filter and tank, making your tank cycle again and causing the high nitrate.

Check out Pies post on his setup, it has all the pic's etc you could want. Regarding snails, I used to collect rock pool snails but don't bother any more, it is difficult to get them to live for long. And it's not that had to get proper turbo snails that will last and breed. However glass shrimps are really good, you need to climatise them really slowly (up to a day if you can do it) its the water parameters they need to get used to not the temp so just a slow dripping hose into a bucket works well. Also have you put in any cured live rock? Cycling a marine tank takes much longer than freshwater, upto 6-9 months before you stop getting different algae blooms. Good cured rock can speed this up alot

Do you have a feeding cone? I have never worried to much about a little extra dirt and just dump a clump of worms into the feeding cone. I'm not suggesting this is a good idea, but it is what I do and I have never had a problem in the years I have been doing it.

Since we don't have any marine suppliers in Wlg and have to travel to Akl to buy everything that's really funny.....

Recon your six line might be eating them.