DiverJohn

Hi Heather, Well my "dodgy " CO2 reactor has been modified to something along the line of what you see on various internet pages... Power head at the top, pumping water thru a chamber filled with media bioballs) to break up the flow of water / CO2 bubbles and help get the CO2 into solution. I now have a soleinoid valve ( http://www.valves.co.nz ) that works AWSOME. its 240V and is ON when the current is ON. So i bought a "piggy- back" plug and wired it into that. Plugged it into my light timer, then plugged the lights on the back. Works SWEET lights come on, gas comes on.. all with 1 timer and no transformers dropping down to 12 v KH was low on my tank so have raised that up to 4degrees - which is just about ok I think. So to bubbles per minute.. well I was out of the ball park on that one! More like 1 bubble per second, maybe a bit longer , but yeah really bubbling away, remember my tank size of about 250l. Interesting at the moment as teh ambient temp drops I am having to open the needle valve a wee bit other wise the gas stops Growth is OK, bubbles (O2)coming off Blue Hygro, Orisi sword & Leopard sword. Wee bit more algae than I would like but have added a bit more light to see if that helps "burn it off". And NO LFS in Auckland has any Ottocinclus @ the moment. :-? Having an "issue" with very slightly cloudy water at the mo, and I just cant make it go away, trying to get that really good "polished look" (anybdy help with that one I would appreciate it) Was adding "leaf Zone" fertilizer but have stopped because i was wondering if it was contributing to the cloudyness? Anyway, thats the update, hope it helps

Me too

Hi Congo, Would be interested in some of the trace element mix if you ended up getting too much. Diver John

The Harliquins I have in my tank also change their color very quickly in response to stress. When evrything is "honky dory" they are very red/ pink with black triangle on them, stress them out a bit and the red can disappear almost instantly. Best seen in the LFS, if you see a nice red/ pink fish, wotch and see what happens when they go to net it... I like to think the redness is a "happyness indicator" on my harliquins - cheap test kit ! :lol: :lol:

Giddy, OK FW dude sticking his head into the SW section, so dont be mean :lol: :lol: POM, Pies is right about the tank size... Go just over 4 foot if that the approximate size you want. My FW tank is 1150 long, it is the most frustrating size! The difference in volume between 1150 and 1250 is "in the scheme of things" so small it is insignificant . But when it comes to lights...different storey. I am trying to grow plants (and doing a not bad job of it i think ) but would dearly love the extra "foot" of lighting I could get using 4foot tubes. Not to mention the TWO dark spots at either end. With 5 tubes on my tank I am getting 150W, of course I could alway add a 6th tube but still... the 4footers are always going to produce 20% more light (on paper 3foot =30W 4foot=36W) Add to that the 4 footers are probably more common, you get better selection of tubes/colour. Finally a 3' is about the same price as a 4' ! My 2c John

Doesnt nessasrily have to be warm! Most awsome dives I have done are at a place called Scapa Flo, which is at the Orkney Islands of the Northern coast of Scotland in the North sea. Dived at the end of summer - Mid November - which was nice because the water temp had increased to 9 degrees! It was good to get in the water, it was warmer than on land at times Most of the week was diving German wrecks from WW1. Great fun! Local dives... like most Poor knights, Waikato, Tui. Aldermans, and the most dived piece of water in NZ (so I have been told) .... lake Pupuke :lol:

Just my view on indian fern. It is VERY easy to propogate - just add water :lol: Bought a small plant from LFS about 2 months ago - started annoying me 1 month ago, still finding bits of it poping up. If its what you want / need thats great, but if your a bit patient then maybe go with something else..

HI shelly, that sounds good. Zero for ammonia and nitrite is where mine has always been. The change in your ph is still a mystery, but depending on the types of fish you are planning to keep, a hi'ish pH isnt nessasrily a bad thing.... good luck and keep up those regular water changes.

Um ok, just going down the track of the additional "feriliser" in the water, stop your cat sleeping on the tank. Before you start looking at dodgy water supplies you need to ensure there is absoluty no way that anything can get into the water to contaminate it. With the cat slepping on teh tank it could be all sorts of things. Contamination of "icides" from the cats fur when walking about the farm, ditto fertilizers picked up by teh cat. The cat couldl be drinking the water and harmful bacteria coming off teh cats mouth, food waste falling in from teh cats mouth, sticking its dirty paws in trying to get the fish. And finaly if tiddles does piddles well.... John

Hi Shelly, Hey just on the $$ side. Maybe it would be worthwhile taking a sample of your water (and a sample of your tap water) to the LFS. The LFS here in Aucks will test your water for you - they charge $1 per test tho - but still cheaper than buying all the test kits in teh world. When you take in the sample you need to take a decent amount. The LFS will need to rinse everything in your fishy water - maybe twice - and then run the test. So probably 50mls per test would be appropriate. They would rather have too much than not enough Also remember that you need to rinse the container you use twice with fish water. Do teh same thing for your tap water sample you take in. Once the LFS indentifies - fingers crossed - whats wrong, they only need to run a test for the specific cause, on your tap water. Any info you are sure on eg; ph of tap water I would have handy for the LFS. I also point out that in one of your posts you say you tap water pH 6.6. Yet after a short time in your tank it rises to 7.4 ish? Seems a large swing. Perhaps you need to identify what is causing this?? I understand that ammonia levels can be dependant on pH. Is there anything in your tank ( shells ) that could cause the ph to swing. Is all the filter media "brand name " stuff? if its DIY that could be a problem too. And at the end of the day your tank could be cycling still. Hope that "kind of" helps there may not be one simple fix. Good Luck John

As well as the possible "-icides" killing the bacteria as you have hinted at, is it possible that your water has any fertilisers in it? Super Phospahte? Urea? could be a good start. Urea is a common fertilizer, Has hi levels of ammonium, which in your tank might be contributing to the ammonia. Super Phosphate, well the name suggests phosphate which I think most people will agree is not a good thing for an aquarium! This might cause the algae blooms. Justa thought ( and not bad for 1am !!) :lol: John

IMO = in my opinion - kind of a disclaimer, its just what i think Yes there is alot to learn, luckly for me I did a BSc with a bit of analytical chemistry. Not a prerequisite to owning fish but helps a bit. Thanks for the feedback on my tank, unfortunatly the Angel fish died very mysteriously Just so you know ( and anybody else feel frre to chip in) NitrAtes are not critical to kep an eye on in most aquariums, I am wanting to ensure my plants have the correct balance of nutrients to grow. But Ammonia & NitrItes are something you need keep an eye on while you tank is cycling. HTH = (Hope that helps ) DJ

Giday Caper. IMO test kits are a must. I purchased a kit that had, pH (Hi + std range), Ammonia, Nitrite, and Gh (general hardness). I tested regularly ( evry couple of weeks) until i got use to how things work and then dropped back to monthly. As i got a little more involved in the hobby I have added a KH test kit, Iron test, and recently a phospahte test kit. if you get into your plants then you will discover ( as I did) these are good tests to have on hand. ( Nitrate is probably on the list for next payday) Otherwise about all you can really tell is... its water, and its wet! :lol: Just my 2c John

Tank approximatly 250l Moderate fish stock, Moderate-heavy planting. Good Reg set, needle valve & bubble counter but no soleniod, and a fairly dodgy DIY reactor :-? . Will be running 24/7 for a while. Obviosuly will have to keep an eye on PH but any hints on where to start in terms of bubbles per minute?? Thanks John

200 kg's Strewth!!

HI Congo, Hey I could be interested in buying some dark sand / fine gravel. Let me know what quntity your buying. My tank I am buying bits for is 5x2. I already have 40kgs of "medium size" dark gravel. The aquatic clay is cheap for a 10l bag, but I think I may need about another 40kgs of substrate. John

HI Snowman. I have 3 really fat Simese Algae Eaters which cost me 10.95 ea @ the LFS. They are regarded as perhaps the only fish to control /eat BBA. BUT if you have major problems they aint going to help. When I combined an initial treatment of double dosed flourish excel to knock the BBA back the SAE can keep it under control. I did this about 4 months ago and have had no problems since, but continue to dose with flourish @ the recommended rates for the plants. Lights: After doing alot of reading I dropped my lights back to 9 hours a day for a week while double dosing with flourish. Kelvins: From experience you may or may not find some one at an electrical wholesaler that knows what kelvins are - "Who??" If you run into dificulty finding something, I am running "Osram Biolux 965" these are available @ Rexell, but are a special order item. I have also ordered some "Osram Fluora" tubes and will be combining them with the Biolux, so will see how they go.. My current tubes are approx 6 months old so they whole lot is getting changed at the same time. Seing as this is the technical section I downloaded these images from the osram site ( http://www.osram.com ) they show the "spectral power distribution" of the tubes. The osram documentation actually says the Biolux is a 6500K tube. You could compare these to the 3000K Warm White, and the 4000K Cool White. These are quite high in the green part of the spectrum, which is good for Algae , not so good for you. HTH, Good luck. John

Hi Dubbie, Nice pics! Are those Cardinal Tetra's?? Did you see Cees' post?? http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=6146 You mention you added a solinoid to your system. Was it part of the kit? Some thing aftermarket? Some details would be appreciated :-) How much longer does the gas last now? John

HI SI. Caryl mentioned harliquins. In my tank I have about 30 harliquins. 15 are "Standard" harliquins, and 15 are a variant the LFS called "Swift Rasboras" (any more info appreciated!) . The swift variant IMO looks much better than the standard, they are a little smaller, but the orange flash down the side is quite striking. Price on the swift is a bit more than a neon, but less than the cardinals I am wondering what to do with my current tank when my 5' is finished and one of the options I came up with was a school of about 100 of 1 type of tetra (rummy nose, cardinals, neons) or maybe harliquins. S.I you could try here... http://www.brooklands.co.nz/tropical/neon.htm

http://www.styrobeck.co.nz Styrobeck Plastics Ltd. 115 Gracefield Road, Lower Hutt Ph. +64-4-586-0254 Fax. +64-4-586-0031 Email. [email protected] I put mystic onto these guys a while ago, dont know how she got on?? Cost me $20 for a 5'x2'x30mm thick, was great, they used a 5'x2'x20mm as protective packaging!! I think the chrge was more a minimum labour charge than a per meter rate? HTH

So Pies, when can i come for a dive?? Promise to bring the drysuit :lol: Awsome set of pics. Well done. John

Would you be able to get any plants?? They seem cheaper in the LFS's websites from overseas..

Hi Jude, I just bought a couple of comets for an outside pond. When asked about food I said to the LFS person "Naa, I got huge containers of flake for my tropicals". And I was told, unfortunatly you cant use tropical food for cold water (gold)fish. The food is 'designed' to be digested at different temps. Using topical food on goldies is a no no. Sounded reasonable so bought a tiny container (4.60 - on special too so another 20 % off ) Guess based on that you would expect to be able to use G/f food on tropicals but not the other way round. I spose?? :-?

Hi Chim, Are you looking @ getting rid of your 1060's?? Or do you have plans for them??

Yeah, gotta watch that 18m per minute assent rate :lol: