DiverJohn

Yeah chilly bin was my first thought too. Did I see a small battery powered filter / air pump at LFS?? Temp could be controlled a bit by putting the lid on at night and off during the day. And for rapid evaportive cooling, tie chilly bin to roof of car :lol: :lol:

In addition to the bucket method I used a seive to scoop out gravel from the top of the bucket, and then rinsed each "sieve full" invdividually. Took about 15 minutes to do 40kgs. Could take longer if you use a small seive :lol:

Oh no doesnt sound nice.... did you google it? Search terms: Aquarium Leeches http://www.netpets.com/fish/healthspa/leeches.html http://www.aquariumpharm.com/disease/leeches.html http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/authors/bruno10.htm HTH Good luck

HB is right there is is bacteria in the gravel. In fact EVERY where, gravel, water, filter. What you could also do is get an air driven corner filter from the LFS - or you might have one lying around. When i set up a small 10gal tank I put this filter in to my big tank (50g) for a week. This created a "seed" of bacteria that I put into my new tank. I also used 1 bucket of water from my big tank (when i did a water change) I then put in some plants and wood. And about a week later some fish. HTH

Hi Guys, HB is right, it was the one in botney road. When i went there was only one pot. I did post a topic about this but the plant was labelled "Eleocharis Acicularis" I had a look for it on the net and its a native american or some funny thing.. me thinks it is labelled wrong. The person i was talking to said it was able to be ordered in if i wanted more. They had different grades (=prices?) I got the impression i could get cheaper pots if i was happy to have shorter grass. And at the rate its growing I could get really short stuff!! :lol: Because I saw that alot of ppl on here want grassy type plants i actually kept the label... so i could go in and say " I want more of this..." and heres that pic i promised

A couple of months ago I did a "major" clean out in my tank. Took everything out cleaned the glass SOME new gravel. SO long as you dont use clean everything you should be sweet, like Caryl said "use 1/2 old water" And if you need something to keep teh fish in temporarily while you take down 1 tank & set up the other... A week before you want to do the change, Go to Bunnings and get some big plastic rubbish bins (about 60l or 15 Gallons). Give them a good clean and rinse using fish water. Leave them to dry for a week and then before you put the fish in rinse them again with fish water. Then fill them out of your tank. I kept 2x 7 inch silver sharks in a rubbish bin like that for a couple of hours while I did the clean, they didnt seem to mind. HTH John

HI Plantman! Yeah that Xmas moss looks kewl. Just in realtion to the Hairgrass Buzzy was after.. I'll post some pics of the pot I got at Kings Plant Barn, it was only 12.95 for a big pot. I just tipped it out, washed off all the peat soil and stuck it in the gravel, its taking off!! I need an underwater lawn mower!! I actually left some outside in a tub of water and its gone a bit yellow. So have stuck it in the tank, now its perking up! So buzzy, check out the ponds section @ the LPS (local Plant shop :lol: ) Wotch this space for a pic

I got some Kuhllli loaches off trade me, 6 of them. Put 3 into my large community tank and have never seen them again! Others into a smaller planted tank and they dont seem to mind playing around in the open

Hi Brendan, Will keep an eye on this post. Sounds a good idea. Have been pondering the idea myself. Mainly when i see undersized crays!! Wonder if you could get some kind of dispensation from MAF for a couple of small ones. Maybe a little snapper or two ? Oh Welcome BTW

Bummer mate Hey I have found a good home for a couple of my fish now! I dont know if you have seen my posts about my Plecosomus who is good at ripping out my plants. Its only a plain one - gold spot?? About 15-20cm long. When you get your tank sorted out he's yours if you want it. I also aquired 5 catfish just before christmas, Ansistrus (sp) I think. One Is a pretty big male (6-8 cms) and the others get progressivly smaller. You can have the big one and a couple of the smaller ones if you want? I will be getting some otto's and SAE's but wanted to reduce the load a bit before adding any more fish. JOhn

Strewth!! Is that what you run Luke?? I thought I was heading up towards the high end of the scale with 5x30W on a 250(ish) litre tank. I dont think i have enough room to fit another 3 tubes across the top of my tank or should that be 8) ?? I would be very interested to know the tubes your running, and what plants you are growing. I would like to start growing some of the bigger swords now I have good crops of cambomba & hygro. John

Thanks FG. Tried getting some info from "one particular hydroponics store" but they werent to much help. might try asking specifically for the ingredients. Cheers

Hey fools gold... Where did you get the ingredients? Just from the Chemist? Would really like to give this PMDD a go I ahev read some good reports.

That reminds me.. was talkin to my neigbhor the other day he would be keen to get some baby trout for his pond. Any body know where you could legally get some from? Legally = not getting your car confiscated :lol:

HI LOTR, Hey in another post did you mention plants in your tank? If you did I would steer clear of the plecosomus. I have a "medium" (15-20cm) in my tank. And He/she is very edept at pulling out plants. Maybe not deliberatly but perhaps by the swiming action? My plants have become much better establishd now and not so much of a problem.

HI Ronin, In addition to Surphews advise... When I added the plants to my setup after a while i noticed that I was getting alot of "reasonable sized" plant material actually going all the way down the siphon into the filter. (mainly cambomba) Although the filter was doing what it should, it was getting dirty very quickly. I added a Pre-filter that sits in the bottom of the tank and i can lift it out with tongs and clean that once a week. Much easier than cleaning the canister filter so frequently.

Bills right Ira. Wiring up single tubes is relativly easy but i decided not to do it. I have been discussing this flourescent light subject with a chap at the trade store we deal with (but I am not a sparky!) He is trying to sort out some tubes for me. I ended up buying prefabricataded "double flouro fitting" all i had to do was add a cord to plug it into the Power board. And as i said before i still got it wrong... But a good mate who is a sparky set me on the right path - before i blew myself up . Anyway, I was speaking to my supplier last week about another matter and my fish lights came up. He actually said to me "Mate I could tell you how to wire up two flouro's in series - but I'm not". Clearly the series connection is a bit more complex. You should see inside the double flouro fitting, it uses 2 ballasts and 2 starters in series ( i think??) I gave up trying to sort the circuitry out!! Just dont blow yourself up mate, theres some things you can get wrong and live to tell the tale, others you cant

Thanks Cees. Will post the occasional pic and as it progresses. I really do wish the LFS would name the plants properly

"Hairgrass" Thats what the labels says. Found a nice big pot of this at the plant barn. Looks quite nice anybody had any success with this in their tanks.

Hey Warren, is this looking any better?? ( And playing round with the camera :lol: )

HI Vanquish I fill mine almost right to the top. When i get around to making a hood for mine it will probably hang 1-1.5cms over the edge to hide the water line as Bill said. With the lights on there is quite a reflection off the water surface. Hiding the water line IMO makes it look much nicer. But your question was about mainly concerned with bursting if its too full. Some one here *looks around* has got a calculator for working out the minimum thickness glass required for a given volume of water. So find that ruler and measure away... post yur exact measurements including the thickness of the glass and I am sure someone wil confirm it for you. John

Agree, them and ottocinclus (sp?)

Yes but slowly. I think they might prefer feeding thru the roots. I put a JBL 7 balls under my bunch. They seemed to start to take root better after i did that. Also on the plant survey I noticed the other "similar" plant is actually noted as "Very slow growing in its submerged form" http://www.fnzas.org.nz/320.0.html?&cHash=a1c01ae2a2&user_plants=1

HI Stapelz, going to stick my neck out a bit cos i am realtivly new to this an suggest that the plant you have is Japanese Rush. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/320.0.html?&cHash=fbec9ac32a&user_plants=2 Note in the discription I got some for my tank too. Dont hold your breath at that seed pod thingy maturing and giving you heaps of new growth, mine didnt. But looks nice anyway. Mine grows slowly and it what i call a "floater". My silver sharks where quite skilled at uprooting it simlpy by swimming past it! (I took mine out of the pots and didnt use lead) Its a lot more established now and I have no problems. Hope that helps... John

Could be right on both counts Warren. Tested Fe last night (dupla test) was 0.1 is that OK? Should I bump it up a bit? This plant also has a JBL 7 Balls under it. Also I have started another small tank for plants and purchased a box of Laterite. LFS chap suggested adding a small amount around my plants in the big tank as a "general" fertilisation regime. Did that last week. Earlier this week I also added another 30W tube (5 in total 8) ) Last couple of days I have noticed there is some new growth coming out that is a distinct red/brown colour. And yes I do have bristlenoses and a plec, they might have to go. Thanks for your help.