Jo1

They gave me a pest plant book, see http://www.rnzih.org.nz/pages/nppa_pest_plant_list.pdf

Well it made biosecurity happy and don't worry it is cleaned and reused - infact I have never had to throw any away!

I was very interested to read this thread. We have had a couple of visits a few years back and they went around the whole property. At that stage they were very interested in vals which we were using in our tanks. They came from the Wanganui region but it was never confirmed whether they were americana or gigantea. It resulted in us changing to a plastic alternative. As far as I am aware the only legal variety is the twisted val but as biosecurity is part of the regional councils it may vary from area to area. They took samples of our ludwigia but never heard back so it must be ok. After that they found koi in some local ponds so they have since visited all ponds and destroyed the koi. Unfortunately they have now been seen in a local river - not sure how they will get rid of them once they are established.

That power bill seems far too high. We have 10 tanks in various sizes (but all over 200L and our bill is $340 this month. We have them in a cold open garage area and just have poly around the sides and back of tanks. I think Mincton's idea is just great, unfortunately it wouldn't be enough space for us though.

I saw Peter today and saw the tank he showed you which he set up for Fluval filtration - you have to make sure you have the right size for your filter. If you purchase a second set of taps you can turn off under the tank and have another on the filter which makes for easier cleaning of the filter. Very ocassonally the strainer may get blocked with a stone and you might have to use a large plastic bag around hose and turn on and unblock with pipe cleaner. That will prevent a mess and spraying everywhere. You will be able to tell if it was blocked because the water would drain slowly. Hope that makes sense - I am terrible at explaining.

We plumb through the bottom of the tank all the time. It is much tidier, no messy looking hoses everywhere. Peter knows what he is doing so there will be no problems with the strength of the tank - you just have to make sure the holes are the right size for the filter fittings. We put a strainer on the input (into filter) and attach a pipe to the output which you can cover with black insulation tape and have it going up to almost the water line.

I have just been talking to Peter of Port Nicholson Glass and he is quite happy to have his business contact details given out on this forum.

Port Nicholson Glass Peter Williams ( EDIT - Check your phone book for detail. - Alan ) I highly recomend him, his tanks are really well made and never leak.

Wow Shell, That is terrible and I hope you do recover. I always cover cuts on my hands but when you work with fish all day, you have no choice but to carry on. Thank you for the advice I will be extremely careful in future.

Over feeding can cause clouding.

Hi Lyndy, Goldfish or community tropicals such as angels, barbs, tetras, gouramis (but not all of them like this type of tank- pearls do well) catfish. Watch the glass hexs as the seal between each panel ave a tendancy to leak. If you are interested in a 2nd hand acrylic, PM me. I don't live too far away from you and you are welcome to come and look over the weekend.

Looks like dropsey to me and if so it is too late to help. See if the scales are protruding.

We set up a CF1000 on a 180 litre tank the other day and felt it was almost too powerful. Initially had the spraybar going but because the plants were moving too much we took the end cap off and put a little funnel like attachment on to the end of the spraybar. This was a great improvement. The CF1000 has only 2 baskets but still managed to add carbon as well as the supplied media. The filter was easy to set up. We usually use Eheims which aren't as powerful but imho still the best. I think if the tank is being circulated 3 times an hour it is enough so you may find a smaller model would be adequate and save you a few dollars.

Sounds like an algae bloom to me. Why not try covering tank with a blanket and no lights for 3 days. I have seen it work before.

A well known nationwide aquarium company uses plecos in all their goldfish tanks. We have mainly bristlnoses with our goldfish but can think of a couple of tanks with large plecos and goldfish with temp set around 20. The plecos are fine and very large so have survived for years. Plants could be a problem but you could try acorus (jap rush) which is tough and you would have to put lead on the bottom otherwise there are some nice silk and plastic lants which would look fine.

That sounds great, just missed out on getting one like that recently. I recently saw some ponds in an atrium that were filtered by inline swimming pool filters and UV sterilisers and it wasn't doing a great job. I felt it would have done better with biological filters. Unfortunately our pond get heaps of sun but will still clear with good filtration. Joze I am still trying to imagine a filter but would love to take a look. Will PM.

I would be really interested to know what sort of filtration you are going to use. Is it a ready made filter? UV Steriliser? We tried making a filter out of a brew kit - worked well but we were unable to cover it and the lid got a crack due to the plastic not being able to take the sunlight.

As long as they have plenty of air surface. Up north they are breeding in that temperature and I think our pond would get to that temp easily in the summer.

Hi HFF and thanks for the reply. I have electric yellows in another tank at present so water is fine. All these ciclids were purchased from the same breeder and bred in neutral ph. Have Eheim external so filtration good. At present I have teracotta pots and java fern and planning to put in anubias attached to wood. Tank is not an issue, presently only in 3ft 100 litres but plan to move them into larger tank when needed. Also thinking of putting in a red tail shark which is quite large and he should be able to fend for himself. Basically I am looking to get a colourful display of larger fish for people who have no idea that there are cichlids from different areas let alone what a cichlid is. I defintely do not want them to be fighting too much. Also wondering about angels too as they are always popular. If I run into any hassels I can always set up another tank

Koi have barbels and can grow far bigger than that. If you are really worried I am sure Biosecurity would come and take a look.

Recently purchased the following fish. They were very shy at first but after a bout of whitespot they are now settled and appear happy and well. 1 Jewel Ciclid 1 Firemouth (had another but it died and not sure why) 2 Geophagus Surinamensis (I know they get rather large but supposedly quite peaceful) I have yet to add a large bristlenose. I have 4 large rainbows which have been eating plants and considering putting these in and also wondering how electric yellows would be ok with these fish. I know they are africans but they seem to fit into most tanks easily and their colour would be great. I would really appreciate the advice.

Check out where these goldfish are bred. They are all up north where the weather is warmer, consequently the goldfish grow quicker. You also need huge amounts of water if they are going to grow. May be you should move north

Thanks guys. The plant exceeds 6 inches already and pretty much the same colour as anubias. Warren I also got some Anubias Barteri which looks just like the Peace Lily. I have grown this one before and it does well in the aquarium with not too much light. I questioned the grower about its resemblence to the Peace Lily and he assured me it was not the same plant - I was thinking at the time that I had one at home and could split it up to plant in aquariums but have not tried it yet

I have just acquired a couple of these plants and wondered if anyone knows their requirements.

Blue Hygrophila, Ludwigia, Lysamachia. Only problems can be if you have comets which uproot the plants occassionally.