ajbroome

Paul said... > ... can some one please explain this ro/di stuff too me . It's purified water. For some applications people want as close to H2O as possible with a minimum of other chemicals dissolved in it. Tap water generally has a whole host of chemicals included, most of which are perfectly fine for 99% of aquarium applications. However, sometimes people want/need 'cleaner' water, marine reef tanks can be one of these applications. RO = Reverse Osmosis, water is 'pushed' through a membrane that excludes many of the bigger dissolved ions. Typically you get a small percentage of RO water and a large percentage of 'waste' water that has slightly more mineral content than the starting (tap) water, hopefully people use this to water the garden or some other purpose rather than just letting it go down the drain... DI = De-Ionised, where RO water has even more (usually smaller) ions removed as well. This is *very* clean water, prone to wild fluctuations in pH and causing osmotic damage to fish cells if used as it comes out of the machine. Generally people add the salts they want to the pure water to obtain some specific chemical characteristic they want. As I said, for almost all typical aquarium applications it's not necessary to use such pure water and in some cases even rain water will work as well. There's some info here: http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/purewatr.htm Andrew.

Pies said... > ... if you can make me 100ltr + I would come to PN this > weekend to pick up If you really need it, I can organise it. Contact me at [email protected] and we'll see what we can sort out. Andrew.

Caryl said... > Andrew will be there too of course It's true, I will. Tickets are booked and paperwork is in the mail... Looking forward to it. Andrew.

Pies said... > Its for freshwater (Kalkwasser) topup in my Marine aquairum. You could probably use clean rainwater. Or else, if you're ever in Palmerston North I could easily supply you with 20L or so of RO water at a time... I'm sure units are available cheaper than that. I seem to remember Trevor Sartorelli in Upper Hutt making RO water and I'm sure he didn't pay that. Presumably you've talked to people like: http://www.purewater.co.nz/index.htm and http://www.wellingtonwaterfilters.co.nz not that they're cheap but they may know of used units available... Andrew.

Cat said... > I suppose there aren't too many 'weirdo's' out there No, there are *only* 'weirdos' out there! See you tonight. Andrew.

Cees said, > I have placed the order today... I'm still keen, keep me posted. Andrew.

Sayhi2steve said... > ... was wondering if anyone knew... I'd *guess* that it'd be somewhere in between the two extremes. Andrew.

Graeme said... > I am the graeme that you sent those killifish too Excellent! Didn't know you were online. Feel free to e-mail me anytime at [email protected] > ...They're doing great. Good. Any babies yet? They're not common, so breed 'em up. > What time is the meeting in Palmy Nth? I'm not actually organising it, just providing the venue. I'd assume it to be something like 1:30 or so. You'd be most welcome to attend. Bring anything you want to add to the auction. Funnily enough, there are people coming from Hamilton, Whakatane and Chch at least. Andrew.

Earlier Ira said... > Potassium nitrate would be in the garden center sold > as "Stump Rot" It's pure potassium Nitrate. White salty > looking stuff. Was in a local garden center yesterday (time for repotting Arums and such - anybody need some A. italicum for around their ponds??? ) and did indeed find some 'Stump Rotter' (produced by Garden Enterprises Ltd right here in Palmerston North - which is Wally Richards if anyone remembers 'Nature Spirits') and it is indeed Potassium nitrate. Bought a jar full (500g) for $10. Also bought a 30W 'Aqua Glo' and 30W 'Power Glo' to replace the old tubes I had on my community tank which are supplimenting the 2 x 30W 'cool white' type tubes that came with the fittings. Hopefully this will all get my plants growing better. Andrew.

Well, After say that the M. altispinosa I'd seen lately hadn't been very flash, I went into Wet Pets yesterday and saw some relatively nice ones (although one or two still seemed to have the deformed nose). Anyway, after watching them for a while I saw that two had paired off and spawned and were guarding their eggs from all manner of other fish. Sadly, I succumbed and bought the pair for my community tank (not bad for $16ea and even better when they forgot to charge me for one of them ). Today, they're looking fine - swimming about and exploring. Not being bothered by, or bothering, any of the other fish (which are all pretty peaceful anyway). Hopefully, once I get some room in the fishroom I'll be able to set them up on their own and spawn them properly. Andrew.

Hey Graeme, Are you the 'Graeme' in Hastings I sent some killifish to? If so, how'd they do? The NZKA AGM will be held here, at my place in Palmerston North, on May the 10th. There should be some fish available for auction. Andrew.

Blindspott said... > Any suggestions or comments would be greatly helpful. I'm no goldfish expert either but another option is that, judging from the body shape and fins, it's possible that there are some genetics involved. Maybe one of their parents had some 'oranda' etc in their genes and these growths are partial 'hoods'... Just a thought, Andrew.

Earlier I said... > The PNAS AGM is next wednesday so hopefully we'll sort > out who is going from here, then. Looks like Rowan Lee will be one of the delegates for PNAS. I *may* be able to make it afterall and if so will probably be the other PNAS delegate. Final decisions will be made and forms will be returned ASAP. Andrew.

Folks, Just to let everyone know. PNAS had their AGM last night, below is a list of the club officers. Club dues were set at $20 for the year ($15 for those already a member of another FNZAS club and capitated through them). Meetings have been reduced to 6 times per year, the next being Wednesday June 4th, followed by August 6th, October 1st, December 3rd, February 4th with the next AGM being April 7th. President: Leanne Huband 18 Kimberley Grove, Palmerston North, 06 3546495 Secretary: Andrew Broome 15 Rata Street, Palmerston North, 06 3585996, [email protected] Treasurer: Cathy someone-or-other 44 Vance Street, Shannon, Editor: Ang Langen 15 Rata Street, Palmerston North, 06 3585996, [email protected] Librarian: Daniel Giles 3 Oriana Place, Palmerston North, 021 835 761 We, of course, welcome new and/or returning members as well as contact with other clubs around NZ. Andrew.

Ira said... > We're not talking about microgeoetc Ramirezi are we? Shrug. Well, *I* was... Andrew.

jacket said... > Any suggestions? Keep the wound and water clean and have a look here: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/4301/calixto.htm Andrew.

KerryO said... > Are they what are called Bulvarin Butterfly Rams. > That's the only sort I can find. At Hollywoods 4-5 cms > long. Ah. Microgeophagus ramirezi is what I usually think of when I hear 'ram', the curse of common names... http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/P-ramirezi.html while M. altispinosa: http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/P-altispinosa.html is a bigger fish often called the Bolivian Ram. Most of the ones of these I've seen lately have deformed 'noses'... > Rams aren't a community fish anyway. As with everything, it depends on the community. They can be fine with suitable small peaceful tankmates. Andrew.

Peety said... > I got a couple of Butterfly rams about a month back. > They have started to develop really nice colours and > get to about 3 inches. They're a gorgeous fish, if you can get good ones. There are some really dreadful ones out there, poor colour, sunken bellies and prone to keeling over at the drop of a hat. I've never seen them get anywhere near 3 inches though, more like 3cm... Andrew.

Folks, The above will be held in Palmerston North, May 10th. Anybody wanting details should get in touch with me. There will be an auction with various species not seen for a while... Non-members welcome. Andrew.

Ira said... > Potassium nitrate and sugar? Just pour the two together or > does it have to be mixed in water to mix well and then dried? > Hehehe, have to try that Here's a safe way of doing it: http://www.vro.be/research/propellants/ ... npage.html or less so: http://www.unitednuclear.com/smoke.htm Note: Playing with explosives is dangerous and is not recommended. Andrew.

KerryO said... > Well the book I read said they (Clown Loaches) are fine in > groups when young, but only one adult per tank is recommended. That's the beauty of fishkeeping, there are as many ways to do things as there are people who do them. For some other opinions have a look at: http://www.users.bigpond.com/rjeb/clown.html http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/bo ... nthus.html http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/profi ... cordNo=226 and so on... Andrew.

Aqua said... > ... I got two, and they've ended up hanging around my catfish > most of the time... I had 8 (now 7) Corydoras metae from Derek Heath in my community tank but almost never saw them (except for the occasional glimpse as one or more swam up the back of the tank). Once I added the 4 (now 3) clown loaches the Corys became much more confident and are now seen all the time, in various parts of the tank, often with clown loaches in tow. Andrew.

Ira said... > Potassium nitrate would be in the garden center > sold as "Stump Rot" Ah. Thanks for that. Andrew.

KerryO said... > I've also got: > 2x Flying Foxes (1 would have been plenty) I would say 4 is a comfortable minimum, they (especially if we're talking about SAEs) do better in groups. > 2x Kuli Loaches (hardly ever seen, but amuse the kids Such is the way of kuhlii loaches > 1x Clown Loach (highly recommended), I'd highly recommend getting 2 or 3 more, once again they behave differently and seem to 'do' better in groups. > Maybe some Mollies. I'd recommend *against* mollies. They tend to be a lot trickier to do well than their common-ness would suggest. JMHO, of course. Andrew.

KerryO said... > ... no on going doseage ... Presumably you top it up after water changes though, otherwise at 25% change per week, you be down to none again in a month... > Well I don't know, it looks like I need to buy an iron test > kit now. I could be way under or way over the levels, and I'd > have no idea, unless fish start misteriously dying. Mmmm... looks that way. Although, you could add until you get acceptable plant growth and then stop, perhaps... A tad risky though since you don't even know if Iron is limiting you... Andrew.