Rozski

Yeah, have been thinking bout that. Might have enough cable to run it over the bottom then up the corner of the tank

yes, theres a black one outside the glass. Why do you ask? I think you can see it in the first photo I posted on this thread

Depends on what heater you bought, some are not fully submersible, and have to be kept out of the water. Most types can be put fully underwater, like the Aqua One heater I have in there. The fine stuff on the bottom is Propogating Sand, its fine enough for the plants to root into (compared with the gravel on top) but not so fine it'll compact and end up with pockets of toxic gas. Not sure what else it does lol. I used the gravel on top because I like dark substrates (shows up fish colour better) and it was free lol You'll find a lot of people with live plants will use Daltons Aquatic mix (a kind of clay mix) at the bottom, then the propagating sand, and then even another layer of gravel. Good for the plants. I didn't get the aquatic mix as I might have to shift the tank at the end of the year and didn't want a big mucky mess when taking the substrates out

Yeah, was talking to another fishkeeper friend who breeds as well and she said she never had much luck with them. This was my third. The first became carpet jerky in less than a week (still don't know how he managed to squeeze out the tiny gap in the corner of my tank), the second became laterally S shaped around christmas, kept eating etc, just bendy. Was a looking a bit unhappy around easter and I was going away for a week, so sent him to fishy heaven. Left it 2 months to make sure rest of fish were fine. Then got the third, who spawned like crazy with my female, then did this! Have decided to give the dwarfs a rest for a while :lol:

Thanks and yup, waiting till its safer. They're not cheap fish, so will wait till theres less risk Reason i asked about the danio with the scrape is I just lost my nice male dwarf gourami. He had a scrape type wound on his side that looked to me as though it wasn't getting any worse/was healing, and I went home for 2 weeks leaving my bf to feed my fish every 2 days and check on them. Got back to find the scrape had ulcerated and eaten right through him (was just above his bottom fin). Sent him to fishy heaven Was considering that Caryl, but then the heater power cable would be running across the tank still :-? Damn heaters and filter lol. I like tanks as natural looking as possible. Might shift it along next time I have my arm in there and see how it looks

Here is tank, mostly cleared now: Picked up some malachite green and formalin from our LFS, just in case *touches wood* I ever have a white spot breakout, so I have it on hand. Stuffed hands in pockets while admiring the fish I checked, and they do fish orders every fortnight too, which is good. Have to say I loved the little Swift Rasboras (Rasbora hengeli). Might have to have a school of them one day

Yup, going to wait now *sits on hands* Is melafix right for the wee danio with the scrape? Need to get some anyway in case I ever get a whitespot breakout

25 is cutting it a bit fine I think. Smaller tanks have a larger surface area to water volume ratio, so lose heat easier than a larger tank. I have a 35 litre tank with a 55 watt heater, and last winter when it got really cold, the heater couldn't keep the tank up to temperature

:lol: Glen. And thanks Mini update. Have put in some dark gravel and replanted the dwarf sags, and also planted the val I received this morning. Will pop a photo up here tomorrow, as its a bit murky thanks to me stirring it all up again. My two danios seem happy enough, and also have a bag floating in there now with 5 wee leopard danios. One lost a bit of skin off the base of his tail when caught at the shop I think, so am I right in buying melafix tomorrow to treat the tank with? Another question. I want to be naughty (again lol) and get 3 leopard corys tomorrow afternoon. Our LFS next shipment of fish is due and they have 5 ordered. I am not sure how often they get new fish in, so I am keen to pick up 3 while they are there. Would they be ok in my tank, seeing as its only had water in it since Saturday and will probably be still cycling? *looks hopeful* I siphoned the gravel in my small tank the other day and ran the water through the filter, and will do the same again tomorrow morning. I have a test kit, so can keep an eye on the water levels and do a change if anything spikes.... Will check the pH and ammonia levels tonight too. I suppose there is always the option of putting them into my little established tank, but thought it would be nicer for them to only have one shift and be able to pick up flakes the danios miss. How big will spikes be in a large tank with only a few small fish? Your thoughts are appreciated, thanks

Oooo looking good. I especially like pieces of driftwood that look almost like tree stumps, so *thumbs up*

hehe, someone has been bitten by the bug Heaters are usually 1 watt - 1.5 watts per litre. I have a 300W instead of 200W heater going in my 180 litre tank as my flat gets chilly (and I found my 55 watt heater wasnt keeping up in a 35 litre tank last winter here!) Lighting depends on what you want to grow... Have fun :lol: (If you want to splurge, remember the Aqua One tank setups are half price, and with that you get a tank, cabinet, lighting and filtration all in one)

Thanks Michael, will steer away from the sword then till I get more lighting And many thanks to Caryl!!! Danios are currently exploring the tank. Should have given them a map

Thanks guys I don't think I can even smell chlorine in the water when it comes straight out the tap. But our good LFS likes to have signs up saying "Palmy North tap water is not suitable for fish tanks" Whereas the chain LFS will just sell you chlorine remover Water has already been in there a few days michael.quain. And yeah, large java fern lol. Had quite outgrown my 35 litre tank. Can't really pilfer filter media from that tank as its just a HOB filter with a sponge and bag of ceramic noodles, and I can't leave those fish without filtration. As to plants, I have lots of ambulia in the small tank, some of which I will transfer. Bought some twisted val online, and want to get some normal val too if I can find any. Would like to get anubias nana and rotala rotundifolia. Also have on my watchlist E. osiris, stargrass and a red melon sword, but not sure about those ones yet...

Yea I'm more concerned about the lighting than the CO2. Only 40 W in a 180 litre tank...and its a deep tank. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. Theres 3 switches on the side, and only 2 control the two lights, so maybe theres another connection in there we could use. Well I say we, but it will be my engineer boyfriend that will be the one doing it :lol: Anyway, an update. Picked up a nice piece of driftwood today (yes, I paid for one, I like the dark stuff in the stores, plus its presunk *hands head in shame*) Transferred my overgrown java fern onto it. Got some cheap black rocks too at a landscapers. Got gravel there too, but turned out too large once I got it home, so need another scout around tomorrow for some (anyone know where you can get p metal in Palmy?). And scored some dwarf sag, ricca and glosso for free, so thought "why not?" I wanted the dwarf sag, and wasn't going to say no to free glosso and ricca lol. Planted the sag, and the other two are floating for the time being Still a bit murky: Question too for you. I filled the tank late Saturday with tap water. *No* chlorine remover added. Its been 2 days, would I be ok to put my two danios in there to start the tank cycling? Oh, also when I did a water change in my small tank today, I took the 10 liters that I'd siphoned out and topped up this tank with it by pouring it over the filter wool in the hood. So hopefully seeded some good greeblies in there Let me know what you think

Hey Helena, have pm'd you with the details 8) For anyone else, tank is an Aqua Nova, basically a cheaper ripoff from an Aqua One lol

Thats pretty close to what I have in mind so far -Have two bristlenose already, still small -Also two remaining danios, so will up the numbers to make a school -Love cardinals, but neons are cheaper -Maybe leopard cories? -Was considering loaches as some breed of tiny snail made it into my tank on the ambulia I bought, so thought they might be useful -LOVE blue rams, but obviously need to get tank well established first, and not sure how often they are available around here OK, its late and I'm off to bed. Night all 8)

Tank is 80cm long by 43 deep. Its around 55cm high I think, haven't checked exact measurement. Yeah, I realise the surface area is smaller than your standard 4 footer too Not too worried about fish numbers yet. Just having fun thinking about what exactly I will put in there thats within the limits

Thanks again for the advice Yeah, I will be doing lots more reading and going step by step. Upgrades for filtration and lighting will come one day too lol. Even with this costing a bit less than half of what an Aqua One tank of the same size would be, I really only have the money for some plants and fish at the moment. Good things take time

Thanks for the tips. For undergravel fertilization, do you mean like those fertilizer balls? I skipped the daltons aquatic mix, as it would be too messy if I needed to shift the tank. Have just got propagating sand in there at the moment. And I would do pressurised CO2...but slightly out of my price range. Would cost as much as the entire tank sitting next to me now I think

hahahaha you sound exactly like me! I am at uni in Palmy, and for the last year its been "no, must not get a bigger tank, too much hassle, must stick with 35 litre tank, I can get my huge rimu tank when I finish uni" ....yeah, now i have a 180 litre tank sitting next to me hehe Got any photos?

Set up? No idea yet. All I know is I want plants, driftwood and fish :lol: Already have a big java fern on the driftwood in my current tank, which is gonna look small when put in the big tank, couple of bristlenose, danios... Have vague ideas of which plants, what kind of look I like etc but no layout or anything yet. Just wanted to get tank up and running to start the cycle. Need to do some more reading on DIY CO2 as well. Hence I am open to both plant and fish type suggestions 8)

I loooooove planted tanks. But I am still quite the newbie to the finer points of fish and plants So yes, lots of plants, and hopefully a nice fish community Got to find me some nice driftwood first...

And no, not in *that* way lol. Check out my new aquisition So much for waiting until I am not moving around at the end of every year to get a big tank lmao :oops: Empty this morning And filled tonight (even tho I rinsed the propagating sand, tis still a bit murky). Planning to do a layer of dark gravel still. Heater is also going hard to get the temp up from 12 degrees haha. Tank is 180 litre by the way. Oh so many choices of what fish to put into it now!! Any must haves? Ideas? Advice? Can you tell I'm excited... :lol: Rozski

what thermometers do you have and where are they compared with the heaters?

I use rainwater for my fishies (small tank). Dwarf gouramis were breeding happily, and plants growing out of tank, so don't think its caused me any problems. As to the bird poop in water comment, I think its a relatively natural additive Be more of a problem if your roof is copper I *think*