heather

Nobody's mentioned the Rena heaters? I've had a 300w on my 250L tank for over a year and its been perfect. However, I am going to change it to two heaters of smaller wattage just to cover my backside.

I haven't owned a Eheim yet so can't compare, but I highly recommend the Rena XP series. I have been running an XP3, thats the largest one, on my 4foot 250L tank for over a year now and just love it. It's really really quiet even almost silent, only start noticing a noise when its due for a clean and its incredibly easy to clean. The casing is see through so just a quick glance will let me see whats going on. Getting access to the media is a breeze. It has an automatic start, no siphoning! Why pay for an Eheim if you don't have to??

Yep youv'e got a Carters cause i checked in the yellowpages first.

Hi Tony, When i was setting my tank up earlier this year i started by testing my tap water. You can add stuff and chemicals to change the water but why choose the hard road when your'e just starting out. If you get fish to match your water the whole thing will be much easier. Once I found out my tap water was very very soft I decided to go with fish from the Amazon area. If on the other hand my tap water was hard I would have set up an Afrcan Lakes tank.

When i bought the kit it came with the tablet/gas holder and a packet of tablets. I bought the tester separately but on the same day. I didnt buy the version that came with fertiliser cause already had some and besides my substrate is sand and aquatic potting mix and so far haven't found the need to use fertiliser yet. The CO2 test kit came in a box that looked the same as all the other Sera test kits. Its a small plastic two part container that gets suctioned onto the inside of the tank a few inches below the waterline with some reagent in it. Included was a three coloured sticker for the outside of the tank for comparison. If the reagent is light green dont add a tablet, if its blue then do and if its dark green its just right.

Ive had Sera Start in my 250L for 2-3 months now and its working ok. It's easier than mucking around with yeast which i did try but decided thats it just too cold in Taupo for it to work well. My lfs mainly stocks Sera products and he was using it in a 200L at home and recommended it to me. My plants have definately taken off but my main reason for putting it in was to stabilise the pH as the water is very soft, Kh2. I presume you also bought the CO2 test kit. My lfs recommended to put 3 drops of tester in as the colour is easier to read and i have found this to be true. There are two things about it that i would change if i could: 1, the tablet holder needs to be in the flow of returning water so it ideally needs to be placed along the back wall which is difficult to get to when there is a canopy invloved. 2, the amount of gas lost through the holes in the bottom is a little bit annoying but more frustrating is the amount of gas lost because the container can't hold it all. I could let out the remaining gas before i put in a new tablet but i would have to completly remove the canopy to do that. The other way is to break a tablet up and only put in half and if it looks like that is all that will fit i do do that. It would be better if the container were bigger. Overall though, i like it.

Have you been to Carters and Benchmark in Wanganui. Lots of the breakable/scratchable panelling products they sell (for kitchens and bathrooms) come sandwiched between sheets of poly 2440x1220x20. They should have so many of them they dont know where to put them. Ask them nicely and they usually just give it away.

Have you got Sera Start with the fizzy tablets or the money version with the gas bottle etc?

I keep meaning to buy that two way thingee that attaches to your kitchen tap. Put a siphon on the end of the hose and the water goes straight down the sink then turn the valve and you can put the warm water into your tank from the hose. See them on trademe occasionally and have also seen it at Jansens. Anybody got one? Would it fit on any tap?

Mussels maybe? They might have to come from warm water to start with. I dont know.

Hey Jude! I have a male and two females. Which ever female is not laying eggs that week gets harrased. I dont know whether i should get rid of one female or add one, or get rid of the male, or get rid of the females and only have males??? They are great fishies and i do think they deserve some company. Actually, I will be in Wellington this weekend if you would like one of the females?

I have a male and two female bolivians. They are an interesting fish to watch. Since i have had them (only a couple of months) the male has spawned continuously first with one female and then the other and then back to the first and so on. The fry get to the free swimming stage and manage to last four to five days before they die off. I dont feed the fry so i guess they die of starvation as well as getting picked off by the tetras. When they have gone its only a day or two auntil there are more eggs. I would set up another tank for the fry and grow them on but there would be too many too often to get rid of! They agressively chase away the tetras but dont bother with the BN's. My substrate is sand and they like to dig holes to move the eggs and then fry into but they dont uproot the plants. I really like them and are glad i have them.

Yeah but what can you do with them if you manage to grow them out?

i have a group of 12 black line tetras or black neons. They school well enough and are interesting to watch when feeding but have heard the best schooling fish for tetra was the rummynose. Or you could try a group of striped headstanders - if you can find them that is.

My idea for my 250L tank which i havent set up yet is this: For the outflow drill a hole in the floor (its my own house so i can and the floor is wood with a crawl space underneath) under the cabinet and pass some permanent piping from there to the drain outside. And then use a normal short easily storable piece of garden hose with a 'u' bend attached (like you can find on the hose going from the washing machine to the laundry sink) that will reach from the top of the tank to the pipe sticking out of floor. For the inflow i have a 60L plastic container which i use to age water and i thought i would get a pond pump to sit at the bottom of it, attach the piece of garden pipe to it and have the water pumped into the tank. The plastic container has wheels on it so it can be filled and stored anywhere. If i get a powerful enough pump it wont take too long and if it works well i might even be inspired to do changes twice weekly!

put them in a plastic bag with a wet handetowel? seal the bag and put it a courier bag. Easy as.

Havn't been online for about a week or would have put in sooner. Name: um?? Heather Age: 33 Sense of Humour: dry to witty to sarcastic. Occupation: two part time jobs with lawyers as legal accounts clerk (9-11 Mon-Fri and 12-5 Mon-Fri), also extramural Massey student, halfway through a BA in history that i started 15 years ago at Waikato (anybody recently done a book reveiw on Tolstoys War and Peace!? A bit stuck, haha), also help out with admin at church. Hobbies: fishkeeping of course, reading (avidly), movie and tv watching (favs- Gilmour Girls, House, Antiques Roadshow, ER, Thirdwatch(boohoo its over), Top Gear and dont laugh-One Tree Hill), woodworking - i make and sell kids wooden jigsaws. Also woodturning and cabnitry. Dad helped me buy a house last year and i am slowly DIYing, the bathroom is next. Cross-stitch and stamp collecting (collecting anything really). I make hand bound books too for journals, scrapbooks and albums. Computer and Playstation games but not online - not enough time. I like getting into the garden but not in winter. And church, my parents are the pastors so not much chance of sitting in the back row doing nothing, but thats fine by me cause i wouldnt have it any other way. ive tried the alternative. Car: currently Mums Toyota Cynos as she is on holiday and my Galant has a flat battery and haven't got around to doing anything about it. Anyway the Galant is getting tossed soon and will upgrade to 2001 Holden Vectra, all going to plan. Book: Just finished The Other Boyleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory it was ok. Fav book recently was Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton. Fav of all time Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I will read anything except horror and can count on one hand the books i haven't finished cause i didnt like it. I dont do a lot of posting here but i check the forum usually several times a day to see whats come up.

What does DSB mean please

I got my 1220x450x450 brand new $86.00. Ceck out your local glaziers.

thanks suphew, exactly what i needed to know

I have been given a big handful of java moss and i want to attach some of it to the wood in my tank. I have some thin nylon to tie tie it on with but (silly question i know) how do i do it? Is it best somewhere near the bottom or top of the tank? Do i spread it out on the log or just tie it on a clump? Do i use all of it or just a small piece? And how fast does it grow? Is it a creeper that will eventually cover the piece of wood? ???

I did a small rock wall in my tank. Got some cork tiles (the sort without adhesive already on them). Stuck some river pebbles to it using silicon. Created a split level effect. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/taupogirl/cork2.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/taupogirl/cork1.jpg I glued a small strip on the back of two to make one long one and then arranged it to the angle i needed (I didnt want the wall going straight up and down but sloping back a little). To do this i put the tile in a banana box! and used some masking tape to make in stay in place and then glued the stones on. Once it had dried,doesnt take long, i trimmed of the excess cork. Its now in the tank and you cant see the cork just a rock wall. And with it sloping back its not going to fall over. But if i did it for the back wall obviously i would not make it to slope and i would stick the cork to the glass.

Supposedly Bolivians arn't quite as fussy about the water conditions. I agree about the colours, the Blue's are much prettier.

its a fine line!

I should have added 'not too ugly'. lol