Eva's Tropical Tank Venture

Guppys in Motion

2011-02-28T19:16:00.001+11:00

Guppys in Motion, originally uploaded by EvaApple.

Melon aka Sunshine

2011-02-28T19:15:00.003+11:00

Melon aka Sunshine, originally uploaded by EvaApple.

The Mountain Village

2011-02-28T19:15:00.001+11:00

The Mountain Village, originally uploaded by EvaApple.

Aquarium Glue

2010-12-05T10:32:00.000+11:00

Cheaper. But the surfaces need to be clean and dry. Stats dont say rock but the volcanic rock with its rough surface should be fine :)

If you need to apply glue underwater. Good for Rock on Rock. But more exp

Three Moustache Bento

2010-02-22T02:00:00.001+11:00

Three Moustache Bento, originally uploaded by EvaApple.

Okay its not November, but Steph's weekend growth was an inspiration.

New tan$$$$$$k

2009-06-13T16:15:00.000+10:00

I was a bit sad after the dressmakers and so I bought a tank
Eva
avechoco at gmail . com

2009-01-13T09:31:00.001+11:00

This is a white cloud minnow.

Extra Lighting

2009-01-05T16:26:00.004+11:00

Forgot to metion...
Along with the new soil, new fish new layout, ived added a new light!
Yes! Night is now day in the AR620-T.

I've removed the built in filter and added a Twin Tube Reflector.

It doesn't fit perfectly. (out by 5mm!!!) and its currently sitting on the inlet and outlet pipes of the Ehiem Cannister filter. So I need to build some little legs for it to sit on.

I got Steph to move the dwarf swords into the tank. they are now sitting in the bottom right corner... hopefully they will fill out the space there quickly!

Holy Crap!

2009-01-04T23:12:00.004+11:00

Welcome to Hotel err Del Reef!

Ahh! If only I could start again... (Gives steph a quick look) Created by Octopus Designs, i think its certainly unique, a bit too modern for me, but it must float someone's boat.

2009-01-04T23:10:00.000+11:00

New layout, new soil, new fish

Come meet our new children

Pizza Boy (Pigeon Blood Discus)

Melon the Melon! (Super Melon Red Discus)

Pizza Boy is the lowest on the pecking order. :( but hes faring well. We'll keep a close eye on them for the next few weeks

And the little tank got a makeover too

It recieved the large piece of driftwood which was in the big tank, and the spare anubis plants.

Originally we tried straining the nile sand to remove the red amano clay... but 4 strains later and wet clothes concluded that didn't work (still murky), so the tank is now clear of soil for now.

More photos

Time Lapse

2009-01-04T14:00:00.001+11:00

Time Lapse
Originally uploaded by StephEvaPhoto

Slideshow of the Tank

2008-06-10T22:00:00.000+10:00

New Nano Tank

2008-06-10T21:55:00.000+10:00

The nano tank is now set.
I'm missing a few fish and a couple of days growth

I need to clean the bottom of the tank

2008-03-18T23:15:00.001+11:00

Tank - march 2008

2008-03-18T23:09:00.001+11:00

Checking you out!

2008-01-21T23:07:00.000+11:00

Steph checking out some Atrium Angels - OR are the Angels checking out Steph?

Location: Goldfish Street - Hong Kong

2007-08-25T14:17:00.000+10:00

My first uploaded Movie

Not that bad! Even if i say so myself.

Music Tell me what the Rain Knows by Yoko Kanno from Wolf's Rain OST 2

Tank Cam

2007-08-15T22:51:00.001+10:00

Want a closer look?

Click here

Papa Natural Is Sick

2007-08-13T15:59:00.000+10:00

I have diagnosed Papa Natural ("PN") with Hole in the Head Disease.

Its a nasty looking disease but easily treated. Ive moved him into a hospital tank and dosed the tank with salt which will kill the bacteria and protozoan that is currently munching on him. (GROSS)

Ive also raised the temperature of the water, this will speed up the metabolism.

According to Wiki and many other websites its a dietary issue. However we feed them Tetramin and frozen bloodworms along with some Nutrifin. So i cant see it being a diet issue.

Never mind. Daily water changes for a while and see if that helps the healing.

Vinyl Pulse: Devilrobots - Smery

2007-08-08T13:49:00.000+10:00

Stinky Tofu has an action figure! Vinyl Pulse: Devilrobots - Smery and get this - it complete with smell! Yes people - you have the choice of Standard, Spicy or Wasabi! Yum!

As they say in the entertainment business - "You know you've made it when they release an your action figure"

Stinky is here to stay.

Revlon

2007-08-03T00:25:00.001+10:00

Miss you Revlon. RIP

Tank in the Chinese Festive Season

2007-08-03T00:22:00.000+10:00

Going through the photos i found this one of the tank during Chinese New Year...

Deep Fried Goldfish

2007-07-29T23:01:00.001+10:00

I found this while googling for Cleaning equipment for the 110L tank.
A Japanese guy has invented a deep fryer that allows goldfish to live under the oil without being cooked itself.

The mix of technology and goldfishes is certainly unique.

i doubt the fish would breed, and i wonder how oxygen get into the tank. not to mention water changes. HRM....

An update

2007-07-27T12:36:00.001+10:00

Swish

Steph didn't like cleaning the partitioned tank so he's gone back to the big vase.
Big Vase has moved from the TV to the Kitchen bench

Planted Tank

Swish took back the vase, so the planted tank was dead for a while
PT was revived when Nigel gave me his spare tank, a 20L corner (diamond shaped) tank.
PT was filled with amano soil, driftwood covered in java moss, some amibula, hair grass and java fern.
PT died when steamboat forced us to move the living room around. PT was put outside for a cold winters night.
PT's innards were used to create garden tank for babies.
PT RIP

Babies Tank

The young ones are how free and swimming, Tina took 2, the rest (6) are living with little brother
Plastic rocks arrived from HK
Fish removed for tank redesign.
Substrate and plants from PT Innards were added to BT
Plants doing well, except for Java Moss, which is covered in fine particles from the amano soil.
Bought catfish to help with the clogged up plants.
Catfish very hard to find!!!

Papa Tank

One of the scissortail had some strange growth happening at the base of his tail, scary. water changes and melafix, seem to have resolved the issue.
Went almost 2 months without a water change, Tank water was very brown but ammonia levels were low! Hooray I have a perfect ecosystem.
Algae was over running the tank. Water change would mean a scrubbing.
Patch is very big now, about the size of my palm. and that's his body. adding fins he's bread plate size. well exaggerating a little.
Natural Papa had some white stuff coming out of his head. Caused some worry, water change and some melafix and it had gone away! Phew!
Filter isn't keeping up with the natural system will have to buy an external pump on the weekend.

Dreams

I think I'm ready for the 5 foot tank. Scary I Know but it would be so COOL! '

Tank Cam

Steph is working on an under water tank cam. I think ill set up an outside tank cam too.

New Tank mates

2007-07-16T10:14:00.000+10:00

Sunday we popped down to Hurstville Aquariums to pick up some bristle noses
Catfish.

4 for $32 dollars, which is okay, they were rather small and I don't think
they were bristle noses. They didn't have bristles and they are a pale
brown rather than the normal dark black brown.

Sometimes its annoying going to these shops when they don't label their
goods properly. Still, the purpose of the fish is to help disperse some of
the fine particles the Amano Soil has left in the tank. and so far so good.

The babies are a bit perplexed by them initially and keep pecking and
examining the catfish, however when the food showered they forgot all about
them!

Plant Tank

2007-03-22T23:04:00.000+11:00

I need this stuff to grow. and grow FAST!!!

Details:
The vase is a 9L cylinder vase.
Equipment is a 11W Compact florescent. and a 25W heater set at 26 degrees celcious
I have ADA soil, a bit of laterlite, (5cm deep at back 3 at front) 2x Ferro Tablets in the soil (somewhere)
In the water i have some Aquamaster Plant food
Plants: Val grass, separated and individual planted
Java Moss floating on the surface.

Now grow little ones! Be strong!

Note: Its muggy now as its only been 30mins but i expect it to clear up by the morning

Question: Do i need filtration?

Shopping

2007-03-22T23:00:00.000+11:00

Today i've bought heaps!

1x Val Grass
2x Hair Grass
3x Fluffy Stuff
1x java moss
1x Christmas moss

I'm hoping to culture the mosses first before planting out.

Steph and I enjoyed a good hour at SS in Maroubra, chatting with Michelle and a very excited young sales man and Michelle's parents.

I nearly fainted when they gave me a quote for the CO2 gas canister/difffuser and regualator! that alone was almost $200! (i think ill wait til Hong Kong)

We got swish a new tank (see prev blog) and some ADA soil, nice red africana stuff. That doesn't need washing!!! pretty good huh?

Swish is downsizing...

2007-03-22T22:55:00.000+11:00

Yup he's too little for that big rattle box so he's moved into a semi!

Good news is that the other side is vacant!!

Should put up a for lease sign here! i'm sure there some desperate tenant out there looking for a home...

Fishtank Lighting

2007-03-22T13:32:00.001+11:00

http://www.fitchfamily.com/lighting.html

is a great way of calculating how much wattage you need for your plant orientated tank

So on the shopping list I need a 50w light for the 23L nano tank.

and 100W light if I want to change the AR620 into a planted tank.

Slippery Suckers

2007-03-22T08:02:00.001+11:00

Is closed on Wednesdays!!! ARGH! Never knew!

I skipped out of work early so I could sneak in and get a fish fix.

Oh well

On another note, In the supermarket they were selling pool filters quite cheaply and I wondered if It would pick up some of the floaties I have in the big tank. Oh my did it pick up heaps! Kinda embarrassing…

And the tank got another waterchange to boot. :)

Gravel

2007-03-20T06:42:00.001+11:00

I have decided I need to buy some red gravel, small size.

Glosso Talk

2007-03-19T22:57:00.002+11:00

This is an Australian Native! Wow! And you can find it in Cradle Mountian growing in shallow streams... Ahh the feeling of home!

But unlike Tassie grown its quite fussy - it wants the best of everything! But then again if you've grown up with the best it hard to go backward. *wink*

Google it and its notoriously everywhere. Tropica, my favourite plant site has something on it
The Krib - write essays on it. Even Tassie has a fax sheet on it !

Grown well it looks like a field of clover. Badly, and its disgusting.

I will be adding some of this to the Nano Tank

But if you want to know what it looks like admire other growers through the power of Google

Checklist for NanoTank

2007-03-19T22:57:00.001+11:00

Soil
Gravel
Ferro Tablets
Light
Rocks or broken slate
Filter System
CO2 System
Active Carbon
Heater
Plants
Ricca/Glosso
Volume of Tank

The light aint right...

2007-03-19T22:54:00.001+11:00

I had purchased ages ago a 11W compact flourscent hood with an 11W floursent globe.

Glosso in a 20L tank needs about 30W of light. So ill need to find another compact light system.

ARGH!

Update

2007-03-19T11:24:00.000+11:00

Babies are big and ready to swim out of the tank

Two have been fostered to Tina who has an AR510 tank with 2 small angels, tetras, platys, loaches and a tiny SAE.

Goldfish have passed way, they never quite got over the big water drought. RIP... T_T
Brine Shrimp System has been packed away. Hopefully ill never have to put that out again.
Nigel is going to give me a small corner tank! Im going to put the nano tank project into action!
Next Project in winter ill make up another outdoor tank, with a bigger pot.
The angelfish babies are big enough to give away or integrate. I now have the 90L tank back. What to do.... Marine? Hardwater? Planted? Suggestions?

Near Fatal Experience

2007-01-24T19:30:00.000+11:00

The weather here in Sydney has been rather hot and windy... and today i stepped out to say hello to the goldfish. (yesterday i was late coming home) and to my horror they were lying on their sides with an 1inch of water!!!

STEPH!!! i scream as i race to the hose and grab reels to run it to the tank.

filling it up at full blast, adding dechlorinator. Steph and I watched with worry then a BIG sigh of relief as 4 goldfish swam up in their new water.

what a near miss!

Welcome to the Tankhood

2007-01-18T20:38:00.000+11:00

Say hello the the new addition to our household.
Steph was in my bad books today over something (and waking me up with such a cheery voice when i couldn't even open my eyes as i walked out of the bedroom) and i sent him a txt after work while I mentally working myself into a frothing mouth.

Thankfully when I came home, i was glad to see the source of my irritation gone. (dirty dishes) and Steph was down south visiting Denzil, so i wasn't expecting him back til late... then to my surprise he appeared an hr later with this beautiful round vase and a new Swish!

He has definetly redeemed himself.

On the Shopping List

2007-01-17T06:32:00.000+11:00

I hate water changes… but I think ive found a solution!

Plant an Aquaclear 50 Powerhead in your tank, make sure you have a long PVC tube that fits over the outlet nozzle and pump the water out! Then putting fresh water back in, use the reverse flow and suck the treated water out of the bucket or straight from the tap! (adding treatment to the tank first.

Hrm… I wonder what effects it will have? At least the carpet wont get drenched so badly!

Equipment Manual
http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/manual.cfm

You can buy it at
http://www.equarium.com.au/store/detail.asp?id=210&cat=20

http://www.thereefshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=922&zenid=9a0f9711d3c459a710060af602ee491c

http://www.boroniaaquarium.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=11_160&products_id=2271&osCsid=d6cadd22c348b9983355d91a4b710667

Making Baby Food for Baby Angels

2007-01-03T15:17:00.000+11:00

well the little critters are finally off Brine Shrimp!!! ( Yay! 1.2 hr sleepin in the mornings!)

so to grind up dried flakes to the small bits i found this neat method.

Dried flakes need to be reconstintued with water so what you do is get a tall glass, a turkey baster a bit of tank water and a tiny quantity of flake food. mix the water and the food together in the glass and using the turkey baster suck and sqeeze out the water in a rapid stream, repeat until flake food has broken into tiny bits perfect for those tiny mouths! :)

See!!! Smarter than your average bear!

Like Father Like Son...

2006-11-25T21:17:00.000+11:00

Or maybe its mother and daughter... hard to tell when there that small

ASP Space Aquarium

2006-11-06T20:09:00.000+11:00

Ooh this is sooo cool! Aquariums have followed the Plasma and these babies are lean! Imagine this masterpiece in your bedroom, or a back drop for your sofa, or even a window between your kitchen and living area. For more info look here

Cool Fish Coffee Table

2006-11-06T19:40:00.000+11:00

oh how cool would this be!!!

even better you can BUY IT!

click here

I want it! but Steph wont let me *cries*

and some how I cant see how the Lazy Susan can be dropped in that glass table top.

UPDATE: why buy when you can MAKE IT
(might have to sign up to get the instructions)

heh heh...

2006-11-01T23:33:00.000+11:00

big googly eyes are cute ^_^

Oh what a feeling! err Feelers!

2006-11-01T23:30:00.000+11:00

The best yet!!!

Daily Photos

2006-11-01T23:10:00.000+11:00

They're getting bigger... and now recognise people as feeding servants...

What does a fish have to do to get service around here???

More Photos

Hooray they have fins!

2006-10-29T22:30:00.000+11:00

its like a baby's first tooth :D

However not all the fry have donned the Fin... only 3 of the biggest.

The before and After...

2006-10-25T22:44:00.000+10:00

Here are the baby fry with empty tummies

ooh I'm full of Brine Shrimp!

So full they can swim far off the floor of the enclosure

Baby Photos

2006-10-22T18:58:00.000+10:00

Maybe i should enter these in the weirdest baby competition?

Gotcha!

2006-10-22T18:49:00.000+10:00

Probably the best photo I've got of the fry EVER

The light! head towards the light!

2006-10-20T21:40:00.000+10:00

brine shrimp are attracted to light. here they are pooling at the waters surface

well fed fry

2006-10-20T21:39:00.000+10:00

fat tummies!

Creche

2006-10-20T21:37:00.000+10:00

A $10 purchase and now i have all the babies in a little fry raising corral. this photo was taken just after feeding them newly hatched brine shrimp.

"Who you looking at???"

Tired Mum and Tired Dad

2006-10-20T13:18:00.000+10:00

Normally Mama and Papa have black stripes on their bodies but when they're tired or need to sleep they switch them off.

Must get smaller cleaning hose

2006-10-20T13:11:00.000+10:00

or spend the rest of the night on my knees with a turkey baster sucking up babies.

Vegans and Seafood Lovers

2006-10-19T00:52:00.001+10:00

Some like shrimp... and some like their greens.

the big fat ones with pink tummies like their brine shrimp, the skinny ones with green bellys prefer to graze on the algae growing everywhere (because the lights are on 24/7)

Help!!!

2006-10-19T00:52:00.000+10:00

Any hint for taking photos of 3mm buggers that zip around a 90L tank?

Meanwhile in the other tank

2006-10-15T23:24:00.000+10:00

BAD FISH!!!

Patch is bigger than Saddleback and is picking Harry Kewl to shreds. so into the doghouse he goes.

Aggressive, Protective Parents

2006-10-15T23:22:00.000+10:00

These two would put any agro parent coaching their 3 year old to kick a soccer ball to shame...
But they keep the catfish at bay so thats a good thing i suppose.

Packed Lunch

2006-10-15T23:18:00.000+10:00

Baby Fish have small mouths so you have to grow their food - Baby Brine Shrimp

Brine Shrimp Setup.

They Died but dont worry! Round TWO!

2006-10-15T23:07:00.000+10:00

peek a boo!

Full Frontal

Baby Fed

2006-10-02T23:57:00.000+10:00

Dont make me swim! im full of baby brine shrimp!

Must eat foood....

2006-10-02T22:48:00.000+10:00

Little tyke looking for a bite to eat

Freedom!

2006-10-01T22:38:00.000+10:00

Mama with the free swimmers on day 7

Who you looking at!?! I bite kiddo so back off!

2006-09-29T23:07:00.000+10:00

Papa protecting the clan

Relocate Relocate!

2006-09-28T22:50:00.000+10:00

Spooky RedEyes

Fancy Rearing Seahorses?

2006-08-28T21:42:00.000+10:00

hrm prehaps another time for me... i dont have enough room :(

but hey whats stopping you?

http://www.seahorse-australia.com.au

Haircut

2006-08-21T23:02:00.000+10:00

Trimmed the Hydrophilia... I need more low lying plants

New layout

2006-08-21T22:37:00.000+10:00

YoYos

2006-08-20T20:47:00.000+10:00

New Fish have joined the tank, these are called YoYo Loaches but officially called Pakistani Loaches (Botia Lohachata) i guess
YoYo is more appealing. name so because on their side it looks like the word YoYo have been written down them.

The little snails that were introduced to deal with the algae, have now overun the tank and my plants have a rather spotty nature. The Hurstville Aquarium shop suggested that i put in some loaches.

They are rather interesting, one little loach was foraging when Patch tried to check him out, i wish i had a photo of it!! a little white fish and a big massive angel hehehe. While the other three are occupying themselves with dancing up and down the right side of the tank.

Round 2...

2006-08-19T20:47:00.000+10:00

This time it was Little Brothers Revenge (LBR) and Saddleback.

While we were at Andrews and Kathleens enjoying a steam boat dinner and a game of Scattergories, LBR and Saddle were busy at work laying down the babies.

ooh im a grandma again! hahaha

ahh a picture of parental care!

Baby Socceroos defeated by Cardinal Tetras

2006-06-25T23:08:00.000+10:00

The eggs grew fur, and so did the plants (algae bloom) so the lights were switched off... and tonight prior to bed i had a look see, and the mother had abandoned the eggs and some very happy Cardinal Tetras were feasting.

Oh well theres always next time.

But first a tank make over!

HAHA! Fooled ya!! BUT...

2006-06-23T19:54:00.000+10:00

Another event on that fateful day of 23rd of June

OMG! OMG! OMG! After celebrating the Socceroos Draw and entry into the World Cup Top 16...

MY ANGELFISHES ARE HAVING BABIES!!!!

*Scream*

Right now I'm watching them lay eggs on a high-rise ambulia leaf! Patch and Saddleback are either practising egg laying or fertalizing them, while the unnamed female splotchy now named Harry Kewl for the footballer that saved the Socceroo's bacon.

Ill now have to call all the babies socceroos! Or maybe I'll name 3/5 of them "Ole!" and the remainder "Aussie!"

Pity they will be black white and gold not blue green and yellow. But its still an event worth recording!

Steph and I are Grandparents! ROFL

Baby Snails around the corner

2006-04-18T21:16:00.000+10:00

We caught them bonking!!
and the next picture is Jaws swam away with disgust (or looking for more food)

and before i forget...
Our new ornament addition to the goldfish tank comes...

complete with fake palm trees :)

Thanks Martin

2006-04-10T10:38:00.000+10:00

Thanks to Martin we have new plants to replace the flea bitten ones the angels have attacked!

nice and green now!

thinking of off loading some of the fishes... any takers for the sharks and barbs? and 2 of the angels?

My little Gardeners...

2006-04-07T15:39:00.000+10:00

I love my goldfish. theyre big, dumb, cute and very excited when they see you. Rather like big floppy dogs, only with scales and fins... and likes dogs they are avid gardeners. My Elodia that i painstakenly planted has all be uprooted by the feasting fishes and is all floating on the surface again!

But while in Hong Kong we ventured over to Ocean Park and visited the Goldfish Padoga. It was a very pretty sight! The big koi pond in the middle with a lovely fountian

There they taught me a trick! Now goldfish love to dig in the gravel for food/poo. So place some big rocks around the base of the plant... and SORTED!!! no uprooted plants again!

Goldfish tank in art form (the frame is hung up over the normal tank)

Beautiful long finned calico rumbunkin, behind the big rocks protecting the plants

10 days later...

2006-04-06T20:55:00.000+10:00

my god! The naturals have grown!

my little tykes are getting bigger and bigger!

and the little buggers have eaten all my vegetation again!!!

i need to keep piranhas next time...

HI! Who are you? Are you going to Feed me or What?!?

2006-03-12T23:26:00.000+11:00

Closeup of Saddleback checking out the Camera

New Babies!

2006-03-12T01:02:00.000+11:00

I really like the guys at Eukbana! they may have weird piercings all over their faces but they are so pet orientated! (Its kinda funny seeing a 6 foot guy with tats, dreadlocks and facial piercings going goo-goo gaa-gaa over a little carmel poodle with a nice pretty face.)

The goldfish were looking a bit lonely in their massive tank so we decided to get them some playmates. Enter in 10 Danios, mixture of Lepoard and Zebra.

Zebra Danios have long horizontal stripes on them running from head throught to tail.

They originated off the Cormmandel Coast of India, according to the LFFB. They are peaceful, VERY Active schooling fish. They like clean well areated water and only grow to about 5cms in length. Feeding wise they will eat everything, and flit about looking for more food.

The Lepoard Danios are not as vividly striped but under the right light they have a lovley irridecent pink/blue along with their irregular spots. Not exactly true lepoard danios according to the photo in the LFFB, but lovley none the less. They grow a little bit bigger than the Zebras (6cms) and are easier to photograph. the Zebras were buggers!

The Goldfish dont really stand a chance but they have bigger mouths and can suck more down.

Little Brother's Revenger

2006-03-08T10:37:00.000+11:00

Last night Steph Ed and myself were entertained by the angels as they fought amongst themselves.

Patch and Saddleback are now about the size of my palm (including fins) and of the 4 new angels (big bigger than a 50cent peice) we brought in one has turned out to be a little bit of a fighter.

There was a stand off for about 15 minutes... Patch and little fighter on one side and Saddle back on the other. Spreading their feelers, arching up and twitching foward as if daring an attack from the opposition.

Ed and i have thus christen our gusty fighter as (Sai Loh Boh Sau) aka Little Brother's Revenger

TankCam is back up! woohoo!

2006-03-08T10:35:00.000+11:00

:) thanks to a bit of scavaging (i found some abandons speaker stands) we have the tankcam sitting a bit away from the tank to give a better view of the tank overall

Theyve moved!

2006-02-26T23:25:00.000+11:00

The goldfish have gotten their upgrade! :) The humans have had their move, now its time for the fish! At first when we moved them they did look a bit lost!

The snails however moved right on in! and one of them came up to greet us too! cute huh?

View from the side, and an "Arr-tee-stick" shot taken by Steph looking through the tank and into the courtyard, the blurr is the reflection of the statue in the tank.

This is a photo of revlon checking us out! - note the red lips, hence her name :)

Goldfish get an upgrade!

2006-02-25T07:54:00.000+11:00

A while ago i bought a tank off ebay...

A while a go i broke that same tank...

Now we have a replacement and a stand for that same tank!

The goldfish are a bit cramped in their 22L home so they are getting upgraded!

But like every aquarium you need to sink some money in first.

Today we need to buy along with all our housewarming goods

Gravel
Active Carbon
Filter Pads
Good stuff in a bottle (for the fish! not Steph!)
Plants

All of this needs to be purchased and installed by 2pm today before our guests arrive for housewarming!

Nothing like last minute!

More Aquascaping

2006-02-22T22:57:00.000+11:00

2005 AGA International Aquascaping Contest

ooh more greens! they look so cool! so artless!!!
This tank belongs to Tony Tam, he looks like runs a fish shop in HK!!! I think i might go and visit his shop when we visit in April!

This tank is just as amazing! I love the stone on the right and the layout is very open and peaceful. Gary Wu the artist, called this the Rocky Mountain

Pics of the settled Tank

2006-02-20T23:02:00.000+11:00

I forgot to mention that there are new fish, 4 new angels have joined the tank to curb the bullying between Saddleback and Patch.

This is one of the natural silvers, the naturals are a bit quieter than the marbles, but they will still hold their own.

The 2 young marbles and saddleback begging for food

The 2 big angels watching me, three of the silver sharks to their left, the golden barbs down below and the cardinals in the background flickering back and forth.

Here is a photo of the tank overall. The new plants have worked in well, and the white cable dangling down the left is the digital thermomter.

Tank has resettled

2006-02-16T22:14:00.000+11:00

Last weekend we spent a fortune at the fish shops! Denzil took us around and we visited all the Aquarium shops in Hurstville.

Strictly Aquariums was huge place off King Georges road, We got a whole heap of plants there $10 for 3 which isnt bad. The fish looked a bit dodge. Stuck to filters, swimming lopsidedly, they also had a self-service which would be interesting, probably what stresses out the fish so much, inept kiddies trying to catch their own fish with big whopping nets.
Anyway i purchased plants, and fish food (Tropical fish eat non-stop) and a CO2 difuser.

The bad thing about buying aquatic good before the end of the shopping route is you have to take them whereever you go. Denzil suggested the purchase of 2 bags of edame beans to act as a cooler, and keep the plants fresh. (Good one Denz!)

So more fish shops! (actually i thought Denzil was taking us to Korean Shops how i heard Korean from Aquarium i will never know!) We visited one place called Aquarium Warehouse, in 181 Forest Road, the goldfish collection and fish accessories was very impressive! There was a round tank going for 1280, and another tank that had fake stone and little chinese fishing men glued all over the space above the tank. Steph, Denzil and Ed did the oooh-ahh over the design, but i reminded them that it was almost $1500.

From this place I purchased a thermometer, a bigger bad fish cage, and a hot pink fishnet. The gave me a VIP card, that gave me 15% off the purchase price. Steph got to use it to buy a new airbubble wall for the goldfish tank.

But theres more! we went to the another fishshop further up forest road, called Hurstville Aquariums. 251 Forest Road. This place is pretty good!!! theres a bigger focus on fish here than the other place! we watched these little alligator fish pursue little fish for dinner, and i bought some snails for the goldfish tank here!

The goldfish are now happy. the new airwall has helped the fish, and the snails are doing wonders with the rubbish revlon and jaws leave behind.

The new tank is ordered, thats coming in on monday.

Ive soaked the peat and its a very messy pile but very good for plants im not too sure how im going to put that into the tank without wreaking the current display... who knows. maybe ill just keep buying plants and smothering the tank with greenery.

Its definetly a hobby but its so much fun! and so rewarding.

Watercress: The new Aquatic Plant

2006-01-23T06:49:00.000+11:00

Yesterday at Paddy's Market I purchased a thick bunch of watercress for the tank! At $1.20!!! And I get what amounts to almost 30 bunches of aquatic plants I would buy in a fish shop! Bonus!

not only that, Watercress is edible!

Nasturtium officinale or Watercress as you and I know it as, is a European herb, according to encylopedia.com.

Chinese people use it to make a lovely soup, I remember Mum and Dad, driving us down past Claremont to a rivulet and us harvesting this stuff in the wild (well mum and dad did, I think I was preoccupied with the swings). I think Uncle Harry and Auntie Angela was with us too... (I was THAT young).

Mum's recipe mentions that you must put the watercress in cold water and bring to boil! (otherwise it will be very bitter) then add some chopped up lean pork and a chunk of ginger, then stir some beaten egg through and there you go! Chinese Soup!!! mmm I might make some tomorrow and put the pics up.

But if you don't have a clean pure rivulet handy you can grow it in a garden

The "Gwai Lohs" even have a festival for it, and they too make a refreshing cold soup out of it (dubious look)

New Products for Aquariums

2006-01-16T22:52:00.000+11:00

Every now and then i surf the global marketplace of Ebay for Fishtank bargains. Today i came accross this new fandangle thing.

Automatic fish poo pickerupper. Stick this baby in the tank and shuffle it around to collect fish poo, without displacing water! Normally you use a siphon but sometimes theres more poo than water and you have to put the water back in to continue siphoning. Which is time consuming and messy! (SPLASH!)

Cool huh?

Why siphon. Read here.

Today's Tank Readings

2006-01-16T21:53:00.000+11:00

Because we are moving in 10 days... No make it 9!! OMG!!!!

I have taken to doing a 20% water change daily.

After a water change the readings are

pH: 7.2 (slightly alkaline) (should be slightly acidic 6.6)
NH3/NH4 0.5-1.0 (low) (should be 0mg/L)
NO-2 between 0-.25 (very low) (should be 0mg/L)
KH - 120ppm (not Good) (should be 0-50ppm)
NO3 - 20mg/L (Good) (should be below 25ppm)

Its okay, not pristine conditions but with the daily water changes I expect this to get way better!

Plant Tanks

2006-01-16T19:23:00.000+11:00

Oooh looking at these aquascapes makes me want to go plant crazy again!

There is something about that lush green growth that stimulates the urge to spend money!

Somehow i dont see my little tank even entering in the 2006 competition. See some of the Winners from the previous years!

The 2005 winner is amazing! Think of Hero where theyre fighting against the backdrop of mountians, except your in the water rather than swinging around on the water.

Amazing photo from Himalayan Exposure 2004

Noah Syndrome

2006-01-16T00:12:00.000+11:00

Hehehe

I came across this term while reading about Mike Edwards Breeding trials for various fishes. It means buying fishes in pairs, which is generally not a good idea for fish as they prefer to live in shoals ie 10 or more.

In his words,

"When I had my first tropical tank as a kid, I succumbed to a bad case of Noah Syndrome (two of them, two of them and a pair of them...). Into my shiny new 10 gallon tank went a pair of red wagtail platies and a pair of tiger barbs. Within an hour, the platies were dead and the tiger barbs had been returned to an understanding LFS owner."
Mike Edwardes Tropicals

And i have to admit that i suffered the very same illness when i first setup this tank. But thankfully i had read up on tetras and purchased a shoal rather than a pair!

A little more relavant

2006-01-14T01:38:00.000+11:00

A groovy goldfish swimming along, Click here or on the image for a bit of action. This one was harder, there are more moving bits to a goldfish. Ie more fins/legs but it was fun! :)

Totally Irrelevant

2006-01-14T00:44:00.000+11:00

I did my first flash thingy, well completed one of the many half botched projects that i started off with when trying to learn flash. Click here to see it walking, the walk is a bit gimpy but its only the first

Good News... Bad News...

2006-01-12T23:52:00.000+11:00

The good news is that we only have to move 2 tanks.

The bad news is I broke the silver tank I bought off eBay. I put it on an angle to let the water drain out after cleaning it, and it slipped and landed on a glass side. CRACK!!!

Solution: After staring at the destroyed tank with horror for 10 mins, gasping for breath, shocked mindless. I called Steph.

Then settled down and called our favourite tank shop Slippery Little Suckers quoted the glass tank to be only $200 to replace, which is okay by me. The good thing is that it will be clean! And black!

I was cleaning all the bits of the tank so I could spray paint it black.

Its too hot!

2006-01-10T00:06:00.000+11:00

The poor goldfish are feeling the heat!

They arent feeding in the afternoon, and we have resorted to leaving the tank light off. to reduce the amount of heat the tank gets.

Poor babies!

But the new big tank will help a larger body of water means a much cooler home!

Moving Fish

2006-01-03T23:35:00.000+11:00

As posted on our normal blog we are moving house...

THAT MEANS MOVING FISH!!!!

oh boy! even I'm worried. Thankfully we have arranged it so that we have a 4 day gap in which to move the little tykes.

But reading about moving fish, searching the vast world of the internet I've found the following hints/suggestions/advice

change 20% of the water daily for several days before the move
dont feed the fish 2 days prior to moving
leave 1/4 to 1/3 of the bag as air
transport 80% of the mature tank water

From aquariumfish.net

allow the heater time to cool off before removing it from the tank.
remove all the gravel and water BEFORE moving the tank
remove the decor before chasing the fish down!

From TropicalTank

Should be fun, anyone interested in helping were moving all 3 tanks on Australia Day. :)

Top Dog: Saddleback.

2006-01-01T23:59:00.000+11:00

The tables have turned in tankhood!!!

Saddleback is now leader of the pack! Patch after a 3 day solitary confinment, as found the world a different place. Saddleback is now the top dog, the "Dai Loh", the Godfather.

Patch is still trying to stamp his authority, but Saddleback is nipping it off at the bud! Its rather funny to watch them fight, its like the ghetto in our own living room.

We really need to get more Angels in that tank. It will lessen the damage of the nipping.

Back from Holidays

2005-12-31T00:14:00.000+11:00

Im relieved to say that all fishes are accounted for and everything looks well in both tanks.

Patch is in the Doghouse

2005-12-16T23:12:00.000+11:00

Due to the severe bullying in the Tropical tank, Ive had to reinstall the breeders cage and now Patch has been penned in to give the rest of the tank some relief.

Another New tank coming!!!

2005-12-16T13:32:00.000+11:00

wooohooo!!! im excited!!!

Ebay the motherland of bargain shopping! im about to pick up another tank. $200 bucks !

Steph Denounces Bristlenoses.

2005-12-12T18:35:00.000+11:00

“Those suckers aren’t doing their job!” Steph declared grumpily. “Look the glass is still dirty! They aren’t cleaning the right spots” (The bristlenoses prefer cleaning around the powerheads)

Eva quite exasperated, because they are fish. And Eva no tell fish what to do, they do as they please.

Eva: Well then get out their contract and we will file a complaint with the Working Fish Council.

Steph: Harumph!