MJay

What are you doing to me Serkan! Those Lagos are spectacular. If they're laying eggs I wouldn't mind having a go at raising a few. Going to have to take some photos of the other three pairs from you to. They are looking fat and happy tonight thanks to the black worms. MJ.

Here are some pics of a few of Anthony's fish that came via someone.

Just think how many more you could have if you got rid of the dance floor Good to see you around on the forums again. MJ.

Like co2 and fertilisers to keep up with the amount of lighting. The laterite and root tabs will provide no help to the anbubias, their rhizomes should be kept above the substrate and attached to a rock/driftwood. Perhaps this is what is causing problems for your anubias. Regards MJ.

How much light will depend on what you want to grow. I have a few tanks with one or two t8 flouros, they are 45 deep. Plenty of stuff will grow, Aponogetons Bolbitis/ferns, Cryptocorynes, Vallisneria, Anubias's, Mosses, Hygrophila, Ambulia, Bacopa, Ceratopteris. So there is certainly no shortage of plants to grow. T5's put out more light and allow you to grow more plants, Eriocaulons, A wider variety of stem plants, ground covers etc. (anything really if you pack enough over the tank) So really it will depend on what you want to grow, how much time you want to spend maintaining your tank and whether or not you upgrade to t5's, or just add another flouro etc. (And also depends on your budget). And whether you are prepared to make other upgrades to keep up with the increased level of lighting. A good reflector makes a difference too. With regards to light tubes, T8 and T5 refers to the width of the tube ie t5 - 5/8 of an inch. T5 has better lumens per watt and hence throws out more light. (I think, not a lighting expert) "How many watts a tube should be" really just depends on the length of the tank, as they go up in watts as they go up in length. How many tubes you should have on the other hand is dependant on whether you want a high light or low light tank. A good way to go is to get a fitting capable of holding a few tubes, this means you can run one tube or 4, or any number in between. For an eastablished tank it will depend how much time you want to spend rehauling the tank, substrate tabs are a great way to get nutrients down into the substrate without pulling the tank apart (and results from a diy substrate can be just as good as those commercially prepared ones). For commercial substrates it will depend what you want to grow and what fish you want to keep as to what substrate is best for you as some will alter your ph. I won't get to deep into commercial substrates though, it can be a colourful conversation to say the least As mentioned above Excel is a good carbon source, though for a liquid carbon source I prefer Dave @ Aquagreen's 'Dino Spit' which provides a liquid carbon source too. (Of course, pressurised is the bees knees but not within everyones budget.) Dave's Dino dung tabs are a great root tab too. (and very cheap) Lastly, for the majority of stem of plants I just hack into them a few inches from the substrate(using mums finest scissors is the only necessity here) nothing scientific about where or angle of the cut. Spread the cuttings out when you plant/replant them. I hope that answers a few more questions Regards Michael

Very long time no see Simon! How did your choc gourami Biotope tank go? MJ.

And thats whats so great about them! For stem plants, as soon as they start to grow to tall it's just a matter of trimming it back and replanting the cuttings (if you want to). The basics you'll need for plants is adequate lighting, a nutrient rich substrate, a carbon source and fertilisers. Some of the easier plants are less demanding for the above than others. The key is to keep a balance (or learn to love algae like Jungle does) If you already have a tank setup and don't want to do an overhaul of it, a few fert tabs and replacing your aquarium bulbs to some suitable for plants is a good start. (and there is lots of plants that don't need much more than this to grow, but of course the more you give them the better they'll grow) Be weary at your lfs and research the plants they have. Most shops sell Pisces line of plants which unfortunately includes many non aquatic plants - which will leave you feeling disappointed and thinking that you can't grow plants. http://www.plantgeek.net/ has a good section that shows some of the common plants sold that are not aquatic.

soda water is just carbonated water and co2 in the right amount will have an anesthetic affect, so introducing a fish into such an environment may knock them out, may also be fatal if your not careful. you could also use clove oil, or Phenoxyehhonal to sedate the fish, these are sometimes used when transporting large fish. Becareful with them though as too much will kill them. I imagine it's better to just be as quick as possible without any sedation, but i'm no expert on bettas. I'm sure someone who does it often (someone) could advise..

seems to be working fine today ^_^

yeah i'm having the same problem. no idea what the problem is. ps. thanks for the eggs ^_^

apparently there are longfin pepps in private collections that are a cross between common longfins and peps. . . so it could be possible, though the people making these claims haven't actually shown any pics so who knows :bighug:

Nice contraband... :)

they could be getting some from Anthony, i know he breeds a few types and is good mates with Vic and Billy. i think they were also looking at bringing some in that are on the live import list as they have some connections overseas and a quarantine room. they only ones i have seen at my LFS are gold panchax, and theres usually only a pair or two. sorry to go to far off topic lilli :)

No worries. also, if you do see any nice plants in shop display tanks it's always worth asking if they sell cuttings as many shops will sell cuttings of plants from display tanks. the best place for rare plants are forums like these though. good luck in your search.

you could see if mirek has any, probably the best person in aus to talk to about rare plants. his email is - mirek_aubrecht@hotmail.com, he did have seedlings available a while ago on his website, not sure what he has available at the moment. i think pisces used to sell tissue cultured stuff, but haven't seen any for sale recently. regarding Aquagreen, It's too warm in Darwin to keep them happy and healthy. Dave does have lots of nice stuff and some stuff that is not listed on his website. Aquaristic has lots of great too. Regards Michael