Bettarazzi

There used to also be sellers on ebay. Just make sure they've shipped to Australia before and understand the customs requirements. If you're really stuck I can spare a bag but to be honest it's cheaper to buy it off eBay because postage is a killer.

Love it. Love it. LOVE IT!!!!

You won't find them in an LFS. Try kitchenware shops but shop around. The price varies quite alot. You don't need the fancy schmancy glass one. Just a cheap plastic one will do.

When you restart the barracks, test the water parameters to make sure that everything is zero which is what you expect from your tap water. After 2 or 3 days everything should still be zero if there is no fish in it. The water should be doing nothing except aging. Then add just one or two fish and start feeding them. This will get the cycle started. I don't have a problem cycling a tank with bettas as long as you understock to start off with and do partial water changes every 3 or 4 days. If you can use some of the filter media from the other barracks then this will help speed things along. You need to use the filter media not the water from the other barracks. The bacteria that you're interested in attach themselves to surfaces and there's not much that will be free floating in the water.

With only 9 compartments to clean you could easily do it with a turkey baster.

I'm with you. Similar setup to my barracks. If you have enough room above the highest tank you could use a length of airline attached to a stick or or something and siphon the poop out when you're doing water changes. There shouldn't be any need to remove poop daily. To be honest in my barracks I just leave the poop. It eventually breaks down.

In the talk that Scott Haymes gave at EDAS he suggested that filter material should go something like this: 1. Pre-filter media designed to trap solid waste. Some ceramic noodles are designed specifically for this. Fairly open sponges are also good. You should rinse out the pre-filter media regularly. 2. Biological filter media like Seachem Matrix, sintered glass or ceramic noodles (make sure you get the biological filter kind not the pre-filter kind). Make sure you have enough volume of biological media so that the water will take about 4 seconds to pass through. You might have to slow down your pump or use more media than what's recommended on the box to meet that 4 second requirement. 3. Chemical filtration media like carbon or Seachem Purigen. Carbon needs to be replaced monthly while Purigen can be recharged in bleach. Get Purigen that already comes in bags. The loose stuff is a pain. 4. Lastly a fine sponge to remove any fine particles. I'm planning on re-doing the sump in my barracks along these lines.

Very curious about how ammonia and nitrite can be present when there are no fish. The only thing I can think of is that there could be something rotting either in the pump or trapped in the sponges. I think you should clean the whole thing out. Really wash those sponges thoroughly. Take the pump apart and make sure it's thoroughly clean. Then start again. What's your the KH and pH of your tap water? There are stabilisers available now that you might have to add to your water. I think it's an expensive way to keep fish but if your tap water is wildly out then you might have to unless you're prepared to only keep the fish that are more suited to your water conditions. Bear in mind that many dechlorinators will lock ammonia to make it safe but this type of ammonia will still show a reading on test kits. If you are determining that your tank is going through another cycle two months later purely based on ammonia readings then this could actually be a false reading. My suggestion is that your first step should be to clean the barracks and filters thoroughly. Then start again using the same method that you used on the other barracks that is working. If that still doesn't work then start exploring other variables.

Happy Birthday Jodi!

I think it's been about a week since he released the last lot. Maybe a bit more.

Patoti are spawning but I reckon the fry are getting eaten. I'm sure I counted about 15 the day after they were released but can only find 5 now. The pair spawned again today. I need to do something about getting the parents out of there once the fry are released. I doubt any of the first batch of fry will still be around if the female keeps snacking on them. The main breeder badge tank is getting completely overrun. There are lots of platy babies and bristlenose babies as well. But it's now severely overstocked and the baby BNs are not doing well. I've lost a lot of them. Using it as a holding tank for my male guppies is also not helping the overstocking situation. I have a plan on how I'm going to split the occupants up. I just have a fair bit of work to do to get there.

More details about the tank please. How big is the tank? What are you using for filtration? How often do you do water changes? Is it shrimp only or are there other fish in there? How long has it been running?

Can we have a full shot of that fry saver thingy? How big is it? Where did you get it? How much? Does it have good water flow?

Terrific fry pics. Good luck with raising these.

Maybe some netting over the barrels?

Fine. Done. Use it or lose it. *lol*

I wouldn't describe that red girl as cambo. I suppose cambo is a confusing term. I guess she is probably carrying the cambodian gene. But she's not displaying the cambodian pattern which requires her to have a cream coloured body. Should we describe our fish by the traits they display or the genes they carry? Anyway I think she's going to make very pretty babies if she takes a liking to your red boy. I bags fry.

Itchy yobbo doo *lol*

Thanks Wayne. That's very useful. Now I'm considering replacing the multiple pumps in the fishroom with just one big one LOL. Hmm... food for thought.

I have a lot of trouble with cherries in a 6 litre tank. Okay... almost nothing will live in the 6 litre except a betta. I might try them in the daphnia box outside.

I've got a couple of weeks off work starting the middle of next week. YAY! Not going away anywhere but planning on spending the entire time catching up on chores around the house and in particular the fishroom. Top of the to-do list is setting up the spare 2 ft tanks I purchased recently. The plan is to set up 4 of them on some hammerlock shelving. I already have 2 tanks setup. Just need to buy another set of shelves, heaters, filters, and air pump. The air pump which is currently looking after the 2 exising tanks is barely adequate. I'm at work and can't check what brand and size. I want to replace it with one that can look after all 4 tanks. I want to be able to run at the very minimum 8 sponge or corner filters. But still have capacity to add an extra filter or two if I want. The last time I bought an air pump to service multiple tanks, I just chose the one which had the biggest liters/hour rating I could find. All I ended up getting was a very large airpump in terms of how much room it takes but not how many tanks it can look after.

Is it the kind of tree that could be pruned quite small? Eg no more than shoulder height? Or smaller, like a bonsai? I know those big leaves won't look very nice on a bonsai. But I'm thinking if it could be pruned small, it could be grown indoors in colder climates and given artificial lighting and heating. I could put them next to those other heat loving plants that I'm forced to grow indoors. I'm kidding okaaaaayyyy..... *lol*

Welcome back Sara.

Der... the seeds look like ALMONDS!! *lol*