Crystal

I had one in my peaceful community of danios and small non-nippy tetras. But with your stock list I think there will be problems, especially with the rams, congos, and angels. I find that if he is the "boss" fish that no one messes with and if everyone else is quicker than he is, there is no problems. You can try, but watch carefully for a couple hours at least, and check in every few minutes for the next day or two. I don't think it will hurt for him to sit in the vase for a couple days - if all else fails I have kept them in those plastic "critter keepers" with no problems, I have seen sizes that range from .5g to 10g. I believe even walmart sells them cheaply or they can be found in the reptile, small rodent section of a pet store. Best of Luck!

Cayenne pepper!!! We put it in our flower bed, because they sniff before they dig, every few days you will hear a loud pain-filled yowl at night of some poor kitty. Jolts you awake with heart thudding - till you start laughing... :rofl: We live in a cat filled neighbor hood... I have two, and every neighbor , except one, has 1-3 cats, and all are semi-outdoor cats.

My first Auction too. I can't wait! I'm already saving my loonies, toonies, and smaller bills (I hear they are well received at the auction). I'm coming to look at the variety of fish, and perhaps get a few myself. My Mom has been after Endlers for a while. I don't need really need anything, but I doubt I will leave with nothing!

The Fox is an extremely poor imitator . He apparently needs more practice...

I used those slimy, smelly smelts from the bait fish store, along with some ham. Be prepared to catch every cat in the area at least once ! One person said the best recipe is to put 2 eggs (without shells...), some chicken/turkey organs (heart,liver, etc), the innards of 4-5+ field mice, (if you can get it - muskrat fat/innards) mix it all up roughly, and place it in a canning jar with the lid on lightly in a warm, sunny location for 3-4 weeks. Spread it on the grass/object to lure a fox in. Smells to high heaven I'm sure - Have fun ! As for pet - the neighbors would have your hide when your 'pet' eats their cats! If you do live in deep country where you can keep them, then get young cubs to rear, or like barn cats, they never quite tame down.

Well, this fox has already eaten one of my cats last fall :cry: , and took 9 others from the next block that I know of... I don't want to loose these two 7 month old kittens... I borrowed the traps from Fish & wildlife, they will come and take him out of town and release him far from the people. There is lots of bush out there, he doesn't need to be so close to people. I think he's cute too, but a couple years ago a rabid fox bit someone. He just seems too friendly for his own good, not to mention the traffic around here (I am in town). Safer for him and for people if he is in the bush. I don't mind the deer/moose that pass through my yard every night. I keep a close eye on the black bear that wanders through once or twice year, but he doesn't hang around so I don't mind. I live in a small town, full of hills so there are numerous pockets of bush for animals to live in. I have caught grouse, squirrels, rabbits, etc and simply walked them 5 min to the closest piece of bush. I don't want them to get hit by a car... In fact, there are a group of three deer downtown that walk on the sidewalks and wait at the corner for the "walk" light to appear and then cross the street.

Look what I caught! Not at all scared... I caught numerous cats trying to get this guy and every one of them freaked out more with me approaching at 15 feet than when I dropped some extra smelts into the cage for him to eat while he waited for Fish and Wildlife. Never once growled, bared teeth, etc. Eating some ham the neighbor had... *he is chewing, not growling/snarling...* The reason I requested a trap in the first place... http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/c...oxandSaber2.jpg (direct link due to size - I liked it too much to down size it...) Why he is scared of Saber I have no idea... He licked his chops when he saw Blaze though... Murphy's Law states that after 2 weeks of trying to catch the fox, I finally catch it the day all the F&W officers are in the city for a course until 4:30... More pictures can be found here, I may add more in a day or two. http://s445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/c_scherer123/Fox/

Those are snail eggs. Tetra eggs would be much smaller and scattered. My giant pond snails lay eggs that, some other pouch/pond snails also lay the eggs in a "sausage roll". Use a clean glass and an algae wafer in it, check it every hour or so to catch the culprit. I actually like my snail clean up crew.

Do you like MTS in your tanks? I know they can "overrun" a tank. Though in my 10g, which previously was a quarantine, all snails die - I assume its the copper that leaches from the silicone... IMO I figure the leftover food either rots or gets eaten. Also, they seem to eat some algae and aerate sand. Better cleanup crew than my plecos or shrimp. I consider them moving decorations. I recently got some MTS from various places and I noticed they had different coloration patterns. I didn't know they came in different colors/patterns... I have a solid blueish grey with no pattern; a solid brown with darker patterning; a white with brown on largest swirl, the brown part also has a darker brown patterning; and I used to have a solid white color but they died. Are there any other coloration patterns out there? I am curious just how many variations there are...

Just though I would bring this site up: http://www.petsandponds.com/en/index.html It is a Canadian company - No duty/customs fees! They generally cover at least 65% of shipping costs, and on orders of over $200 shipping is free (some exceptions on heavy/huge items). I have found the shipping quick and it is handy if you don't live in the city. Thanks for showing it to me Boom.

Thank you all so much for all the info, now I really can't wait. It is only a few blocks from my Grandmother's house to boot!

yes How about to buy? anyone can buy. bring a wallet full of cash, I bet you will come home with lots of fish and plants and a empty wallet. Do you need to register to buy, I was reading www.fish-club.org/index.php?nav=au and the rules and regulations seems to imply I need to register to buy/bid. Never been to an auction before, how do these things normally run?

If you have extra Malaysian trumpet snails, can you freeze them and later thaw and feed to loaches? If the loaches love pond snails, but have difficulties with the MTS, would the loaches be able to eat the MTS after they were frozen? Has anyone done this? The loach in question is a weather loach (dojo loach). Seems like a good/cheap way to give loaches a treat and control the snail population at the same time. Thanks in advance!

I like that link... Cheap shipping for all supplies and has more variety than the LFS. :thumbs: Hmm... This site could cost me money (though save $50 in gas!) I believe I will have to bookmark this site... and share it on a few other forums... Thanks for showing me this one! PS: Is 4L actually four liters? like a milk jug? How much water would that treat?!

I am a ways from the nearest LFS (2 hours), so my water conditioner choices are limited. I used to buy Aquasafe, it removes heavy metals, chlorine, chloramines, etc. Worked great. Then they got rid of the original brand and replaced it with a spin-off with "new with BioExtract". It was the only kind they had, and I was out, so I got it. By chance/fluke I discovered that this new brand has large amounts of AMMONIA :shock: . Great if you wanted to do fish-less cycling, a losing battle if you are trying to keep nitrates down... I am now using Aquaplus with no problems. Anyone else know of other conditioners that have strange side-effects? (sorry if this breaks a vendor review rule)

Does any here have any personal experience with weather loaches (aka dojo loach) eating the Malaysian trumpet snails. I know in theory that loaches eat snails, but do these particular loaches eat these particular snails? I like snails to clean tanks, but prefer to throw excess to my loaches (they are the only kind who can live with goldfish...). I find Malaysian trumpet snails to clean/aerate the substrate the best.

Ok, I know Nothing (basically). I have a 65g tank that is going to pump water through a ~10-12g container (9 deep x 20 long x 14 high). The 65g contains goldfish and is high in nitrates and probably other nutrients. I want this 10-12g container to grow plants to help keep nitrates in check. The plants will both be submerged and growing out of the water. I will probably need hardy plants, I already have several types in my 55g (cambodia, vals, northern milfoil, and java moss). I plan on putting (or at least trying) water lettuce/hyacinth. Any other suggestions on plants that use tons of nitrates? The floating/emerged plants mean the top will have to be open and the light above the plants. My biggest problem is that I know very little about lighting, how much plants need, and how to "suspend/support" it above the tank. This is my greatest puzzle...(all comments/info/links welcome!) Will I need fertilizers/co2? I have several liquid kinds - but find fish waste the best... I would definately prefer to not use co2. If it matters, I have a pretty good airstone in the 65g tank. Substrate, will fine gravel work? My plants seem to prefer the finer gravel at any rate. 2"-3" sound good? Any and all help is appreciated!

I had white flies in my tank (the kind that love houseplants), I noticed larvae swimming just under the waters surface - and even a bunch in my filter where the flow left a "dead spot". I wasn't aware that white fly larvae could survive and grow in the water. I moved the filter media so it didn't happen again and added 5 mountain cloud minnows to eat the larvae (I was amazed the goldfish didn't eat the larvae...). I got rid of them for a while, but they came back again recently. I put a clean rag of the openings for the filter so no more get in/out. They aren't in the house plants either as I checked and added those yellow sticky traps in my pots just in case. I am also kind of unsure as to how to get rid of them...

My Grandma has a friendly neighbor who requested pictures of raven (I have known him forever... I used to think he was an uncle!) . Stangest part about this is that he is blind :shock: . He lost his sight completely years ago due to disease, but when he could see the raven was his favorite bird. He first saw one in Fort Mac when he was 25 - he is about 70 now. Here are the pictures I got for him. Croaking raven: Croaking raven (2): (I don't know, but if I saw a fish this puffed up I would be grabbing the salt!) what are you laughing at?: A younger bird - the previous pictures are probably the parent: That is snow on the beak - he was digging for some old raisins I had thrown in the snow to lure them in close. They are pretty leary, I couldn't get close to them on the ground...

I have never had (or even seen) a canister filter. I am planning on replacing my AC110 on my 65g goldfish tank (will be heavily stocked when fish are full grown) with a better filter (the AC is starting to die). I need a good filter that can cope with the copeous amounts of waste that full grown goldfish will be able to produce. I am pretty sure that I need a canister. I am pretty sure I have narrowed the field down to either Rena or Eheim canisters. Rena vs Eheim for: reliability & endurance (NO leaks - if it leaks, the sub-floor could go) noise (it is in a bedroom with a light sleeper) easy to clean (at least to rinse off the sponge) If Rena, I would go with the Xp3. If Eheim, which model is best? (I saw a number of reviews where people had trouble with the ecco model). What are their dimensions? The stand has a cubby space of 25" tall, 15" deep, and 10" wide. The only other surface is the ledge (ponywall) by the tank that sits just 4" under the top of the water level (9" wide). I am also open to other ideas. I only have room for one filter due to power plugs available.

That is what I kind of thought, but algae magnets were invented for a reason. I was more concerned about water flow and filtration...

Found this while browsing for small aquariums. Badly designed site, but neat aquariums. I couldn't find the aquariums anywhere else. I sent an email with a load of questions and requests for more pictures. http://aquaspan.com/ http://aquaspan.com/images/Aquaspan-AQ450C...ow_res_blue.jpg (I like this one) :drool: (would look great on my work desk...) Definately not suited for the goldfish shown in it, but it would work for a couple of mountain cloud minnows or something. What do you think?

None of my other tanks have done this, and I have had them for over 10 yrs - that is why I am confused. The water isn't soft, I get quite quite a bit of hard water buildup in my tank. My AC110 filter was cleaned (rinsed out) last month due to impeded water flow. Not overstocked as far as I know - (12) 4" goldfish in 65g tank (Yeah I know. They will get bigger, but they spent the summer in the pond and some go back to the pet store every fall). DOC - dissolved organic compounds... I have a small patch of java moss and a couple strands of some hornwart-like plant. Other than that, I am not sure where they would come from.

I do 30-40% weekly water changes and the last one was only 4 days ago. I have no water softener or peat in the water, no driftwood, all rocks are inert (I may have to find some lime stone later, a ph of 8 is more prefered over 5). I checked today, it wasn't just an "odd spot", the ph is now showing around 5.3-5.5, the fish aren't stressing that I can tell, so I will bring the ph up over a course of two weeks or so with salt, baking soda, and water changes. I try to monitor my Kh, but I ran out and haven't been to the city yet. Was just seeing anyone had advice or might have had this problem in the past.

I have a 65g goldfish tank, my ph is usually a stable 7.4. I do weekly ph and nitrate tests on this tank because it has only been up for 3-4 months. My ph is normally a nice 7.3-7.5 (depends on season and tap water) and fairly hard. I use the tetra ph drop testers, never had a problem for 10 yrs+ with them. Today I did a ph test, that can't be right... rinse it out, test again - bright yellow of 5.0... :shock: Did it crap out on me? I rinse and test my other tanks, they show the proper 7.4. How did my ph drop from 7.4 to 5.0 (or lower) in one week? The fish weren't even acting strange. I have added nothing to my tank recently except a small pump to divert some water into a plastic container full of floss to strain out debris (my AC 110 isn't doing such a good job). I read that it can be caused by a build up of wastes, but I did my recent water change of 30% while vacuuming out the gravel two days ago. Ammonia = 0 Nitrite = 0 Nitrate = barely even registering <5. I am slowly adding a slurry of 3 teaspoons of aquarium salt and 1/2 teaspoon of epsom salts with a pinch of baking soda over the course of a day (about 10 ml each 1/2 hour) trying to build up the KH and I am also keeping an eye on ph to avoid raising it too fast. Any ideas how my ph dropped? I have never seen this in my tanks before...