Recent content by nphsmith

Hi Mike, Thanks for this write up - do you have any update after a couiple of months? Nick

One baby platy survived our latest brood. She was in a breeding net but the other fish were stressing her at feeding time, so I decided to move her into a small 15 litre tank of her own. This tank was *not* cycled. However I figured that the bioload created by one baby would not be an issue...

Thanks for that, lovely. I can see why you like them. Now I'm jealous of your Tang school, of course :)

Many thanks for suggestions, guys - Zebra Dart Goby - I like the look of these, could you maybe post video? Spotted Cardinalfish - I love their look, almost as much as the Bangaii, but they always seem a bit...static. Am I wrong? I have an image of my school flashing around the tank together...

Guys, thanks for the input. I'm aware of the need for cycling and taking it slow and easy. My mention of robust species was because: 1) I'm in IT infrastructure. My work thinking is all about risk minimisation, assuming that systems will fail, and putting 'robust' contingencies in place. 2) I...

My first marine tank will be arriving soon. It is going to be 160*60*60cm, with a sump (70*50*45). I am thinking that my first fish obviously need to be quite tough, and would like to get a small school ideally - I worry that if I put in just one or two damsels, say, the tank will look awful...

Many thanks for your ongoing advice - the wordier the better! A couple more water changes with big gravel suction and upheaval, and we still have ammonia at 0.25, so I think you are right a mini-cycle is going on - but it hasn't crept above 0.25, and 0 Nitrites, so I think I'm managing it ok...

Just to let you know, he is at a LFS now (Not the one that sold him to me ...:bad-words: ). They were acclimatising him as I left, so were actually bothering to try and keep him alive at least. So hopefully all ends well. Siva, thanks again for all your help and tiem with this.

Thanks, I was relying on your experience. If they are sensitive to Nitrogen cycle, I'll need to take him back. Thanks for all your help.

OK, my daughter, who is braver than me, has volunteered that she thinks Mr Claw (Our one remaining crab) should go. I am planning to take him to work with me tomorrow, go to pet shop at 9am, and buy something along these lines: Acrylic Tropical Planted Nano Cube 7 Litres + LED Lighting - All...

Thanks, I 'spoke' badly. I took the filter out and rubbed it a bit in tank water - it's gone back in fine, all bacteria should be intact. Amonia was at 0.25 after PWC last night so probably was higher before that while we were away. The tank looked much cleaner today, but did another PWC and it...

Sadly, we came back from lovely holiday, and found that the danios are fine, but one of the Platys died, and our 3 remaining guppies had vanished into what looked like a primordial soup. We assume they had died, and the crab had done his clean-up job on them. My 8-year old was pretty upset...

This will be my first marine tank. I went to Lfs with a spec that included maximum size of 140*60cms, stating that i was interested in fish, soft corals and crustaceans. They have come back with a recommendation of a tank that is 140*60cms, and 90cms high (that's 36 inches). Generally, when i...

Thanks. The active chemical in our medicine is pheon...what you said (on phone cant see yourvpost and type!)! They appear to have lost the fluff before we went but the danio seems to have lost a lot of mouth. Will he be able to eat and/or will he repair? Or should i consider euthanasia?

Two of our guppies are now showing the same symptoms. Daughter is distraught - made worse that we go on holiday tomorrow morning. Neighbour will be popping in - anything she/we can do other than keep an eye for fatalities?