Xan

Long story short, I was browsing the internet and came across this picture: https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7856814592/hBF779F43/

I've looked everywhere for that particular bear hat online, to no avail. Does anyone have any idea where I can buy it?

Does anyone know what these bugs are? They're in my kitchen and only come out at night, but they quickly scatter when I turn the light on. There are loads of them!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-...

I've just ordered this knife off the internet as a general around-the-house and fishing knife: http://www.boker.de/us/pocket-knife/magnum/tactica...

However, I've skim-read a few other YA! questions and it seems there's a LOT more to knives than I thought. So, based on the high quality image of the knife in that website, its details and its price, I was wondering what you all think about the quality of the knife in comparison to, say, a Swiss Army Knife (which seems to blunt/notch really quickly!). Does it look like I'm getting good value for money? Also, I know enough to wonder whether the 440 steel will be class A, B or C. What would you assume it'll be?

PS. Are Swiss Army Knives actually good quality knives?

I am a 22-year old male, 6 foot 1" and weigh approx. 90 kg. I am of quite a heavy build: my perfect jeans size would be with a 36" waist. I have maybe a one-inch 'muffin top' belly and want to get rid of it. Would the following lifestyle accomplish this?

Breakfast: 2 hard-boiled eggs

5 km cycle to work, taking 25 minutes (I work in an office)

Lunch: 3 or 4 pieces of assorted fruit (usually bananas or oranges)

5 km cycle home, taking 25 minutes

Dinner: Some combination of white meat and brown rice

I also occasionally cycle to the shops or cycle 10 km at the weekends.

Would this be enough to lose 5-10 kg or would I need to add some more exercise?

I just bought two B52 fly traps off eBay, and they arrived through the post after 5 days in transit. There are still some traps which seem to be alive on both of them, but they are (for whatever reason) curled downwards and make re-potting them an absolute nightmare.

My question is thus: would it be feasable to basically snip off all the traps and repot them? Would they recover from this? I don't really want to take risks, because B52s are rare and relatively expensive.

Thanks.

Could anyone explain to me why both have to exist, and why a lot of EU member states participate in both? If I understand correctly, the EU brings the single market to Europe, whilst the Eurozone brings the Euro and a common market. However, a common market isn't quite a single market, so am I right in saying that Germany, for instance, as a member of both, gains the EU's single market and the Eurozone's currency and European Central Bank governance? Does that also mean that countries such as the UK, while being EU members and not Eurozone members, benefit from the single market without having to implement the single currency and give up the Bank of England's fiscal governance?

I have a 380l medium-planted aquarium containing 8 red-belly piranha, all of which are around 3" in size, with an established Fluval Fx5 filter (1500l capacity) full of biological filter media. Last week my ammonia test (the API one with the two reagents) registered that there was apparently around 6ppm ammonia in the aquarium, despite a subsequent pH reading of 5.5 and my father (who used to work with ammonia) saying he couldn't smell any. After daily 25% water changes for a week combined with reduced feeding, this reading hasn't changed at all. My piranha aren't behaving differently either, and aren't suffering fin rot etc.

As you can imagine, I've been highly exasperated, frustrated and worried about this, since nothing I've been doing has had any effect. However, after some googling, I found something which said that these ammonia tests get confused and give false readings because the pH and ammonium interfere somehow. Could someone please explain this whole thing to me - do I really have 6ppm ammonia or is it something else?

I have several carnivorous plants, and at £6 for 5l of pure water, the costs are mounting up. I'm wondering if it would be possible to treat tap water with a fish tank water conditioner (http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=131... which removes the chemicals and heavy metals, which as far as I know are the reason why you're discouraged from using tap water with carnivorous plants in the first place. If this method were feasable, it would save me a fortune.

What do you think?

I have 8 red-belly piranha, and ever since I bought them they have been anything but shy and skittish. Their favourite spots in the tank were right at the front in full view, and they would curiously come and investigate whenever I pressed my finger against the glass.

However, there was an ammonia spike so I naturally did a water change, and ever since that water change (their behaviour gave no indication of ammonia present) they have hidden in one of the ornaments at the back of the tank, and do not venture far from it, even for their favourite food. This has me fairly puzzled and worried, since there was nothing out of the ordinary about the water change (siphon from near the surface) and nothing was disturbed in the tank.

Could anyone think of a possible explanation for any of this? I'd appreciate it.

Here's the background first. I have a medium-planted 380l aquarium containing 8 red-bellied piranha (all around 3"), filtered by a Fluval Fx5 (1500l capacity). I feed them 2-3 mussels daily, which I watch them completely devour. Before going to bed, I throw in some small catfish pellets which also get eaten. The media in my filter are 2 packs of carbon, 2 packs of ammonia remover and 2 packs of generic biological media (the second pack was added a few weeks ago, the first pack is around 3 months old). I did a water test today and it showed 4ppm ammonia and high nitrate levels. I do a fortnightly 33% water change, and have just finished an emergency change, for obvious reasons.

Can anyone suggest what might have caused such a massive ammonia spike, and, more importantly, how to return it to normal levels? None of my fish have died, I don't overfeed them and the filter should be more than capable of dealing with ammonia.

PS. I'll thank those aquarists out there who will inevitably accuse me of overstocking the tank, not to bother wasting their time.

I previously posted a question about if my 56 litre tropical aquarium was overstocked. The unanimous answer was "yes, it is!", so I went on eBay and got a 380 litre aquarium for £67. Now, I'm a bit unsure as to what to put in and how much thereof. Here's what I currently own which will be going into the new, larger tank:

Red-fin shark

Synodontis "upside-down" catfish

Bamboo shrimp

Could anyone advise me what to add to the tank now, bearing in mind it's 380 litres or 83 UK gallons? I want 5 clown loaches, a few gouramis and perhaps 4 silver sharks. I daresay the aquarium filter would laugh at this relatively pitiful amount of fish?

I've consulted several different sources on the topic of overstocked tropical aquariums, and have not yet got a common answer. Some have told me that my 56-litre (12.5 UK gallon) aquarium would be fully stocked with five tetras and a small pleco, others that I can easily accommodate 15 fish including a Betta and a pleco. However, here is my real issue. I find it hard to believe that a 56-litre, medium-planted aquarium with a filter designed for 15-30 gallon tanks cannot accommodate a red-fin shark and a synodontis catfish, both of which are said to be fully-grown at 12cm in length. I do not mean to have anything else in the tank except for the shark and the synodontis catfish (except perhaps a shrimp, but those apparently have no biological impact on the filter), yet I am told by some that it is not possible, and by others that it should be. Can anyone shed some light on this please?

I have a synodontis catfish in a tank with a Betta and some Tetras, yet it spends the entire day hiding under the driftwood in the tank. It comes out at night and swims around and nothing ever goes near it, the Betta did once but it got a nip in the fin for its trouble, and hasn't tried again since. It's about the largest fish in the tank, yet it is very shifty when it comes out. It never ventures far from its bogwood either, even though the aquarium is well-planted. Can anyone suggest how to make it braver?

I have a 54 litre (12 UK gallons), pH 7, 24 degrees Celcius tropical aquarium which currently holds 5 Cardinal Tetra, 4 Penguin Tetra, a Fighting Fish and a Bristlenose Pleco. Would it be possible to add any more fish, in particular Tetras? I'm open to other suggestions too, though.

A friend of mine is French and has lived in the UK for 7 years now. His English is impeccable.

He works full-time and someone asked him why he didn't go into translation. He said that since he can only speak French and English he wouldn't go far in that field.

However, I was wondering if there is some way he could do freelance translation on top of his normal job. I mean something along the lines of him registering on some website through which he could be sent the odd document to translate, without making a career of it. Call it some money on the side of his full-time job - it wouldn't be too difficult for him vocabulary-wise.

Does anyone know if such a website exists or if he would manage? Is there just too much competition? He's got no qualifications in English as a foreign language but as I said he's lived here for 7 years and is a French native speaker - shouldn't that be enough?

Was just an idea...

Can someone give me a simple explanation of the politics in the German Lander?

I know roughly how the politics of the country as a whole work (ie. how laws are passed) but now need to know how it all works on a smaller level, and wikipedia gives me a headache with all the terminology.

Thanks.

Wikipedia isn't helping me at all here so can someone please give simple answers to define the following terms? Thanks.

Aristocracy

Republic

Capitalism

Socialism

I'm 18 and seem to be one of the very few people in the country who doesn't like beer.

It just really doesn't taste nice and I would always take an Irn Bru instead.

Can anyone solve this word puzzle?

Is it just me who cannot imagine how these 2 "singers" became famous?

I mean, they're god-awful. Not only is there a strong accent coming through all their "songs" and making them sound even worse, but they just cannot sing.

It makes me furious to think that such "talent" (or lack thereof) can earn you millions whilst far more deserving and sophisticated people would never get as far. I think a recent Winehouse quotation was "To all them people", addressing her exiting audience.

However, I apply this rant to all those would-be celebs like Paris (boot) Hilton etc.