peanuts

Peter from Port Nicholson glass makes tanks - he will also deliver - he has delivered to Napier and other parts of the North Island so give him a try.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!! Ours has started well..the last current tank has been moved into the new fishroom..YIPPEE! and we have already ordered more and are awaiting their arrival...another yippee!!! now we just have to wait to winter to see if the insulation reduces the power bill over winter!! and a BIG HUGE thank you to all of you that helped with getting the room up and running - and of course moving the tanks in - you all know who you are - thank you

My mollies breed quite happily in my community tank without any salt added.

Have you tried Hutt Pets in Lower Hutt - they have a range of parts at the store and what they don't have they will get in and ring. if you want to discuss fish items best to speak to Ben or Chris.

another thought is to combine what you know - retail - what about looking at the "pet shops" in your area and provide them with your cv - then you have experience but you will get to see animals as well

YES - photos have been taken - heaps in fact - Kevin and Anita have both been taking them. so I'm sure that once things settle down they will post some.

show starts today people here are the details - please come and support us!!!!!!! 2008 Live Bearing Fish ShowHosted by the Kapi-Mana Aquarium Club The Parkway Scout Hall, Parkway, Wainuiomata Gold coin entry, 200 beautiful fish to see, Raffles - of tanks and filters - come get a new tank for more fish..... Saturday 25 October: 12.30pm – 7.00pmSunday 26 October: 10.00am – 5.00pm (with auction to follow at 5.30pm)Monday 27 October: 9.00am – 1.00pmÂ

yes the eggs need constant movement, and it is possible that the "father" was fanning so hard that he has knocked them out of the cave - I have had this happen. To raise eggs, I put them in a container with water from the tank a small airstone to keep the movement or fanning going - I also add a drop of meth blue to the water. as any eggs not fertislised or that go bad can end up with fungi - the 'father' would remove these if left in his care. however it is too hard for us to remove individual eggs.

They may have advertised the postage price believing it to be that from reading the NZ Post website and measuring the size of the parcel. They then took the parcel along to the post shop to send the item and was charged a smaller amount to send - would you say to NZ post - but I charged them this amount to send it - heres the $amount I charged them. They may have thought - will its only a $1 I will call that a bonus to help towards packing and petrol. I struck this once and advised the person that the post shop charged less than I had charged them and they told me to keep it as it was only a small difference.

Hutt Pets have at least one species of killie at the moment

Peter at Port Nicholsons can repair and build new tanks - listed in the yellow pages - talk to him as sometimes it is better and easier to get a new than replace/repair an old one.

Meeting Time and Location for the Kapi Mana club Although we do our best to inform everyone of changes, here is all the information you need: Day: Last Wednesday of every month. Time: 7:45 pm meet with meeting starting at 8:00pm Location: Doris Mills Lounge, Linden Community Centre, Linden Avenue, Linden, Tawa. Directions: From the Main Road, turn at the Christadelphian Church into Linden Avenue. On the right are the Plunket rooms, the Bridge Club Rooms and then the Linden Community Centre. The Doris Mills Lounge is at the end of the Community Centre building. The car park is one way so you enter from the east end and exit from the west end. Tea and coffee are provided, but please feel free to bring something to share for supper or a gold coin donation. Our last meeting was last night so the next one is Wednesday 24 September and this meeting will be held at the Hutt Pet Centre in Pretoria Street Lower Hutt - same start time and this will be a quiz evening. We welcome ALL - those that want to just visit and of course those that stay and join. These meetings are a chance for people interested in keeping fish to meet and share and exchange information that they have found helpful and may benefit others. the Kapi Mana club is also organising a "Livebearers Show" which is to be held in the Scout hall in Wainuiomata at Labour Weekend. hope this helps if not give me a "pm" and we can discuss some more Cheers Karen

The outbreak of the white spot may be due to the tank not being fully cycled, then the heater breaking causing the temp to drop. a drop in temp alone will not cause the outbreak as temps drop and increase naturally. but a tank still cycling then drop in temp could cause this problem. all fish have white spot all the time . it only shows when they are stressed and clown loaches would be the first to show it with the type of fish that you have. white spot takes time to "disappear" - you treat the water but it is when the parasite falls off the fish and into the water/gravel that you are actually killing it - hence the need for water changes and more treatment. you need to treat the water/tank for "at least seven days" after the last spot falls off the fish to ensure that you have killed all the waterborne parasites. raising the temp means that the cycle of the parasite falling of the fish into the water is faster - if you can't get your temp higher don't be concerned just keep treating until the parasite is dead.

my tank is a 1500x500x650mm and I use standard fluro fittings and bulbs - have 2 sets of 2 bulbs (4 bulbs in total - 4 foot long) on 10 hours a day and am getting good plant growth - in fact am always prunning and the tiger lotus loves the light that I have.

Hutt Pets had two last weekend - but they may be too small to go with an oscar of that size - give them a call and speak to Chris or Ben.

I have successfully raised bristlenose and GBA eggs when they where disturbed and in one case the male bristle was fanning so hard he fanned the eggs out of his cave. the way I do it is place the eggs in a container inside a tank with an airstone to keep the water moving and a drop or two of meth blue to stop the eggs growing fungi. I have used this method several times now with most if not all the eggs hatching. But with each of my pairs they had bred before I raised some of their hatches.

I have gone from a 3 foot to a 5 foot with new gravel in the 5 foot. I used as much water as I could from the 3 foot then topped up - didn't lose any fish at all. of course I did use the existing filter and added another one.

that top picture looks like a female to me - the fin is rounded - if it was a male it would be pointed. can't quite tell with the second pic. the behaviour you are mentioning is more common for kissing gourami and that is showing who is boss. I haven't seen it with gold's before but that doesn't mean it wouldn't happen. I think that they are just sorting out the pecking order and once this is established they should settle down.

gold gouramis are quie easy to sex - look at the bottom find - below the tail, if the fin is rounded it is a female if it is pointed it is a male. you don't mentioned what size tank they are in and what else you have in your tank - ie fish and plants. I have several gold and blue gouramis in my tank of both sexes and sometimes they chase each other or other fish but they are not aggressive. I would say watch them but you could always move a few things around in your tank to see if that calms them down

Some dwarf gourami's are not the hardest of fish, some pick up diesases very easily - the most common one being dropsy, which affects their swimming and then they swell up around the middle with their scales sticking out. dwarfs gourami are good commuity fish - can live on their own or with one or several of their own kind. I would suggest you check your water conditions - do a waterchange if you haven't in a while, then watch the gourami - if he starts getting a "fat" belly and his scales start sticking out - he has dropsy, so remove him from the tank immediately. if he is just swimming funny and no other symptons just play the wait and see game he may come right.

the Jager 300 watt heater is rated to run a tank 600 to 1000 litres, this might be an option to explore. Temperature can be adjusted from 18oC to 34oC and is accurate to +/-0.5oC. Heating function indicated by an on/off control lamp. Fully submersible. protected against running dry. Suitable for fresh or marine water. Duran shatterproof glass jacket provides larger heating surface ensuring optimum heat transfer and less wattage to heat more water. 3 year warranty.

call me bad, call me good,call me whateva, since i have been keeping africans (3 1/2 years)all i have done is use limestone rock and coral as cave building materials and scattered on the substrate.,all i know is our water comes out the tap at a ph of 6.8.this i know because billaney gave me an almighty wind up one day saying,how can you reset if you dont know what to reset too!.i don,t use any buffering mix at all.all the fish are happy as no major losses,cept for the odd bash.they have good colour and breed as africans do.all i do is weekly 20%water changes.they are hardy adaptable things very forgiving.as long as they seem happy and are thriving,don't worry.it's time to enjoy your fish but in saying that i think i will do a full range of tests to satisfy my curiosity,will fill you in later glenn

now your talking!....so when does ''the trial and error'' exercise in the six footer going to start?.sounds like you are going to have some fun

the best site I found that gives a heap of information about apple snails is applesnail.net

to break up the flake a tool i use is a good ole pepper grinder,no mess charlie