MRSkz

I don't add anything to the water when I'm shipping fish and, thankfully, I have yet to have any problems. I just make sure they have a good water change before sending them and try to remember not to feed them the day before. Some good advise I got from someone who shipped me fish once, you know who you are.

It wouldn't happen to be this fish would it? http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=835

my first question would be how big or small (age) is she?

wicked....just be something in the air??? water more likely.

Does anyone have a list of what is avalible in NZ? I've had a looksy on the net and found a few that I would love, that look like they would be the right level of agresivness and size for my tank but don't know if I can get them here. I'll list them and if anyone knows if they are avalible or not please let me know. Keep in mined I'm not planning to have ALL of these Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Usisya" Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Ruarwe" Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Linganjala" Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Chailosi" Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Bee" Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" (Ngara) Melanochromis sp. "Brown" Labidochromis sp. "Zebra Eastern" Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" (Msuli) Metriaclima sp. "Blue Reef" Cynotilapia sp. "Lion" (Lion's Cove) Cynotilapia afra (Mbenji) Cynotilapia afra (Cobue) Also I don't want anything that will cross breed with another. I figure the "Elongatus" one's would all breed so I would only go for one of those species. Would love to know if all Pseudotropheus would interbreed or not.

I just use river sand from the local sand an gravel place. They love to move the stuff around though. It doesn't go all cloudy like I thought it would, wich is great. I'm sure, when I get the 3 foot set up with sand, my other fish will be doing star jumps.

YAY I have finaly managed to raise up some electric yellow and blue zebra fry. they are now free swiming and doing very well. I also became suspicious of one of my male BN's who never seemed to move out of his little hidy hole. I watched for a bout a week and noticed he looked to be fanning something but couldn't see what. Finaly I rememberd to look up how long BN eggs take to hatch so last night I turned up his rock and there they were, umpteen babies!!! So my little 19lt "tank" now has electric yellow, blue zebra AND BN fry!! Don't know what's in the water in that 4 foot tank of mine but YAY!! I think it might be the sand. :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

ooooooooooooooooo nice, how much are they here? Also are they actual BNs? Not getting big like the plecos? I'd love to know more.

lol well darn that spell check!!!

Here's the instructions I send out with every white worm culture I sell. White Worm Info http://petcaretips.net/raising-white-worms.html Equipment: 1.container with lid (ice cream pottel will be fine) 2.peat soil and organic compost 3.approx ¼ piece of bread soaked in milk 1st add small air wholes to lid 2nd fill container ¾ full with mixture of equal amounts peat and compost (peat is recommended but not necessarily required) 3rd dampen the soil to where you can almost ring water from it 4th place culture into container 5th soak ½ slice of bread, white recommended but not required, soaked in milk and place on top of soil When the remaining bread shows signs of mold, remove and replace it with a fresh slice. Once established, a good culture will consume a slice of bread in about 36 to 48 hours. Now here is the nice part about using bread as a food for the worms. Once established, the worms will consume, and actually replace the bread slice. This means you do not have any “separation†task, just scoop up a clump of worms, and place them in water to rinse away any bread remnants, replace the cloudy water with fresh water, and baste them into the tanks. After a few months, the worm bedding may become fouled. You can tell this by seeing if the worms are “trying to exit the box by climbing up the sides. When this happens, start a second box culture by splitting the culture into a second box and adding a fresh batch of worm bedding to each box. Hope that helps.

I have 2 pairs of kribs. In the 4 foot tank I have 2 male 4 female electric yellows and 2 male 4 female blue zebras.

Well I have just found a sight that tells me how big these guys get. Oh dear was my first thought. So my question is do I keep them in a comunity tank with some Apistograma Agassizis, corys, GBA's and such or do I chunck them in with the Electric yellow and Blue Zebra Malawi Mbunas? They have managed to kill 3 of my 4 panda corys (have moved the pandas...they were abit young) Would love to here oppinions, suggestions. Thanks

Well just thought I'd update, all 15ish have escaped from the net (yea I droped it when I was repositioning it) into the 3 foot tank. Thankfully there's only 1 little baby panda cory in there for company. They fry seem to be swiming around just lovely. The egg sack seems to be all but gone so will continue feeding microworms making sure to get them as near to the fry as possible as I realize a 3 foot tank is a very large space for 15 little fry. I have kept the curtains drawn and the tank lights pretty well off except to check them and I only lost one, that was the day I decided to open the curtains. I have one question, I have a blue zebra that's holding and I was watching another fem zebra having a go at her. Looked like she was trying to "eat" her mouth first but when that didn't work she tried to "bite" her on her side. What is happening here? Is it as I suspect, the female that's not holding "smells" a tasty treat? Thanks again.

ok so what I really need to know is 1. are the fry sensitive to light at this stage? 2. when you have 4 other females that all look similar how do you know how long any peticular one has been holding for? 3. what might have been happening to the fry after they stop holding (as they have yet to be seen) ? 4. Tropheus "Fry just sit in small tank till egg sack are gone and they are free swimming." does this mean you don't 'tumble' them? do you just leave them in a bare bottem tank without being moved around? Thanks for the info guys, it's all much appriciated. I have TRIED to make a tumbler before and have killed 2 batches of fry/eggs in it so that didn't seem to work for me. I also tried the net thing before, with the other adults in the tank...think the adults sucked them threw the meshing. As of yet these guys are doing great. They have the 3 foot tank all to themselves (in there large net though) they are being gently moved around by the restricted filter. This makes me keen to catch the others and strip them as well but deffinatly don't want to throw a spanner into the works at this stage.

Ok I stripped one of my electric yellow fem's who was holding and found fry with the eggy bit still attached. Now every time I've done this before they always seem to last about 48 hours then the next day the eggy bit disapairs and the fry are all corpses. I've transferd them into a tank of there own, in a larg net with a filter (just barely going) right by them. I have also kept the lights off in that tank and the curtains pulled (it sits in a window) so not much light, other than the room light, gets to it. I've also been giving them microworms just incase. The last time I had them they were in the tank with the other fish, lights were kept on a fair bit and they weren't fed so I'm hoping this time they will survive. I'd really appriciate any advice here as I have atleast one more electric yellow that's holding and atleast one blue zebra. I'm reluctant to strip the others if this lot of fry don't turn out. It seems, when left to there own devises, the parents seem to hold and then......*poof*....nothing. It seems the only way, as far as I can tell, to get living fry from these guys is some interferance.

so you just sprinkel that on the bottom of the aquarium then?

whetu, what kind of shell please? That is very helpful and gives me more options thanks.

I've got 2 GBA's (in tank A) and 3 B/N's (in tank B) now neither tank has drift wood in it as I found it kept killing the PH in the tanks. They have been without for some time now and seem to be ok. I've recently noticed my female GBA is noticably lighter, not as rich goldy, as the male I was wondering if this is normal or caused from a lack of wood. I also would like to know do the GBA's or the B/N's actualy NEED wood in with them? The trio of B/N's are 2 males and 1 fem and have not breed yet, I was wondering if this could be the cause. There are lots of rocks in both tank A and B but there are other fish in both tanks as well. Tank A has some guppies, 1 male cockatoo cichlid (looking for another home), 3 cory's and the GBA's. Tank B has 6 electric yellow cichlids and 6 blue zebra cichlids with the trio of B/N's. Advice, oppinions, suggestions all welcome. Thanks

Hey frenchy, you mentioned you made your own food for malawi's right? I'd love to know what you put in it, having an all malawi tank myself. Also was wondering if you ever turned your hand at dwarfs, apistos, kirbs...the like? If you have, and done the home made food for them, what you'd stick in there. I can't stay away from the malawi's or the agassizi's :lol: Thanks MRS kz

ok no pictures of the newbies just yet, lighting is an issue at the moment. Once I get the lid fixed up for the light to sit on then I'll be able to look at getting some pics. I'm still looking into those one's in Christchurch as well. The pandas are so cute so of course I want more lol. The Ag male is the biggest thing in the tank, cruzin around keeping out of the krib scirmishes and just hangin. I'd love to have him breed with one of his females, suppose after a few weeks of white worms and other good food they might decide to have a go, fingers crossed.

Well thursday I decided to go out to the LFS to see what there weekly shipment brought down this time. To my supprize I had compleatly missed seeing the Apistogramma Agassizis as they were not in the normal "dwarf cichlid" tanks. The owner, knowing that I'm just mad about them, pointed them out to me. Of course I had to have them but being so close to mothers day and my 4year old's birthday I thought I'd just put it off for now. I came home and told hubby "guess what the kids can get me for mothers day " Well needless to say I went out the very next day and bought them, AND the four panda corys they had hanging around to. So I am the proud new owner of 1male, 2 female Apistogramma Agassizis and 4 little panda corys. They are loving having a 4 foot, sandy bottom tank as a temporary home, to share with 2 pairs of albino kribs untill they and the other residents of the 2 footer are able to go into the 3 footer.

Glad to hear that, they should have informed you of the charges before they put them on ur bill though. They're the only one's I trust with my fish as well.

Blue I thought u'd switched courier companies. What happend?

I'm not going to take sides here either. I think this whole affair was handeld badly yes. People should be sure they want to sell to the WINNING bidder, regardless of there experience, when they put things up for auction. That said, they were his fish to do with as he pleased until the auction closed, or payement received (not quite sure on exacts). If he decided that he did not want to sell them then, as much as we would like otherwise, he doesn't have to. I've expierienced this myself with someone else. There was an arangment that I was to buy some fish off of a person, a price was set now apperently they don't want to sell to me. I don't like it, I'd really like that person to change there mineds but in the end no money has changed hands, they belong to that other person and they can't be forced to sell if they don't want to. The End

they do lay them on the glass, plants, rocks everywhere.