Faran

Pretty much what Planetcatfish observed as well. Definitely not the sp3 "common" which has the line at base of caudal. But as mentioned previously, the body shape, head shape, nose shape - it's all different when compared side by side. If you ever saw the "white spot head" bristlenose imported by NZ Discus, it's the same fish without the spots, just a bit bigger. I couldn't tell them apart when stressed, so they cohabitated a tank with 3 of the white spot heads until a bad water change killed the three wild caught white spots and left me with these, obviously tougher due to being aquarium bred.

Still no love, aside from confirmation that they definitely aren't sp3. Simple answer may be that they're A. Temminckii, which are normal versions of GBAs. Not worth much in monetary value terms, but good to have a variant along with sp3s and gbas that are easy to breed. 10 days without a water change (need to check with the fish sitter on that) means that these newly hatched F2 gens are tough as nails! Ah, I should mention that caserole bred the original imported "grandparents" and the offspring - F1s - were passed on to kylefish, who passed them on to me. We at least know that they're 2 generations bred in captivity now...

A few good breeders taught me long ago that if you plan on trying to breed anything, give them their own tank without any meddlers to mess it up. This will result in happier fish, safer fry, and better survival rates. Obviously a sponge filtered tank is safer than your average internal or canister filter, and hungry dither fish often think fry are BBS. I still remember my Blue Rams trying to ward off the Cardinal Tetras as they swam through the swarm of fry eating them like popcorn

Do some research on the plants and try and figure out what will grow tall and what will grow short. Tall plants in the back, short ones in the front. If you muck up and can't see anything you've put tall plants in the front, so move them back. That's about the tall and short of it

Right, back to the topic. Very nice work, shiuh. You should be proud. I quickly got tired of the constant pruning of the stem plants and shifted to slower growing plants such as swords and ferns. You will find that selling off your cuttings on TradeMe will easily pay for the electricity bill for that MH Looking forward to you coming out for a visit some day.

I have mine in a Congo tank with Leopard Ctenopomas (so obviously no fry will survive if they breed) and they had some lovely huge Congo Tetras as company - until the tetras were sold to a breeder. I noticed that they seemed skittish and stress-barred when they were in the Malawi tank at ryanjury's and in other Malawi tanks I've seen them in. They're now very deep shades of blue and grey with amazing turquiose eyes like I've seen them at Wet Pets (also in a 7 pH tank) and they've started to grow considerably in the few months that I've had them. In the end, they have the temperament to kick it with Malawis and aquarium bred and raised fish are pretty versatile in being able to cope with just about any pH we throw at them - provided they can adjust relatively slowly to the change. I know aae1 keeps and breeds them in Malawi tanks, and Afrikan reports that she does the same. Not much different than the many reports of breeding discus in pH of 8 sucessfully. Fish are versatile creatures that can survive many conditions. I strive to give my fish as close to the natural environs where they are found in the wild as possible. That's a personal preference and doesn't need to be law or widespread opinion, though! This is the website that I refer to for them - http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Steato ... arius.html - but I'd like to mention that they grow much larger than 7cm in good conditions. The ones at Wet Pets are close to 12cm and mine are growing fast!

I've owned mine for over a year now. My original was a perfect running machine and quiet as a mouse. I had a small problem with a lid fastener getting stuck when I did filter maintenance 6 months later and the agent replaced the entire thing with another unit. Had a few issues with the new unit while it was "breaking in" but it's been running smooth-as since a month after I got it. These units have simplified my water changes tremendously and I recommend them fully. The flow rate is amazing.

I've done some research into this in the past and haven't found anything that backs up that statement conclusively. Drop eye in silver arowanas (they seem to be the majority of the cases) is attributed to genetics in most cases. Another speculation is fish in the lower levels of the aquarium. If nothing else, I'd give the mouse a good solid wash before feeding them to my fishy!

Depends on what you want. You can get a simple setup like this for as low as $300 (RRP $400) or you can go the whole hog and get a CO2 regulator with solenoid, bubble counter, the works. BOC will most likely tell you that they no longer sell bottles and only rent, so best to buy your own bottle.

Sorry I couldn't help more. Take it to a cylinder service station before you dispose of it and see if they can refit the bottle with a new tap and if they would fill it, etc. You might get lucky and they might trade it in or buy it off you.

No time as I'm in a hurry to get them up and running to get fish moved in asap.... will post some later tho! Don't want ANY bad bugs coming over with the sponge filters, even waterborne ones, so no water getting shifted. Besides, the fish room has more water than I do in the house

Okay, I have 20-24 sponge filters to cycle in a hurry. What is the fastest, easiest and cleanest way to do this? Use Cycle (the product from the pet shops) on a tank full of sponge filters for a week - or whatever the directions are - or do you reckon I should just stick them all in a running tank and hope and pray I only get good bugs and not bad ones? Obviously, I'm going to want as few nasties to get in the new fish room as possible, but I want the tanks as fully mature as possible. Lots of old tanks inside, but I don't even want snails in there.

Nothing like that is commercially made or used, and even if you get an adapter made no gas company will touch your bottles. You can possibly get a NZ tap and regulator fitted to your bottle, but you'll need to get it tested, certified and LAB numbered/certified which will end up costing more than a new bottle. Sorry mate. I'd return it to whomever you purchased it from for a refund, or send it back if you imported it.

I believe the cichlid owner was asking if the pl*co would survive in that pH, not wondering how to lower the pH. By the user name "cichlid7" one would assume that they own Malawis and/or Tanganyikan cichlids which have a stable environment at that pH in cichlid7s tank. cichlid7, SW gave some excellent advice and we're still wondering what pl*cs you were thinking of? If it's a captive bred BN I really don't see a problem, but if you're thinking of a fancy pl*c, then they are most likely wild caught and I strongly recommend not subjecting it to such high pH levels, as most 'fancies' come from the Amazon with a <7 pH. That said, the common pl*co (Hypostomus Plecostomus) is wild caught and bloody tough as nails. As long as you acclimatize them to the conditions slowly they can survive just about anything.

Lemme put it this way. You have a rust spot on your car. It's not really that bad and it's in a place you don't see everyday. Do you just leave it or do a little maintenance to clean it up and keep it from spreading? A small chip may not propogate, but the chips I see here are caused by sliding and are actually a few chips on top of each other. Seriously, it'll take just a second to round off any corners and dull the sharp edges. Just remember to move the stone only towards the edge of the glass and you'll be sweet.

When transferring them run a finger over the nose. If slimy it's a male, sandpaper/rough it's a female. This is usually only indicitave when lip bristles have formed.

Get an oilstone and wear down any sharp edges. This will strengthen the affected areas. Then, get some silicone and fill in the gaps. The silicone will be purely cosmetic, but blunting the edges makes glass much stronger.

Not necessarily true. I have two or even three males in the same tank with clutches of eggs at the same time. You just need enough space between the caves to allow the males to feel they have their own territory.

LOL, if you've bred common bristlenose and/or GBAs you've bred them all. The male in that pic is the submissive male in the tank, so a bit pale and 'stress-barred', but the female is a good indication of appearance - with a camera flash, of course. Have posted info/pics on PlanetCatfish - http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 000#111000

Heya Afrikan! Well, it sounds like you have some of the same as I. I'd put money on the fact that they're not A. Tambos, as there isn't any reticulation in the pattern and they aren't growing as large as Tambos. I'll try over at Planetcatfish

Actually, I did. It seems that a moderator decided to rename them. I kinda like Fantastic, tho They've been keen to go for a while now, but didn't have a proper cave as most of the ends of the bamboo caves have rotted or been eaten out. I rigged something up for them and spawning was almost immediate. Small batch left in there (mebbe 10) cuz I think some of the eggs may have been kicked out and I missed the save. Better luck next time, guys!

JAFA pics - male (not the daddy in the spawning cave) female Thanks in advance for any help with ID, will move this over to PlanetCatfish later if no one can nut it out.

If it ever gets past the planning stage and gets built! Lots of changes have delayed it since the fish room was started, and 6 months later the fish room is almost done!

Okay, I've had a small collection of "Just Another Fantastic Ancistrus" (JAFAs for short) for a while and haven't bothered identifying them. They've now spawned and I guess I should figure out what they are, aye? Originally obtained by kylefish from caserole, who I believe purchased them imported as A. Tamboenesis but not 100% sure about that. They look a lot like the "bushinose" ancistrus and have identical body shape to the "white spot head" ancistrus - both referring to the names given of fish imported and sold last year by NZ Discus. My camera is currently on vacation on the South Island, but I'll (hopefully) have some pics up when it returns tomorrow. Spawn date: 8/04/07 Hatch date: 14/04/07 Differences when compared to "Common Bristlenose" - Spots on these ancistrus are more defined and regularly spaced, length of body is shorter between dorsal and caudal fin, profile line is more rounded and a curve of the "lip" is noticable. There's nothing too flash about these guys, IMO. If you have some that sound like this, post some pics.

Replicate natural habitat, give lots of cover, fatten up with lots of good food and you should get them happy enough to think about having babies soon enough. Cute fish, and.... wait for the pun.... nice catch!