Faran

Congrats! That article is spot on. Leave them to feed on mom and dad - do NOT remove them to another tank - and start feeding BBS at about a week old.

http://www.pbase.com/pschia/image/34859833 A little story to mention about always researching fish before you buy. These little beauts were on the import lists about a year ago for an extremely low price, and were only 5cm but gorgeously spotted. I actually ordered some on the spot when I saw the pic, but went home and found out that they grew up to 70cm long, with massive 4cm spikes on the head and body. Needless to say, I cancelled that order!

Cute little nubbers. The tank looks wicked but 90cm is a lot of space from front to back and you'll need to aquascape with a plan to make sure it doesn't end up looking two dimensional. Here's a quick layout. - are tall items (plants/wood), l is medium/tall rocks & plants, y is medium/short height and x would be your centrepiece. I'd recommend a well rooted sword but make sure it won't grow larger than 30cm or you'll loose too much view of the back. back -------------------------lllllll - are tall items (plants/wood) -------------......lllllllllllllllllll l is medium/tall height -------...............lllllllllllllllll y is short/medium height ---yyyyyy..........yyllllllllllll x centrepiece ---yyy.......xx..........yylllll . gravel --............xxxx..........yyll .................................yy front I'm not sure how destructive oscars can be, but I assume that some crypts or grasses like val would be okay? The java fern looks nice, will look wicked the way things are when it grows out!

Sharn's new fish is a Hemisynodontis membranaceus and you can click on that to see some pics of what a gorgeous monster it will eventually grow up and become! I'll post pics later, but most of my rare and unusual fish are plecs (see "Photos of your catfish" in the catfish section)....and a pair of Leopard Ctenopomas.

What a gorgeous tank! Nice choice of plants for a tall hex! The ambulia can and will eventually make a "thicket" for the fry to hide in, but that takes time and the floating tangle of plants will starve the lower plants from light. Best to set up a little species tank if you want to breed anything seriously. The val, ambulai and red stuff looks happy, but you might want to add a fertilizer ball by the roots of that crypt. It's very light and needing more nutrients.

I really hate endorsing specific products, but JBL Novo Pleco Chips are a good food with enough wood fibre to be a staple food with no bloating problems.

Never had a problem with melafix treating tanks with GBAs. At that size, he should be tough as nails.

I've managed to clear it out of planted tanks in the past. Scoop long and hard and scoop daily. Even when you think you've cleared it all, keep on looking. If you THINK it might be a piece of duckweed, scoop it too. Blast your nets and buckets that touched the stuff afterwards to make sure it doesn't make it back in the tank. Lower your water level while scooping and leave the water level down overnight to kill off any that are lurking in nooks and crannies at water level. Lastly, scoop again 8)

Well, you identified the problem and others from the forum came up with the treatment, all I did was give some funny poisonous purple chips to ya... glad I could help anyways! By the way, did that old book on fish disease help you figure out what it was?

http://www.kordon.com/aquavet/potassium ... ganate.htm

Yeah, the big spots are cute but I really like the change the (adult) starlights make in appearance when they're in the shade and a light shines on them. Quite startling to see the star pattern come out. I have a Gold Cloud, Gold Nugget and a Snowball, so fine spots are a nice change.

Hi Rena, I believe you called earlier while I was out (Debs gave you my number). I have heaps of PP and you can help yourself to it. Happy to help! Blue - right across SH2 in Timberlea

Thanks guys, I'll do a proper count and respond to emails and PMs tomorrow. Brian, thanks mate, but these guys keep plenty of bold colouration later on. Here's a pic of dad (again) -

Update - 3 months from free swimming Starlight Youngsters are now 3 months, many well over 3cm and getting bulky. Quite a few have replaced GBAs in discus breeding tanks as cleaning crew and for faster growing with less competition for food. Unsure how many I will keep, but they are available for purchase if you're an experienced catfish owner. PM for info. Obviously, this means you won't be buying them if you ask what makes them different from the common BN you bought at the LFS

Recently saw Albino Congo Tetras and thought they were very nice, even though I don't agree with albino fish.... the red eyes bug me.

I had a Jebo 819 with a spray bar that turned a 4ft 300L tank into a washing machine until I turned the spray bar towards the glass. Pretty sure that would give the desired high current river simulation for you

Now you're possibly going to see the uncommon tendency for the "dwarf sag grass" to grow up to 30cm long. It was a nice carpet effect in my tank until it turned it into a jungle. I wish I still had that happy little tank....

Agreed. Another good way to create current is to put a bubble wall along one end of a tank and crank up the airflow. You'd be amazed how much current this can create. I knew a guy that was raising some odd fish in an aquarium this way.

Most fish from rivers (amazon excl) enjoy a good current. This tank would be built for particular plecs that originate from fast flowing rivers and have compressed bodies. I say Amazon excluded, as the Amazon is such a large body of water that discus and other fish can happily live in large areas with no current at all.

Aww shucks , thanks whetu

G'day Just wanted to let you know that silicone will not "dry out" unless subjected to VERY high temperatures for extended periods of time. Just try and keep it out of direct sunlight, and covered to keep all the dust out.

For the 25W bulbs you'll need to buy whatever the LFS has available. If you have a chain store LFS you'll usually find a better range of available bulbs than a smaller pet shop. Animates have Arcadia bulbs which are specialists in aquatic lighting and have a good range of bulbs. As for the 20W, you can buy at the same time or save a bit by going to the local sparky outlet. Philips 865 or 965 are the way to go, with the 965 generally being twice the price of the 865s. I use 865s on many tanks and find them very suitable.

Ah, forgot about that. someone in the q&a made an offer for the discus and syno and I think they got both for an excellent price... Back in Feb someone was selling a large decorated/clown syno. FNZAS username is "mooloo" if you want to send them a PM and see if they have any large synos left.

Just saw this for the first time, wow! Nice setup and excellent "outside the box" thinking

Clown synos are synodontis decorus. Prices range from $80 for small ones at a good price to $200 for adults. Good for tang tanks. Network Synos are also good and a small size. This was a heck of a bargain - http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 788026.htm - expect to pay $50 to $150 for one... if you can find one.