Faran

.... so there's an AC adapter that plugs into the starter/ballast? I have a couple Aqua One tanks and haven't seen that before. Perhaps a newer model than mine. Well, can't go wrong with new bulbs anyways. Best of luck finding the ones you need.

The AR units often have an odd size bulb that can only be ordered in from Masterpet. With a 60cm wide tank that may not be the problem, but first we should address the issue of the "powerpack not the tubers" issue. Is your starter/ballast the problem? If so, you'll need to get a whole new unit. Arcadia makes a fluoro starter like in this auction but that unit would be too strong for lights in a 60cm tank. I'd try replacing the bulbs first. Go to an electrical wholesaler and tell them you need 6500K/daylight bulbs. If the bulbs aren't a go, you'l have to replace the starter and can probably use the new bulbs anyways.

A local guy broke a glass and ceramic diffuser while mounting it in his tank. We tried repairing it but the too-thin glass kept cracking while manipulated. You can try and get his disc and may even be able to patch up the whole thing if you're not too scared. As you said, they're pretty cheap to buy these days, almost half the price they were last year at this time.

Day 3 - yolk sacs almost fully absorbed and the fry are now what I would call free swimming. Dad is still very protective and doesn't allow his brood to leave the cave, but the few in the fry saver give a good idea of development. Apologies for the blurry photo(s), but they're a lot harder to take pics now that they're self propelled!

Well, 6 months down the line and I remembered this while checking in on my recent L182 spawn. Not much has happened with my collection aside from cutting the fat and getting rid of most of the non-breedable ones, including all the Synos. In a few weeks I'll be breaking down the big display tank for an upgrade and to move some of the fish to my new fish room. Will be interesting to see how the plecs in there have come along. Suckermouth Catfish Common Bristlenose Catfish (L???) - Heaps breeding Gold Nugget Pleco (L018/L085) - 1x 10cm juvenile Gold Cloud Pleco (L048) - 1x 7cm juvenile Snowball Pleco (L102) - 1x 16cm adult (F) Clown Pleco (L104) - 4x 6cm juveniles Golden Blackeyed Ancistrus (L144) - keeping and breeding - quite a few (M) & (F) breeding Starlight Bristlenose (L182) - 1x 15cm (M), 1x 15cm (F) breeding Royal Pleco (L190) - keeping with dreams of breeding someday. 1x 16cm (F?) and 1x 11cm (M?) Flash Pleco (L204) - 3x 10cm young adults Queen Arabesque Pleco (L260) - 1x 13cm adult (M) Gold Marbled Bristlenose (LDA08) - 1x 6cm adult (M), 3x 6cm adult (F) Corydoras Golden Leopard Corys - Heaps - keeping and breeding Adolfo's Cory - 3 - keeping Panda Corys - 10 - keeping and soon to breed Skunk Corys - Just the one Bronze Corys - half a dozen Whiptails Banded or Common Whiptails - Breeding Pair

Here's a pic of dad when he was cruising the tank one day. Just thought I'd post this so others will see what they are and what exactly mine look like. I know that a few locals and even MiNcIE and rcon021 have seen them in real life, so here's a piccie for the rest. As there's nothing there for relative size comparison I'll just mention now that he's about 7 inches long, which equates to about 17cm.

Thanks again, everyone. Camera is a Sony DSC-H5 and takes amazing pictures.... if you have the patience to try different settings until you get it right. So here's a quick pic from this morning. Not much difference aside from the visible darkening and smaller yolk sac. I'm just hoping I don't walk in to find a tank full of little dead bodies once the yolk sacs are fully absorbed. That's the dangerous time - getting them onto solid foods. rcon - could you post or PM me links with all the reported breedings you've come across from A. Punctatus? I'd assume that they're just like any other ancistrus, but you never know! Is this the first reported breeding in NZ?

You may find it easier and less expensive to buy a pre-made bottle as in this recent post but I can only assume your bottle would be the standard 3.5kg bottle, so better value for money (best price I've found was $180). Anyways, going through the process is a good learning experience so have at it So do you have a reg, solenoid, needle valve, bubble counter, hosing and a diffuser yet? I have an all-in-one unit available

entire handle will have to be replaced with a proper tap. This tap will be what the regulator fits onto. Taps were unavailable for a long time but have recently become available with a RRP of $25-$65 depending on where and who you know. Fit, cert and fill will range between $50 and $100 - depending once again on place and people. Best of luck.

The white bits are transluscent at present, but I expect them to be fully black within a few days. I've found another L182 spawn documented on the web, but it only covers the first week and then.... nothing.... http://www.petfrd.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20089

Quick update - wrigglers have absorbed half the egg sac and are developing colour on the bodies. Still can't get a pic of the ones with poppa, but the half dozen in the fry trap are looking good (for the most part). fishboi - left everything I could in the cave with dad. The ones that were already out were rescued and put in a floating fry trap with air stone as per my article last year on artificial raising of ancistrus eggs/fry last year - here. Spawning was triggered by the weather, I'd assume. First time I'd seen them even think about it in 6 months.

I have a professional aquatic CO2 needle valve made by JBJ available for purchase. It has a male thread on one end and a fasten lock hose connector on the other end for easy secure connection for pressurized systems. I believe the hose size is 4mm. You'll probably need to get something with a female to female adapter to attach the threads together from the reg to the needle valve, but you should be able to sort that easy enough. I was going to keep this as a spare, but domeone probably needs it more than I. Price is $40 couriered to any non-RD address and the item is brand new. Here's the photo.

Just did my morning rounds and found some wrigglers in the tank. Sad to say some of the dither fish (a strain of guppies I'm working on) killed about a dozen before I frantically fished them out, but still looks like there's plenty of eggs and wrigglers in the cave with dad. Hopefully he'll slow down the fanning and stop kicking out kids soon! In regards to the above comments, thanks for the welcome backs and compliments on the photo. Have to say the camera never got much use as a fish shooter since I walked away from the forums shortly after getting it. Nice to finally use it for one of its intended purposes. I'll get some pics of the wrigglers later on when I have time. Edit - Had a good go at snapping to no avail. Can't get the flash to illuminate the fry at the back of the bamboo cave Would post pics of the half dozen fry I rescued from the guppies but if you've seen one ancistrus wriggler, you've seen them all

After a long long LONG wait my starlight bristlenoses (Ancistrus Punctatus L182) spawned. I noticed it on New Years Eve but didn't do much about it until today. Dad is busy fanning eggs and they should hatch within the next few days. If all goes well, this beautiful bristlenose may finally be available in a few months time. Unlike other "starlight" or "starry night" bristlenoses you may have seen available in the past, this bristlenose has a nice head of bristles on the males, a cute lip of bristles on the females, and a nice dark colour with fine pink/white spots speckled over the body. To my understanding, my parents are wild caught so fatalities may be high raising these little guys, so here's hoping for the best in the coming months.

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LOL Ronnie, I'd love to get a proper pic of her but she's always almost black with breeding colours. To get a shot of her colour and pattern I need to use the flash and... well, you know how hard discus can be to take pics of properly. No worries, though. I'm FINALLY getting some breeding tanks so will have some space for her to find her own man

K, it's just another Royal pic, but if you don't know these guys are pretty solitary and usually chase each other around. For some reason these two were about 10cm apart and when I got the camera the larger one stopped for a second right next to the smaller and I was able to get a pic. Lucky shot. Top is 16cm (probably female) Gold Line Panaque and bottom is 12cm (probably male) Royal Panaque - possibly gold line as well. Enjoy and sorry if it's a bit dark!

K, here's a little story for you. I went to a good fish shop (wet pets in Palmy) and saw two gorgeous discus in a tank. One was chasing the other back into a corner and being agressively dominant. The fin shape told me male and I thought he'd be a great match for a snakeskin female. Well, in he goes and... falls in love with a big green male. The new discus (now obviously a female) even stole him away from his paired female and spawned with him... which he ate for some reason. Anyways, she's now a total slapper that works hard at breaking up couples. She' now developed a nice rounded gut which is a characteristic of females full off eggs.

Nothing is 100% definite when sexing discus. I've had them for a liong time and have plenty of sexed males and females and can tell you that there isn't anything that necessarily characterizes one sex from the other physically. There has been plenty of times that I've brough home a fish thinking it was a girl that turned out to be a boy and vice versa. So the only way to tell is to do a cold 15% water change and watch to see what they do...

Just coming into this thread and the tank looks spectacular! Schist on white gravel with colourful cichlids is a feast for the eyes. One downfall will be the cleaning and maintenance. You'll end up with algaes growing on the rocks which will eventually need to be removed and scrubbed, or you'll have to dismantle the setup to remove babies in due time. Other than that, excellent!

Welcome, see ya around.

Wow, you got your pleco some pet angels? What a novel idea! I suppose I could use that as an excuse for yet another tank.... Welcome to the ste and I hope you have a long and prosperous fish keeping experience, enrihed by the knowledge that we are able to share with you Don't forget to join a local fish club. You'l meet others with your same passion and support this wonderful site at the same time!

Discus and Congo tetras just for the sheer difficulty and the sense of accomplishment. Next on the chopping block is Leopard Ctenopomas. /me cruises down to Wainuiomata to steal some magic water

Nah, I don't think NZ has imported any new cold water fish in a long long time. Unless someone has some sitting in the back of a tank somewhere you won't find them. There might be some other interesting coldwater fish out there if you want to keep them. Check with goldfish breeders near you.