Faran

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/artifi ... 13000.html A little step-by-step on how to set up and artificially raise BN eggs.

I can't see the pics but don't rule out L270 - Chocolate Zebra Pleco

I have tooo many discus and love all the different colour strains. As far as which strain to choose, it's like asking what colour car you should buy. Completely personal preference. Your tank looks like a LOVELY home for them (the AR120) and it's very well presented. Keeping discus with Angels is discouraged but not impossible, you just need to keep in mind that angels are one of many places that discus can get intestinal worms from. This is treated by deworming your discus with worming pills just as you worm a cat or dog. With discus you can take it easy and do water changes twice a week but daily water changes are recommended for optimal growth and health. Good luck and enjoy! They're definitely worth the effort and price!

Ambulia does exactly what you need. Not sure where you're at (adding your location to your profile page would help immensely) but if you're in Wellington come by for a bit to start with.

Yeah, but I actually had an incident where a GBA male left the cave for a little while (prolly to get a feed on) and a couple guppies raided the cave and did a number on quite a few of the babies before I intervened. If you seriously want to breed them successfully, set up a cave for them by themselves. I imagine a well planted tank wouldn't be hard to find in your house?

Henry, as noted above the GBAs and BNs can cross breed and hybridize (as many ancistrus can) so you want to avoid putting them in the same tank. Also, there's no saying that putting them with breeders will instigate spawning. A proper tank for them and lots of food usually does it for me.

Breeding has only been reported once in captivity. Details are that they were adults and were in a 125 gallon tank alone with lots of driftwood and a large cave. I don't know many people that have a 500L breeding tank handy.... or 2x 10+ year old fish to work with. Seems as big of a mission as breeding aros or clown loaches. Easier to import from country of origin (or breeders).

Fixed that, thanks Luke. So where did you get the Royal, how long have you had it and how bad did it hurt your wallet? :lol:

Could be something simple or could be HitH (hole in the head). Has it been eating properly? Has it darkened up with a light coloured tail? If the "pimple" falls off and leaves a hole you need to treat the tank with Metronidazole. Any of the discus breeders or I can help you out with that. Anything with a pump is too strong for fry. You need something gently and air driven, like a sponge filter. Sharronpaul is selling some great little units that WAY outperform the pet shop ones. Like Ronnies, but smaller. LOL @ gangsta chick. I can just imagine her getting in street fights while the kids fall out of the tank. Oh, and in case no one mentioned this before. Cichlids can take a few tries to get parenting down. They made it real far this time and might go all the way without a traumatic suction or killer filter next time. Unless you see her eating them (and not spitting them back out) no point taking her out.

Make a fake background out of concrete (and poly, o course). Will keep your pH high for a long long time.

Ah, already answered this through PMs Pete at Port Nicholson is the best way to go!

Very nice, I have one the same size and it has similar "whisker" growth near the gills and strong odontal growth on the pectoral ray. I'm calling that one a boy but there's no way to be 100% sure until they're all grown up. My 16cm one has less growth on the whiskers and pecs and I'm figuring that one's a girl. Will soon be getting an adult male (28+cm) and I'll put up a piccie of him when he gets in. Here's a pic of my two a few months back when they were still getting to know each other http://guppy.co.nz/index.php?name=coppe ... 0004&pos=0

I have doubts about that filter but yeah, could have been the parents. Specially mom. She looks like trouble. Just kiddin, she looks fine. Moms get full of eggs and want to spawn again every 2 weeks.

Everyone has given you great advice so far but I wanted to head out on a bit of a tangent. You say you want a planted tank 60cm tall. There's a slight problem with this as standard fluoros don't penetrate that deep very well. I recommend going no deeper than 45cm (unless you want to spend more than your whole setup costs on a MH light). Mind you, this is if you want to have ground cover plants. If you just want regular medium to tall plants only you should be fine once they've grown a little.

using both at the same time shouldn't cause any probs. They're both really mild natural remedies. I was suggesting using blue until you got Mel from the LFS (which should be about now anyways). You should put a call out for locals with microworms. Most people are happy to give a starter culture to a new fish keeper - might charge you for an established culture but it still won't be anywhere near LFS prices The moving around was busy but good. Have the different species of corys in different tanks now and everyone is settled and eating. The remaining 4 Congos eyes looked cloudy so I hit the tank with Meth Blue and they came right by the time we got home from dinner. Now I get to fill up the breeding tanks. Keep us posted on your Rams and babies, mate!

Wow, that's a rough experience. Glad they seem okay. Got any Methylene Blue? Never seems to bother any of my fry and a decent fungus stopper. Melafix is good stuff, just don't overdose it. Stress Coat was a good step. At least help build up the slime layer faster. Not much else to do but get Mel and watch! Good move removing the parents. Something I wish I'd done when they spawned in the comm tank. Today I killed a BIG Congo Tetra male rearranging my fish room. It happens. Murphys law says that if it can go wrong, it does!!

I wasn't talking about anyone specific, just general advice As I said, whatever is more convenient for you. I can pretty much guarantee you'd get some snails in 90% of my tanks. Even my tanks with loaches have snails lurking some times - I collect and feed them them from other tanks

Hey Allan, congrats! Plants do wonders for helping fish feel comfortable enough to spawn. Java Fern and Moss doing well? The fry won't survive well in a community tank so yeah, get them their own tank like antwan mentioned. Sometimes removing the female is very important in raising successful broods. Here's an article that I found helpful. http://apisto.bravepages.com/Ram%20article.htm

Yup, good to hook up your filter on someone elses tank, but you can get nasties or snails that way a lot easier than just taking some media. Personal choice, o course. As above, you're offered help either way. Mystic is in Tawa and I'm in Upper Hutt. Whatever is more convenient for you.

nonononono bleach and ammonia aren't the same thing. Matter of fact, cmbining the two makes a rather deadly gas (so don't pee in the shower after bleaching it, lol). Ammonia solutions sound like a decent plan. I think a shrimp from the supermarket would be cheaper and easier, though. Mind you, I've never done this as I actually keep fish and cycling is a cinch when you have established tanks to seed from. So are you planning on keeping the tank fishless? Even with planted tanks you'll need a source of ammonia.

Hi Walter, Good to have another local around! You can grab some filter media and/or a bit of a gravel to give your tank the needed bacteria. As for ammonia you can drop in a bit of dead fish or shrimp.... (or urine). Best way for a quick cycle is to give your tank a starter culture of bacteria and add a few fish to keep the bacteria fed. If you want completely fishless then just "feed the tank" and the rotting food should provide the ammonia you need.

Keep an eye out for White Cloud Mountain Minnows. Goldfish may try and eat them if they fit in their mouths, tho!

Gooooooo Killers!!!

Answer was in the next sentence - Quite a few people have had disasters where they lost entire broods and even breeding stock (myself included) of these guys. And then there's the yunguns that die for no reason whatsoever. All of the original 4 that I had survived - one has been sold and two died of unnatural causes. I have something like 8 offspring left. Sheesh.

Wicked. Good to have a good breeder that is churning them out properly. People seem to have bad luck with these little beasties. I know I did. Gonna have another go. Have 4 males all from different sources so doing my best for gentic diversity. Just need a good batch of healthy females to make lotsa eggs. Looking forward to having a chat with you next week. PMed