Faran

Mistake being you bought full grown loaches. As I'm sure you know, young fish eat more rapidly while older fish have slower metabolisms (like any living creature). If you get some young loaches you should be good. Otherwise, get some meds, just don't overdose!!! and don't feel out of place, kiwis are friends to just about every1!

Just buy some cycle and chuck it in with a few decorations from the old tank. The new tank should cycle within a few days, then add fish. Did you fill the new tank with water from the old?

Shae, just cuz you eat your chips over the tanks DOESN'T mean you're salting the water :lol:

My advice, check the yellow pages and call around to different glaziers. Just do some local price shopping, as it's very dependant on location and availability of materials. You could pay as much as $250 for a 90cm basic tank. Do you have any local fish shops around there? We have a few guys around here from the fish club that make their own tanks. Do you have a fish club or anyone like that around there?

Really up to the glass-maker then. If you wanted a specific model (like the AR980 I just bought) then you could price-shop. Since it's just a tank it's up to the person that makes it. Here in the larger cities we have glaziers that make tanks from old office building windows and it saves a bit of money. No clue about Southland though....

.oops

LITTLE more info - do you want just a plain glass box tank or do you want something with a filter and hood and everything?

Aww, spanks! Glad to be in the crew. Hopefully we'll have enough room soon for MTS, as there's just not enuf room in our little pad for more than 2 tanks!

Hi Greg, The good news is, there's plenty of cichlids that like pH that high. As far as bringing down your pH, you can filter through peat or do any number of things to bring down your ph. Rainwater is a good solution, and finally I'd buy a bulk order of ph down as a last resort. If you initially fill with rainwater and do tap water changes, you'l bring up your ph every time.

I THINK I saw Julies at Chris Down's place this weekend. Would they be called "Torpedo Cichlids" and grow very slowly? When breeding do older broods care for younger broods of fry? If so, he's on the forums or you can cotact him at ***Admin*** email address removed - do not post anyone elses personal details *** They're in Wainoui and I wouldn't say they have any big enough to go out yet, but in due time.... if they even want to sell them when they're old enough, they're pretty wicked fish

Actually, we ran across WCMM at Animates today while getting some foodstuffz. $4 a pop, but the tank was quarantined...

I THINK Hutt Pets had 10 for $15 once when I was in there. Didn't really look and that might be usual prices. Animates has them for $4 each though. Haven't seen WCMM here, would like to get prices on them sometime.

Bristlenose (Ancestrus) will only get to about 6 inches. Stay away from the Plecostomus which can grow to one or 2 feet.

**The following is a joke and should not be taken seriously** Just go over to Oz with one of them apron-carrier things (that thing the lady was trying to smuggle Plecos into NZ with)... Grab a few lizards (blue tongues and Beardies) and have fun trying not to squirm when one gets loose and starts gnawing at your bits and pieces while going threough customs!

They cost more than that at LFSes around here (WGTN) but I'm sure it's a different story up there. In the States you can get them for pennies each and are often used for live food.

Okay, so these little guys are a bit more agro that I figured. I had one years ago and he was a nice peaceful comm fish. The three I have now are definitely grumpier than he ever was. So far all my plecos and BNs are missing bits of fins, as well as kribs and congo tetras. The larger fish haven't been messed with, but I plan on doing SOMETHING to fix the problem before it goes any further. Those little beaks on Tangikan cichlids are vicious!

Well, one month later and the fish experience is great. Have met many awesome locals from this forum and the KMAClub. Here's an update on the tank and fish: 180ltr African tank - 3ft "beveled" tank and cabinet - you know the one, they're sold at every fish shop 1 Leopard Ctenopoma (Spotted Bushfish) - 6 inches 6 Congo Tetras - Phenacogrammus Interruptus - 2-3 inches each 3 Lyretail/Fairy Cichlids - Neolamprolougus Brichardi - 2-3 inches each 4 Kribensis - Pelvicachromis pulcher - 1-2 inches each And the non-african clean-up crew 1 Chocolate Pleco 4 Golden Bristlenose Ancestrus Overall a busy tank. Very active with a bit of jostling and pushing around, but overall a happy community with everyone settling in their own "hoods" and setting territory. Favourite fish - all of them! Was favouring the Congos as they were spawning, but will hopefully get some proper kids out of them with try #2 - a larger tank with proper substrate.

If anyone in the WGTN area wants some Riccia, I got a good sized pottle from Dubbie and willing to share some. Let me know, as I'm keen to pass it forward!

And the 45cm tank has been scrapped. The Congos REALLY didn't seem happy in there, so I will be trying again in a few days with a 60cm tank. Pretty much decided that if they didn' spawn this morning I'd put them back in the big tank as they weren't eating and were starting to look a bit thin.. no good for spawning.

No worries, a suitable foster home has been offered for the kids if they appear. Seems there's a lot of demand for these little guys, hope they don't really spit out 400 for each female!

We found some today at Hutt Pets for $6 each. Thanks for the help, everyone (Chris in particular). Wish he'd read this post

Ya know, I just got that 400+ per female thing in one of my fish books. Umm... if I put my leopard ctenopoma in a small tank for a few weeks I suppose I could use my main tank. Honestly think at this point I should give them to you (stu) or Billaney for breeding. LOL. It's a little more than I bargained for!

I definitely think the tank is too small for them. When moved back to the 180ltr tank, the Congos act completely normal and even started spawning and such, but when left in the small tank they look scared and uncomfortable. Will be setting up the 60cm tank for them in the bedroom (darnit) and hopefully they'll be happy enough to breed!

Wicked! Seems my tank is a bit small (40 litres) but everything else is good aside from pH. "spawning grid"? I'll stick with marbles So... what book is that, exactly, Caryl? I need a copy...

If anyone has bred Congo Tetras (or anything that might be relevant) please feel free to read and help out, your experience is appreciated So I have 6 Congo Tetras, or which I have observed 4 spawning in the community tank. Problematically, I discovered that the other fish (including the non-parent Congos) were devouring the fresh "roe" as soon as it was released. So I've now set up a little breeding tank and hopefully will have safe eggs soon. This is a first attempt and I don't expect success by far, simply an experiment which I'm sure I'll repeat with varying conditions before victory. So, my tank is rather small (45cm/10Gallon) but with just a pair, I hope it's large enough. I have a 60cm here, but it's too large for the rather limited space I have for the setup and would rather not have a tank in the bedroom (might have to, though!) Water is pH7 with a tanin colouration and marbles as substrate. I've moved 4 of the Congos back to the big tank this morning leaving my 2 most dominant congos (hope they're a pair) to be alone in the tank. They seem happy and the male has already developed the dark patch behind the eye and started dancing. The water is just dechlorinated tapwater, which I heard might be bad for the eggs. Any advice/suggestions? Will keep everyone posted through here!