Steves Killies

With all these high pressure systems coming down south of NZ this summer(so far) its shaping up to be a warm one this summer. Only problem is that they let the tropical cyclones sneak in from the tropics,may pay to give your killies some board and battens too Barrie

Hi Shadowfax, is your red whiptail what is also known as the red lizard whiptail,or L010a? Just wondering what subsrate you have them on? Ive got a few of them and they love a sandy bottom, they find it easy to dig through it with their whiskers when feeding. If they are the same fish that we have , the recommended temp for breeding is 82.F, which is quite warm and also a good temp for getting rid of whitespot. Apparently catfish are more sensitive to treatments, but i have dosed my tank with white whiespot cure to help the guppies with them, as i spoted it early on. Had no problems and the whitespot went. Depending on what other fish you have in their tank they can definitely handle increased temp. You could possibly try Melafix rather than whiespot cure if you are concerned with that. Good luck helping he/her heal,they are beautiful active fish

Hi Bluemoon, yea ive got some of those going too. All from one batch of fry, but in subsequent hatches im getting some with full white tail,some with yellow tails, and some snakeskin as well. They all have really nice shimmers to them. Are yours breeding yet?If yes how many fry are you generally getting each spawn? I find they have quite small spawns,except for my first one, in which there were about 30-40 full albinos. Beautiful fish. I will try post my first pic... of them this weekend

What about the electronic pH meters?Has any one had exerience with these?So long as it stays calibrtaed correctly,it would take away the need to test with chemicals,hassle etc.(Not that to say its a hassle making sure your water parameters are ok for your fish ofcourse). Ive got a water hardness and salinity electronic meter which is soo convenient,does temp too.

Thanks Reef, I suspect its more than that so shall do

As mentioned in the title,im wondering if anyone has any idea how long the liquid ingedients in test kits remain active for?eg pH or NO2...etc Do they have any kind of timeframe before tests become inactive or inaccurate? I got a unused one that came with a tank but not sure how old it is.Cant find a used by date on it.Will do tests,so may get answers then,but still wondered if anyone could help with my question? Cheers in advance Happy fish keeping 8)

Split up? Try boiled peat

I reproduced mine from bulbs which are only just covered by gravel.They sprout tiny shoots over the bulb which eventually turn into little planlets.get about 2-3 at a time about every month . Usually one planlet seems to dominate for light and covers the others which die off.I dont have MH lighting though so that could increase the chance of others surviving too. Once the plantlet develops a sufficient stem it can be cut off with a razor blade and the plant is left still rooted in substrate , then the cycle starts over again. Does the flower have any kind of aroma when its open?

awesome pics B&K,that flower looks stunning. your set up sure has allowed the plants to flourish,glad they are doing well for you

My bristlnose love sliced cucumber,zuchinni and brocholi stalks. They simply devour it,come the morning theres usually nothing left. I either boil or microwave the veges for a minute so they are soft and can sink,or attach plant weights in them so that they sink. BN will also go for any of the commercial pleco chips,wether it be JBL,Wardleys,or any of the other brands. and shrimp pellets. It pays to remove any uneaten veges the next day and replce with new food so it dosent spoil the water any.

You would have seen whitespot on him if he/she had it,and it would of been very noticable in order to kill the fish. Over feeding,maybe,only you could tell that,but when do they ever stop eating?? Did the clown have (more than normal) red gills?if it did, I think i recall that it could be a sign of TB that loaches can carry. Not sure if or how to medicate for that.Ive lost clowns before that I suspect had TB symptoms. Best to remove any clowns that show signs and prevent any other fish from eating the dead fish in the tank if you found another.

Awesome news Mr Pleco, :bounce: Congrats to your fish for spawning,and to you for providing the right environment for them to do so!! you never know eh, maybe the mouldy fruit was the trigger. And to think that only a week ago you were frustrated that all the males were fanning but the girls wernt into it,if only you knew what was to come... All the best with raising the fry,well done

How bout half crabs that you find under stones in rockpools,live food,they wouldnt survive for long in a fresh water environment but I bet the puffers would love them. or cooked mussel?ive handfed saltwater puffers cooked mussels(Perna canaliculus) before and they loved it.

Its a stem plant,so it can be cut and replanted Plant the clippings,let them grow to the top of your tank then cut them in half and replant those. before you know it you will have a jungle

Could try doing what Gz loach suggested in their second paragraph using a coconut shell cut in half. Does make a good cave for...cave spawners...,you could even try to attach moss to it and then you have green hills

Hi Meesheely, could it be the flourish excel which is creating your problem? Ive used flourish to remove green hair algae in a planted tank before,knowingly that it would destroy all the val plants i had in it. I didnt have any of the other species of plants which are melting that you do,but the val sure did melt having added the flourish. Maybe you could stop using it for a while and see what happens,or lower your dosage ie:you.. MAY.. be double dosing it

Hi Whiskas, one sign that she may be holding eggs is if her stomach is getting slowly larger, like you have said. If you get a chance to view her underbelly when she is on the side of the tank(this always works for me),you could shine a small torch on her belly( between her pectoral fins and her vent)and it may appear an orange colour.If so, those will be eggs.when they arnt pregnant the belly just appears a normal white/brown colour and she wont be as fat. Also you may be able to notice the males "cleaning" an area that is suitable for her to lay eggs. bamboo or pieces of Driftwood that has a cave are good ones. She will be lured to this area by the male,who will then leave her closely guarded, to lay the eggs.Then he will return to fan them. They take about 3-4 days to hatch. The large male will defend the eggs quite well so it should be ok to have another male in there,another female would be better though. You can try different things too, such as adding an airstone into the tank,which may simulate more rain-increased o2. Thats how mine first bred,when my filter broke so i put an airstone in the tank and a week later,baby fry galore,about 140 i think. They will be ok with the other fish species so long as there is cover for the baby bn. Hope this helps,good luck,once they start they dont seem to stop

Pardon me,i meant the log that hes cleaning,not the ceramic tunnel

Not sure how your filters are set up in or around your tank but how about increasing the flow of water directly against the entrance to the ceramic tunnel? or.. add brine shrimp,mosquito wrigglers in conjunction with your water changes, which may trigger a response due to increased water and food avaliability. Just a side question,what food do you feed them normally or for conditioning?I know they like plec tabs and zuchinni,but have you found they are fond of anything else? Oh,and good luck

Atleast 3 months i reckon,they give birth about every month,and the girls can carry her mans good stuff for atleast 3-4 drops of fry. May be easier to separate some virgin females and grow them up,if you have any fry..that way you are more gauranteed to get want you want out of the male. im no sexpert so maybe a more knowledgable(KA)person maybe able to help you

Beautiful pics Alan,awesome flowers,interesting size difference.Do they vary much more than the two youve shown us,within the Echinodorous genus?Im thinking i may have to give that a go

Hi Alan, welcome to the mainland!!! I second the two stores Wok has mentioned,Ive seen lots of amazing plants at hollywood and Pupuke. Happy travels

hi Art-b, I double dosed with flourish. Physically removed as much as possible prior to ,as mentioned in earlier post using a toothbrush,which worked real well too. Did lose a few rummy nose in throughout the process of dosing though. Good luck Beachy,nothing like a hair algae free tank

Hi Beachy, I used Flourish excel for the same reason,to erradicate that dreaded hair algae from my planted tank. That stuff grows mighty quick once underway(I think it can replicate itself every four hours or nearabouts). The results were awesome. After the tank cleared up,as it does tend to make it cloudy,the thread algae clearly had dissolved off their host plants. Gave the tank a good clean after that,and it looked good as before the invasion. However, the algae returned about a month later,although not as abundant. I mentioned this to a guy who knew the flourish and hair algae scenario and he said that two series of dosing were the way to go,even after the first one and it looked like it had cleared up, do it again, and that will nail it. Ofcourse, you will lose the Valliseria type plants if you leave them in there. I had swords,rotala,crypts,tennelus that showed no signs of illeffect from the dosing good luck

Congradulations Tim, Well done with your first edition. May it be the first of many to come...... Very nice colourful pics of your fish too, looking foward to seeing your completed fishroom too. Your MTS seems to be developing very nicely indeed, dont stop!! Keep up the great work Steve