cat

I do this. I have about ten pots of pancies which are over flowing their containers and my dahlias are huge!!! I have had comments on my flowers so obviously the fish poo does wonders on the garden. Saves buying expensive plant food!

I began using rainwater from my friends property in the country. I was a bit wary of our town water when I noticed it smelt a bit. I have been using rain water collected from my friends house now for a few months with no problems at all. Since using this I have had more babies than when using the LFS filtered water (at $1.00 per container x 5 containers per week!). I wondered if this 'softer' water had anything to do with it or if I have just bought a bunch of 'horny' fish. :lol: I wont collect it in winter though as she has an open fire and dont want the ash etc in my tanks. It will be back to using filtered water. I am looking at getting a water purifier at about $70 bucks so that will pay for itself eventually. Each time I have tested our local water I get different results so god knows what they put in our drinking water! Maybe I have just been lucky so far ... who knows.

Awesome photos. Great to see other peoples setups when you live to far away to visit! I noticed in our LFS that they have 'Borneo Tigers' for sale but at $102.00 each they can stay there. Very cute though. They have a big one (or two) in their large display tank. They are massive fish ... very lovely but too dear for this kid.

Thanks all. I have just realised why 'life' isnt that great. I am not using the top of my head. This is a real eye opener!!! My life is so much richer now for having read this topic. :lol: :lol: :lol: My other half has just come in wanting to know what "what has tickled my fancy" as I was laughing. Didn't know fish keeping could be so entertaining!

I went out last nite just before dark to get some live food and promptly got bitten by a damm mozzie. I believe they are hatching out of one of the other containers. Talk about ungrateful sods!! I give them a nice safe place to grow and then they bite me!!! I shall be getting all out of that bucket today and feeding them out. This shall be a small but oh so lovely victory on my part :lol: :lol: :evil: :evil:

I have been very careful not to collect anything unwanted. We have been keeping it clear of all plant life (floating type anyway). Keeps my friend happy to as she doesn't have to clean out her trough! Just have to convince her to keep the hairy critters away from it now :lol: :lol: Lots of cow hairs near the bottom so we can't collect anything too deep. Hopefully the bugs don't get smart!!!!! :lol:

I have an old plastic rubbish bin (well not that old actually says the better half!). This is filled with old tank water and the daphnia I got from Napiers auction. We have also collected heaps from my friend's livestyle block (out of her water trough). I have a huge amount of them now. All out tanks get a feed of live stuff every second day which is great. The 42 (yes I counted them) marble angel babies love them and are a source a great enjoyment watching them chase them around. They turn somersaults once locked onto one and hunting it down. Makes them grow so well!. My daphnia bin is in a place that gets only afternoon sun and from the amount in there it is doing ok. I just run a scoop around the edges and I have a couple of hundred in there. I do run them under the tap though so I can make sure they are all in the bottom of the net and easier to dump in the tank and also to pick out any other rubbish/leaves etc in there. The only one that hasnt got it yet is the large Discus. He/she just looks at them and then at me as if to say "where is the real food!" He is slowly getting it but probably only get a dozen or so while the two little discus rip around like fish possessed!

I have to agree Caryl. Instead of saying things here maybe you could go to the SPCA etc and get them involved. I hate to think any animals is suffering. Lots of people say things but then dont want to get involved so the poor animals carry on being in bad conditions etc. Just think of how good you would feel if you instigated something that changed the fishes enviroment (hopefully for the better of course!) Over the years I have been involved in a number of animal 'resuces'. Ranging from horses and ponies to dogs etc. My Labrador I had for 15 years was a rescue dog I saved from terrible conditions. She gave me years of love and affection that only an animal that has been through so much can. It gives you such a good warm feeling to help something, be it fish or horse! People only get angry etc when they are in the wrong or ignorant. In the end the peoples attitudes dont bother me as it is the animals I care about. People go on and hopefully change but only we can change an animals life for the better. My opinion anyways

Ya know ... its about the same time as last night I read your tip on U/G feet but tonight it makes sense!!!!! Must of had a 'blonde' moment. (Sorry to all the blondes out there :oops: ) Doesnt sound hard at all.

I have found the same thing. Most people in pet shops etc are just there to make sales. Some shops have knowledgable people but not often. I find that this forum is the best place to get information you need. Then just go to the shop and get what you need. You are then armed with information and wont get stuff you dont need and waste money. Worse still you wont get the wrong information and end up killing you fish like what happened to my mother!! Lost all her fish but one which is now residing in my community tank. She lost heart and now wont have a tank in her house.

Just been out to feed them and the mother angel is so protective. She hates the lid coming off the tank let alone putting food in there!! Seems they will be ok for awhile. Just had my best batch of brine shrimp hatched. I am so pleased that I have got the right recipe now. I hated wasting the eggs ... too expensive. However all going great. I cant move the stones. U/G fitted and a simple sponge filter also. I keep the micro worms to a minimum as I hate the smell etc. It is a good batch too but gees ... could there be a worse smelling food??? :lol: :lol: I have my brine shrimp going in 2 litre milk bottle. We have drilled a hole in the lid of the bottles and I poke the air hose down the handle part to the bottom. One each day and that seems a good days worth of feeding. Leaving them for three days before feeding them out instead of the 24 - 36 hours the pet shop advised. Have the bottles sitting in a tank with a heater in it and it is kept quite warm (about 32 degrees). I have kept increasing the heat till I got it right and ... hey presto ... results. I was going to make a hatchery like Pegasus described but all my tanks are full so am doing it this way. Does keeping them in the dark make it better? Mine are sitting on a ledge in the garage. They get some sun on them. Must be ok as I have a good batch tonight but wonered if it makes it even better if they are kept in the dark. (A bit like my better half is :lol: :lol: ) I also syphon some brine shrimp off then tip the water back into the container until the next feed. Is this ok? Or should I be replacing the water with fresh?

I bought a large Discus off a guy in Tawa and while I was there found a little pet shop. I thought the prices in that shop were great. I will be going back at some stage soon. Discus etc in there were at prices well worth the drive down and still saving money. I like going to Animates just to look at the tank setup. I like the look of tanks each one slightly lower than the next so the water goes from one tank to the next but I wouldnt contemplate it just in case 'nasties' got transferred from one tank to the next. Still, neat loo though.

Merry Christmas to all the Fishroom members. Thanks for all your help. I hope you all have a safe and Happy New Year.

I am going to be spending the weekend making a few of these!! I have had two large batches of angel fry and two lots of kribensis. Have more babies than I know what to do with now. Can I leave angel fry in with the parents for awhile? They are free swimming now and I am putting micro worms and brine shrimp in the tank but a lot seem to end up in the stones at the bottom and the fry dont go down there. I have got one lot of babies in a rearing tank and am feeding them the same as the main tank but if I could leave the fry in the tank it would be a lot easier. The krib babies are easy enough as they feed on flake I have ground up to a dust. If anyone is interested in krib babies soon let me know. I have about 100 at this stage and I suppose more to come!!! May have to separate the lovng couples. The pet shops here arent really that interested and I dont think it is fair to buy fish of people for 20 - 50 cents each and then sell them on to other people for 6 - 8 dollars!! They should pass the savings onto the customer and people would probably go back for other stuff. Just my opinion. (Cheap skate ah?)

I cant see the avatar either. Thought it was just my computer playing tricks on me again!! I am paranoid about tanks letting go. Especially the ones inside. As new carpet is going down in Feb/Mar I am taking all the tanks down and putting them up in the shed. Once the carpet is down then I will decide if I want just one tank inside. Cant see me keeping that for long though! Good luck with fixing problem and making sure fishies are all ok in temporary accommodation. Nothing like a holiday so they say

Now I cant say I have found Guppies to have terribly murderous habits. More like tickle you than try and chew through to the vugular. But then again some fish are so different at other peoples places. Those puffers have incredibly strong "beaks" for such little fish. I certainly am 'once bitten - twice shy' when it comes to them!

I can offer no helpful information but just reading about 'popping liver' has put me right of the idea of tea!! :lol: I used to love popping the bubble wrap but NO MORE. You have ruined my one real childish pleasure Have fun mixing all of that together. I am SO glad it is not being mixed in my kitchen.

I will try your idea as soon as I find another heater. Always need another heater!!! Just another excuse to set up another tank. :lol: :lol: I havent seen many Kribs for sale. The LFS had some babies in there not too long ago and seemed to get rid of them fairly quickly. I dont mind keeping them anyway. I will offer them to other club members etc and see if anyone wants them (when big enough of course), if not I will just have to get more tanks. :lol:

Wet Pets has a marine tank for viewing only. They dont sell any fish. They have got some brackish water fish for sale though. I kinda like the cute puffers but I didnt realise the little sods have teeth!! Was talking away to the staff and we encouraged the puffers up to the surface. Dumb old me puts her finger into the tank (as I do at home) and up comes Jaws from the bottom of the tank!! Gave me a huge fright to be nipped on the finger but a 1 inch killer :oops: . I couldnt believe something so small (and cute) had teeth or actually blunt needles in its mouth. Goes to show you that cute is nasty. Give me Bristlenoses anyday. I am not to worried about being sucked to death but a 3 inch bristley fella. :oops:

Angel babies are going strong. Three weeks old and looking great. Amazing how much they change appearance!! Gone from looking like nothing to now having little fins top and bottom, and the patterning is starting to show already. The Kribs on the other hand havent done so well. Down to about 20 at the most. All the others in the tanks have had a feed on them I think. The Kribs are such great parents too. Seems a shame to lose them this way. I will put the breeding pair into a tank of their own next time. I have no way in "//??!! of getting the babies out as they are just so small and disappear under the logs or into the greenery. Maybe one or two will survive and thats ok as they can just stay in the tank.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Maybe you could use an old de-caf container instead. Good idea though Pegasus. I will be trying that as I am trying to get some fine stuff into my fry now.

Does this mean I could get apple snails, put them in my fry tank and the apple snails will produce feed for the fry? How many of them would you need to produce enough feed? (Do they need kitchen facilities in order to prepare this fry food?? :lol: :lol: )

I will go have a look from my home computer. Doubt that my boss would be too happy to have me dribbling and drooling all over his keyboard at the site of fishtanks etc !!! Especially considering I am getting paid to sit here and actually work not look at pictures. Dammit!! Where is there a job where I can just do that??? This having to work for a living sucks!!!! Anyway .. serious ... do you have a fish shop? Now that is what I would call a 'good job'.

WOW ... 102 tanks!!!! It is just a dream to have that many tanks (and the house or space to put that many in) !!!! I would definietly be divorced if I even mentioned I wanted 100 tanks. :lol: :lol: Hey .... :roll: 8) (Mental note to remember that - if ever need an excuse) :lol: :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: Maybe the doc should have perscribed an algae eater!!