Damiana

I just want to second the suggestion of moving rockwork around. I just got the last of my mbuna babies in, and wow did they have a rough reception. I hadn't realized just how staked out territory was until I saw the street brawl that went on last night. Today's project was a complete rework of the rocks, adding much more territory and breaking up line of sight. I had it easy for cycling, my mbuna tank is a reworked Amazon. Added some shell to my canister filter, pulled out the driftwood and kept the gravel bed and cycled filter floss. Just add fishies as soon as water parameters had changed sufficiently, which was virtually overnight. Good luck with your tank.

What you do is associate the food reward with another stimulus. The primary stimulus is the food, but since you can't feed them all day and they eventually satiate (theoretically, some fish are piggies ), its not practical to use to maintain the behaviour. So you can use a light, a noise, whatever, in conjunction with the food for a while. Then just the secondary reinforcer is used, with an occasional food pairing just to keep them wanting it. *removes psych student hat*

Honestly, I don't think that it would be fair to the discus and you would wind up unhappy because you're going to have a drab, unhappy, reclusive specimen of a fish who will probably not last very long. If you really want them, save up, get another tank and do it right. It's a pain to have to wait, but in the long run you'll be better off. (And so will the fishies, who depend on you to take care of them to the best of your ability and knowledge!)

Aw man, that sucks. Sorry to hear that.

Depends on what kind of tank you're doing. If you're doing a hardwater setup, there's a lot of really cheap schist to be found. One good place is down at a wholesale landscaping place in Cambridge. You buy it by the kilo. I think I have about $20 worth, and its completely filled a 4 ft long tank.

I agree. All the major disasters I've had over the years occurred before I switched away from UGs. Canister filter or hang on back all the way!

It's possible he brought in a contagion. I also wonder about the recent population explosion, though you wouldn't expect them to go kaput at a lowish ammonia reading. I'd be doing daily 20% water changes as well as trying to get the pH up a bit. Here's a thought. Back when I first started breeding mollies I made the mistake of going off for a weekend without putting something over my filter intake in case they dropped fry while I was gone. They did, the fry got sucked into my filter and decomposed. I came back to pure carnage. Have you had a peek in your filter to see what's going on? It might even be a good idea to give everything a good rinse or toss into the bin (as applicable), just to remove some possible variables. EDIT: For some reason the last page didn't show up until after I'd posted. Sounds like you're on the right track! Good luck!

I looove my paradise fish. He thinks he's a barracuda.

Malasian trumpet snails.

I don't know, I think sometimes a solo set up can be ok. I had one tank busting mo-fo back when I was a teenager and didn't know better. After he murdered half of my tank I put him in his own in the bathroom. His name was Caesar. Caesar was positioned opposite the toilet, and would rush out and observe/cheer you on. He colored up like you wouldn't believe and I taught him to eat from my hand. He lived a long, long time. I finally gave him away when I went off to college. I think if he'd been unhappy he'd have had bad color, poor appetite and reduced longevity.

Let me know if you want some MTS's, I have them coming out of my ears. Pay for postage and stuff and you can have some.

I had good luck with Brightwater on my Blackwater set up.

Coral isn't a type of stone, its the skeleton of a sea creature, but it still helps buffer/alkalinize like limestone.

Another thing you can do is take a slice of zuccinni or cucumber, thread some twine through it (nothing funny colored! You don't want dye leaching out!) and dangle it in the tank overnight. First thing in the morning pull it out along with dozens of snails. Rinse and repeat.

The Ice Blues are on special order, there's a big pile of them coming in September. I know this because I'm on the list. If you want it, they can order it. They've been more than helpful to me.

Yup, protein film. If it reaaaally bothers you you can get a protein skimmer, but they're not particularly cheap. Ditto on the paper towel idea, just make sure that its a plain, unprinted one. My husband is an ex-printer and trust me, you wouldn't want to know what's in some inks. I guarantee that you'd go plain jane. You don't even want to conceive of what's in printed toilet paper *shudder*. I've noticed that I'll come home to protein film when someone else has been feeding and have overdone it a bit. Might want to reevaluate the quantity of food you're offering, as well as the protein level.

PetCity in Hamilton has a lot of Africans and can do special orders.

*sigh* Tank on the upper top left. Blue Rams, complete with requisite blue spots, not the larger, drabber Bolivians. Exceptionally nice, long finned, well colored Blue Rams. Identified by myself as blue rams, though I haven't seen them with such long fins before or at such a size as younger fish. And I've kept fish in some capacity for 20 years now. Identified by both the shopkeeper (whom I trust implicitly on such matters) and on his paperwork as blue rams. He only got a half dozen in. If there are any left and there are any blue ram fans out there, go check them out. They're lovely. I'll leave it at that since further enthusiasm seems to provoke incredulity. Happy New Year, everyone.

They're not balloon, golden, or Bolivian. They're really gorgeous blue rams Or at least I think they are. They dont' look like any of the above suggestions.

If you like blue rams, run *now* down to the Goldfish Bowl in Hamilton. Brian has some amazing specimins. I snagged a pair, and I think there are 4 left. They are easily 3 to 4 times the size of what you normally see, and the color is absolutely amazing! *wheee!* :bounce:

If its the stuff that's dark (almost black) and kind of bristly, like beard hair, I had it in my planted tank in Texas. I got in a squad (like 10 or so) SAE's and they cleared it out pretty quickly. That's with me doing physical removal every day, as well. A cheap toothbrush is your best friend, it'll scrub all the nooks and crannies. *sigh* I feel your pain, I'm fighting some gross algae, as well. The stuff that's like long, super fine light brown hair. If anyone has any suggestions for that variety (not to thread hijack), I'd love to hear them. Good luck with your battle against the dreaded scourge!

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm definately enjoying the forum. Yeah, my husband is a real sweetheart. I left several tanks behind, including my first planted one (125 US gallons, it was a biggie). He knows how sick I was over the loss, and now that we're in our new house and our baby is a bit older its the perfect time. I'm going to try for a blackwater Amazon river biotope...w/ dwarf cichlids (2 breeding groups, considering Blue Rams and Cockatoos), cardinal tetras, corys, and maybe some hatchetfish. Darn things are expensive here, though! Thinking swords, vals, java ferns, etc.... various plants local to the area. And lots of driftwood, of course. (sorry, quivering a bit with anticipation!) I'm really excited about seriously getting into this. I've been keeping fish for 20 years now in some capacity or another, but adding the aquascaping and the biotope element should make it a bit more challenging. Must zoom off to see if the water has cleared...! -Jenn/Dami

I did something similar with the little bowl I've been keeping, only I killed a siamese fighter and then a goldfish before I figured out that it was my water. I had the water tested and discovered that it had more than a disease therapeutic level of copper...so basically I had given my poor fish heavy metal poisoning one after the other. (I'm a newbie to NZ water and was using a rural setup at the time.) I switched to RO water and havent' had a bit of trouble. There are several outfits that test water, just check in the yellow pages. If you're consuming this water as well, would definately be worth looking into, in my opinion. They spray lots of scary stuff on rooves, like lichen repellant (which gave me facial twitches when I walked near the house while they were spraying, so it can't be good), and the paint might be giving off stuff. Good luck!

Hi all, I've been lurking for a few days and thought I'd join the crowd. I'm originally Texan, but have been living here for several years and am married to a Kiwi with a 2 year old son. I love it in NZ, but I had to leave all my tanks behind. So I'm starting fresh as my wonderful husband has just gotten me a 200L for my birthday. Yay! I can't wait to meet all of you!