ryanjury

I was going to do it with taps but the major issue for me was I wanted the filling to be automated so that I couldn't overflow the tanks, this would mean drilling 2 holes one for the drain (with the tap) and one for the overflow to ensure the water didn't overflow. The way I have it I can leave the water slowly overflowing for like 10-15mins a day and do a 10% water change every day if I want to, this means there is only ever a small change so I don't need to worry about shock to the fish or anything like that.

I have found it easy, even drilled some tanks with fish in them just lowered the water level. I have only drilled 5/6mm tanks and only drilled small holes (15ishmm) for breeding tanks, like Diver has suggested if it was for an expensive tank or a display tank where it had to be a perfect hole in the right place I would pay someone to do it, but for breeding tanks it is all good

lol I will come down and get her soon

Did anyone else see how much that went for! You could build it new for less than that lol Josh I will put up some pics of my setup at some stage and explain how it all works, I have 19 tanks drilled and plumbed now.

I don't think David was calling anyone anything he was just saying that the FNZAS needs to cater for all levels of fish keepers beginners or experienced, those who like to use scientific names and those that don't. As with all of us when we are talking about something we are passionate about it is easy to get very into what we say and do.

My mother used to do pottery at an arts/crafts centre and used to make me caves, they used to charge a small amount to chuck them in the kiln, I would ring around those sorts of places just make sure you make it out of the correct clay and have it completely dry before putting it anywhere near a kiln..

The biggest problem with taking a break is questioning if you will find the same species again when you get back into it..

Yellows/dems/java and anubais, those ar850's have 3 tubes in them so you would need some sort of plants in there The yellows/dems would be very low maintenance and look good, they may outgrow that tank but I know you will know the signs and have plenty of tanks to move them into if this happens

Should be fine, and yeah I would go with the CF1200 they are great filters and dirt cheap at HFF at the moment, better to spend the extra $30 now and have it last and know you will be able to get parts in the future than buy something that might just crap out and have no parts available..

Probably a bit light on filtration if you want a crystal clear tank but should be perfectly fine to keep the fish alive even with a relatively high stocking rate. I am assuming you know that HFF have a special on these filters at the moment?

It is a difficult one.. He sent you the wrong fish, technically he should now send you what you paid for and pay you to send the wrong fish back if he wants it back but it depends on what you are both happy with, obviously you have now got a nice fish that you want to keep so it would make sense to me to pay for it. I have been in the same situation was sending 2 boxes of fish and addressed them wrong so each person got each others fish, I came to an agreement with the people that they would both repay shipping and I would send them their original fish and they could keep the old ones, they were both happy with this because it meant they got a heap of free fish for stuff all $$'s lol Luckily they were both setup for africans at the time. End of they day just work it out with him, if he is a good breeder then ask him why the fish is not the colour you would expect and if it would change colour.

I wonder if the ceramic had some moisture content in it so with the difference in temps between the inside of the heater and water started to condense on the inside?

I don't like it but it is different and I found the music coupled with the lighting quite amusing in a cheesy sort of way.

If that is the direction that MAF wish to take with them then they are welcome to it, there has been no sneaking around with them at all they have been on trademe with listed scientiffic names for years same with the other species I have identfied that I know about that are here and being bred and common that aren't on the list.

The FNZAS is not allowed to rewrite the list and add new species, if there is evidence that a species was already established here (ie breeding scheme data) and it is not on the list then it may be able to be added. Again the fish committee is going to contact the powers that be and make enquires as to how to add fish to the list but it might be unrealistic to do and cost money.. I have started going through the list and doing the african species, updating the old names finding current and valid sc. names for the various fish and also making a list of known and established fish species that are in NZ that are not on the allowed list. For example in the african world red empresses are not on the allowed list but are everywhere..

David has made a very good point about the breeding scheme it is a register of what has been bred in the past not who is still breeding stuff.. People who are out for trophies do the bare minimum to get the breeding/rebreed registered then flick the fish and go onto something else or has Rob just suggested feed them out. It is useful to see who you might be able to contact for info about breeding types of fish though becuase you can see who has done it in the past but not as a register of what is here. I don't believe a register would work very well, I have found alot of the rare fish are hidden away and controlled, people trying to ensure they don't get out there and bred because the price they can command for offspring will drop. So you will still get the same people not saying what they have, there are some breeding groups of L046 around yet with all the threads about them noone has put up there hand and said they have them. As Jen has suggested the fish commitee is working on some of the qusetions that have been asked already to try and get some answers, but as the commitee has only just been given goals and just started work on things some of it may take time. Mcculloch I would love to see more tangs in the country the 3 you have suggested have all been here but died out and not been imported again. As hobbiests we need to get these things and breed the snot out of them and spread them, again that is easier said than done and as people breed them more the price drops and less people breed them. I have 45 tanks and tend to horde alot of my species away and breed the odd batch to keep them going, it is hard to predict what will die out and what wont.

This will only work if your KH is low you really need to start with soft water to end up with soft water..

There are plenty of awesome fish for most walks of life already on the lists that we don't see, this maybe due to availability or cost, the major issue as it has already been pointed out is when these fish come into the country no one buys and breeds them. When someone new comes into the country we need to buy them and breed the snot out of it and spread it all around the place for it to have some chance of staying here. The FNZAS fish committee are already looking into the importation list and answering some of the questions that have been raised so hopefully the answers to some of the questions you have asked will come out. At the end of the day without people breeding stuff we will loose it, who knows when the import will be the last of that type that ever comes in I already know of a few fish from the latest "german" import that one of the importers did that are probably already gone..

If your PH is already 8.4 then good to go with africans Frontosa I would recommend 10 minimum with the view to thinning out to 2m and all the females you have, more if you can afford then because there is nothing worse than spending a few years growing them out and ending up with lots of males and having to do it again. The guy I put you onto is really good with his fronts and does sell them according to size so you are pretty likely to end up with a good ratio but still buying as many as you can would be good. Kadangos are awesome in a bigger group so I would get 10 of them too, probably wont need to thin out males depending on how they get along. The livingstonii are really predatory and fast growing so while you could add the fronts/kadangos at the same time I would either add tiny livingstonii or add them when the fronts are maybe 7-8cm and find some 3-4cm livingstonii to avoid them growing too fast and eating the fronts.

Fish like to align themselves with light so if it is coming through at an angle to the tank then they will swim around on funny angles..

Hi and welcome. There are a few things I would be worried about in your tank.. Red tailed sharks can be quite aggressive and generally aren't suitable for a peaceful community tank long term. Your angels are likely to eat all your schooling fish like your neons and WCMM as they get bigger too.

Yeah red humps have been around and even been bred quite a few times by various people and spread around, I almost got some off someone on here once but it didn't work out, I can't remember who they are though to see if they still have them or anymore..

Is the fish already upside down? He looks pretty gone especially if he has already flipped up the wrong way. I also don't know if melafix would do much if it was HITH, if you have only had him for 5 days and he had HITH then it would have been pretty sick when you got him it takes ages to develop.

That is very cool, thanks for sharing!

Yeah live foods are easy and cheap most times you can get starters for free, and to the average person with only a few tanks their fish food bill would be stuff all.