ryanjury

There would be a 230V potential between the 2 (or one and earth) so that could be an issue. I don't think you would damage the fittings removing one.

Yeah I would take a tube out and go with that..

Without knowing what affected them then it would be impossible to tell if they would fall under the same thing.. Other people have heaps of luck with rams but I am just cursed..

Fast breathing and hiding under things usually isn't oxygen related, they will usually be gasping at the surface if it is oxygen related and both or all fish would be affected. Another thing which can cause gasping on the bottom of the tank is ammonia type poisoning how are the water conditions?

Yeah that is what mine all did and I have tried alot of different ones, from different import lots, nz bred etc, tried treating for parasites before they got sick and after, tried antibiotics tried salt, tried daily water changes, tried no water changes, tried hard water, tried softwater and still had the same issues.. Would love to know what people thing it is

Have lost all my blue rams to this problem too, still yet to find out why have tried all sorts of things and nothing has helped

Send me an email and I can set one up through outlook pretty easily.

An apisto club would be good but I can't see enough people joining or wanting to run it to make it worthwhile I mean like 10 people would join.. I would suggest we could co-ordinate an apisto email list or something like that where people can join and anyone can just email everyone with news on new apistos seen or anything for sale or WTB?

I will buy some off you if you get them going and once I am settled hoping to get some agassizi too My cockatoos were my last remaining dwarfs and I swore that I wouldn't bother with anymore until they did something for me.. Sure enough they have lived for ages and finally raised some babies.. Pretty stocked as the male has actually matured into quite a nice fish.. This is the best pic I could get of him This is what he used to look like.. Hopefully I can move the pair and babies to Auckland and get some good ones going

I have read this entire thread and followed with interest as I know quite a few keen reptile keepers.. I think the major issue (if you can get enough people working together and not scrapping) would be $$'s, unsure if Morcs chain store would help with that but it is what gets stuff done especially with government departments and recession etc..

Unsure what happened to the panduro I had what I believe is one of the last pairs around, only managed to spawn them once and even managed to get fry going but had to go away for a month, passed them on to someone else to raise while I was away but they had no luck either.. Shortly after the pair apisto'd on me, I am going to give a few more apistos a go after the move I had some luck with them last time I was in Auckland so I am hoping my issues were just water related down here. Pretty much if anyone gets any apisto species and they can breed it they just need to breed the snot out of them and spread hundreds/thousands of them around the country to ensure their survival here.. I am unsure what happened to the panduro again because Casserole bred heaps of them and still they disappeared

TBH your not doing alot of flow if you only have 2000LPH on an 800L tank, is that the max rated output of the pump or the rated output at the head height you are running. I would be inclined (if your overflows can handle it) to add a bigger return pump to beef up the flow and also run the outlet of it to the bottom of the tank to blow the crud out. You can also use powerheads to blow the crud around and allow it to get picked up. Alot of sumps are pretty bad at picking up crud as the overflow and the crud tends to settle on the bottom of the tank not float on the surface.

There are some awesome beaches around the place, just drive along through random towns and take a turn off towards some nick town beach and enjoy

Personally I have never used any of those additives and I think adding them on a regular basis would be a big fat waste of money, I have had 45 tanks running with no issues for years doing water changes and all sorts of things and they are all stable and going? Why are people adding these as part of their regular maintenance and what are you trying to achieve (apart from what is written on the back of the bottle). Sorry if I sound sceptical and not saying that this product doesn't work but there are a whole heap of products out there that do absolutely nothing but make petshops and the companies making them tons of money and I think fish keepers are better off keeping their money for things that are needed, like more fish or power bills. I would love to hear why people use it.. I have heard that the sale of fish products is completely unregulated meaning that you don't have to have anything tested or any proof that it actually works or does what it is supposed to.

Stu is still around and you are right he is an absolute legend with apistos when he puts his mind to it he can breed anything and seems to be able to do it by the thousand.. Unfortunately he is pretty busy with work and not keeping many apistos any more He does have a few but I am unsure what and no none of the amazing ones he used to have.. I believe (well with cockatoos anyway) the differentiation between tripple and double red refers to the colour in the dorsal/anal/tail fin tripple would have colour in all 3 double in 2 etc.. The photos on the net are pretty much show winning photos which are usually in tanks with exceptional lighting and may have been tweaked to look better. I think that the strain that recently came in is very good and most certainly wouldn't be scoffing at having them in the country

I met an old timer who had 3-400 tanks up north and said that he used to have 4 strains of agassizi plus all sorts of other fish.. Old man talking or truth who knows, but when questioning him on them he seemed to know his stuff.. It is amazing the amount of stuff we have had in the country over the years and lost.

Freight is a killer and it would be difficult to keep heaps of tanks running with stuff not selling and still make a profit so prices will go up.. I think alot of how willing a shop is to help you out is based on how much of a good and loyal customer you are and how you come across, if you ask for stuff as cheap as possible it offends people. But if you ask for a good deal then you might get somewhere, also knowing what suppliers they use and what supplier is selling what you want helps because it may be a supplier they use regularly and can combine shipping with other orders to get costs down.

I think these are the super reds you meant to link to. http://www.u2u.idv.tw/stone/htm-e/frame1.htm I haven't seen the first one, but if you have seen the threads with the photos of the fish that a few keepers on here have and have managed to breed they are what are called super reds in the link above.

I would just go into your shop and say I would like to order xx of these fish can you do me a good price I will pick up on the day and even put a deposit down so it is a guaranteed sale and money in the bank most shops will do you a good deal.

Lots of flow will help move the crud around and get it picked up by the filters.. How big is the tank and what filtration are you running on it? Under gravel filters with africans are generally not a good idea they tend to dig and expose the plates rendering the filter useless but more dangerously causing the established bacteria to die off and possibly cause ammonia spikes that can kill the fish. Also you are running coral sand so it is not going to work with an under gravel filter..

14 pages of search results came up using the search function maybe some of these can help. search.php?keywords=Cyanobacteria&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Sounds like Rob would have a nice breeding group there maybe he would be a good person to get them off in the future

Anyone need anything brought back?

lol just remember how much your neighbours will like it if you start growing mossies to go and bite them

Hard to know, some swear by the stuff some say that it is hard to bottle live bacteria that needs a food source and a flow of oxygenated water to survive anyway.. I would suggest the best way of doing it is to get in touch with a local fish keeper and get some cycled media off them or start off with a low stocking list or fish less cycle..