ryanjury

I think I remember the discusguru recommending furan2 for it?

Levamisole and prazi will do nothing for the bugs that are attributed to causing bloat both of them are anti-parasite type things when the bug is a bacteria that lives in the fish guts so you need something that kills the right sort of bacteria. It is a hard one tank is big enough, with plenty of filtration etc so water quality shouldn't have cause it.

If it is columnarus (or any other bacterial) then you need to treat the water with an antibiotic, if it is fungal then you are best to treat the wound.

Gutted man There is nothing worse than loosing your fav fish.. But I agree with the others although you will be a bit gutted with it for a while and think you want to give up it does pass and you will be right back into it so don't sell up just yet.

I would be treating their food with metro as well.. Isolate and treat the water for any fish that is not eating, at this stage I wouldn't be worried about stressing them, yes it is good to avoid but in this case they may well die if you don't do anything. The major issue with bloat is noone knows what causes it really, yes they know it is the bacteria in the gut and they know it is brought on by stress and tropheus are more susceptible to it. Diet is one of the "stressors" we can control and you are feeding them the best thing but sometimes other stresses occur, in your case it could be the breeding.. What size tank do you have them in? Or it could be something random like an ammonia spike that you didn't see or test for it is hard to say. Either way it doesn't matter but this is why I have seen it recommended that every tropheus keeper should have metro on hand to start medicating the second they notice a fish hiding to hopefully knock it in the bud.

Am I the only one reading this that is wondering where young Joe is getting the $$'s from Yeah the eheims and FX5's are awesome (I love my FX5) but you are running a 300L planted tank why not just get something reliable and cheap and effective like a CF1200? Yeah they don't have the massive reviews and bling factor but they are cheap and they work really well and believe it or not just keep on going for years and years with no problems.. If you have the money then pour it into the things you cannot get really cheap like a descent CO2 rig and good lighting and you will be all good

You will have to change your phone numbers/email and where you live to get rid of us mate But yeah I must admit the best "buys" I have had are people I have met off here, it is amazing how much people will help you out..

lol I just stack them really well and not too high, make sure they are flat and buried in the gravel (ie sitting on the bottom of the tank).

They would fit into the special category Probably worth around $20ea from a breeder ALOT more from a shop and need to get 10-12 min to get a good colony going unless you are lucky.. I sell most my common africans for $6ea as well, although they are going out cheap at the moment so if anyone wants some let me know..

It may end up being a "good bye" if they don't get along but looks like 2m 3f and in a 350L tank so they have a bit of room hopefully they get along and maybe even breed.. What happened to yours?

What a beauty Good buy! Wouldn't mind putting that one out to stud when I live up there My latest buy wasn't that good but got 5 pretty big Tropheus ikola for $120.

There are some people coming up as having bred them if you use the search feature on here I know I have heard of them in the country before..

Also remember if you have 2500 cash then you do have some bargaining power and it is not unrealistic to walk out with something that started off selling for $3000

Crunchy Plant Re-hydration?

Thanks for the link Stella, it does sound like a really good idea It will be interesting to see how it works out if they get consent etc..

But you have the luxury of ordering in what you want probably the option of sticking in the shop if you don't like it and a staff discount

I think it is just struggling to convert to emersed growth

No they are not unfortunately I have finally managed to breed mine and the plan is to move them with me and hopefully setup and breed them when I am living up there

I actually reckon if you chucked say 20-30 male eye biters in there you would be sweet as there would be enough to spread out the aggression..

Steel blues or eunotus are about all you will find on that list unfortunately the others may have been cheap when they were first brought in but now there are none around (I am unsure if there are even any pairs left after the Chch earthquake) they could be worth alot more. Cockatoos are nice fish and easily available and cheap bilbo on here has a tank filled with them and is selling them for something like $30 for 5 unsexed ones you could grow them out in a 2fter and then thin out what you don't want as you can sex them. Agassizi would be no good in a 2ft tank as Phoenix has said before spawning the male is aggressive and then after spawning the female is aggressive, I guess you could do it with a divider if you were really really good at watching the tank and figuring out when to remove it etc. Steel blues are nowhere near as nice as agassizi, and there is no comparison between true borellii (an amazing fish) and steel blues (which are commonly sold as borellii).

Why a species tank despite their name they do get along well with others

Yeah definitely I have heaps of eye biters, empresses even giraffes that would love that tank..

Yeah you have plenty of room for some big haps go for it!

They are looking awesome, how are the pair going? When will you have some for sale?

It is the wanganui river mouth - castlecliff http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?q=whangan ... d=0CB8Q_AU Or you could try himatangi beach or foxton beach..