Stella

Nope, if the spots were visibly 10 minutes after you put him in the main tank then they were there well before you moved him. When the spots first attach on to a fish they are invisible to the naked eye and slowly grow. I did the same thing one. Three weeks in QT, dropped it in the main tank then realised they had spots. I think the lighting was better in the main tank so it was easier to see them there. Unfortunately removing the fish from the main tank must have knocked a few off*, which then developed in the gravel then covered all my other fish in their babies. grrr (*if removed from a fish too early they can still develop. A fish that dies from whitespot will be spotless soon after death as they all flee the host)

Brilliant, thanks. Though last night looking on the nutritional info they consist of 13% protein and 87% nothing...

The supermarket kind, not mysis or brine shrimp. I FINALLY got around to trying my fish on shrimp and they were seriously enthusiastic - fabulous to have another bulky easy option for variety. Any recommendations of (A) what sort to buy (we had cooked, peeled ones for human food purposes, but I have no idea about what types are available, presumably raw and unpeeled exists!) and (B) where to get them cheaply? Thanks

Eep! No idea about that stuff.... The tapetum lucidum is a reflective membranes(?) behind the photosensitive rods and cones on the retina. The light passes through the rods and cones then gets reflected by the TL back through the rods and cones. The point is in low light (eg night), the reflection of light amplifies the amount of light hitting the photosensitive cells. Just did a quick google and the TL does exist in various fish. Cone cells are the ones are the ones that are more common in nocturnal animals. Less colour-sensitive but more light sensitive.

I do this too, really efficient way of increasing the filtration. (two filters for the electricity of one!)

Very good idea with the pooper scooper! Will bear that one in mind for the future.

How is your escapee male doing now? Bullies in my experience are rarely deliberate escapees (unlike koaro and other climbers) but escape as a side-effect of shooting up and down the sides of the tank. Bullies are typically not good climbers so they haven't needed to evolve permeable skin and other adaptation for surviving for longer periods in the air. Wow, 10-12cm! I think the largest I have seen for an upland is 6. I avoid taking bullies larger than about 6cm as they can have a harder time adjusting to captivity and can stress to death or go fluffy quickly. The cold may have worked in your favour (and general luck: not all large fish have a hard time) Hmmm, water depths... Check out the simple graphs in this paper: Habitat preferences of common, riverine New Zealand native fishes and implications for flow management http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/conten ... a920490959 It includes eight different native fish, including upland bullies, and looks at preferences of substrate size, depth and velocity. *However* remember that everything is SERIOUSLY averaged out. The three variables are massively averaged to give a single size/depth/velocity for a site, and then the graph curves are probably hiding a huge blur of datapoints - the variation or error bars on these graphs would probably be HUGE. Don't take it as gospel, but a general trend. Really interesting though. The blue sheen to the eyes is interesting eh! I wonder if it is similar to the relective tapetum lucidum in nocturnal mammals (eg cats). It can lead to some funky effects!

Extensive genetic differentiation in Gobiomorphus breviceps from New Zealand Abstract: Partial mitochondrial DNA sequences for parts of the cytochrome b gene and control region were obtained for 89 upland bullies Gobiomorphus breviceps from 19 catchments in New Zealand. There were two highly distinctive mtDNA clades: a northern clade corresponding to the North Island, northern South Island and west coast South Island, and a south‐east clade, in the southern and eastern South Island. Within these major clades there were further distinct clades that correlated with geographic sub‐regions and catchments. The marked genetic differentiation has occurred in the absence of obvious morphological divergence. Based on cytochrome b sequence divergences and the molecular clock hypothesis, the northern and southeastern clades correspond with the uplift of the Southern Alps during the Pliocene, while populations in the North Island and northern South Island were estimated to have diverged during the Pleistocene. The widescale geographic divergences were similar to those observed in the galaxiids, Galaxias vulgaris and Galaxias divergens, but biogeographic management boundaries may not be the same, reflecting different evolutionary histories for non‐diadromous species occupying the same areas. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/jour ... 6/abstract Mitochondrial DNA reveals monophyly of New Zealand's Gobiomorphus (Teleostei: Eleotridae) amongst a morphological complex Abstract: Goal: To examine the phylogenetic relationships within Gobiomorphus to explore Australasian biogeography, origins (single or multiple), and evolutionary loss of a marine life stage (loss of diadromy). Methods: We analyse a fragment of the mitochondrial DNA (Cyt-b) using phylogenetic analyses, and use several meristics (spines, rays, and vertebrae) in a discriminant function analysis. Organisms: All nine species of the genus Gobiomorphus (Eleotridae) found in New Zealand and Australia, with the two Australian Philypnodon species included as outgroup taxa. Conclusions: Monophyly of the genus and all seven New Zealand species was strongly supported. The New Zealand Gobiomorphus are likely to be the result of a single introduction and to have been isolated from Australia since the Miocene or Pliocene ( similar to 18-28 Myr ago). These dates correspond well to the oldest fossil in New Zealand dated at 16-20 Myr. Diadromy was consistently at the root of the New Zealand group, and non-diadromy and morphological diversification among these species appears to have occurred relatively recently, with meristic comparisons supporting the molecular analyses. However, among the non-diadromous forms, species morphology contrasts with the molecular data suggesting a recent evolutionary history driven by ecological selection. http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord. ... cookie=yes If you cannot access the .pdf (and the abstract has not completely scared you off) email me and I will send you the files. I had to read them with dictionary.com and wikipedia open in tabs to be able to follow it, but it is really interesting stuff!

If anyone has (or knows anyone that has) koi, it is quite safe to contact your local DOC office and ask for help removing them. I understand that they will fund and organise the removal. They are not interested in prosecuting people that now want them removed. They just want to remove them. If this trader was trying to sell real koi, yes they would be prosecuted.

Hi there, Well, that would be based on: A: what species do you want to keep or B: what habitat you want to copy Looking at streams will give you many ideas, and most of the things you find in streams can be used. Having a strong theme or 'scene' in mind REALLY helps make a cohesive aquarium. (grrr, I tried linking to some photobucket ones, but apparently they are too big, grrr) and also look in my photos and videos linked in my sig below for some other things I have done.

UTTER DROOL!!! The south island ones are so beautiful! I would love to have some (requires MAF and DOC permission to move them across the Strait, sigh) How big are they? The top photo is definitely a female. If you are interested and vaguely scientifically-minded I can send you an interesting paper that found there were very distinct haplotypes (genetic groups) of upland bullies in different parts of the country. It is likely that there might be genetic subspecies or cryptic species here. Makes sense given that they are non-diadromous.

A LADYBIRD!!! Now that is clever. Are you serious? Have you tried it? Even if ladybirds don't work, there must be some other biocontroller that would work. BRILLIANT!

Hi there, I *think* he is looking a little better. It is so hard to tell when the pores are so damned tiny! (and when I really need to clean the glass.... tropical fishkeepers are so luck in winter!). Sometimes I think the slightly filmy appearance around the head is looking better, sometimes it looks the same. I really need to do a waterchange and top up the salt. Thanks for asking

My tanks all have duckweed. Periodicaly needs scooping out, but provides some nice surface cover for the more timid fish, and stands in for overhanging riparian vegetation for the lurkers. My understanding is that azolla does ok only if the water surface is quite still (it breaks easily) and is under strong light. Only add a few pieces and allow it to spread if conditions are right, a large load will dump roots and rotting fragments everywhere. WHen I was a kid I found this floating plant that was shaped like a (IIRC) smooth heart-shaped fat pillow, with several longitudinal grooves and masses of black furry roots underneath. Anyone know what that was?

Yuck. At least they couldn't survive in any wild environment.

There should be. What is your catching technique? Bullies are best caught during the day by placing a net immediately downstream of a rock and lifting the rock. Then all the muck under the rock (and occasionally a fish) is swept into your waiting net. At night go spotlighting in the shallows and place a net in front of a fish and use a pokey stick to scare it in. This site is invaluable: http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/fresh ... fishfinder Each species listing has a distribution map. While you are at it, take a look on the undersides of the rocks you lift. You may find tiny little black limpets (<10mm). These are Latia neritoides, a native freshwater snail that has evolved a limpet-like shell to cope in fast water. Even cooler: they secrete a clowing mucus when disturbed. THe idea is the glow distracts the potential predator while the snail grips tightly onto the rock.

If $56 is a lot of money for you, how expensive would some realistic worst-case-scenario future disaster going to be and can you afford it? Personaly I would love to have a cat again and could afford to buy/feed one, but as a student I cannot cope with a sudden vet bill. That is my acid test on if I can justify having a certain pet.

wide enough so that a power plug can get through. Very annoying if you want to decommission something and can't get the plug out.... :roll:

yep. Their metabolism slows in the cold so they don't come out much.

If you have a canister filter or similar you can put the sponge over the inlet to that, then when you need to quarantine the sponge is already colonised with nitrifying bacteria. You may need to tear the sponge a bit to get it to fit over. The other advantage of this is it stops particulates getting into your cannister, which mean you should almost never need to clean it (which is how canisters are supposed to work).

Thanks Jennifer. As far as I can see the lateral line looks fine, it is just the head that has the 'bubbles' and whitish coating. There is no discharge that I can see. It all seems very clean. I know a girl who works in vet pathology at massey uni. Would it be useful or possible for me to take swabs? I have been wondering about salting the tank (prob 1tsp/L) in case it was a bacterial thing. Fishplants, bullies have more pores if they are diadromous (go to sea as fry like the 'whitebait'). If they are landlocked they lose the pores over time. It is looking like this guy is probably a diadromous one due to the pores.

my mudfish have drawn blood...

Temperature does affect lice. In hot countries the nits (eggs) are laid much further from the scalp, but in cold countries they are laid close to the scalp to keep them warm. Thus in a hot country if you have sufficiently short hair you may avoid them because there is no suitable habitat for the eggs. Bodylice are a subspecies of headlice, and appears to have diverged when we lost our hair and started wearing clothing. (?70-100,000 years ago?). They live in clothing and move to the body to feed. Bodylice diverged from chimp lice when we did (7mya). Bodylice are controlled simply through improving hygiene and more regular clothes washing. Pesticides are not required therefore resistance has not developed. Public lice diverged from gorilla lice 2mya. We still had body hair then and they strongly doubt that it was an STI. Pubic lice also live in beards, armpits, eyelashes/eyebrows and general man-hair. Recently there have been instances of pubic lice starting to develop resistance to pesticides.

1/2 tsp of salt per litre. 80L tank = 80 divided by 2 = 40 teaspoons 1 tsp = 6g 40 x 6 = 240g