Stella

bah, ok so I get really confused with this/next etc, and since it is friday I get even more confused.... Anyway, my original plan was to come up on Sunday 23rd and return Friday 28, but may be able to cut it short and return on Thursday evening. The conference is full day and I could fend for myself food-wise. It would be wonderful it you could help

Sigh, I wish I didn't read this thread. Am in the middle of stressing out about everything. It all just seems to be piling up worse and worse today. Somehow I am supposed to be sorting out the tanks for some people coming to look at them, but all I want to do it cry

I am coming up for a conference the last week of November (not this week but next). I was supposed to be staying with a friend of mine but she has just canceled (too much else to do). Where should I try for CHEAP AS HELL accommodation, as I am unemployed and really stressing about money right now. I *really* didn't need this today, far too much to stress about already

I have these guys visiting me on friday from the Trout Centre as they want to set up a native tank. Of course when these things happen you want your tanks to be as healthy and sparkly as possible. First the new Cran's bullies got whitespot. Goody. Not to many spots so hopefully I can clear it quickly, but they will still be there when the guys come. Then my whitebait died very quickly. Then I found there of my six freshwater crabs had died Yesterday I did a big clean and tidy up of my tanks. THey looked stunning! THen I came home in the evening and found Pete the Giant Kokopu lying dead! I think I yelled... Poor wee guy, he was growing so fast, and there were no indications of anything being wrong. Then we realised the other fish were breathing heavily and the bully was really not looking good. Did a big waterchange with water from PeteS's place, being the only thing I could think of to do. Well, all the four remaining kokopu are ok, possibly still breathing a little heavily. THe female common bully that was with them has died. And everyone else (that I have seen) seem to be ok. Oh, the common bully had these weird markings. She lost all he normal markings (a stress thing) and got these black markings towards her tail. Some as bands, some just botches. Over an hour they joined up and spread up her body. They looked like mart of her, not a growth. I have seen this once before on another fish. Any idea what it was? So yeah, feeling very upset and confused about it all. Really not wanting to wind myself up for looking like an expert when I just want to cry about losing these fish. On the positive side, but Cran's bully eggs hatched out yesterday. Quite a cool video here: (please forgive any spelling/wording issues, still seem to be under the influence of sleeping pills...)

I enjoy the actualy christmas day a whole lot more these days. No more enforced christmas with the seriously Catholic in-laws ever! I tend to bum around home, get out the sewing machine and make a pair of trousers into shorts and do a bit of mending that has been sitting around all year.... The risk is if I do it this year, third time becomes a tradition that must never be broken!

I love Icarus! What about Icara for a girl?

Well I got made redundant.... but I avoid christmas anyway, so not a problem 8)

There are many things called smelt around the world. Kinda similar being shiny little shoalling fish, but different species. The native smelt family (Retropinna spp) are only found in NZ and a few nearby places (part of australia and other local islands?) and I THINK the two NZ smelt are endemic (only found here). Ours smell of cucumber! Seriously, the whole bucket smells! Though that is not hte origin of the name: smoelt is Anglo-Saxon for 'silvery'

oh no! :( :(

I am treating my Cran's bullies for ich, using my trusty malachite and formalin. One of the males has a nest of eggs, and he is defending them with such diligence that I didn't want to take the eggs off him. (Also I don't really want to be raising a whole lot of babies right now) I would have thought the medication would kill them, but I lifted the rock before and all the little eyes are still staring back at me... Any other thoughts/facts/observations with medications and eggs?

Barrie, While I agree in general, the thing I find silly with the building industry right now, is a year ago there was a boom and they were screaming out for more people and everyone had too much work on. How does the current situation compare to BEFORE the boom? It is not necessarily all about the recession, but about the natural slowing down after the boom. And yes, sadly everyone is saying there is a recession, so everyone is avoiding spending, so there will be a recession. Self-fulfilling prophesy. Good point with HAVING to do your hobby. I was talking to a motorcycle enthusiast who at 15 was desperate to leave school and become a mechanic. His father refused and made him do something totally unrelated. He is now thankful for that, as he would have wound up tired of motorcycles if he had to work with them day in day out for 40 years.

What ISN'T!* :lol: Seriously, go have a look on the NIWA fish atlas (online), get any/all of McDowall's books out of the library. I can tell you everything, or you can find out for yourself, but I know which option you will learn the most from *Not in Hutt River: tarndale bully, all the non-diadromous galaxiids (possibly excluding the dwarf galaxias), mudfish 8)

Nope, no fish from taupo. But all those species are findable elsewhere. Why the thing with Lake Taupo, you live hours away? Take a net and go play in the Hutt River for the afternoon!

What sort of work are you actually after? 'working with animals' is pretty broad. What kind of animals? What have you been applying for? How have you been applying? Waiting for positions to be advertised or plastering the town with your CV? Are you interested in setting up your own business?

Cam, they are smelt in Taupo, landlocked ones. Inanga are similar, similar size and schooling habit but don't have scales. A bit more robust too. They are the most common whitebait. I seem to have terrible luck trying to keep young whitebait alive, but slightly older ones (longer and yellower and looking more like fish) are pretty easy. I recommend bullies as the easiest native fish to keep. There are several threads here on keeping them, and inanga, do a search and get back with questions

I have seen Museeumchick's frog tank and it looks FABULOUS! I could be so tempted to get some frogs, but I have enough tanks cluttering up the place already... MC: I know a place for tadpoles later in the year if you want some of your own

:lol: It took me so long to see the actual fish! I thought the fish was the black thing and was trying to figure out if it was some sort of eel... :oops:

Yes and no.... Legal to keep smelt: YES Those little whitebait things in Taupo: NO Pretty much any fish life in Taupo are out of bounds. Koaro, crayfish and (I think) common bullies belong to the Tuwharetoa Iwi. Smelt were introduced as troutfood and you are not allowed them either. Obviously trout et al sportfish are for licensed fishing only. This goes not only for the lake itself, but also the catchment (all streams/rivers feeding into it) and other local lakes. That aside.... apparently the Waikato River is a good place for smelt, not sure how far up they go though (check NIWA fish atlas distribution maps online) Keeping Smelt: They roll over and die at the slightest possibility of stress. Like in your bucket... I have heard they way to do it is be THOROUGHLY organised in advance. Have quarantine tank established. Transport as quickly as possible and have the fish well-chilled. Either in a small fridge that plugs into the cigarette lighter, or with ice in the water. They are very skittish and can stress or take fright easily, so be REALLY careful around the tank for hte first few weeks. IF you can get them home alive and they survive the initial few weeks, they should last a good few years in your aquarium. Normally they die after spawning, which is a one-year lifecycle, but they can't spawn in the aquarium so they live longer. Other than that, I hear they are awesome in the aquarium Gorgeous purple shine along the silvery body

Super-Easy Microwave Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding Ingredients * 1 cup self raising flour * 3/4 cup sugar * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 2 tablespoons cocoa * 2 teaspoons melted butter * 1 teaspoon vanilla essence * 1/2 cup milk Sauce * 1/2 cup brown sugar * 1 tablespoon cocoa * 2 tablespoons coconut * 1 1/2 cups boiling water Directions Sift flour, cocoa, salt and sugar into a bowl. Stir in milk, melted butter and vanilla till just combined. Spoon batter into a large (microwave-safe) ring container or casserole dish. Combine brown sugar, cocoa and coconut and sprinkle it over the batter. Pour hot water carefully over the batter and cover with a paper towel. Cook on high for 5 minutes. (another paper towel underneath in case of boiling over) Serve with icecream or whipped cream. Will come out a black gooey mess with copious quantities of gelatinous sauce.... Let stand for a while, but eat it warm. Fine to reheat later. I didn't have coconut, would have been nice with, was fine without. Oh, I didn't have self-raising flour either.... used plain flour and a small teaspoon of baking soda! Worked perfectly. I might add sultanas or similar next time. Mmm, chai syrup would be good too! I was in dire need of some chocolate comfort food today. Seriously, afterwards I was beaming benevolently like a fat Buddha!

MEDICATE EVERYONE!!!! And read this site closely: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/ich.shtml The ich lifecycle is widely misunderstood, leading to repeat outbreaks. You can't kill the visible spots. They are still alive when they fall off, and a little while later (depending on temp, hours to days) they burst forth with hundreds of infectious things that you CAN kill. Once they find a fish, they are unkillable, but not visible for a while. And they can survive unseen on the gills of fish. Moral of the Story: You treat that tank based on length of time after the last spot was seen. Read the article. Seriously. It is heavy going but the best I have found. (I have some fish with Ich at the moment too, realised yesterday. Highly pissed off about it. In coldwater I am looking at a treatment time of at least three weeks Personally malachite and formalin are my meds of choice)

Glad they are all settling in so well! Sadly of the three whitebait we caught, the first one died in transit, the second one died on Day 2 and now, fitting the pattern, the third one is in the process of dying on Day 3 No idea why. It was looking perfectly fine yesterday Very disappointing. Oh and to top it off, my new Cran's bullies have got whitespot :roll: sigh Not a great start: I have some guys from the DOC trout centre visiting my tanks and I on Friday...

Apparently cats are very trainable, just we don't think to train them. Really all most people do is train them to use a litter tray or not 'go' inside, how to use the cat door/scratching post, and not jump on the kitchen bench. Beyond that we don't consider teaching them things. With dogs we have a culture that they are endlessly trainable, so we train them. Who here remembers that video of the goldfish trained to push a mini soccer ball into a mini-goal for a food reward?

I second Suapsi: More native keepers! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: That would be awesome to have a stream in your backyard! Shame about the big tank. There have been a few disasters like that recently..

Tested your tap water? You really shouldn't need to rinse out your filter so often. It should be set up so very little solid muck gets in, and the bacteria are left in peace to do their thing.

Nitrate is the end product of the ammonia-nitrite-nitrate cycle. If the nitrates are not getting removed from the tank then they will slowly build and build. Apparently plants use some nitrate as food, but the main way nitrate is removed is by doing waterchanges. Apparently 100ppm is really bad, under 50 is betterish, under 10 is ok, under 5 is best.