Alan_au

Not a nice thing to say about your home town cat nuts Frenhy! You have got the right idea with the Auscat forum though, we have been around a long time, though only moved to the Perth board last year. Yes, Tammy has some very nice fish, prolly better condition, better size as well as better price. As for them looking like regular bristles with dandruff tamboe ! :-? I don't think so!!!. Frechy posted a link to one areticle, but just have a quick look at the whole forum and join the other 6,000 odd catfish fanciers from around the world who have enjoyed. http://p204.ezboard.com/fperthcichlidsocietyfrm5 Alan

Sue and Craig were breeding Zebras about 4 years ago over there. Here is thier home page http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~zebra/ click on the links to view pics and breeding information. Alan

You shouldn't have trouble getting peppermints in NZ, there are no import restrictions to overcome. Just ask you local importer/LFS and you will no doubt get then a lot cheaper than over here. As for comming to Australia for catfish ???? Get Out !!!! You have access to all those marvelous pleco and whips and things over there that are denied us here. I recently spent AU$3,000 on some albino bristle nose. There are only 4 survivors so that makes $750 ea and only 3cm SL. You can get them for a few bucks ea in NZ. PS. They may not becalled peppermints by the overseas suppliers. Snow flakes or starlights more like it.... Why we call them peppermints here I'm buggered if I know. Alan

Oh !!! bristle nose will breed with rams OK, but the rams will quite likely eat the young bristles ........And the bristles will certainly eat any spawn from the rams if the get half a chance!!! Alan

Because I breed quite a few bristle nose, litle ones seem to get into just about every tank in the fish room (some how :-? ). I haven't had to clean the inside of glass for years. Alan

In more than 40 years of fish keeping I have never had a "sunken ship", bubbling clam, flatulent diver, or any other Gizmo in any tank. They just aint natural! Aside from plants, bogwood and rock work are the only 'ornaments' I have ever used. Admittedly there are some great ceramics out there these days, caves, rocks, hollow logs etc. but I still like the natural stuff. Alan

Just a word of caution with Melafix ! South american catfish; - whiptails, sturisoma, falowella, bristle nose etc don't like it !!! Even at half dose like for tetras etc is more often than not fatal. Alan

Not in the least, fish flesh has been one of the ingrediant of my "home brew" fish food for many years. Fish meal makes up a large proportion of commercial fish foods.

There are two spotted 'Sailfin' plecos that people often confuse..... G. gibbiceps and G. joselimaianus, and neither is related to the common 'pleco'. If one stands back and looks at the two species side by side one is the 'mirror image' or 'negative' of the other. Gibbies have a light body colour or back ground with dark spots, while joselimaianus has a dark back graound or body colour with light "Gold" spots. Easy when you know the diff. but it is amazing the number of people who don't see it., Alan

This site will tell you everything there is to know as an aquarist. It may be a bit "junior" in some places as it is designed as a education web page for school projects. But it is a big site and there is a heap of information if you have the time to go through it all. http://www.seamonkeyworship.com/science.htm Large outdoor ponds are the way to go if you want large numbers. I don't know if that is practical in your situation. Alan

That question some how dose not sound right ! From now till the end of Summer maybe, but leaving your run a little late in the season! depends on the temperature of your pond mid summer whether they breed or just swim happily around. Tho paradise will survive very low temps, they like it around 22 C to get in the mood. Alan

LOL Kellsz, tell your Grandad that I have glass fish tanks prolly as old as him, still hold water. Alan When life gives you lemons ask for a bottle of tequila & salt

Kellsz, Bristle nose ancistres (plec) are not good for acrylic tanks. They have rasping teeth, that is why there such good algae removers. They will rasp the inside of your tank and make it all "smokey". The ingested plastic is not real good for the fish either. Alan

A general rule of thumb is grow your fish to the same size as the ones you bought originally. This way, if you were happy with the fish you originally bought then your customers will be just as happy. Alan

Hmmm I haven't struck this problem in may years, it used to be quite common way back before all the new fangle filters etc.. Just a sheet of newspaper, cover the whole surface with the paper and let it soak up the surface film. turn off any air or filters tho first. Alan

Plecos of all sorts Ancistrus (bristle nose), pekoltia, hypancistrus, the whole lot have not been on our imort list since 1982. There some magic little plecos that we just can't get, and some of us catfish nuts envy you Kiwis. All the bristlenose and other plecs we get in the LFS here a local bred Alan PS.... that is 700 odd species of Plecos now available and more being discovered every day.

What about all those great small Plecos you guys can get ??? some magic fish among the 700 odd species you guys can get legally. Makes me drool, thinking seriously of migrating. Alan

Hi everyone, For any one interested in Aus & N G rains spend a couple of hours at Adrian Tappin's web page. All the fish are there! all the breeding info is there! Mind boggleing http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/ Cheers Alan

Hi Sue, It's Hemiloricaria lanceolata, The have been around for a long time but are not common. They come in two natural colour forms, brown and red. Breeding is the same as with other Hemiloricaria, spawn in a tube or cave, water logged bamboo or PVC pipe, commonly used. Male cares for the eggs and fry untill they are free swimming. Omnivorous so feed both veg and meat. Alan

Thanks for the info Alan Much appreciated. Alan

Some time ago I came across some interesting information on these fish supplied/posted by a NewZealand aquarist. Un fortunately I have lost the web address. Do any members of this forum keep these catfish or can they put me in touch with any one who does ? Thanks Alan

Thier chance of survival as a feral population would be zero. Wild medakas (green rice fish) never did and they have been in the hobby here before my time (60 years), the gold variants have even less chance, and a minnow that glows in the dark would ba an easy target for predators. They would make excellent live bait for night fishing tho Hey !!