bobsvinyl

A potato did fine in my colony, but if you live in an area where you have low humidity, spraying would probably help quite a bit. You have to be careful or mold could develop. You could also set up 2 or 3 cultures so the one culture doesn't get too thinned out.

The fur must have come off one of your catfish. :roll:

Welcome aboard, CM. Maybe we could carpool here from the States. Save some money that way. :lol:

Beautiful fish, CM. I like the yellow princess and I've always wanted some of the turquoise severums. Keep up the great work!

I've raised Synspilum and they grow to be an extremely pretty fish. My male grew to 12". I fed him blanched zucchini and good quality food sticks and his colors came in really well. They don't color up right away, so you have to be patient. The synspilum has been hybridized along with other Cenral American cichlids. This is becoming a real problem. It is getting hard to know what fish have been swimming around in the family tree. I'm afraid we will reach a point where we have just one big, muddy gene pool.

It doesn't seem like the flowerhorns are selling that well over here in the U.S. Check out www.aquabid.com. Many have been listed there for various prices and I don't think I've seen anyone bid on one of them. The members of www.predatoryfish.com go crazy for them, because they like big, aggressive fish with large nuchal humps. To me, you could get a red devil, Midas or a trimac for alot less money and not have to contend with the high price and hybridization.

Cram- you need more sleep. You have baggy eyes. :lol:

Anita- I had a fusco that beat the heck out of a green terror that was twiice his size. I saw a fusco that was about 12" and that was one pretty fish. The most aggressive Central American I ever had was one of the smallest, the Neetroplus nematopus, or neet for short. That fish beat up some 12" synspilum and maculicaudas I had. He was like a little fighter jet. He'd do runs on the undersides of the big fish and drive them to the point where they were swimming away in terror. The neet was about 3". They get even more aggressive when they're mating!

Congrats on your successful spawning. I always remove the eggs into a bare tank with an airstone setup near the eggs. I usually put pieces of slate or flower pots in the breeding tank so they can easily be moved after the eggs are laid on them. It is fun to watch the parents raise the fry.

Finally! an avatar that catches the real cram! :lol:

Welcome, klatoo! We have Ira here from Upper Hutt and you're from Lower Hutt. Anybody here from Middle Hutt?

What kind of filtration do you use? I had a problem once with a hang on the back power filter. I had taken the lid off the tank to do some work, and when I put it back it was blocking the overflow just enough to leak down the back of the tank. The first thing I thought was a crack. Good luck and I hope you find the problem quickly.

Just as long as it doesn't involve any surgery.

Ira- Why don't you pay us a visit at CT? Just don't drive over there. I seem to remember you had some bad luck with car accidents and breakdowns. Still remember pictures you posted of your wreck on Aquaforums. Lots of familiar faces over there, but still small town sized. I see quite afew CTers showing up over here. Nz Fishroom and CT should be sister sites, like some towns do!

As I told them at CT, my phsyical body was failing, so a team of doctors coated me in plastic until they could decide what course of action would be best. Being encased in plastic, I couldn't do very much so I just thought about things. As I looked down at my plastic coated hands I said "Well, I guess Bob's vinyl now." The birth of a screen name. (Actually I've been collecting records since I was a young kid. I have over 10,000 LPs. Another hobby to go crazy over!) Another posting buddy swears I got my name because I sell and install vinyl house siding. Actually, I'm not sure anymore where the name came from. I am often confused and wander aimlessly...That's how I ended up here!

Which version? I've given several to keep the members guessing. :lol:

Thanks for the welcomes. Goldie- I'll probably go with 55 gallons or under to start off. Someday I'd like a 125 fitted into the wall with some big Cental Americans tooling around in it. Probably fenestratum or regani. I have a good friend shipping me some theraps nicaraguense tomorrow. I can't wait. I'm very interested to find out about the hobby in NZ. It seems like you have to deal with quite a few restricted fish. I don't think we have much of a problem over here. That would drive me crazy. Caryl- I'll pass your message on to bowhunter. I'm so sorry you're having the connecting problems. It has to be related to the changeover. Still must be bugs in there.

I followed you over here, Danny.

Howdy! I belong to Community Tank Forum, and I've had the pleasure of meeting some of your members over there. I was so impressed with how nice the NZ contingent was, I decided to come over and join your site. I'm a mailman in New Hampshire which is in the Northeast of the U.S. I have 5 children aging from 13 to 22. 3 are at home and 2 are in college. My wife Diane and I have been happily married for 28 years. I have been raising fish since I was 11. My love is Central and South American cichlids. Currently, I have very few fish because we are buying a new home. Once we're settled in, I'll be going crazy again. Hope to make many new friends here!