MarkLB

:lol: How big is big? I was told 5 inches for the male.

Hi. So I put up a barrier and that seemed to work....for a day. When I got home last night the egg cluster was outside of the cave again. I scooped 'em up and put them in a floating fry trap....when I looked at them 10 minutes later I saw three wrigglers. I put the cluster in the hospital tank and this morning all eggs had hatched & I have 21 wrigglers. I have an air filter and an airstone in there for plenty of oxygen and circulation so we'll see what happens. Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know if any survive.

Cheers Mystic. I like the idea of something over the cave entrance. Its always the simplest remedies that are the best.

Hi all. I got one male and two female M. Johanni on the weekend. What gorgeous fish they are. I have some info on them from the web but I was hoping to get some more info from any one out there who is keeping or has kept them. Theres nothing better than info from experienced keepers. So if theres anything you think I should know about these beauties please let me know.

Hi all. I have a pair of BNs in my com tank that have spawned in a cave. There is a clump off eggs that keeps turning up outside the cave and he looks after the three or four eggs that are stuck on the inside of the cave. If I put the clump back in the cave it just ends up outside it again, whether he pushes it out accidentally or not I can't be sure. I have a hospital tank. Should I put the clump of eggs in there? Do they need Dad at all?

I'm in Christchurch & apparently we don't have chlorine in the water. Also, I use rain water when I can , which in ChCh is often :lol:

Hi all. I use a product when I set up new tanks and filters but is it necessary to use it when doing water changes?

Hi Stella, What else do you have in your native tank along with your Cray?I would like to get more native species in with my Cray and was thinking about getting some Bullys & maybe a "whitebait' or two(in the season of course). Do you know of other natives that would suit? Cheers, Mark

Hi all, I friend has found some odd little critters in his comm tank. They are about 5 to 10mm long and only 2 or 3 mm around and look sorta like a slug but more like a leech. Has anyone any ideas what they are?? Cheers, Mark

Hi Raul, I've had a fresh water crayfish in a tank for 2 months. Its a pretty cool critter. It has no tank mates as yet but I would like to get it some native fish for company. Bullys sound like the ticket. The fish in your pic looks great.

The tank is set up with a thick layer of gravel. The gravel is about marble size and mostly browns. I made it thick because it likes to dig out its cave. I had it planted with the kind of plants you normally get from the LFS but the Cray dug 'em all up so I just leave them floating. The only filtration is a cheap air filter in one corner but I keep a close eye on the H2O chemistry. It has no tank mates at the moment. I would like to get something native in there. Any suggestions?? Mark.

Hi, Its in a 700LX400X400mm but its only half full because these guys are escape artists. The first night I had it in there it climbed the air hose and was on the floor about an hour after lights out. I'm not set up for pics yet but hope to be soon.

I'm really enjoying keeping this creature. I've had it two months now and it just shed its shell.

Thanks for the suggestions ppl. I'm putting it down to spawning stress. In the future I'll seperate the pair between spawns so they can rest up for a while. A lesson learned I reckon. :oops:

Thanks ppl. My mate put his shark in a hospital tank but it didn't get any better and it died last night. We still don't know what its problem was but its 'nose' lost pigment and went white the day before. It wasn't fungus 'cos it didn't look furry. The tank mates are still fine.

He fed with live baby brine shrimp , bloodworm and flake which is what the tank is always fed with. The bbs is a weekly treat and we were thinking maybe they might have still been a little salty?? My mate reckons they were well rinsed but .... All the tank mates are fine.

Hi all. I'm asking this on behalf of a friend who has a 450 litre comm tank. About three months ago he got a Rainbow Shark ( Red Fin Black Shark). Last night ,after being fed ,the Shark went nuts and thrased around the tank in what seemed a panic. Since then it has been staying still alot and 'shivering' from time to time. Then it'll get a burst of energy and go nuts again. If anyone has any idea what could be wrong please post. Cheers.

Hi all. Tragedy. I've got/had a pair of Cockatoo Cichlids in a 100 litre tank. I bought the fish from a LSF about three months ago. All was going well and they were spawning every 9 days but never succeding in bringing up any fry. Last night the female was good and fat and was her normal bright yellow colour with another spawn due for today. This morning I found her dead. I've done a H2O test and every thing is fine water wise. Can anyone think why she died?? I don't think she was old. She didn't eat yesterday but thats not unusual for her just before laying. Her behaviour had changed in the last couple of days in that she seemed to have abandoned her normal cave and was hanging out in the males cave while he took over her cave. Any suggestions or questions would be welcome.

Hi all. Well that didn't work. The wrigglers came to nothing Mum & Dad have spawned again (they do so every 10 days) and I'm just gunna leave them alone to do, or not do , their thing. This may be my last post on this subject and I'd like to thank the ppl who gave me advice and encouragement. Cheers all.

Hi all. I had some fungus on the unfertilised eggs too. I use a plastic pipette that came in a H2O test kit to gently remove anything that isn't a wriggler. I had a rough count up last night and I have 15 or so of the little charmers. No free swimmers yet. Fingers crossed for the next few days.

Hi all. PROGRESS Mum & Dad spawned 7 days ago and on day two I moved the spawning cave to a small tank and dosed the water with meth blue. On Sunday I noticed that I had wrigglers on the floor of the tank. I reckon theres maybe 10 or 12 but they are sooo small its hard to tell if they're all moving. I'm doing 10% water changes twice daily and I have a gentle sponge filter in with them. I'll post again in a couple of days with an update if any ones interested.

Thanks for the link. It gave me all I need to know. They are a scavenger and will eat most things that float by. I reckon blood worm would work well. Thanks again.

I posted this in Rare & Unusual but maybe its not Rare or Unusual. :oops: I've found out thats its OK to keep it so all I need to know is every thing else :lol: I've got the tank sorted. Its what to feed it thats my first concern.

Hi all. I have been given a freshwater cray. Am I allowed to keep him?(MAF) What do I feed it? Any input regarding this interesting critter would be appreciated. Cheers Mark