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A few are hitting about 3cm, the rest are around 2.5cm. I only just added them to the tank this past weekend - they were in a 40L tank since I got them from you. Well I think the large-ish Java ferns add a bit of colour and structure to the tank setup - plus they were left over from the previous tank setup and it took me a while to get them to grow to this size so I didn't want to get rid of them..

I remember my dad getting some agar from the asian grocery store and I think you can get a similar type of thing called gelatine from the supermarket. I read somewhere that agar is preferred as it is made from a seaweed extract - someone correct if I'm wrong.

hi all, I decided to turn one of my tanks into an African setup and have gone with malawi species. The tank is a tall 3 foot tank and holds about 200L. The substrate is silica sand. I decided to use bricks for the rock work as I managed to find some at placemakers for 50 cents each! For the plants, I have used a few bunches of Java fern. Filtration: A Fluval 304 and an Aqua one CF 1000. Stocking: 15 Yellow labs 20 Demasonis 6 Aulonocara baenschi and a few GBAs. I am really enjoying the vibrant colours of this tank at the moment and look forward to observing how the behaviour of the fishes develop and change as they mature. Some are already establishing territories and mini territorial disputes are breaking out every now and then. Thanks for viewing. Hope you all enjoyed it!

Yes, they make clicking noises when they feed on the courgette. Excellent tip - courgettes tend to be a little expensive during winter. I will have a go at making the courgette jello when my plant produces more than I can use to feed the BNs.

1 dog - a fox terrier 1 bird - a Corella 2 rabbits - the male just got dropped off at the vet to get snip snip :lol: And many fish!

Yes, GBAs and albino BNs are different species. No, it is indeed a courgette! I'm just surprised at how big it has grown

I bought a courgette plant seedling for $1 from the garden centre a couple of months ago and have just started to reap the benefits of it. It has been producing some enormous courgettes which I think is due to the chicken manure I added the soil . Here are some photos of the courgette and my bristlenoses enjoying them: Note that in one of the pics I have an albino female BN together with a GBA. Just like to point out that the tank houses a breeding pair of albino BNs and is also a grow out tank for GBAs and no cross breeding btw the two occur. I will be moving the GBAs to a different tank soon as they are maturing quite quickly.

That should last you a while! Did you order it through your LFS?

hey Ryan, I've heard some good reviews about the NLS food so I might wait for them to hit the stores.

hi, Was just wondering if anyone has tried feeding their africans NovoRift cichlid food. I'm thinking about purchasing some but would like some recommendations/feedback first. Thanks.

hey jonathan, From the pic you have posted, it looks like an albino pleco. The albino plecos have a 'steeper' forehead and larger dorsal fins compared to the BNS.

Congrats on the fry! Is this spawn from one female??

Those critters I believe are water boatmen. You can feed them to the fish as along as the fish are large enough and fast enough to devour them. I fed some water boatmen to my rainbow fish a while back and they certainly enjoyed the tasty snack.

Welcome Edczuch. You should have a look at Hollywood Fishfarm - They have two stores in Auckland: Mt Roskill branch 36 Frost Road Mt Roskill, Auckland Albany brancy The Tawa Trade Centre, Corner of Tawa Drive and Rosedale Road, Albany, Auckland And Pupuke aquarium centre Corner of Pupuke Road & Lydia Ave Birkenhead, Auckland Hope you enjoy your trip over here.

I prefer zuchini over cucumber as it does not 'go bad' as quick and looks to have more 'substance' compared to cucumber which is more watery. With regards to breeding, you can let the father raise the babies if you have a cave that allows him to block the entrance and keep the babies inside. Otherwise if the babies manage to get out, then they will become nibbles for other fish in the tank. You mentioned that you had other catfish in there - can you be a bit more specific? The babies are typically most vulnerable within the first 5 - 7 days after hatching when they still have their egg yoke. Once this is consumed, they can manage on their own and will start to venture out of the cave. Taking the eggs from the cave and raising them is quite easy as well - here is a thread about it. I prefer to remove the eggs and hatch them in a smaller separate tank as oppose to waiting for them to leave the cave and then spending ages trying to net them out which can be frustrating :evil:. Good luck with however you choose to breed them 8).

Putting in some dither fish would help.

hi, good to hear they are doing well. Have you checked your friend's water conditions to see if they are suitable for the fish? How long has your friend's tank been running for? If you have no luck with cucumber, try courgette. And like OscarBoy said, make sure you weight it down so it sinks - one easy way is to stick a fork in it and put the whole thing in the tank.

Nice looking setup there evil! What substrate are you using in the tank?

Found some interesting vids on the National geographic site. Enjoy. A look at the breeding habitat of some african cichlids. Pair of cichlids defending nest from a turtle. Interesting breeding behaviour of catfish in lake tanganyika.

I use NOW Couriers for overnight North Island deliveries (under 2kgs). They don't do overnight South Island, so instead, I use NZ Couriers for that (under 5kgs). Haven't had any mishaps thus far (touch wood ).

They look very nice indeed. Where were they imported from?

Its a good idea to have a quarantine tank for new fish, particularly if they are from a pet shop that have tanks under treatment... :-? It will protect from potentially spreading the disease to your healthy fish and will save you from a lot of grief and $$ in the future.

I think the Jager heaters are a bit over-rated and expensive. I had about 5 of them a few years ago and 3 of them were faulty within the first 3 months. I've been using the cheaper ones these few years and haven't had any problems at all. Maybe I just had a bad batch of jager heaters.. but i don't think its worth it to spend twice the money on one when a cheaper branded heater does as good a job. Just my 2 cents .

As I understand it, if the normal gene is dominant (and the albino one recessive), then the phenotype of any fish carrying it will always be normal. A fish that looks albino will therefore not carry the normal gene. A possibility is that there are two different forms of the albino gene i.e. two separate locations in the chromosomes where albino genes reside. I remember reading about this somewhere.. will have to do a bit more research..

Interesting you mention this Alan.. because a pair of my albino BNs have produced 100% brown offspring... They've bred twice now and have thrown 100% browns on both occasions. Guess I'll grow them up, breed them and see if they carry the recessive albino gene.