Fingol

The 'cave' is quite common in pet stores here (Wellington; NZ). It's an elbow pipe; it gives access from both sides but because it has a bend in it you can't see right through it. It comes with a standard hole at the top of the elbow, also allowing access from there. I have however put it in the tank upside down so that there is no hole in its roof. The shark used it more often after that. The other side of the pipe I have 'blocked' with moss and plants. A fish that really wants to can force its way through, but most access it from the front. When the shark patrols the tank others occasional visit it, but most the time seem to sense when he is about to return. Once or twice a bronze cat got caught inside, only to explode from the back of the pipe in rather a hurry. It's the only 'artifical decoration' I have in the tank. The drift wood provides caves but the BNs have taken up home there. I have a lazy blue male guppy, I think he sleeps a lot under the drift wood too (There is lots of gaps between the wood and the gravel). I often do not see him. Only to suddenly appear when there is food other other activity in the tank. Its a pity because he is more beautiful than the other blue I have but I don't think he'll father any fry. He's too darn lazy!

Does anyone know if they eat the green stringy algea? (I know they don't like the black beard stuff)

I think they can be agressive towards their own species (the red tail and the rainbow sharks). I have seen the bala sharks (if they are the same as the silver sharks?); they are beautiful, but grow too big for me; over 30 cm!!! I can imagine one of them eating guppies.... Only ever kept this one; so have not got that much experience with them. This one seems OK with guppies, bronze cats, bristlenoses and tiger barbs (had them for a long time; group of ten...until they got old and sick and died). He would occassionally like a torpedo run at one of the barbs, but all in good fun. He'd not nip. Nothing like what the barbs did to each other...nasty nasty fishes. Two males could fight for hours, only stopping to fight with another male. Like tag fights at WWF, without the muscle or the music. Last picture; the guppy fry in it and the shark went for the same bit of food; guess who won? (Fry is just to the right off the sharks head.)

The shark was there first, the guppies were added a little over a month ago. The guppies are not bothered by him, he seems to have no interest in them at all. The five guppy mums have (all?) had babies. He swims right by these too. His main interests are flakes and tubiflex;oh and if the bronze cats lay eggs...he's there eating them. Only this morning was I quick enough, I managed to get a clutch of about half a dozen eggs off the glass and into the small tank (only used for raising guppy fry at the moment; I caught and seperated all the blonde/ golden/ white fry that were part of the batches; almost a quarter of them) otherwise only two bronze cat bubbas have been born (and raised) in the tank. anther picture

Wow someone on trade me is selling a trio for $500 plus http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 586166.htm

Been feeding the guppies the occasional cube of tubiflex worms (quarter of a cube), but the rainbow shark absolutely loves it too. Trouble is he hogs it. To ensure the guppies get most of it, I just float it. It took him a while but he learned to swim to the surface and to 'smell' where it was floating. He'd grab it with its mouth, drop to/ near the bottom again and shake it, swim forwards and backwards to 'rip bits off'; it must be a real pain not having teeth. For a couple of weeks he was quite frustrated as everytime he got a bit off it, it float back to the surface again and he'd have to find it again. Losing valuable time and the guppies would eat more of what was rightfully 'his'; according to him anyways. Today when he found it, first go he took it into his cave, I didn't see him again until he was finished; I never saw the tubiflex again at all. I both hope and not that he has learned this trick by himself and will repeat it next time. Anyways here he is:

Finally a pic that doesn't like like a blur. The two parents came from Sue Fleet. I got five females from her, had them for a little over a month, so about five batches of fry are growing at the moment. I was surprised at how many blonde/ white body coloured fry they produced. Keeping them in a seperate smaller tank to see what they grow up to look like. Will post some pic's of them as soon as they are starting to show fin colours.

Does anyone know how big these get? Have read some conflicting info so far. Somewhere on the net I read between 8-10 cm today but I remember reading they get as big as Rainbow sharks...mine is about 12 cm (maybe he is still growing though). Then Aquarium fishes of the world says 15 cm. My two are about 6 cm now.

It was likely that the soil was a bit dry in the container being overrun. I added water, cut holes in the bottom of both, and a minimal amount came out the bottom so far. Checked a couple of hours later and more whiteworms are under the glass coasters than before. Still mites though but maybe they will go when I put smaller food portions in. If not I'll try the flooding method. Anyone out there found a good way of harvesting mites? Thanks!

HI I hope this is the right section for this question; I have two ice cream containers with white worm cultures going. One of them is being overrun with what looks like mites, really small brown critters. They form clumps and communities just under the surface of the dirt. I am sure they are planning to take over the world, how do I stop them? Thanks in advance!

Hi Keri Anne How are the albino guppies coming along?

Sorry to hear about the lost of the fish.

maybe it was the brine shrimp, I feed flake and blood worm to my community tank, but I don't do brine shrimp....other people might have more experience with brine shrimp...maybe they can tell if salt can cause a reaction like that. good luck!

Nope no idea, I have one in my community tank. The closest he comes to exhibiting behaviour like that is a couple of quick 'laps' at the front of the tank just after feeding and the occasional dash into shadows and stopping instantly just before colliding with a plant. Always just after feeding, I put it down to him feeling energetic after getting food. Doesn't sound good what your friends shark has got...what was the food he gave?

Well that was very unsuccessful. I caught not a single of the million snails. That said their population might be on the decline, while I never see it, I suspect the rainbow shark occasionally snacking on them. Its unlikely to be bronze cats, bristlenose, or guppies, is it?

Hi Keri Anne There is some cool info in the following site about albino's http://www.world-guppy.de/english/artic ... swords.htm I don't understand it all but learned some stuff. Anyway good luck with your breeding programme.

Hi BlueandKim Still getting a bit used to the idea that there are a lot of people here, with resources at their fingertips that I have never dreamed off. Thanks for the reminder! :oops: Today I got the small side tank going again. While I am waiting for the water to "cycle", I am thinking about what do with it. I want to breed guppies (which is no more specific as I like them to be blue) Do I put other fish in the tank or will I need all its space for a second community of them? The tank is a "standard" 2 feet long.

Bought two bristlenose this week. They are quite fun to watch, my GF thinks they are cute (they are still below two inches, and have lots of distinctive dots) She said they look like they stepped out of the seventies, and keep on revering to their clothes

I have been thinking about this, I like the idea; I might try a small plastic medicine bottle; cut some holes in it, small enough for fish to not enter but big enough for the million nails and put the bait in there, weighed down with a bit of lead and attached to a string for easy recovery. Will let you know in a few days how that went.

Do angels eat baby snails and million snails? I have a million snail problem in the making....and the tank is still relatively empty.

very cool!

what are the classic trade marks of a deformed guppy? Its it the hump? Like they have a broken back? Are there other signs I should watch out for? when is a hump a bad hump? ie are there humps that pass as acceptable? any help appreciated!

Thanks all! Kookie it sounds like you'll have a lot of fun watching them grow up.

Thanks Karen, I'll see you there. I'll be the one looking like a fish out of water.

Thanks for the welcome, I have updated my profile to reflect where I live, thanks for the hint. Kookie what colours are your guppies? Do rainbow sharks eat small fry? Probably a silly question, it has a mouth and it is a fish and fry are smaller than its mouth...if they do I have a small tank on the side that I could set up to rear them before releasing them into the larger tank. The small tank is quite dirty at the moment...its used to grow plants and snails (ramhorn) in and has lots and lots of dead vegetable matter in it. I am also not sure how good the water condition is now...no filter for starters but I could buy one.