Fenriswolf

Thanks for the reply.

Hai! So yes, I know it's really really past breeding season but my friend just missed out because his enclosure kept getting delayed, so if there is any young ones around could I get him in touch with you? Figured it was worth a shot. Thanks regardless. :bounce:

Sweet, will send 'em through tonight.

Umm, I've got a few pictures of random fish I took at the beach, no idea what they are or if they're useful to you? Got a few similar fish to this guy, plus some snail and anemone photos. Can email you high quality versions if it is at all what you're after.

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure you don't need to panick too much about flow so long as it's not a river. I had a betta who loved swimming in his bubble wall and that will certainly increase movement of the surface. Also as a data point I had a dwarf gourami a while ago and he was a happy little dude with no particular effort on my part. Mildly alkaline water coming from our tap, decent filtration, not overstocked and he thrived. Certainly wouldn't add one until it's cycled obviously but I'm a big fan. :love:

Ah, cool thanks.

Oo. Kinda off-topic, but are you into birds too? I'm actually a vet nurse at another vet but we don't have anyone who's really into exotics.

I'm feeling a bit dense here, but my main confusion is where do you get the iron and how much do you add? Do you use a liquid iron supplement like for human consumption? And when you say to add "micros" would this be the likes of PMDD or Flourish? And in the latter case does that include enough iron to cover micronutrients and iron in one? Thanks!

Note: to be really clear on fleas, if you're using Frontline, Advantage or Revolution, the treatment is active for 3-4 weeks on the animal, if applied correctly. Frontline does say 6 weeks, but has only been proven up to 4 weeks. This does not mean you have to deflea every 4 weeks, just that that's how long it lasts. Frontline is good because it is more water-resistant than Advantage (don't know about Revolution). Do not wash your pet for 2 days before or after treatment, because that strips the oils from the coat and prevents it getting into the follicle where it sits during it's active period. Usually it's a good idea to flea bomb a house before you move in to kill any dormant fleas in the carpet, but usually once you've done it once you don't need to do it unless you have a *serious* infestation. You can also buy sprays to do couches/carpet that do not coat everything. During winter a lot of the time you can get away with less-regular treatments, but it is animal-specific. I have 3 dogs and 6 cats, and they only get deflead every 3 months with their dewormer, and I've never had fleas in the house. We're just lucky, basically. /novel

Ah crap, I meant cockatoos. I don't why I get them mixed up in my head! :-? Apistogramma cacatuoides! It's still kinda tiny but I wouldn't add them till the tank is well mature, and do very regular water changes... I actually just finished this, so good timing! Is this totally overstocked? Still planning on sticking my Fluval 105 on it and turning down the flow if I needed. I'm not 100% hung up on a perfect biotope, just want soft blackwater that looks vaguely like it should - and that will be nice for fishes! Plan:

Thanks Zev! Boo, I like carpets. But good point, I've never seen a blackwater setup with plants like that, duh. :roll: I know that is waaaay overkill on lights but it's cheap! lol I just want to get enough light to have healthy plants; what would you recommend? I get confused by the recommendations for 2-3x the volume in watts when the bulbs available don't add up to nearly so much. :-? OK, so less with the plants, but I know bettas really appreciate having plants to swim and hide in... bah, I shall research some more on my own. But any personal opinions appreciated. Stella, that is awesome. I feel kind of afraid of no filter to be honest. But that does look wonderful. Thanks!

Hi hi, So I've got this 3' tank divided into four sections that I'm planning to either take out the middle section and have 2x 15L for one Betta and 1x 30L to put a pair of Apistos (maybe dwarf flags? Not adding them until tank is well mature) in or take out two to have 2x 30L, one for a Betta and one for the Apistos. (Volume takes air and substrate into consideration.) I'm pretty much planning on aping a Southeast Asian blackwater pool for both halves, since Apistos have the same water requirements, but I might change my mind and get South American plants for the cichlid side. So I've got some Daltons Aquatic Mix and Peat and some fine dark grey gravel, a bunch of small pieces of driftwood (I still need to boil and soak), I'm buying a T5 lighthood designed for shops for 4x 54 watt T5HO bulbs. And I have a Fluval 105. I want to use hairgrass as a carpet and Indian fern as a floating plant. So my questions are: I'm inclined to use the peat as a substrate, clay-peat-gravel from bottom to top. Is this dumb - should I put it in the filter and change it regularly instead? I'm looking at Indian Almond Leaves on TM, they only recommend a small amount but I think a carpet would look cool. Is that going to lower the pH too much? Should I just put in the small amount recommended, or flag it and look for oak leaves? Tiger Lotus gets way too big for such a small amount of space, doesn't it? Any recommendations for small Crypts we can get here? I'm not too fussed on CO2, but am I pretty much going to have to go there with so much light? I'm all excited about this but kinda nervous that I am missing the point somewhere here. So, um, suggestions? Danke schon :bounce:

+1(gazillion). And I'm really glad the girl has taken responsibility for her actions. But clearly Animates staff are not getting drilled enough with taking care if any staff member didn't know the basic dos and don'ts of interacting with strange dogs. As for the reporting... Yes x1 million. So many people don't care about Breed Specific Legislation until it effects them - in many jurisictions with BSL Rottweilers are one of the targeted breeds. Hell, there's BSL for Rotties in Germany! It's not bad in Germany though, it's more really stringent rules for owning a potentially high-maintence dog (especially since they have more working lines over there) than blanket discrimination. What's pretty impressive is you can track back the "pit bull" hysteria in the US to a specific article printed in the 80s/90s. Previously there was dog fighting going on, and there were people who owned American Pit Bull Terriers as pets, but they were pretty much under the radar. Then there was a huge uproar about this terrifying, strong dog, and they took off as the dog of choice for "ganstas". And sadly, I don't know if this will pass like it did for the Doberman or Rottweiler, because frankly if you beat on a guardian breed enough it will hurt you. Bully breeds are bred with incredible pain tolerance and bite inhibition with humans. Doesn't mean there aren't a lot of dodgy pit bull-like dogs around; years of only idiots breeding will do that. But they're still an innately human-social breed.

I have a munter fantail who is even more useless than the blackmoore I used to have (RIP) with food, and I just got some Nutrafin Max sinking pellets and they are great. My slow, half-blind fish both notices and catches them, and they don't sink way too fast like the other pellets I've used. I also feed the Tetrafin golfish crisps (which were easier for my old blackmoore to notice and eat), flakes with spirulina and freeze-dried brine daphnia (mostly for the leopardfish) for variety. I think peas are a good idea but I've always been too lazy. :oops: Good luck with 'em.

That is incredible. Both the stream and the photography. I am in awe of your skills and dedication. :bounce:

Ouch, Caryl. Not too surprising from the scope though! That pond is gorgeous Heir, might keep that kind of look in mind if I ever make one for myself.

Thanks Caryl

Hi guys, Haven't been around here for a long time but been having a bit of a look around and thought I'd ask - do you think it's cruel keeping two smallish fantails in 120L? I have 6 leopardfish, 1 ~2" (including tail) fantail and a ~2" bristlenose in there with a Fluval 204 running on it. I did have a blackmoore but she got tail rot and medication kept it static for a long time but never fixed it and she died. So the other fantail seems a bit depressed (ha, anthropomorphism anybody?) without another goldfish-like-creature and I'd like to get another one. Opinions? Note: she had a half-arsed go at the leopardfish at first but is too slow and useless and has given it up and they're indifferent, and if/when they get to say 4" I'm happy to upgrade. Cheers

I think it's a bit dodgy they don't mention they're unsuitable for fish who prefer hard water - unless I'm off the mark but it doesn't seem ideal. Pretty cool though as I really like the idea of doing a biotope(ish) aquarium for betta and they would be a nice addition.

I just got 4 pairs off Whiskas, they are aaawesome. I know she had some extras, if she has two males I could probably bring them back for you when I take her borneo suckers up (did a swap, waiting for my end!) Do PM me if you're keen though because I'm not regularly on here but get emailed for PMs.

I'm certainly not putting the onus on the front staff if the employer isn't willing to put the time and money into decent staff. It's worth your while to have incentives in the form of pay reviews and real training, you can't expect an 18yo with no life experience to learn with no support. I disagree strongly with tipping as customers are not reliable. I am extremely helpful to everyone but I refuse to grovel of anyone who is being downright difficult. Coarse language removed Admin - I do not want to feel my income is reliant upon this - or, you know, being pretty. There are qualifications for pet store employees and I actually found some of the notes more complete and concise than my vet nursing notes! (I did the dog one, unfortunately it was pretty basic given my obsession with dogs but my boss wanted me to do something so OK.) There are also courses in customer service. But the most important thing is a supportive environment, that your experienced employees are happy and knowledgeable (their support is invaluable as a new staff member), and you actually have the information there! I know a lot about fish from my own research but my knowledge is dwarfed by what I don't know. My co-worker has a decade of experience so I try and learn from her and ask lots of questions but there are no books here, and it's hard hitting the first animal I've had no experience caring for which is marine fish. Frankly I'm opposed to pet stores as a concept anyway. It's completely immoral selling animals for profit. I support pet stores selling food and supplies, and fish stores/areas in pet stores with knowledgeable, well trained employees. Employees who are supported in their right to say no to people who are trying to something incredibly stupid with their fish! The only reason I can handle selling kittens is because we don't buy them, we don't make any money off them (a little, but that profit ends up going to any kittens that get sick anyway), they're desexed and vaccinated and actually old enough to go to a new home. *sigh* Aaaaanyway... that's enough rambling from me! :oops:

That is really cool! Nice name too Is 90L enough for koura long-term? I thought they got a bit big, but I don't know anything about them...

Oh what, like I posted something nastier? No. And trust me, I've had some worse reamings than this on another forum (very dramatic that forum, but a good sense of community). Really. There's no point in debating fine points but maybe I'm desensitised by the amount of drama on this other forum. You think it was overkill, fine, I'll give it up. But frankly being confused/surprised by someone who has expressed some experience posting about keeping a bunch of large fish in a small tank with no qualifier about moving them into a bigger one doesn't register as "harsh" with me.

Oh jesus. I can't see that Caryl could have said "all those fish are too big for that tank" in any other way, and it's not like I was calling her/him a jerk. I just thought that from the fact they've posted quite a bit that they had to be pulling our leg - a joke, an actual, literal joke. I'm having a really terrible day and this really upsets me: this is the only forum out of the 3 I frequent where I have never, ever been able to feel part of a community. Which upsets me because there are some really cool people on here and some amazing set ups. I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way, but it seems that unless you're part of a small group of people no one really feels the need to talk to you, and I don't exactly appreciate being blamed for someone running away from a bunch of frankly innocuous posts. I do not like to bully people asking questions, and I am totally confused by this thread because the op seemed unfazed at first then randomly disappeared. I'm going to post this rant, even though I feel embarrassed admitting to being upset. Whatever.