Mel1708

Hi there, do you know where the breeding you mentioned took place? I read they bred in an English Museum, Bristol I think. I have read that they were breeding quite easily in java moss but I don't know if the fry survived as yet. Is this the same attempt you are talking about? Mel

We sexed the fish by the colours. They were quite dull but you can still see a difference between the males and females. Males are brighter and I think the actual bands of colour are wider and more pronounced. The person who netted them for us was really helpful and picked them really well for us. That Jansens price is reasonable - good deal!

I saw the galaxies before Christmas and bought 5 after boxing day. The colours were quite dull when we first got them (stressed) but now they are beautiful - coloring up to be just like the pictures. They are expensive but I really enjoy them and hopefully they will breed. We chose what we beleived to be two males and three females sooo... fingers crossed

Hey, I know this is an old post - but I was really excited this morning when i saw Galaxy rasboras in the Mt. Roskill Hollywood fish shop! They were $20.80 ea. though a bit expensive for me - but they looked cool - small but colourful!

I have my sunset minnows in the bottom of my newts tank and they have bred once so far (only had them a couple of months). I think they like the Java moss to scatter their eggs in and an unheated tank. My fry died though when I moved them from the tank, I believe they need well oxygenated water?! I would leave them in that tank next time as the parents didn't seem too interested in eating them

Hi there, depending on what kind of information you are looking for these are two sites that I like. The first one has interesting articles and lots of pictures (it hasn't been updated in a while but ignore the warning on the front page), the second one has some interesting information on the 'Thai' way of breeding and wild betta species. http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/home.imp http://www.atisonbetta.com/index.asp Mel

Hi there, I have had one of those San Francisco Shrimperies and it didn't work that well. Very low hatch rate and very slow to hatch. If you need BBS in a hurry you could do what I did - just fill a 1.5l coke bottle with warm water, salt and BS eggs, put an air hose with a bubbler in the bottle then float it in the fry tank (secure it somehow). By the next day or less they will hatch and just drain the bottle through a piece of fine cloth and then rinse the cloth in the tank. This is a messy way to do it though because all the egg shells get spread through the tank! But it is a very quick and easy solution? I have one of those corrals now and they are expensive but very easy to use! Mel

I have no heater in the tank because I found most articles I read on the net said they needed cool tanks ie. not freezing but not heated either. My tanks are in my room so the temperature stays between 15 and 20 degrees, they seem happy I think they don't go in the water much as juveniles but as adults they tend to live in the water more?! Not sure why, I think some newts also just develop a preference for land or water. Mine don't even like splashes of water on their skin at the moment but when I first got them they had just morphed and hardly came out of the water! I do know you are supposed to keep the water pretty clean they don't like it dirty. I think this site gives the best information on housing and natural habitats: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Cynop ... alis.shtml

I think the sunburst wcmm is the same as the golden wcmm just a different name - I got them from Hollywoods a couple of months ago. It was the first time I had seen them and they work well with the newts both species being of chinese origins. Heres a link: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod ... pCatId=952

My tank has two thirds water and the land area is large rocks piled up to jut out of the water. I have some java moss floating in the corner and silk lillies floating in the water which my newts adore! One lily is red and they seem to be really attracted to the colour! I have 4 sunburst mountain minnows in the water section and they don't harrass the newts or vice versa - the minnows actually breed in there! My newts are chinese and about a year old so they don't go in the water alot at the moment. The tank has no heating, an undergravel filter and a flourescent light (an aquaone 320 tank). The tank will probably get upsized in the near future when they grow more

I agree with the last post - my newts are quite cheap to feed. I have a white worm culture which is pretty cheap to keep. I also have a can of reptomin pellets which are for newts too, they were only about $10.00 and will last for a long time. Plus they can have blood worms etc. If you have live food for other fish then its not much of a stretch to feed the newts as well. Plus the tank doesn't need heating or special vitamin D lights either so I would think newts are cheaper. They have gone down alot in price also - around $50.00 ea in Auckland pet stores (they used to be $100.00 a couple of years ago). Turtles are cool too though! :-?

My female bettas ate my black neon tetras in 2 days! I'm assuming they were responsible because they were the only other fish in the tank when I found the half eaten corpses! But one male might be ok depending on his temperment :-? Mel

Hey James, I got my Chinese newts off Trade Me from a lady on the North Shore. She says she breeds both species and is willing to help anyone if you just PM her The link to the thread is here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/anyone ... 12575.html Mel

Hi! Paradise fish are part of the same family as Siamese fighters and Gouramis, so labyrinth fish and bubble nest builders (generally). I googled paradise fish and they are essentially the same to breed as fighters. The male builds a nest then you add the female they spawn and you remove the female. Eggs hatch at about a day, father tends nest for around three days and once fry are free swimming you should remove the father. You need to feed the fry infusoria, eventually BBS or microworms. Before the adults spawn you need to condition them with good quality food ie. live food or good quality frozen or dried. I think you might have trouble breeding in your tank with the other fish around and I'm not sure if there may be specific temperature requirements for breeding plus a lid needed to help fry develop the labyrinth. But I'm sure some people have paradise fish breeding at will in outside ponds so... who knows maybe others have personal experiences they can relate to you BTW I am from Howick too, have you seen the paradise fish at Kings plant barn? They are in a plant pot set up with a filter and lots of lily pads and look really beautiful! Mel

Hi! I think the female fighters have great personalities more so then the males. I have my two females in a community tank and they are very funny, they will jump for food, follow your finger and even jumped the barrier into the males quarters and spawned with him one weekend when I was away. My purple female is obssessed with my blue male and will move the floating breeding trap next to his tank divider just to be able to see him. The males are very pretty but the girls equal this with their personalities in my opinion Mel

Possibly your two gouramis are males and its a territorial behaviour like kissing gouramis?

These are my Siamese fighters, one blue veiltail 'Siam', one multi colour crowntail 'Prince', a purple female 'Purplo' and a red cambodian crowntail female 'Rose'. I have just spawned Prince and Rose for the first time and I'm raising the fry at the moment http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is= ... 50,590,442 http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is= ... 50,590,442 http://render2.snapfish.com/render2/is= ... 50,590,442 You can see the pictures if you copy and paste them into the address bar, I couldn't figure out how to stick the images in the post :oops:

Hey Ltjan55, saw your pic in the other thread - really cool fish! About the pet stores, theres also Pet Corner at Westfield Pakuranga has ok fish, a pet shop in Howick Rices Mall which has a few fish but there all really good quality and also puppys closet in meadowlands which has some plastic hooded tanks at good prices, no fish though. Thats about all in our area but I have been to Bird Barn in Henderson and that was well worth the trip! Good luck with the new Bettas would love some updates when you manage to sex them and breed them possibly?

Theres a free to good home Pacu at the goldfish pagoda in Pakuranga Auckland hes far too big for my tanks and im told hes about half his possible size!

Oh I just read you bought them - Good luck they are really excellent fish congrats! I see you live in Dannemora, we are in Howick and made our first trip to HFF to see these bettas. We will definitely go back again awesome fish there and definitely worth the travel!

I went to see these bettas today that everyone was talking about. They are great and I was really keen to buy them but did not want to incur my parents wrath for another tank in my room! Anyway I watched them for a while. There were two and they were both around the same size but one was a duller tan colour and confident swimming in the front of the tank. The other one was lurking in the back but was more colourful with a green blue gleam on it. The more confident one would chase the other one. I actually think it might be a male and female, if it was two males I think they might harrass each other more. I thought that they were like a cross between a paradise fish and a betta splendens myself thats how I would describe them. Either way they were great fish and whoever has the room or inclination to buy these fish would be lucky. I found this picture of a pair doesn't really help much though in identifying them they look really simillar! http://s4.invisionfree.com/GLBSFORUMS/ar/t81.htm

The gonopodium is the males genitals, the little stick-kind-of-structure in front of male livebearers bottom fins

Wow your albino is really cute! I am just growing up a little baby goldie too hope he looks like yours when he grows up! Haha

Sorry about your siamese I have taken lots of photos of my siamese and the flash has never affected him so I don't think that would have caused it. I agree with the others though, alot of pet shops could take better care of their fish - I have had alot of trouble in the past with buying male guppies that were unhealthy! Mel

I have one adult leucistic and I'm raising a little golden axy too. I have had my white one for 2 or 3 years now, shes a real personality hoping I might be able to breed from her one day! Mel