Aqua

Not a problem, Ira I think that the males actually have a bit more gold/brown on them than the females do, not sure, that's just a conclusion I reached this morning after waking up and watching the fishes swim - I can do that seeing as my bowl is at the foot of my bed :lol:

No, I'm not going to be keeping large fish, maybe a school of WCMM to start with... Not sure if I even want to go for other fish! However, Fatman - those clown loach are gorgeous... So an U/g filter should be fine then?

On my U/g filter, the filter itself sits on top of a little stem, which is where the bubbles come through etc. I can see the filter - it's got some white stuff at the top & bottom, and some black (charcoal?) in the middle. The filter is removable, as I have seen replacement heads for sale... Does this mean there's another type of U/g filter??

ERK! Now I have conflicting opinions... Bruce - do you mean that the adults eat the fry, or that the older fry eat the younger fry?? :-? I'm planning on moving to a 600*300*300 tank in a week or so's time, so I'm definately getting more minnows!! :D

Ok... here I'm confused... I'm not terribly good with DIY projects, in fact, most of the time, it's a better idea to ask my mother & father than for me to do it! I even have trouble dismantling the fake Xmas tree... :oops: With the fluoro tube plugging in like a normal light bulb, does that mean I'd have to get some sort of extension-thingee?? Does anyone want to quote me how much they'd charge for one of these things & delivery? I have the difficulty of not having a car, living so close to work, so my transport means are rather limited....

LMAO YAY for other people using my lingo! Yeah, I have a Hagen Goldfish bowl filter with a replaceable filter cartridge... I think the replacement heads come in packs of 2 for about $5.00....

Does this mean you have your WCMM's as a tropical? I have mine in a coldwater tank....

Hey all, who do I need to speak to about breeding WCMM? I'm purely gathered data atm, until I can get all the conditions I need perfect. Also, just to show my complete ignorance in all things breeding, but how the hell do those little breeding nets work? Y'know the ones I mean... The little green net-thing that clips onto the inside of the tank?? Any and all info would be gratefully received

I notice that a lot of people seem to ask about alternate foodstuffs for their fish... Is this just a tropical tank kinda thing, or are there foods out there other than the lovely MasterPet fish flakes? "Irridated for your fishes protection" hehehe I DO have VitaPet Goldfish Granules, but those are slightly bigger than my poor WCMM's mouths, so it looks kind of like a child chewing on a soccer ball, if you can imagine that for me!! Any ideas people???

So this means that I *have* to go and buy the replacement filter-thingees every week or so? This could prove to be very expensive... What's the timeframe on a side-mounted filter to be replaced??

I agree! I've been looking through the Trade&Exchange, trademe etc... If it's only the tank I'm getting, I don't think that there should be any problems with infection...?? And when I get a plain glass tank, do I really need a light? I mean, I'm only planning on having white cloud mountain minnows (wcmm) for a while, and they seem quite happy in my little 5.5L bowl w/out a light... I *have* been told that wcmm are almost ridiculously easy to breed, so again, I don't think that I'd really need a light...? I am planning on having a planted (as far as I can) tank, so that the fishies have something more realistic than a pink "No Fishing" sign, or a derelict castle to swim around/into...

I went into Jansens today (as you do) to get a new tank. My 5.5L round bowl just isn't enough for me already, and I was looking @ a tank 600*300*300... The wonderfully helpful chap that I was talking to (tony, I think) seemed rather put out by the fact that I wanted an u/gravel filter on my tank, and he was pushing for me to buy a side-mounted filter... My question is, Would using an u/gravel filter (one that covered the entirety of the botton surface) be effective? At any rate, he managed to convince me to wait until payday when I can afford $130-odd to buy an entire new kit (tank/filter/gravel etc), instead of just buying a new u/g filter plate and tank... I just thought it was rather odd - a salesman pushing me to NOT buy now, and wait until I can get everything at once, at a cheaper overall price, instead of buying it piece-by-piece... So, I think I'll wait a few weeks, until after payday & my moving house to Ellerslie, AKL before getting my new tank.

Great to hear that they'll get to business themselves! Actually, was kind of wondering, are white clouds territorial at all? I had one (I think it was a male) that seemed to chase all the others out of the 'swimming' area they had. He's not displaying the behaviour now, but that could be because I've just changed the gravel & put the U/g filter and another plant in! I'll keep watching 'him' and see if he keeps the behaviour up.. Thanks for all the replies so soon!!! :lol:

yeah, it's basically a new version of the old glass fishbowls Yeah, I have been told the minnows are good to start with, thank god! Actually - how easy is it to get them to breed? And how do I tell which ones are boys, and which are girls???

RE: the tests; I have to answer with a big "no"... I've been told that my little fishes are rather hardy, so I wasn't really sure how necessary any tests really are... Probably a big bad, n'est pa? The fish tank I was looking at is pretty big, about the size most petshops seem to display their fish in... One question I've just thought of is, will the movement from the air filter make the flake food sink faster? I'm sure it's not really important, but I want to know now Oooh - and just to alleviate any confusion, I *do* have a coldwater tank... Not ready for tropical yet, I think!!! :lol:

Greetings to all! I'm a bit new to all this, I've just bought myself a 5.5L ank, kind of small I know, but I'm going to be upgrading in a couple of months to something a bit more roomy :-P At the moment, I have 4 White Cloud Minnows, a couple of plants (god knows what they are!). I have an Elite799 air pump, and an under-gravel filter by Hagen. My little fishies do seem to be happy in their tank, but I'm sure they'll be very grateful when I buy a much larger tank for them. I just thought that I'd let my presence be known, and rest assured that I'll be watching the posts, and jumping in with my two cents worth! :-) Thanks all! Aqua