SpidersWeb

Yeah I'm basing my recommendation on the tank being 600L x 380W x480H which is a 'standard' 2ft 100L. I'd have no qualms about keeping angels in that. I've seen two angels in a much smaller tank, can't remember the specs but I had to feed them for a month, was like 'oh my god', 100L would have been a luxury! Certainly didn't stunt their growth tho, but fins top to bottom stretched out could touch the gravel and surface at the same time in places. When adults, more than one male in a tank that size would be trouble, but a couple or single would be ok.

Usually females are usually almost completely grey, and are very rare in stores (usually only slip through by mistake) because of their dull colouration (doesn't sell well).

oh and another thing, if you've got angels, you can have small quick fish like danios, platy etc in there as well. A few danios are good, keeps them occupied if they're being teritorial.

100L in most dimensions will be fine for a male/female pair of angels. If you chose to buy 6 young, and grow them out, you'd eventually need to get rid of 4 (and they're not hard to get rid of, so its not a bad plan, almost certainly gurantees you'll have a breeding pair to watch who'll live together well). Once they get to know you you certainly see their personalities, and personality disorders. For example I had two males in a tank, one was bigger but 0 aggression, the other was smaller but had huge insecurity issues, even after two weeks he wouldn't let up with the displays and aggression towards this one angel (out of about 8 other adults). They also get to know you personally, and when they see you rush to the top. They're also attention whores, if you stare in to the tank at another fish, it wont be long until all the angels block your view entirely. When breeding I've had some pairs that would go to the effort of biting me (even jumping out of the water!) which was pretty awesome (doesn't hurt btw) but some are pretty relaxed, if you go for the eggs you just get this stern look and tall fins.

Ahhhhh my old planted tank was riddled with it had coral sand in the filter to raise the GH/kH

On the note of 'too many fry', if you don't help raise the fry at all, populations usually balance themselves out. I started with 2 convicts, and the population hit a plataeu at around 50, after that young fry would barely last a couple of days (unless I was dumb enough to put them in another tank). Same thing happens with angels etc. If you do breed convicts though, only buy the best high contrast fish you can, none of this 'grey' convict stuff, either pure whites or all striped with dark stripes and bright white gaps. Convicts actually have to be one of my favourite fish though. Hardy (they were breeding in the turtle tank at Animates Melling), easy to breed, personallity, attitude and great parents. Just a pain in the bum if you like friendly fish too (they don't share well). Kribs and Blue Rams are better cichlids for the community. But yeah as above, 100L hex wouldn't suit convicts, they like their floor space. Angels and a pair of blue rams or kribs might love a hex though.

Careful on that recommendation. Convicts do (over time) get to 15cm each. So while a bunch of young ones may be ok, you'll need to rehome or buy a bigger tank at some stage (probably a year depending on quantity). They're also territorial when breeding, so I wouldn't get more than 4-6 to start with (they'll start breeding really early, so you might want an oscar tank to keep their population down ). When their population reaches a certain threshold (too many to maintain territories) they do stop breeding though, although you'll still see the odd batch of fry. More rocks and caves the merrier. Breeding pair of angels in a 100L would be fine. Dwarf Cichlids all good. Convicts are a lot of fun though (just dont try and put much else with them).

MH is better for depth penetration. I always recommend T5, but not sure if it'd provide good solid growth at a floor level on a 600 deep tank.

As long as the gravel is rounded not sharp they will be fine. What vindy said. But since you're moving house not just the tank, I'd put the last bit of water in a covered bucket etc, stops any splasing while you're racing around in the car. Don't get any new fish for a couple of weeks after the tank is setup. There might be a wee (not big just weeee) shock to the filter, so adding more fish could make this worse. Try to keep any filter material damp. Don't forget to unplug the heater 10 minutes before you drain the tank. Set it up as soon as possible, and dissasemble it as late as you can. Local pet store will be able to provide you cheaply with fish bags. I sincerely recommend this over buckets etc for fish transport, due to personal experience.

Animalz is a chain of vets that also have pet centres. One in Johnsonville and one in petone as well Petone is known for its rare fish selection at times, including rare plecs.

Yep, but the breeding co-ordinator needs to see your fish to verify the breeding at 30-60 days of age to get a registration.

Yep, you'll have 50% more water flow though, so as long as the fish don't mind the extra current then its all good.

They'll sleep under a log no worries. I wouldn't stress about it. They love wood caves though. I have a fantastic one lying around I forgot to give away if anyone needs one locally.

Yeah most of the time they do, but I have seen GBAs with dark sections, like patches that aren't solid black but not gold either. Accidental breedings will always occur. What is more important is that pure strains are maintained by members, so a pure strain is always available to enthusiasts. The GBA is the same fish as a common bristlenose, and I'm not even sure that they occur naturally either. They're a different species by definition from a scientific point of view because their colour is much different, but its still the same fish underneath, they don't even have a full latin name yet, just Ancistrus sp.. IMO breeding GBA with commons is no worse than breeding a white angelfish with a silver, or a silver with a black. GBAs are weaker than common bristlenose, so my concern would be that it'd likely weaken the common bristlenose strain BUT would strengthen the GBA strain (not always, but the possibilities are there). I've only had one hybrid batch (was an honest accident), but if people choose to mix, I'm ok with it as long as anyone aquiring the fish knows they're hybrids, and the price is lower.

That's what they all say. I love going to checkouts with odd product selections. Entertains my inner child.

Split this thread to Freshwater. Interesting discussion, but really can't have it in the PT&E section!

Haven't seen it on NZ. Usually get it off the interwebs

All you need is surface disturbance, e.g. a filter moving water on the surface, or an air pump (which pulls water to the surface). Not having surface water moving lowers the oxygen content of the water, meaning the fish can't breathe essentially. You don't really need dechlorinator for water changes of 33% or less (for larger changes e.g.50% I do), Wellington water is fine as is. If you want to then all good, better safe than sorry, but don't let it stop you from doing water changes if ammonia or nitrite is high. Nitrate is actually something you don't really need to test for. Its nice to know but the serious ones are ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia usually results in fish having trouble breathing because it burns their gills, sometimes this damage is permanent. Nitrite (which comes after the ammonia spike in the cycle) usually results in nitrite poisioning which can cause sudden death (did for me last time I had an issue, lost a LOT of fish). Its all part of the cycle process. Once its over the tank is what is known as 'matured'. With your filter (good choice) on a tank that size, once this is over you will have an awesome setup pH in your tank should settle between 7 and 7.5. Unless you've got an African cichlid setup, I wouldn't try making any changes to this. For small changes (10-20%) I usually use cold water. But for larger changes, delicate fish, or sick fish, I add a bit of water from the hot water tap (jug is better if you dont mind, but hot tap is fine) to each bucket, then used the finger test to make sure it was about the right temp (its very easy to make the water too hot, so always check this). Also check your temp. The setting on the heater is never accurate (some of mine were out by 3-4 degrees often). Try and set it to 25-26 degrees (using an aquarium thermometer to check). With the innacuracy of aquarium meters, this is a safe bet. Up to you what you do with the black neon. I always feel sorry for them and try to let nature take its course, but the smarter thing to do was just put it out of its mysery. p.s. dont flush down loo though

I can 75% of the time. I find it really hard to explain to people. The easiest is seeing how they behave with others, usually females will attack other females, and males other males, but there are exceptions to this. Basically what you're looking for is: - Boys are thinner, mature females will be carrying eggs which makes it look like they ate all the pies. - Females have a squarer body shape, the belly goes back, then suddenly down in to the tail. Males normally have an angeled belly that lines up with their bottom fin. What makes it hard is sometimes you get fat males, and sometimes you get females that aren't as square, or males that aren't as in-line. Around 75% of the time I can accurately sex them based on this without fail yet. But 25% of them I just watch for behaviour, and the final test is when they breed and who with. When in breeding mode (see horny) the female has an angeled and thick breeding tube that sticks out, males have a tiny one that sticks out at a straight right angle. With mature angels this is usually how I do it, if they're settled the boys usually have theirs sticking out a little and you can see the shape.

Not having much time myself, within a week I had my young angels eating crushed flake. I also have decapsulated brine shrimp I was feeding. I'd have much preferred microworms and live brine shrimp though.

Awesome work Rainwater is like fish viagra.

More the merrier. Just make sure they don't run out of food.

NZ isn't the only country using metric you know I personally use feet and inches because they're nicer numbers to deal with for larger stuff. e.g. '6 foot tank' vs '1 point 5 metre tank' 6x2x2 becomes 1500x600x600 etc 'A foot' vs '30 centimetres' But for smaller things (under about 6 inches) I always use metric unless I'm forced not to. Its not a fear of fractions, I'm just lazy, easier to say 'pass the 10 mil' rather than 'pass the 13/32th'.

Did you get your nickname from a Colbert Report sketch? I'm guessing unlikely, but I recognised it so thought I'd ask.

0.000095