farmchick

Hi all I am wanting to try my hand at Malawis but have heard so many different opinions regarding the PH level. One fish shop told me they would be fine at a PH of 7 which I know is wrong, while another told me 8.5 :-? What is the ideal PH level and what is the easiest way to maintain it? We are on tankwater which is a guarenteed 7.5 (unless something has died in the watertank EWWWW). :oops: Thanks in advance

If anybody wants some bamboo to make their own you are more than welcome to help yourself from our place. Just bring some sort of cutting implement (and some gumboots for the more adventurous) and I will point you in the right direction We have a bamboo boundary that is the better part of 500m long and we cant keep it under control. There would be some bits the size of a small dinner plate right down to the size for staking things in your garden. Just PM for addy details if you are interested

Hi all What would you recommend as being an okay size to start rehoming bristlenose babies? I have roughly 20 of them all around the 2cm mark. I dont want to rehome them to bigger tanks and find they are just going to become lunch for someone I also have about a million guppies, mollies and swords all about 2.5cm. Well maybe not that many buts still heaps. I dont think they will fit in the mouths of your average community fish but are they big enough to move on?

you could try going and visiting your local truck or trailer manufacturer. You often find the bits that are of no use to them are great lengths for tank stands etc.

I bought some of that Liquid fry food. It comes in a wee squeezy bottle and will cost you about $5. Be warned though, I managed to kill ALL of my first batch of babies through overfeeding a too few water changes. I now have a tank full of baby mollies, swords and guppies (between 5mm and 1cm) that get fed finely crushed livebearer flake. I only feed mine the liquid stuff for about 5 days and then on to flake. Good luck. :lol:

when is the next screening??

i find poking a teaspoon through it works well. It sinks and is also easy to get back out.

I know what you mean. Just when I think I have got a BN, a mollie gets in the net and just looks at me. I swear they smile!

If I tried to add another to my already existing 4, I would be throttled :lol: The BN's are in the 3ft livebearer, the other 3ft is the community/display tank, the 2ft has all the baby livebearers and the other 2ft has the bristle bubs and kribs. If anyone knows of someone who has the time (and the inclination) to build a stand for an 8ft tank, then I can shift some of mine into a 4 1/2 ft'r Problem solved :roll:

Thanks all. I managed to catch 2 more last night. I think the plan for this weekend is to try and take the log out. Im getting a bit concerned about dad. He is losing weight as he just wont leave the creche :-? . I make sure food is in his area so he has access to it. Hes not really skinny but I want to make sure he doesnt get that way either. Any ideas?

thats exactly what he says........ or the other one is..... okay, when she gets the net in the water, back into a hole and smile at her :-?

Well, after 2 nights of tempting treats in a jar overnight, the bristles are still happy as larry in the main tank!!! :evil: Little blighters. I now have a new batch hanging around dad with their older brothers and sisters smothering the log! I think I may have to resort to taking the log out of the tank, put it in the grow-out tank and hope they all get off :roll: Unless there are any more ideas out there? Help

he must be an ex-circus fish. He has obviously been very well trained to sit still for the camera for so long fantastic pics 8)

Souxsi Once your tank is done you are welcome to a couple of bristlenose babies from my tank if you can catch them :lol: At last count I have about 30 1-1.5cm bubs with another batch due any day and no more room. I am out in west auckland if you fancy a drive.

fantastic idea Jude and Ktttk. Im gunna try that tonight and tomorrow, who knows I may have a success story to tell :lol:

Thanks Tanksman The problem I have is that dad elected not to use one of the 4 possible caves but instead chose a split in the huge piece of driftwood that would involve dismantling the entire tank!!! :evil: And everyday, he seems to be teaching his children new ways to elude the net

Good morning all After the recent population explosion in one of my tanks, I now have a dilemma :-? Can anyone recommend an easy way to catch about 30 baby bristlenose? Dad is already nurturing a new batch of eggs laid yesterday so I cant take the wood out with disrupting him (its one massive big piece with lots of nooks and crannies in it). I have caught all the sword, molly and guppie babies (about 100 ) and moved them to another tank and the latest "city" of Kribensis are still about 2 weeks away from being relocated to their grow-out tank but after about 2 hours of fishing, I only managed to catch 1 bubba bristle :oops: . Any help gratefully accepted. Im even tempted to say for every 2 you catch, 1 is yours to keep!!! :lol:

No no no no.......... the horses are fine in their warm dry sawdust filled stables. Its only the bipeds that trapse through the mud to get to the spoilt geegees.

hehe. All four of them coped with supper served at a later hour :lol: When should I try and round up the bristlenose children? I note there are already a couple of runaways and maybe a few deviants amongst the group. I havent got any room for them all so when they are big enough, they will be departing to bigger better tanks somewhere.........

Sunday: water change on the tanks. Lucky its rained for a whole week so the water tanks are nice and full......... :roll: Monday: Late for work, couldnt find keys! Trudge through the mud to feed the horses. Tuesday: Cat brings mouse home for dinner and puts him to bed. MY BED! :evil: Trudge through mud to feed horses Wednesday: Late home, stuck in traffic, trudge through mud IN THE DARK to feed horses Thursday: Car overheats! Trudge through mud and dark to feed horses Thursday nite: Feed fishies and see very tip of Bristlenose tail wigglin like mad in hole on wood. Panic coz I think he is stuck...... Tail backs out of hole and is joined to a tiny wee bubba bristlenose!!!! Relief that it wasnt Mum or Dad is overwhelming. Gather family around and force them to share in my delight. :lol: Family gets bored after counting lots of little bubbas. Friday: 6am, 6.10am, 6:15am, 6:20am constantly checking bubbas, going ooooh, aaaah constantly. So after my really really really bad week, I now have a tank full of proud parents. It must of been something in the last week of rainwater, as I now have pineapple sword bubbas, sailfin molly bubbas, krib bubbas and loads of really cute little bristles!!! Yay for the waitakere rain!

bugger. they are SOOOOOOO cool

pardon my ignorance.. :oops: :oops: but is that a good thing? My weekly water tests show that all my levels are good with a PH of around 7.4

Calling all gurus.......... Can someone tell me if carved sandstone is okay to go into a fishtank or will it leech bad stuff??? There is a really really cool shop here in downtown that has some fantastic carved sandstone thingimees that would look really cool 8) and make some really neat hidey holes. But before I go and get a few, will they be okay? They are a high polish with a really smooth surface and dont seem porous (??) like concrete. Any ideas?

I do Caryl, but not for a while yet. The loaches are about 5cm at the moment and the gouramis are all going shortly.

160 litre 3 and a bit foot tank a plecostamus (but hes only little) 5 baby kribs 3 gold gouramis 2 opaline gouramis 2 royal red gouramis 4 black widows some lemon tetras and some neon tetras and heaps of driftwood and hidey holes and caves and stuff ooooh, I nearly forgot, one very subdued RTBS AND LOTS OF UPROOTED PLANTS