Adrienne

I have 1x fluval fx5 1x aqua one 2200 3x cf1200 2x cf100 1x cf700 1x cf500 3x 2213 eheims? 1x fluval 105 + a sunsun (looks like the first pic you posted) all are externals. I have had problems with the cf1200's but that was when they first came out (3-4 years ago?) and there was a faulty part (crack in the tap on nearly all cf1200's in that batch) and also a small problem with the sun sun (a minute hole by the tap). Replacement parts were given to me without any issues for both brands of filters. IMO - both the brands of filters you have listed work fine in my tanks. The sunsun is the easier to start and I suspect the seller is the same person I purchased it off. Just make sure your filter can do a minimum of 4x the tank capacity in an hour, up to 10x makes keeping the tank maintained a lot easier.

excellent - I will be able to come down

I lost over 50 fully developed male fighters about 12 months into breeding. Something went through the tank that wiped out the lot within 24 hours. Its never happened since.

I don't know if this will be a lot of help but I do find that this time of the year seems to be hard on fighters. I don't know if its to do with the change of atmospheric conditions, cooler temperatures at night or whatever but if I am going to lose fighters it normally around now. People may think I am imagining it but I know I am not. Its been the same for several years.

Hi Stephanie - sorry to hear. Certainly sounds like fin rot. Depending on the colour of the fins and tail you may be able to see little pink or red streaks just above the frayed off area. This line will be where the next bit of tail or fin drops off to. Usually caused by stress or water conditions. Shifting plus a different water type, even if parameters are fine, may well have a lot to do with it. Unfortunately it can be very fast moving. While you are waiting for furan do daily water changes and you can use rock salt from the supermarket to try and slow or stop it. I used 1 gram per litre of water. It does work but I have had a lot more success with furan as it is bacterial. The fish need to be isolated however if they are all contained within the same tank you will be better to treat the tank. Good luck

Yes I was wanting fry however both females have died in the last 24 hours. Never mind, will have to try again.

I believe that Elusive_fish suffered very badly in the earthquake in chch.

I'll throw another dog in the mix. We have a golden retriever, now 10 years old. She is the most placid, beautiful natured dog and I couldn't ask for more. Easy to train, lives to do what we want. The only two times she has ever been slightly agressive is when I have disturbed intruders on our property and that was by circling them and barking to keep them away from me. We used to have a labrador, I used to look after children for Barnados. She was brainless and I had to chain her the whole time otherwise she would swoop along and knock the kids over. Do some research, ask lots of owners. Some of the issues are the breeds but there are breeds out there known to be placid and good people dogs. Remember though, that all dogs, big and small need attention and daily walks to keep their minds occupied. A bored dog is a disruptive dog, just like a child.

I like the chi and will get one at some stage.

Hi Ron, just the person I need. You should come and visit and give me your opinion. The ones the rosetails come from - the grandfather of this batch was a true dragon. The grandmother was halfmoon. As I was unable at this stage to get hold of another dragon - no one would sell me theirs despite my offering out large $$$'s (as one does to get good quality) I ended up putting the siblings together - diagram below dragon male - halfmoon female heavy scaling l male X female l dragons/rosetails/double tails/halfmoons The other spawn, the green/red and the platinum/red - the father was a full dragon (not the male used above, the mother was the sister of of the above rosetails mother. Does that make sense dragon male (import) - halfmoon with heavy scales l female with heavy dragon scaling - dragon male import (not the same male as above) l green red & platinum reds (all dragon scaling) I have this week gone the next generation as below dragon male (import) - halfmoon with heavy scales l female with heavy dragon scaling - dragon male import (not the same male as above) l green red & platinum reds (all dragon scaling) l female platinum red - platinum red male import (unrelated to any others) Undoubtedly the rosetails and double tails trace back to the halfmoon side of things. I had a spawn a few months back that threw a good half dozen double tails. No Sam, its the camera angle.

Extreme rosetails should only be culled if there is some sort of deformity, either body shape, deformed ventrals or bad scaling. I haven't stuck this with my ones as yet although there are a few smaller ones that need to grow up a bit first. Its interesting that they have popped up in the dragon line and it must link back to the grandparents. Whether it came in through an import or from another breeder I will never know but I am going to suggest that it was not the imported male that was my first dragon. We will never truly know what goes on in the fish rooms in the country One thing is for sure - the rosetail is now a recognised form of tail in the betta splenden.

mind you, some people will love the extreme rosetails. I may too by the time they are 4 months old and have developed a bit more. They are certainly stunning colours. Yes the others are the red/platinum, red/green.

Yes, the jury is out about the rosetails. Most of the males from the same spawn look to be the same tail type. However, at least my other dragon spawn is standard halfmoon tails The half dragon should keep the white edging. My other spawn did.

I hadn't seen my pygmy cory for over 3 months, and only saw the ember tetra in the same tank if I fed live food until I added 3 guppy to the tank. Now everything is out and about and its great!

Heres a few more pics. young male and female dragon young dragon male female dragons dragon male (looks rosetail) half giant male - young with a female who keeps jumping in with him!

Finally, after several years of looking at some of the lovely guppies around I have purchased one male and a couple of females. The male is an import, the females have apparently been selectively bred in nZ (I think up here in Auckland). The girls were in a tank with a male from the same colour lines so I do know that any fry I get in about the first six months may not be from the new male or may be a mix. Currently the tank also houses 10 ember tetra and 5 pygmy cory. What do you think of the male and females? Any useful tips, information or suggestions appreciated. You can see a female in both the 2nd and 3rd photo.

Great in theory. The problem will be getting the workforce to build multiple prefabbed parts. NZ just doesn't have the population base to draw from. We have a fairly new 3 storied boarding house next to us at the school where I live. A lot of it (concrete slab walls etc) was constructed off site and trucked in, then put in place using cranes. Even with 12 months planning they ended up pouring a giant concrete ceiling/flooring beam on site, as the people off site constructing it were unable to keep up with the pace. I agree, I can't see ChCh people wanting to go back into multi story buildings. I am going back down there in two weeks and I am not terribly happy that the only motel accomodation we can get is in a 2 storied block. When I was down there about 3 weeks ago I vividly remember watching the two level building next door to where we were staying leaping around in the 4.8 that struck while we were there.

Hi tuppence7. Do you have it sorted? If not I may be able to come have a look and see if I can do it for you. Send me a pm with your phone no. and your real name lol if you would like some help.

No, thats definitely not always the case. I often lose a lot of young fry but I have so many spawns a year no one realises. If I am busy then the lack of time reflects in the number of losses. I'm heading away again in a couple of weeks so they are going to pretty much have to fend for themselves with my daughter throwing the odd bit of food their way for 5 days :roll: The majority will survive but hey, family is more important at the moment, particularly when they are down in ChCh.

No you can't hatch decap. Decap has the shells removed already and it is dried.

its dads second spawn so at least he knows what he is doing. His first has about 30 which seem to be doing really well.

they hatched today - little white balls with tails moving up and down and in random patterns near the nest. Seem to be quite a few so dad is struggling to keep them up in the nest :lol:

I don't put mine in the fridge either and they are still fine after 12 months

The parents of this spawn were siblings. Their parents were a green and red dragon delta tail, very similar to Katrina Hughes avatar and a red halfmoon who I bred from a male and female purchased from two other fighter breeders here in NZ. I think this is where the dt came in as another spawn from fish from these fighter breeders produced a few dt. All I can think of is that somewhere plakat has been crossed with hm to get stronger rays. I have at least 4-5 males with the short rosetails.

try sending a pm to Hollywood fish farm mt roskill. they are on their stock list and I think they may be on special atm.