Adrienne

I love the rose swords and also red pine

well the spca is okay about fish in polyboxes travelling but its not okay about axolotyls travelling in padded plastic bags! I haven't had time to ring nz couriers but will do so on monday.

IMO double dosing with flourish excel is too much for the discus. A single dose used daily as recommended will suffice and the algae will die off. It is possible that the excel is burning the fish, or, as discusguru says it could just be breeding signals. Another good thing to do is mix the excel with some water before putting it into the tank.

will do.

I'm hoping that the white one will turn out to be a plakat male

OOOOOOHHHHHH .... I am sure I can fit two more of Rons in my tank as well. NICE FISH :bounce: (thought I had better not overdo my bounces) :lol:

Good to hear.

you mean the bottom pic? Possibly, the females are slower to colour up. Nearly all in the above pic are males.

they might down your way Ryan but no way will they do it up here still.

Try post haste - I rang them tonight and their prices are pretty much the same as nz couriers.

Yes, I have blue marble, red marble and black marble atm. The rest are a little smaller to tell but there will most certainly be more marbles in there as one of the parents was a blue marble.

Heres some of my youngest spawns - 9 weeks old The colours are exactly as the fish appear in the tank - one to me looks like it is the same colour as a cherry barb!

I was wondering if some of you would phone the spca in your areas and if you haven't also done so your nz courier depot and ask 'the question' of them and then post your results. My idea is not to cause trouble but if I could then print off your answers I thought I would take them to our local depot if it is of benefit to me (and other locals) and show them the answers. I do feel I know the people at our couriers well enough to get a reasonable response to this as I have sent hundreds of fish with them before. I will phone the local spca today and one of the forum members actually works there.

sooo cute and I think he looks like his older brother with that smile.

I didn't believe up until about October last year but now I am not certain. I was sitting at the computer as I am tonight and something made me look down the hall. A shadow (human) went around the corner towards the lounge. I called out thinking it was my son arrived home but no, there was only myself in the house. Freaked me out at the time but now I wonder if it will happen again.

He certainly doesn't have dropsy but imo he should not have that lump sticking out of his side in front of his tail. Sorry cos I have no ideas that could possibly help you.

Thanks Ryan, I will ring NZ Couriers tomorrow again. I sure can't afford to use fastways if that was the right price so it will be nz couriers or even post haste otherwise I will only be able to sell locally.

Heres an update - went to the local fastways depot after looking up their prices on the web. Just about died when they charged me $35 for a box less than 3kg and max size 15cm x 12cm x 12cm. Queried the cost and was met with 'well do you want to send it or not!' Given that I had mucked the purchaser around once this week I have paid but have emailed a query to the customer services manager and will follow it up with a phone call tomorrow pm if they have not responded. $35 was $25 more than the price calculator worked it out to be. If the price turns out to be correct my fish will be travelling 'incognito' from now on.

Prazi is praziquantal (sp?) and yes it can be purchased up here. I don't do anything to change the tank pH, the age of the tank and the volume of water remaining helps to keep it low. Driftwood also keeps the pH low. I also keep metro on hand in case of emergency.

I have a 450 litre planted discus tank with daltons propagating sand as the substrate. The sand is virtually totally covered with ground cover. I have driftwood in there as well. Six discus 12+cm, 5 fancy plecs, 20+ rummynose, 15+ sterbai cories, 10 harlequins, 3 SAE and a couple of young BN and hatchets. Temp is set at 28, tanks has been sitting at 30-32 for weeks and I only had trouble when it hit 33 one day. The discus came up to the top of the tank for air. I run a big filter (fx5) on the tank and an airline. Lighting 2T5HO lights and two custom made T8 lights. I vacuum (as much as I can which isn't a lot) every 3-5 days and waterchange 50% at this time, using warm water from the tap set at tank temp and add waterconditioner to the tank when I first turn the hose on. The whole process takes 1-1 1/2 hours each time. The tank is well established (has been set up for over 2 years). Feed bloodworms, tetra bits, mozzy lavae, algae wafers, courgette. Dose with flourish every 3-4 days and flourish excel only when needed. I medicate with prazi as part of my routine every 5-6 months. pH is 6 which is as low as my test kit goes. Water comes out the tap at 7.4. The only fish I have struggled with in here has been neons and cardinals and while they exist they only last 12-14 months due mostly I think to the temperature of the tank. The discus spawn regularly (wrigglers go up the filter) and the cories lay eggs every few weeks. The rummynose have also spawned once in the tank. If you want to go the planted tank way my advice would be to get bigger discus to start with. Smaller discus need daily water changes or their growth may be stunted. They also need clean tanks and its a lot harder to keep the tank clean if its planted.

thanks Sam, I'm on the wrong computer to do it tonight.

Nice to see you on the site. Hows your little one?

Barrie is very correct - that is what happened. However they would not budge on this here in Auckland and they know me very very well. Anyway I now have found another courier so will take the fish there tomorrow night (I have received several boxes of fish through them) and then go in and cash in all my courier tickets which will nicely line my pockets for a few weeks.

Go easy on the amount you use as if its not eaten it quickly fouls the tank. Some fry don't eat it initially, especially those who prefer the live food when newly hatched as they need the movement to encourage them to chase and catch it.

Just letting everyone know that NZ couriers is no longer taking fish or anything remotely live. Apparently the SPCA has been on their case after a couple of complaints from a receiver in ChCh. Fortunately the lovely ladies on the counter at our local branch have said they will refund my several hundred dollars worth of tickets. I am now on the lookout for a new courier company - urgently needed - what do you all recommend and have you used them lately?