Adrienne

Thinking of you this morning Caryl. If it has to be that Bud is euthanaised today then at least you know that you have given him the best quality of life that he could have had.

Thanks for the chance to meet some fellow fishkeepers albeit for a short time. Its nice to meet those who I talk to via the forums.

Marbles would be a good idea or something so that the eggs dropped down where the adults couldn't get to them. Sounds like they like a really really densely planted aquarium.

you'd be very lucky to get any NZ bred to breed true unless all parents were imports of the same colour. Because so few females come in breeders need to breed to other colours frequently.

sorry I was referring to the fact that the breeder didn't know if they were from the same spawn or not. Look - as in colouring, tail type.

Re inbreeding, yes you can and in theory can do so for about 4-5 generations. I have many years ago tried it and it resulted in weak, deformed fish with bodies decreasing in size from the third generation on. Once I outsourced different males there were no probs. You can pretty much say that for hobby breeders if the fish are the same age, or look the same then they are from the same spawn.

its not on at mt eden this weekend, its on the 20 & 21 of February!!

also found this but the article was missing the last part ... Somewhat difficult to accomplish in home aquaria. These fish must be conditioned to induce spawning, and should be placed in a seperate tank for the purpose of breeding. The tank should have soft, acidic water, with a fairly warm temperature and densely-planted areas. The fish should spawn when ready, and will scatter their eggs amongst the plants. The parents should be removed from the tank as soon as the act is over or the eggs will be eaten. The eggs should hatch in one or two days, and the f and this off the mongabay site SEX: Males are slimmer with brighter red colors. Breeding techniques: Use a small tank with a pH from 6.0 to 7.0, soft to medium water (1-6 dH), and a warm temperature of 82-86°F (28-30°C). Place as many fine-leafed plants as possible in the tank along with Java moss. The lighting should be dim. Spawning is initiated when the male pokes the female's abdomen. Pencilfish are notorious egg-eaters and often eat the eggs are they are dropped. Try using a pipette to suck up the eggs, before this occurs. Remove the pair or the eggs to a rearing tank. The transparent eggs hatch in 24-36 hours and the fry are free-swimming after 6 more days. At this time, the fry swim near the surface of the water and should be fed with roftiers, newly hatched Artemia, and powdered foods. When the young begin to swim at a lower water level, they can be fed larger foods. With frequent partial water changes, the young will grow quickly, even beginning to develop adult colors as soon as five weeks. Breeding potential: 5. Breeding is fairly easy as long as the eggs are separated from the parents in time. but it does sound like they are better kept in groups of 5 or more and seperated only for breeding.

I really think this thread has been done to death. :roll: Imagine sitting in a room listening to people discuss you because what is being done here is imo no better than that. Human nature being what it is, not everyone is going to agree with what someone else thinks. Dealing with the public is frequently a thankless task (and yes I do deal with the public every day in my job). People normally do their job to the best of their ability. At the end of the day, if you really truly don't like the service you get from a place, be it a Dr, Dentist, Dairy or LFS, you have the choice to go there because you like or want something, or you can go somewhere else.

I also saw somewhere that around 4-7 eggs are laid and so if only 30% are likely to survive...

I took this off the site http://www.Petfrd.com http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~domestic/arkered.htm wat the japanese hobbyist says: 1 ft tank..that's the same size as most of the other pencil breeding tank...lot's of moss..PH 5.8 and temp 26 c as you can see...has added in some blackwater. in this case, 2 male and 1 female.... and following is wat most of hobby breeders do, that i know. when saw the female carries the egg, then add in the male to the breeding tank for a couple day first, do not feed them (no poo, water remains more clean) and then add in the females, no lighting is required(read that those ppl breed neon tetras in total darkness..), and see whether any eggs are found, 1 or 2 days, if nothing happen, then just reset..try again...if find eggs, remove the parent fish..add anti fungus if think it's needed, and apply more aeration...in this case, he bring down the temp to 23, 24 c to reduce possibilities of getting fungus... as you can see, only 30% of the egg hatch..and each time only lay 3 to 6 eggs...and repeat the process every 7 to 10 days...so it's kind of fish with low productivity, which means, in another words, farm will not be able to produce in large quantity, even worst, they may not even touch it...my Aqualife has a breeding report on this fish too..different hobbyist but almost saem result.

Sending good vibes your way Caryl, Grant & especially Bud.

I enjoy shopping at HFF and I find the staff very willing to assist, and if the store is not packed out happy to stand and chat. I also do not like being stood over and appreciate the fact that once I have been browsing for several minutes someone will come and ask if they can help and if I say no thanks will go away until I either ask for assistance or leave.

I've got a couple of 20-25 litre containers you can borrow if you want. I use them for salt water but they have been used to transport tank water before. I'm in Epsom, about 320 metres off the Market Rd offramps on the southern motorway. Can you move the fish in advance? Less stress for you if you can.

now that one looks like mine

If I'd had the room he would have been mine at the weekend. If yours are panaque maccus theres no way that my pretty peckoltias are maccus as they do not resemble yours. Yours have way wider bars. The opinion was that these were maccus and heres yours to me they are not the same

Mine are 4 discus which I have had for just over 2 years and my sterbais which I have had for the same amount of time. I have also 3 fighters which are 14 months old and while this doesn't seem much, its a good length of time for them to be alive and at this stage, still breeding!

I have discus (12cm+) in with bn of about 2cm and they are fine but it really depends if there are any hiding places and how many, if the discus get nosey. Its more a case of 'what are these, are they food, I'll have a nibble and pick at them and see', imo, than 'yummy, food for my tummy'. I have found from experience that even young fighter fry will nibble on the 1cm bn and pick at them until they kill them! Its a case of it moves, maybe its food as they certainly don't eat them.

any taken off in size? Honestly this guy is way way bigger, at least twice as wide and more than twice as long

I understand that but I think to keep the peace I'll call them spotted... Any agro amongst yours or can you not see whats going on anyway

maybe they aren't the same or maybe the big one has been taking testosterone supplements which makes you angry :lol:

Are they from the last shipment? I think I got mine between xmas & new year.

Yes, well given that no one exactly is sure what they are I will be interested to see when it stops growing. Not only has the growth been explosive it takes off after the other plecs like a bomb!!

no L number. With regards to the marbled I know what you are talking about and couldn't find anything else. The spotted bn (I have 6) have caused a lot of debate on here. The suggestion is that they are Rios but with no proof of where they have been caught the jury is still out. All I know is that one of them has nearly tripled in size from when I got it (the others are still way smaller) and he is very very territorial and I have just watched him taking on any other plec that gets near him. This is him although he's a lot darker than the pic shows.

I know that