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Silly question but your glass is clean right !

In my house me doing it is already the result of someone else getting another person to do it DOH!!

Thanks Caryl. Just making sure Ventilation won't be a problem and will definitely be using water based paint. Now if only someone could give me some special advice on how to making painting fun.... :evil:

Need to paint, anything I need to consider? I'd rather not move the tanks out completely. Is covering them good enough or are the fumes bad for them?

jealous jealous jealous!! where did your SI one come from? One type is also 'hairier' than the other.. though I can't remember which! Can you tell by looking at yours? Are you able to sex them?

I bought a phosphate test kit after I had an outbreak of cyanobacteria. I use it very infrequently but I test if I have any unusual algae outbreaks so I can help find the cause. I tested recently just to figure out the reason for the current bloom and it didn't show any real excess of phosphate...so I knew that it wasn't overfeeding .. I had just been leaving the lights on a bit longer But the phosphate kit was relatively expensive.. so perhaps leaving that test to your LFS would be good enough (ie: take in a sample)

You'll probably get the best value from a freshwater master test kit that has many kits together. It usually has ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, high range ph (i think 7.8 upwards) and pH (basically the lower range of the scale.. up to 7.6-7.8). There are some good prices for these on trade me or through petplanet.co.nz (but of course check your local shops)

Thanks for the info... Stella don't go to any trouble on my account.. but I'm sure if you came up with a guide at some point Caryl would love to put it into the magazine. I might make a few enquiries myself. What did you need permits for yourself if you don't mind me asking I think I found references to a few farms in the area when I was looking for info a while back.. well I mean within driving distance. Maybe I should just call and ask to buy a pair and see what happens. I'm not quite ready to have them yet anyway.. but I'm definitely interested. There was one in Kaikoura I think.. but I think there was one closer to.. a salmon farm that has gotten into breeding Koura as well. (Maybe I should make friends with someone who owns a seafood restaurant. but again.. I wonder if they keep their females cause it sounds like the Koura farming industry is still in its infancy and that males are more trouble than they're worth !)

I don't know where I could find them around Canterbury... I don't really want to poach any river supplies. I fully respect that they're protected but I do know they are also farmed....so they can be bred in captivity. I've done a bit of reading and know there is a North island and a South island species. I also read that some of the farms sell their overstock to the pet trade (but I think they might have been all males or all females). I'd been keen on the SI species since they might be more suited to the temps here. I was considering setting up a special pool or pond outside, that would get some shade in summer so they stay cool. I realise they need a lot of oxygen in the water.. so it would need good flow. The farming stuff I've read indicated they needed muddy sort of banks to really thrive and breed so I thought that might be cool and that they also had better results from long narrow ponds with the flow going in one end and out the other (like a river setup I guess!). I could also perhaps consider some other types of natives. I live on 10 acres so I have some room to play with a big pool or pond for fun.. and natives sound much more interesting than goldfish. Who knows.. if they bred I might be able to get permission to release them somewhere appropriate? Stella, if you could pm me some contacts that would be great. Or if you prefer to have my details and pass them on let me know Any idea how much a permit might cost? I don't want to set up a farm per se... but would be interested in having a little self sustaining population for my own enjoyment if that's possible.

Anyone know if its possible to buy a breeding pair of native koura to keep as pets?

ok. tried to get some pics. The ones that I think are female wouldn't co-operate. But they are both darker in colour..more olive.. while the male seems slightly yellower green with fewer dark markings on him. The second photo,same fish (sorry about the focus), shows the tail fin 'stripe' I'm talking about. They all have it. Is this normal? Looking at the pics is actually looks like the gill is a little too pink also!!

I didn't actually.. I can only say they still exhibit spawning sort of behaviour fairly regularly!! I really should post some pics but I've tried before and they don't co-operate with side on shots.. they insist on turning towards me and acting like they're about to die of hunger!! :lol: I can say there is definitely only one acting 'male'. It's the biggest. The 2 smaller ones have a better defined spot on the body and show the sort of chequerboard pattern but also show a deeper blue sheen around their spot. The 'male' is actually kind of plain.. which is why I'm unsure. He appear to have better defined red stripes around his lower back half but still has a pretty well defined black spot on the dorsal fin. So I'm pretty confused Actually...on a slightly unrelated matter can you tell me if yours have a 'change' at the end of their tail fins? Mine seem to have a narrow-ish band that seems finer all along the outer edge of their tails fins... I wanted to make sure this isn't some sort of tail rot.

No apple converts out there?

Hi all, need some ideas.I'm having some trouble with my leopardfish. One died 3 weeks ago and on other has just suddenly taken a similar turn (both females). I haven't added any new fish to this tank in ages (and the leopard were the last ones in ...It might have been june?) Early on they had trouble with some sort of parasite. I did a full course treatment with prazi, they were still flashing occasionally after that. I did a full course of Wonder Cure. That last treatment was a couple months ago..They all seemed fine till 3 weeks ago. The last one looked a little bit big in the belly. I thought maybe she was carrying fry. Next day she had dropsy and quickly 'checked out'. This morning I noticed another hanging around on its own. Near the top of the tank but not gasping at the top. So... I watched at dinner time.. she didn't eat. When I turned the filter back on she was starting to just drift and was having trouble with her balance. I've got her in a breeder net right now but she's starting to float upside down and I probably won't leave her in the tank with the others overnight in case she dies. (don't want her spreading what she's got!). She looks like her tail is a little frayed.. but my jordanellas are fin nippers and its not that bad. Many of my fish have some nip marks and I make take the jordanellas out eventually. I can only think it's a bacteria? Or its been injured by one of my Jordanellas? What else could kill so quickly? Nitrates are good about 10. No ammonia or nitrite, tank is 80L, planted, lightly stocked, pH about 7.6 (normal for me). I change about 30L/week or 10 days. Would formalin help against a bacteria? I'd like to avoid furan if possible. (I'd like to avoid any chemicals if possible!!) but I don't want to lose any more fish! I also have white clouds in there. No trouble with them. Is it possible for livebearers to not be able to deliver their fry? What else could be going on??

Depends when you go I guess... I popped in on a weekday and it was pretty quiet Anyway.. bought some tabis from Organism today. My fish thank-you They seem to like it.. although it appears to be making quite a mess in my tank! Bits flying everywhere!! I'm starting to think I should have only big stones in there and no gravel.. but I'd need to find a way to anchor my plants!..maybe I should pot them up.

Have you tried calling the after hours vet hospital? Antigua St? They often use human versions of meds on animals (from my own experience there and based on my vets comments) they may be willing to help. They'll be open tomorrow. I would suggest you find a very reputable looking reference on the net (or 3) print them out...and drop in.

How's this for nerdy.. 'Ditto' to you all

Yea.. a bit tricky since it's basically the extension of a water way and not just a sefl contained pond.. maybe you can get s ome natives from somewhere... I think Stella is the resident native fish expert She'll probably pop in at some point soon!

Merci! Hmmm....sh!te.. thats expensive alright! I thought the pleco tabs were expensive! Never mind...my xmas shopping is paid for I'll handle it !! Dunno what I'll do once I put them into my other tank though.Surely don't want to be spending that kind of dosh on my other fish with simpler requirements... Ahhhh.. I'll just have to dream sugar-plum dreams of a river tank in my future...

More expensive is ok.. it usually means you feed a little less to get equal nutrition value!! So where can I get tabis locally? And THEN.. how much Tabis would I feed !! Once/twice daily? Every other day? Hopefully the sun will come out again some time soon and I can start culturing some algae in a fishless tub outdoors! Maybe using the water I change out of their own tank. (I have plenty of algae elsewhere.. but its all contaminated with goldfish greeblies I'm sure!!)

Ok.. 2 votes for tabis then.. will get some thanks! Is that different than JBL- NovoTab? http://petplanet.co.nz/shopping/pgm-mor ... id=44&=SID I can't seem to find 'Tabis' ?

I'm pretty sure I've seen lemon one advertised on trade me on occasion? They're sort of a whitish yellow right? Kind of like lemon sorbet Maybe a little darker near the heads? Oh.. Hmmm.. maybe they were orandas...? Keep an eye on trade me at any rate

We use regular flysprays in other rooms.. I just close the door to the room before we spray. I've just bought some insecticidal sticker things that go on the windows...hopefully this will mean I have to spray less but apparently won't eradicate the fly problem completely. Maybe you coud do the stickers in your rooms with tanks and leave the robocan for other parts of the house?

If I tied java moss to some stones would that eventually grow into something that could host their usual foodsource?

I'm laughing so hard I'm in tears!!! Nice one... Oh no.. makeup is now running!!! Friggin hilarious!! :lol: :lol: :lol: