Janelle

Ahh, I see. I'm not much of a bird person, he just looked unhappy to me at the time. I didn't ask, but then I didn't get spoken to either... *shrug*

Stella - Not quite, lol. We only have enough multiboards for one per powerpoint in the house. As well as the four fish tanks we also want to power three computers, three TVs, two stereos... and then.... well, that just leaves the powerpoints in the hallway where there is no room to put anything, and the ones in the conservatory. Trust me... the conservatory is NOT SAFE when it comes to constant temperature. Just ask my dead carnivorous plants. =) Because the fish look lively and healthy I'm not really *too* worried about the higher temperatures as I know it will get colder in winter and they are all adaptable types, but the fact my tank temp ranges from 18 to 25.5 within a day worries me slightly. Might just be because I'm new at actually tracking the temp in a fishtank. I've only had the thermometer less than two weeks. I didn't even know a tank at room temperature got that hot.

Hello everyone, I did a search on the forums and found a lot of helpful info on breeding White Cloud Mountain Minnows but I still decided to start my own thread so I could ask a couple of questions concerning my own particular circumstance. I've just filled my little 22 litre with water. I didn't want to put gravel in yet... But I did take a couple (as in, two) plants from my 72 litre tank and held them down with a few heavy stones from a bag of old aquarium gravel. Now I want to temporarily move my WCMM in there to see if they will breed if Ed (my shubunkin) is not there to eat all their offspring, the little scavenger! So I would like to know, since this tank is new tonight, how long should I wait before moving the fish? Do I need to make sure the tank is cycled? Should I add water from their current tank to the new tank first? I have already put in some stress zyme and I was told cleaner water is better and not necessarily needing to be cycled if the water is clean. (FYI, it's tapwater straight from a Christchurch tap.) Another thing, I'm having difficulty finding something to cover the filter intake with. I thought pantyhose, an unused kitchen sponge, a towel, mutilating my smallest fishnet, and dismissed all for lack of knowledge. What would be suitable and easily obtainable but still let the water through? Finally, a circumstantial question. Of my six WCMM I only have one that looks *definitely* female. I have seen three males display simultaneously (beautiful!), so at least half of them are male, and the other two which are a little smaller than the others are not displaying or getting a noticeable bulge in their belly so I really can't tell but I suspect they are also males. Since the new tank is a lot smaller than their current one, should I move only a couple of males in case they fight, or is this not really an issue and it should be safe to move them all? I asked this on another forum and their response seemed to be, "depends on the personalities of the fish." Well, they already fight a lot in the 72 litre, so I'm just wondering what you guys think. Thanks for any help. I don't even mind if I'm not successful at raising any fry as long as I don't risk losing the WCMM I have. I'm quite fond of them. =)

I wouldn't recommend Pet World on Ferry Road personally. I used to deal with them all the time when I lived in Woolston, but the last time I went there it didn't look so great. For a start their parrot looked depressed and was losing his feathers, and then to get to the fish at the back of the shop and see the tanks were leaking and the fish didn't look too happy... I dunno, maybe I just caught them at a bad time? I also hung around the shop for ages and even though I was the only one there I didn't have any help offered to me after 20 minutes so I went elsewhere for what I was looking for. But they are also not the cheapest and I have no desire to go back there again even if I end up back in the area. That's just my experience though. If someone else can say it's any different I might take another look.

Wilson - Redwood Aquatics is a little far from me but I did deal with the person who trades their goods on TradeMe to get my tank thermometer. Great service. =) I've never heard of Organism. I'll have to check it out sometime.

Thanks for the welcomes! I intend to ask lots of questions because I really care for my fish, and all animals really, just ask my spoiled brat... I mean, cat. =) I don't think ignorance is a good excuse for treating an animal poorly if you have access to good info. Of course, the internet isn't necessarily good info so having real people give first-hand advice is much more preferable. As for MTS, I'd say I've already been struck. I'm still looking at tanks on TradeMe! The idea of shifting half a dozen tanks every time I have to move is still a fairly sobering thought, though.

Thanks for the welcome! I would love tanksful of healthy, breeding fish, it's going to be hard enough stopping at the two I have, but considering I'm renting one year at a time I'm not really looking forward to the possibility of moving multiple tanks from house to house annually.... House prices, go down already!

That would be impractical for me, unfortunately. My cat likes to jump on the tanks from ground level and I doubt he would stop to check if the glass would a) hold his weight or b) be there at all! A fan is also impractical for me - the equipment for two tropicals and a coldwater tank take up all the available power points near that side of the room. Perhaps when my cat learns to stop jumping on the tank... I have double-sided tape at work as I write this. Thanks for the suggestions.

Hi everyone, I have a coldwater tank with 72 litres of water. It has 6 white cloud mountain minnows and a single, small goldfish about 4 cm long. About a week and a half ago I bought an underwater thermometer for my tank. I attached the probe to the back of the tank, on the side furthest from the filter, about halfway deep into the water. I've been a little shocked that at most times it will read 22-25C. I didn't think the water got that hot. There were a couple of days recently with cold weather and hail (Christchurch) where the tank temperature went down to 18C. The tank is in the corner and is bordered on two sides by curtained windows. Our lounge is a massive heat trap, no thanks to a north-facing conservatory that comes off it at one side. Great for us humans, but I don't know if it's so great for my goldfish. I'm wondering how to keep my tank at temperature. My goldfish is energetic and seems healthy but will the warmer temperatures lower his immunity? I hear that WCMM are fine in the higher temperatures so I'm not too worried about them. I know I could get a heater to heat the water up, but what's the best way to keep it cool during the warmer days when I'm at work? Thanks.

I would like to come along if that's all right? I live just down the road in Hoon Hay! That same weekend I'm having a 3-day gaming party at my place so a little break would probably be welcomed by me. Let me know if you wouldn't mind me turning up. I don't know anything about this. =)

Hello everyone, I joined after looking for fish clubs in NZ. I have two tanks, both of which I purchased second-hand off TradeMe. In fact, my first ever TradeMe purchase was three baby fish in a plastic fish bowl which have since been assimilated into my mum's collection and I can't tell if any of the ones still alive used to be mine. My mum has kept goldfish all my life and so I just developed an interest for them. The difference is that my mum sees them solely as pretty things to collect and show off, I see them as pretty things which are alive and which I am responsible for giving the best care I can. Once I started researching proper goldfish care my mum's methods of keeping them suddenly seemed appalling to me and suddenly I understood why her fish keep dying and her tanks and ponds never stayed clean. To this day I cannot convince her to take better care of her goldfish or explain to her that keeping six pond-sized goldfish in a small (25-litres at a guess), poorly-filtered tank is cruel. I guess my fish ownership is somewhat a response to that, as if I can make up for her ignorance and neglect. My large tank contains 72 litres of water, 1 little shubunkin (Edward Elric) and 6 White Cloud Mountain Minnows. It's fairly new, not even a couple of months old, and the stocking casualties were 1 goldfish and 4 WCMM but the survivors look like they're doing extremely well. I change approximately 15% water twice a week to total the 30% and add 5 ml Stress-Zyme after the weekend change. Half the tank is plastic plants that came with it and half is planted with some live plants (and snails, unfortunately) from Animates. My smaller tank I only got on the weekend so it's still empty and bare and sitting in my bedroom where it will probably stay. It is 22 litres and will (hopefully) eventually house a blue male betta which is what my boyfriend wants. As well as my two tanks the other flatmate owns two tropical tanks, a 70 litre and a 40 litre approx. That makes three fish tanks lined up against one wall of the lounge! I'm quite excited to meet others who share my interest in fish and to have access to advice from local people who know what I have and haven't got access to regarding brands, equipment and fish food, especially when it comes to owning my first tropical fish as I've only dealt with goldfish until now and even the WCMM are a new and exciting thing to me. Thanks!