Janelle

If he ever changes his mind I say go with a private breeder. I noticed that the ones from Animates are so pale and washed out. The ones I have are a nice dark silver with very bright red and yellow in the fins.

I never had luck with the WCMM from Animates either (in Chch). I bought probably 9 in total and only one has survived. However, of the ones I bought from Wok, only two of them died in the same way and the rest are still healthy now months later and did breed in my tank (except I killed the fry =( ...) so I guess it's just the ones at Animates that suck. I kept them coldwater with goldfish over winter and they were fine and now they go up to 25-26 degrees some days and are still fine.

Can anyone give me a sort of "what to expect when raising corys" guide? I have four day old cory fry and more eggs showing up every day. Most of the eggs fungus, so advice on how to get the eggs off the glass without destroying them would also be appreciated. Basically I have them in a breeder net which has a jar lid on the bottom and lots of java moss for cover and a fair bit of water flow near my filter's spray bar. I've been feeding microworms and liquifry. I also throw in grindal worms for the one platy fry also in the net but I think the grindals may be bigger than the cory fry. Anything I should watch out for or be extra careful with? How old before they're past "the delicate stage"?

If you would like microworms you can pick up a starter culture from me in Hoon Hay, but otherwise, the baby guppies I got are happy to pick the small flakes from the top when I feed the other fish.

They are two month old bristlenose I got from carznkats. They are about hmm... 4 cm long max? Maybe smaller? Very cute and active.

I never fed my fry when I noticed I had some (quite a while ago now) but when I did notice them they were always at the top, so I would say floating is best.

The betta is back to his old self. Must have just been getting used to his new tank. He's become very interested in the young bristlenoses we popped in yesterday.

Maybe they were just weak? It was all my 2 day old platy fry. The 4 day old platy fry survived and the 3 day old cory fry also survived so.... yeah, I'm not sure. I would've thought the cory fry would be more sensitive to poor water conditions.

I tried it anyway, hoping the seawater wouldn't seep out. Not so sure it didn't since the instructions say "cover the fish guard to ensure salt water does not flow out into aquarium." Anyway, most of the babies died while it was in there and I guess my temp wasn't high enough for any shrimp to hatch anyway. I'm going to try again later with the hatcher in its own tank.

Oh, if you want a heater I'm selling a 55 watt heater. It's on Trademe at the moment but if it's still there when the listing expires (on Thursday) you're welcome to take it off me for fairly cheap. I'm selling it to offset costs on the heater I *really* want.

Maybe in summer if your house is always warm inside, but if there's ever an unexpected cold snap you might find them getting sad (dead). I kept tropical fish in an unheated tank and they were fine until winter rolled around. =( Now I'm subtropical because I had a goldfish in there until fairly recently but a heater really makes the difference to what range of fish you can keep.

Hello there, eclaire! It was great to meet you. =)

I have cory and platy fry and being a beginner I'm just being extra careful.

I got a Tom's Brine Shrimp Hatch'n'Feeder. The instructions are clear enough but I have a problem. I want to use seawater I've collected, but as soon as I put the unit in the tank it fills up completely with the tank water. I'm afraid to experiment in case I get salt water into the main tank. Can anyone tell me what I can do to get seawater into the hatching chamber without it flowing into the main tank?

We would move the tank if we could. Going into a new tank was practically a 70% water change. We have been considering a new flatmate since we moved in last February!

My bf's betta is usually a very active little guy who never stops swimming, ever, unless it's after we turn out the light. So it's a little bit worrying that lately all we've seen him do much of is sleep in the corner. Here are some more details which cause me suspicion: 1) Four days ago he was moved from his old 14L tank to a 29 Litre tank. All his old water was siphoned from the old tank to the new tank and he still has the same filter and plants, but the gravel is new. Stress-Zyme and Stress-Coat were added after the shift. 2) During and after the move the temperature in the tank dropped to about 25 degrees for a day before the heater was turned up more. He is used to 29 degree water. 3) He lives on top of the entertainment unit, which probably wouldn't be a problem if not for our flatmate who has lately been staying up playing first-person shooting games at high volume until 3 am. I bet none of the fish have had quality sleep time for the last week. I have checked him for any torn fins or other signs of illness, but so far all we can tell is that he's sleeping a lot. Could any or all of the above be the cause? Is there something we can do to perk him up a little? Fortunately, our flatmate has now finished his game and hopefully won't be keeping the fish up at stupid hours of the morning for a while now. We are also looking into moving the tank but there's not really anywhere else for it at the moment. Thanks for any help.

Looking forward to seeing you all there. And Loopy's tanks again. I might be asking people for basic info so I can put up some club info on our website.

I do the stabby thing which stirs up gravel in one spot at a time. No actual stirring motions involved... Edit: Yeah, what Caryl said.

Or you can ask me at the meeting if you must. I know the Christchurch regional postcodes off by heart, or at least close enough that the post will accept them. =)

You are welcome to run your filter in my tank or you can just take one of my filter sponges if you like. My tank is not that large.

Is it okay to take the eggs out of water to moving them? I have only four eggs but if it's possible they can get sucked through the breeder net I'd rather take my chances and set up the other tank asap! How long does it take for them to hatch? The eggs have been around... three days, I think. I'm not confident any of them will hatch but I'm hoping. ^^

Too bad you can't send them to me!

Thanks for the photos, jn! The camera really stacks on the pounds, he looks like a right little fatty there, lol. Glad he's still in good health. Oh, and btw, I found my Animates WCMM in my tank, so she wasn't one of Ed's murdered victims after all. =)

Whipped butter.

I managed to dodge the camera, hehe, and I got a free ice cream. Thanks for buttering up Mr Whippy for me, Wilson!