Ianab

9 is a Polypterus http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23151 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypterus 10 is a pirahna 11 is giant gourmai 12 I'm not so sure, but I think it's some sort of saw shark. http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/sharks/detail/sixgill/index.shtml 14 is some species of Pleco - Not an albino but an amelanistic varient 18 is a Lionfish - saltwater reef dweller, and very poisonous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionfish Cheers Ian

I think the trick would be finding a small pump that would suck up a slurry of sand and water from the bottom of the 'sandfall'. Pumping sand would kill most pumps over time, but it's done on an industrial scale so it must be possible. Cheers Ian

Yup, that should look sweet That way you can build a nice solid 4x2 or steel frame and just clad it with nice timber. The metal frame above is going to be clad with T&G macrocarpa when I get around to it :oops: Cheers Ian

This is my rough n ready steel 4ft tank stand. Like Conch says, build it with a top and bottom frame. The top one holds the plywood/ tank and the lower frame spreads the weight across the floor. Cheers Ian

:-? Have you made the gallery public?

Did you notice the pH they were kept at? 4.5 No wonder they haven't been spawned before, who would have thought that they needed water like that? Ian

Yup.. forget a net with the big plecs, just reach in and grab them 8) Netting them, you spend the next 2 mins getting all their spikey bits untangled. A few seconds out of water to move or take a pic doesn't seem to harm them. Cheers Ian

The plecos we get here dont grow QUITE that big.. but those little $7 ones will grow to 45cm Great fish all the same Cheers Ian

White Cloud Minnows, right size for a 21L Tank. Not much challange to breeding them, but they are egg layers so it's a step up from livebearers. Cheers Ian

Yup, just give them a normal size feed when you leave. When you get home they will be fine, but very pleased to see ya :lol: Small fry need more regular feeding, so maybe rig up the auto feeder to give them a little food, but for adult fish a week is fine. Cheers Ian

I dont think any of the catfish you will get in NZ will live in true cold water. MAF wont let them be imported because they could live wild. It's possible to keep some plecos with goldfish if you go semi-tropical (~20C). It's a compromise but both fish can handle it OK. Cheers Ian

This is the tank that had the filter off for a day+ isn't it? It's going to have to cycle again. Cleaning out the rubbish in the tank will help. The ammonia treatment will help. Extra water changes will help. Feeding less untill the filter starts working again will help. Moving some fish to another healthy tank will help. Between all those things you should be able to save the situation Cheers Ian

Yup they will live fine for a week with no food. If you are worried about the ammonia move some of the larger fish back ( the mollies maybe ) I would leave the pleco jsut because they are so hard to catch :lol: If you are having to do big water changes to control ammonia you probably have too many fish while the tank is cycling. If you just had the guppys and a small pleco in there the ammonia level would be much lower. Then after a couple of weeks, add a couple more fish. Cheers Ian

I would drop the tank down to about 22 ( or as low as the room lets it get). 25 is about the max for hillstream loaches. Your danios will be fine at that temp, as will guppys and most other livebearers. Some of the smaller more peacefull barbs will be fine with the cooler water too. Hillstreams are omnivores and in the wild they eat 'aufwuchs', thats the mix of algae and little critters that lives on the rocks in streams. So they will graze on algae and eat most types of fish food. Algae wafers and sinking shrimp pellets are good because they sink quick. Cheers Ian

Water changes are a good idea. Dont feed the fish for a couple of days, less bioload going into the tank means less ammonia. Some Ammolock or other water treatment may help in the short term as well. Cheers Ian

Dont worry too much about the female guppys.. they WILL be preggy. But in a community tank 99% of the fry will just get eaten. When you want to actually breed some just seperate out a female into a breeding tank or net to save them. Cheers Ian

Hillstream Loaches are cool, but prefer cooler and fast flowing water. You could keep them, your danios, White clouds and guppys together, but a lower temp would be better. 20-22C would suit them all better. This is an article on Hilstream Loaches (Borneo Suckers). http://www.loaches.com/articles/hillstream-loaches-the-specialists-at-life-in-the-fast-lane One of my tanks has a small pleco, zebra loaches, neons and guppys in it, they all get along fine, as would some zebra danios. Nothing exotic or expensive, but it gives a nice active tank with action on all the levels. There are heaps of other neat small fish you can get of course, but I know those ones are easy to get and compatible. I would aim for 25 deg for a general community tank like that, but dont worry if it goes up or down a couple of deg from day to night. In the wild water temps vary with the time of day as well. It's probably fine setting it to 23 and just using it to stop the tank dropping below that. This is a little BN Pleco - you will probably see them for sale at 2-3cm long like this one. Cheers Ian

Bristlenose Pleco, tough, peacefull, active and does actually eat some algae. They only grow to about 10cm so are fine for most tanks. http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=49 Yes avoid the other Common Plecos unless you have the room for them. Even the Goldspots will grow to around 30cm, the others are bigger. Great if you have the space, or intend to get a BIG tank, otherwise stick to the BN sized ones. For other bottom dwellers, get some cory catfish of whatever colour you prefer. Get several, at least 4, as they like to live in a group. And or some small peacefull loaches, dwarf or zebra ones would suit. They are peacefull and dont grow big (10cm for the zebras) Again get a small group, they will be happier and more active. If you stick with the small fish, have good filters and keep up with the water changes then you are nowhere near full yet Cheers Ian

I'm not sure, she was just given 2 of them by another friend about 6 months ago. I dont think she knows exactly what it is. Maybe someone else knows and can tell us? Ian

This is a shot of my friends little tree frog. She has 2 of them in a small tank setup, very active if a couple of flys are dropped in I'm very pleased how the pic came out for such a small subject, about 3cm long. Cheers Ian

It's usually herons that take goldfish. They are big, greedy and will keep coming back untill they empty a pond NZ kingfishers may take small ones, but their main food is large insects like crickets or wetas and lizards. They dont seem to be as keen on getting wet as the overseas species. Cheers Ian

Some big trees, hedges or ivy seem to really attract them. Small well tended gardens dont have enough hiding places to keep them safe from cats and birds. The more 'wild' the garden the more bugs it will attract. Thats my excuse anyway. Cheers Ian

About right, but check the actual temp that it keeps the tank at, the dials on the heaters aren't very accurate. Might be correct, but it could also be a couple of deg either way. Ian

Are you sure... 5 secs after that picture the #$^#% thing bit me on the thumb. Didn't draw blood, but I sure felt it :lol: I did go and put him back in a tree down by the stream though Ian

I think the most serious trouble would be if you tried to collect them from a National Park or Dept of Conservation reserve etc. Big legal trouble As for the common native insects that you can find in the back garden or on private land, generally no problems. I have tree wetas getting into my shed, and sometimes even the house all the time. I'm not trying to keep them, they just wander in :-? Like coelacanth said, there is no real organised insect collector society here, but if the kids want a pet weta/spider/stick-insect, they just go outside and catch one. Cheers Ian This is one of my visitors 8) And a baby one I found on my boot one morning.