livingart

surely they have a list of species they are going to check all it takes is some time to do some internet research or MAF buying some decent books on fish, so they know what their looking at some people just do a job for the payslip at the end of the week

Hi in our birds and animals even hedgehogs the albino is a sex linked trait. Is it a recessive trait in fish?

Well done Sharn and Afrikans hubby, the main worry is some other people turn a blind eye some of the time, hopefully not through want of profit but this sort of action can damage the hobby and give the wowsers even more ammunition to lobby the politicians and beaurecrats to cut the list of allowable importation species even more less fish, less custom for shops maybe COMMON SENSE MUST NOT BECOME AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

ultimately the importer must be held accountable as they are visually not a kuhli, and the importer nust have some knowledge of fish and what they are importing. some other species have come into nz as young fish and they can be hard to tell apart from allowed species when immature from the photo supplied they are definitely an eel species and to label these as Kuhlis, glass or otherwise was poor judgement, sadly this misnaming is then passed on to shops and then the customer. Bio security is a necessity to protect our unique and fragile native species from the further introduction of unwanted organisms that could compete and maybe decimate them, I just wish that more knowledgable people in MoF were checking shipments when they came in and making our laws rather than unfeeling beaurecrats I don't agree with some of the decisions that authorities make but is it not better to miss out on a few hobby species than to possibly lose what native species we have left

Loopy's probably looking for chocolate fish. they melt in my tank!

Tiny is one of two young chinese fire bellies, they live with a lot bigger lonely female japanese. i like the fact that his face resembles a hippopotamus, just no ears

I clean my marine corals by hosing down with hard spray then leaving in the sun for a few days works better the longer you leave it

tried to make it bigger and blew it think its back now I hope i get better with practice

he comes out like that when my wife feeds him she took the photo

We call him Tiny because he's mi nute lol

I always wanted a massive tank, thought about a steel frame and then line with cool store walling , aliminium sheet either side of 6 inch polystyrene. could take off one side of walling and fibreglass the inside anyone got any thoughts on that cheers mark

ours are in outside pond all year round, some have been there 12 years, just watch a really hard frost can be amplified in a glass aquarium, on those nights just cover with a piece of shade cloth to create a small micro climate inside tank stops it from icing up

Hi Paul, Welcome, we are in Tauranga, started keeping fish in 1963 Here's to many years in the hobby for you cheers mark

I also try to avoid additives but Gannet bought lots of treatments with his tank used the TLC tank start cycle thing and seemed to run well, I try to avoid the rest and watch the fish for changes, lets me know when things are wrong the tingle in the fingers lets me know when the heaters broken, lol I think a lot of the worlds wild fish are swimming in chemical baths even marine fish in some areas are putting up with our waste products or amazon fish, deforestation changing their water parameters silt from up valley land developments have changed the inner harbour in Tauranga, they used to land light planes in one area now the mud is calf deep and they would have to dodge the mangroves

possibly getting ready to shed some shell, maybe

try trotting around the local glass supplies they sometimes have 2nd hand 8 to 12mm from replacement windows one of the local guys from glass place makes mine on the weekends for a cashie

like awful knawful (lol) said if you wait and are prepared to let a lot of people know what you want you can get some good deals, local trade magazines and free papers are another option new means you have a guarantee on the equipment good luck

he also has 2 of my asian spiny turtles ( cog wheels ) as well

was still in the trusting stage, and thought it was best for the turtles breeding in nz, he had all males. the photos of setup he had looked good lost contact details I still trust and still get done occassionally but we all create our own karma

the one we had about 11 years ago was a florida softshell approx 30 cm long in shell, gave to a guy nth of auckland for breeding never heard from him again

there are softshells in nz and your close with the price

awesome looking fish!!

as has been stated on the mudfish topic, keeping things that are endangered will probably get you a smacked hand, the commoner stuff will be ok. natives harder to find in lake taupo have to compete with the introduced predators catfish and trout. try the feeder streams the further up you go and the smaller the stream the better your chances, especially the farm drains in farmland or reclaimed swamp areas

local doc officer said technically all whitebait species adults as well fall under the can catch only during whitebait season the odd person taking for keeping in their own tank would be tolerated but wholesale taking of fish, gets a smacked hand one of the giant kokopu in our streams on the property is over 28cms long, quite a few giants, heaps of banded all sizes bullies are exempt koura need a licence to sell but can be taken and kept none to be released in a different waterway hope this helps

Most fishkeepers cant afford to experiment, losing a fish can be expensive and disheartening, sometimes it takes a while and good testing equipment to find out what went wrong. living by the sea with access to plentiful fresh water and test subjects might be the key. the process of elimination and a good start system that had been running well and supporting life for many months allowed me to experiment for a long time i was running local marines then when they had settled down would heat and convert to tropical marines using rockpool fish i have also bred and raised seahorses for a number of years but other things have taken over at the moment