livingart

Thanks again to the Waikato Aquarium Society for putting on a great weekend.
The mollys are doing great.

Hi all, I've been lurking for a few days and thought I'd join the crowd.

I'm originally Texan, but have been living here for several years and am married to a Kiwi with a 2 year old son. I love it in NZ, but I had to leave all my tanks behind. So I'm starting fresh as my wonderful husband has just gotten me a 200L for my birthday. Yay!

I can't wait to meet all of you!

Time for an update.
Cycling
Well this didn't go as planned.  Things weren't happening at 14-15C so threw in a couple of heaters in the sump to kick the cycle off.  3 weeks later and I was topping up the ammonia every few days and recording some Nitrites and some Nitrates but I never experienced any of the spikes in the Nitrites nor the ammonia disappearing in a day that I had read about.  Decided it wasn't a problem since the fishless cycling process is designed for a tank that is going to go from zero to 100% stocked whilst I would be adding the odd fish now and again over a few months and the testing verified there was at least some bacteria at work.
Plants
Can't have any submerged plants if I want a Koura but  was really taken the idea of Potho's and other similar plants with just their roots in the water.  Shelter for the fish plus Nitrate removal.  Wanting to keep with the native theme I did a bit of googling both with the computer and my eyes in the bush and figured that a good plant to use is the native bergonia.  It likes damp low light areas and is very common around here on stream banks.  I put a trial piece in before I started cycling and it started to do well but got knocked back when I heated up the water.  Despite this there are small leaves and rootlets appearing so now the temperatures dropped again I'm hoping it will continue to grow.  Once its grown up to the top of the canopy I will remove one of the inserts I pre-made and let it grow out of the top. The canopy lights are strong enough that the leaves have lost their red colour and turned green.
Also found some moss in a stream that was both above and below the water so transplanted some of that around the top of the main log. And off course because its a native tank I had to add the compulsory Ponga leaf. 
Fish
Today I drove the 3 hours to Auckland and picked up Willyp123's Giant Kokopu.  Well worth the trip as it not only saves months of wading in streams looking for one but since it is a captive bred GK it means I am not decreasing the wild population.  He survived the trip well in a 50ltr plastic storage container with the top taped on tight.  After a couple of hours in the container having the tank water added to acclimatise him he went into the tank and is now happily exploring his new home. 

Zebra Pleco in stock at our Albany store
 $399.90
 
We can ship
For a full list of livestock: http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/article/page/fish-database/m/681/

I haven't uploaded any photos for a while so decided to take some today.
Update on my tank
About 3 weeks ago i lost my CBB. Not really sure what happened he was healthy and eating like a pig. I found that he had some scuffed up scales at the bottom of his dorsal fins and then the next day it was all red at that spot. He died just a few hours after being in QT.
I also changed salts to Aqualab, but will be changing again most likely to Dupla marin, as i don't like the high levels of alk and Calcium as i would prefer colour to growth.
My current live stock (Fish) is:
Foxface Rabbitfish
Doliatus Rabbitfish
Purple Tang
Yellow belly Blue Tang
Flame Angle
Royal Gramma
Six Line Wrasse
Green Mandarin
Red Bar Goby
2x Ocellaris Clownfish
4x Lyretail anthias
Soon i will be adding two cleaner shrimp
Here are the photos please excuse the glare and the not so in focus ones.

A Nudibranchs

The meaning of Nudibranch, is ‘Naked Gill' as this refers to the feathery growths that are located near the rear end of the animal. These function as a breathing apparatus. There are over 80 known species of Nudibranchs from New Zealand waters. 
As Nudibranchs are carnivores they feed specifically on sponges & sea firs (Hydroids) as well as sea squirts. Lacking the protection of a hard shell it might be thought that their soft bodies would make easy prey for fish and starfish alike. This is not the case, as most predators avoid them due to their defence mechanism that contains unpleasant chemicals in their bodies. However, the Roboastra luteolineata preys on fellow nudibranchs.
The pink and white Jason's nudibranch (Jason mirabilis) has a remarkable defensive system. They feed on polyps and by some unknown method, they incorporate the hydroids stinging cells into growths (cerata) on their backs.
Any predator biting into these growths will trigger the stinging cells receiving a dose of poison. Scientists think the bright colours of Nudibranchs are adaptive strategies that warn predators of poisons or nasty-tasting chemicals.

Sea Hares NZ
There are eight species of Sea Hare in New Zealand. The fleshy slugs have prominent tentacles that with some stretch of the imagination could resemble the ears of a Hare. With some species a small internal shell protects their gills. They are all herbivores, feasting on succulent seaweeds that provide adequate camouflage. In the case of predators getting too close they have the ability to shoot out a poisonous purple dye.

Interestingly enough, Sea Hares are hermaphrodites, meaning each animal has both male and female sex organs. Mating often occurs in mass groups as they line up to fertilize the eggs of the next animal in front. They release their eggs in a colourful tangle, with the resemblance of knitting wool or spaghetti.
Click on picture to go to information sheet for keeping in aquaria

Clown Nudibranch.


Gem Nudibranch



Variable Doris
 

Welcome to the new look forums of the FNZAS
A BIG thank you to Daniel Hampton for the hours of work he has put in to create the new website and forums

I recently acquired Henwards big Arowana tank and am setting it up to house the carpet sharks that are now just over a year old.
Tank is 2.4m x 1.2m x 60cm high

Filled with salt water
Sump was set up for freshwater so modded it a bit for saltwater system

Created refugium area

Added new overflow

Added a it of rock to form the start of a centre island

First livestock in it.

 
 

I recently acquired Henwards big Arowana tank and am setting it up to house the carpet sharks that are now just over a year old.
Tank is 2.4m x 1.2m x 60cm high

Filled with salt water
Sump was set up for freshwater so modded it a bit for saltwater system

Created refugium area

Added new overflow

Added a it of rock to form the start of a centre island

First livestock in it.

 
 

You need to pump water through the chiller and a return hose on the out side of chiller fittings
get a big bucket of water put pump in it then fill with water, connect to IN side of chiller put OUT hose in same bucket
turn pump on so water flows through the chiller, make sure enough water in bucket
 
On chiller display will be the temperature the water is at
to set temp hold set button down until display starts flashing
use arrows to set temp you want then hold set down till stops flashing

I recently acquired Henwards big Arowana tank and am setting it up to house the carpet sharks that are now just over a year old.
Tank is 2.4m x 1.2m x 60cm high

Filled with salt water
Sump was set up for freshwater so modded it a bit for saltwater system

Created refugium area

Added new overflow

Added a it of rock to form the start of a centre island

First livestock in it.

 
 

Lovely

I recently acquired Henwards big Arowana tank and am setting it up to house the carpet sharks that are now just over a year old.
Tank is 2.4m x 1.2m x 60cm high

Filled with salt water
Sump was set up for freshwater so modded it a bit for saltwater system

Created refugium area

Added new overflow

Added a it of rock to form the start of a centre island

First livestock in it.

 
 

I recently acquired Henwards big Arowana tank and am setting it up to house the carpet sharks that are now just over a year old.
Tank is 2.4m x 1.2m x 60cm high

Filled with salt water
Sump was set up for freshwater so modded it a bit for saltwater system

Created refugium area

Added new overflow

Added a it of rock to form the start of a centre island

First livestock in it.

 
 

I recently acquired Henwards big Arowana tank and am setting it up to house the carpet sharks that are now just over a year old.
Tank is 2.4m x 1.2m x 60cm high

Filled with salt water
Sump was set up for freshwater so modded it a bit for saltwater system

Created refugium area

Added new overflow

Added a it of rock to form the start of a centre island

First livestock in it.

 
 

Nice one guys  Will look at updates to database

A Nudibranchs

The meaning of Nudibranch, is ‘Naked Gill' as this refers to the feathery growths that are located near the rear end of the animal. These function as a breathing apparatus. There are over 80 known species of Nudibranchs from New Zealand waters. 
As Nudibranchs are carnivores they feed specifically on sponges & sea firs (Hydroids) as well as sea squirts. Lacking the protection of a hard shell it might be thought that their soft bodies would make easy prey for fish and starfish alike. This is not the case, as most predators avoid them due to their defence mechanism that contains unpleasant chemicals in their bodies. However, the Roboastra luteolineata preys on fellow nudibranchs.
The pink and white Jason's nudibranch (Jason mirabilis) has a remarkable defensive system. They feed on polyps and by some unknown method, they incorporate the hydroids stinging cells into growths (cerata) on their backs.
Any predator biting into these growths will trigger the stinging cells receiving a dose of poison. Scientists think the bright colours of Nudibranchs are adaptive strategies that warn predators of poisons or nasty-tasting chemicals.

Sea Hares NZ
There are eight species of Sea Hare in New Zealand. The fleshy slugs have prominent tentacles that with some stretch of the imagination could resemble the ears of a Hare. With some species a small internal shell protects their gills. They are all herbivores, feasting on succulent seaweeds that provide adequate camouflage. In the case of predators getting too close they have the ability to shoot out a poisonous purple dye.

Interestingly enough, Sea Hares are hermaphrodites, meaning each animal has both male and female sex organs. Mating often occurs in mass groups as they line up to fertilize the eggs of the next animal in front. They release their eggs in a colourful tangle, with the resemblance of knitting wool or spaghetti.
Click on picture to go to information sheet for keeping in aquaria

Clown Nudibranch.


Gem Nudibranch



Variable Doris
 

Welcome to the new look forums of the FNZAS
A BIG thank you to Daniel Hampton for the hours of work he has put in to create the new website and forums

Nice one guys  Will look at updates to database

Welcome to the new look forums of the FNZAS
A BIG thank you to Daniel Hampton for the hours of work he has put in to create the new website and forums

Just checking to see if I can do this using drag and drop. This is a pic of the birthday cake I made, as requested, for my 4 year old neighbour.

Welcome to the new look forums of the FNZAS
A BIG thank you to Daniel Hampton for the hours of work he has put in to create the new website and forums

Welcome to the new look forums of the FNZAS
A BIG thank you to Daniel Hampton for the hours of work he has put in to create the new website and forums