paul_r

What i did was start with just the tank and all relevant accessories then get a few bristlenoses and plants. then when i went to tauranga which i do quite often id look in at the fish shops and just get a few of whatever caught my eye. Trademe and the for sale section here are great for browsing, the only problem is finding fish close enough to Whakatane :evil: Although the fish shops are usually my last option, the fish are generally stupidly overpriced and the people selling them generally know very little about the fish. Id much rather buy off breeders as they always do you a very good deal and most of the time will throw in a little extra of this or that for free, and wil gladly spend the time explaining the breeding process and the fishes neccesities etc

the dwarf gouramis are great, i have some in my tank of about 80 litres, i have some neons and a few bristlenoses and a common pleco, lots of plants, a real neat male fighter. As well as a few killies waiting for their new tanks to be built. I would start off with your favourite fish that can fit in the tank and built around it with compatible tank mates and plants etc. and whatever you do dont add a whole bunch of fish at once. Just remember if you see a fish you like and its not compatible, its not hard to get another tank.....or 3

i found out that useing a killie spawning mop does a great job of removing algae, just give it a good rinse when its done and its sweet. Works for me

41cm seems very normal for killies, for all species of killie except maybe the SJO's (King killies). i know my killies have smaller tanks and they are doing fine

I was given 2 bags of beat with Nothobranchius Eggersi eggs in from Matt_man (again thanks heaps ) They have been in the hot water cupboard with my other eggs, however this is the first time i have had eggs stored in peat, all my others i have got from my mops have been stored in small tray of water and meth blue. Is there a general rule as to how damp the peat needs to be? The first bag is ready to hatch in 3 weeks, the next bag in about 7 weeks. And there is still a bit of moisture inside the bags. Any help much appreciated. Cheers Paul

Hey guys ive just got another question Which method generally has better hatching rates once killie eggs have been picked? 1) Putting eggs in a small container with water and keeping at correct temperature until eggs hatch. Or 2) Collecting eggs, placing on damp peat, then storing at correct temperature for x ammount of days then placing in water for hatching? Just curious as i seem to have almost no luck hatching my eggs as i pick them and store in small containers with water and a small ammount of meth blue, i take out fungused eggs every day yet still have only had 3 hatch, and they have all died. Thanks

do the lights need to be flurescent? Im sorry i know nothing about the light required for fish/plants however i made up my own lights for my killie cupboard (is going to be used for heat instead of light) but the concept still the same. I bought the batons, wireing, bulbs etc for $20 and everything works fine. I can give you more detail on how to get everything working if you think it would be applicable for you application. Alan explained helped me out and showed me how to to it Just instead of where i have the glass thermostat have an on/off switch Paul

its called planning m8, a good plan is the base of everything good, i like to know where i am and where im going and how long its going to take. And im also makeing up a budget Well except in the case of in bed with the opposite sex, dont really need to plan that, seems be instinct. .... .... .... .... ...Jump in bed, take up as much room as possibly and hold onto as much blanket as possible, and try hold on all night ..... jees you guys have dirty minds?????

what do you mean by rough up? Paint is last on the priority list as the MDF is looking good with a few coats of polyurethane, sure there are a few runs but the visual side of things doesnt bother me the slightest - so long as the cupboard does its job im happy

does anyone know if i can paint over polyurethane? Cupboard almost complete and its almost payday, i want to have tanks in it in 2 weeks and fish etc. Just planning ahead

my fighter does the same, lies behind rocks and sits in amongst the plants that i have floating on the top, many times he has looked dead to me. As discusguru said about the fast moving water, its only logical that the fighters would get tired swimming in the current all the time

there are a few reasons why not to cross breed killies, will maybe see you tommorrow when i come to tauranga and will let you know. a bit easier than over a forum.

The misterious killifish ghost will haunt you and then you will have bad luck forever..... well maybe not, but think about it...... What killifish we have in nz (very few) and we want to make the most of, and im not sure of the facts but cross breeding between species i guess could make the offspring possibly infertile, or if fertile the offspring could be of mixed species etc etc basically makeing one big mess. (plus killies are the best looking fish, why try fix something if it aint broke..... in my opinion) However its opposite when it comes to the likes of guppies, very commen and many people are basically told to mix this with that to find the outcome Note how my different species of killies are in their own tanks, and the ones with tank dividers cannot interbreed

hahahaahahaha literally picking up fish, as in from LFS and takeing home. Think of how convenient it would be if they just jumped in as i was driveing past lol

Have taken as much care as possible when dealing with the molly tank. The molly tank the last i deal with (if at all). Ive just dumped in some of that tonic i got off you and left the tank alone. The disease doesnt seem to be getting worse.......for now

about time you joined up bro. Still waiting on you to join the NZKA Some very helpful and smart people on here. Ull enjoy it. P.S. dont spend toooooo much time on the forum lol

I have just checked the disease Columnaris, and after a bit of reading found that my mollies had what looks exactly like this: Hopfully they turn out okay, will go down to the vets (we have no LFS) and will see if they have any relevant medicine

haha it will take alot more than that to discourage me. Just checked again this morning and not moveing at all and upside down..... Now the wait till its brothers and sisters are ready to hatch. Cant wait till that happens.

Okay it is good to learn that the newborn fry should have no sack near their bellies, Alan as you said it may well be that it couldnt get out of its egg, i have left in the container incase the reason it isnt moving is because it is saveing its energy for a later date to get out of the egg (im hopeing ) I have also got some more eggs which are eyed up and should be hatching in the next day or two, all of my first batch fungused

yep the ones i caught. I looked on google and definatly looks like cotton mouth, poured in some meth blue and am hopeing for the best. I gave mollies to a few friends and theirs are all doing fine and breeding with their coloured ones etc. Just my luck!!

Hey guys just thought id let you all know that my first killi fry hatched today. I found it wriggling around its container when i came home for lunch.... not really wriggling, just the odd flicker of its tail. I took it out of the meth blue & water and put into a container of fresh water from dad and mum(s) tank with a few micro worms as it looked to my inexperienced eyes as if the fry was in trouble, and logically sounded like a "belly slider" I put in a small piece of that stuff that oxygenates the water. I just checked the fry just now and was moveing slightly. - still has the sack by its belly, not going after microworms etc. It this normal? and if fry dies what can i do to avoid problem in the future? Paul

Have just noticed that my new mollies & guppies that i have got have something wrong with them. At first it looked like some of the mollies had deformed smiles and actually looked quite funny. However i have noticed over the last 2 days it is spreading through my molly population and one guppy has got it aswell. I havnt got any pics sorry but it looks like a white fungus growing around their mouths. (i know nothing at all about fish diseases) Any help on what it is or how to get rid of it would be great Paul

I will definatly call in and say hi when im in auckland next, am hopeing to come up and visit a few friends one weekend....maybe in a month or so. But yes we went down Taupo ways and had a really good time, even visited the snow(hadnt planned it)....totally unprepared, most of us had shorts n t shirt, was very cold but the snow fight was great But yea the mollies we caught are very healthy looking and very active, would be nice to cross them with some of the coloured varieties

I caught some wild sailfinmollies yesterday and have just been thinking about what i could do with them. I would like to breed them with some coloured mollies to get some neat coloured sailfins as the wild ones are very plain looking (but still neat) I would like to breed a koi variation. I have no idea where to start. Could anyone help me out? Thanks

Haha spending/wasting money on cars has its merits. Id hate to think how much ive wasted on my cars. A totally different type of fun than fish. My car always used to pick up fish, i wonder how many fish can say they have been for a ride in a car hitting 13 pound of boost