Joe

Might need to get the pH down a bit. Check those rocks to see if they are raising the pH. This can be done by pouring vinegar over them. If they fizzle then they contain minerals (not sure exactly what ones) which will raise the pH. That waffle leaf plant to the left of the rocks doesn't grow submerged and will rot. It will need to be removed. Also I'm not sure what sort of Alternanthera that is but it doesn't look like an aquatic one. Try and get some Echinodorus bleheri/amazonicus. This grows quite fast and looks nice and will suck up some of the ammonia in your tank. Also instead of the hairgrass, Echinodorus tenellus will probably be easier to grow and will form a thick bushy carpet which will use up nutrients and provide the fry with more cover. Do lots of water changes which will help the water clear faster.

Cool wrasse What's with the random words on the photo? :dunno:

In your opinion. Most colour mutations of fish I don't like (same with pretty much any animal too). There are a few though that I do like, but golden minnows aren't one of them. With most fish I prefer the natural/wild colour forms. I like blueether's fish because they still have the basic colouration but it is kind of cool how they have orange fin tips. Remember this is just my opinion. I'm not saying that golden minnows are a horrible grose fish and that nobody should keep them, because that is just stupid and immature. You are entitled to your opinion and if you like them and they bring you pleasure then that's great :thup:

Awesome

They looked a lot bluer in the 4th photo (maybe just the light?), and that one to the right with the big flowy tail looks amazing. Would love to see some photos of him

I have a pair of Apistogramma macmasteri for sale. They are not aggessive to other fish at all, even when they spawn, unless the fish are in the immediate area that the Apistos have spawned. Macmasteri are extremely hardy. Soft water is very important if you want to breed them successfully. They will spawn in hard water but the eggs won't hatch. Otherwise they are probably the most easiest Apisto to keep.

Nice! Any chance you could get some good pics of those blue-finned guppies in the background of the fourth photo?

Looks great :thup:

Wow those are nice! I like the colourful fins with the standard body colouration :thup: Way nicer than the golden minnows.

blueether could you post some photos please?

From the photo IMO it does look too blue.

Despite the cyano the tank looks gorgeous

Their personalities are brilliant! These are the best fish I have ever kept. I've had fighters before, and I've had Laetacara curviceps, and I've got Emperor Tetras, all of which are fish I've found to have good personalities. But honestly the trifasciata are the best, and by far are the most interesting Apistogramma to keep IMO. Also the most nicely coloured IMO and I prefer their small size to the other species I keep. I measured them today. The females are approx. 30mm TL, and the male is around 45mm TL. They will still probably grow a bit more. Also TL = Total Length, which is the length of the fish from the mouth to the tip of the tail. SL (standard length) is another term you might come across, which is the length from the mouth to the end of the caudal peduncle (the bit of the fish where the tail grows from). Although Apistogramma are quite expensive, I highly recommend them (as long as the hobbyist is prepared to provide them with adequate care and has done research on them so they have an idea of what they're doing). I started fishkeeping when I was 9 or 10. My first tank was 90x30x30cm and I had various tetras, Rosy and Lipstick Barbs (which sadly died a couple of months later of an unknown illness. All the barbs died suddenly overnight and all the other fish were perfectly fine) and a Skunk Loach. I had dark pea gravel and a few easy-to-keep plants, a 25w 6,700K T8 and an Aqua One CF-1000 for filtration. Soon afterwards I started selling fish and buying others, and sold those and bought more, to get a taste of different fish and what I preferred. Over this period I had bristlenoses, various gouramis, various barbs and tetras, a few different loaches, livebearers and some other things. I got a pair of kribs (the standard P. pulcher), and I ended up selling them because I didn't really like them that much. I then got the Laetacara curviceps which I had for ages and I bred them. They were one of my favourite fish. I also got a pair of Apistogramma trifasciata from Redwoods which I loved. Sadly the tank had a columnaris outbreak and I lost nearly everything, including all of the cichlids. A while afterwards I started to get fish again. I decided I liked Apistos the most so that's what I have kept ever since up until now My favourite fish that I have ever had was that pair of trifasciata I got from Redwoods. They were amazing !drool: The ones that I have now are really cool but I still liked the ones from Redwoods a lot better

:slfg:

Yeah and that's not even including the glass thickness

Yeah Pellia is Lomariopsis lineata

Yeah 865's are quite good. I use a T8 one in conjunction with a Hagen AquaGlo tube and I get pretty good growth and colour. However I don't like the colour of them on their own. IMO using them with a plant bulb or two really impoves the colours of the fish and plants when you are viewing the tank.

Aww super cute little froggie :love:

Organism is my favourite place to visit in Christchurch, along with Redwoods When I went to Petworld a few weeks ago while I was in Christchurch they had a stunning halfmoon betta that had a pale iridescent lilac body and pale golden fins streaked through with lilac. It was simply stunning !drool: It was $80, so I wonder if it has sold yet. It might pay to pop in if you are going past and see if its still there. Honestly it was one of the most amazing fighters I have ever seen! You would love it Thanks so much for your compliments on my biotope tank In the latest photo the tank has been cleaned and the leaves replaced so everything looks way better than it did originally. I added a lot more leaves than last time too. I just found out that the council add limestone to our local water supply ("to make it taste better" :facepalm: ), which is why the pH is always 7.5-8 despite all the oak leaves I keep adding. So there is no chance of the fish breeding. I am planning to build a rainwater collecting system but I have nowhere to put it (can't use the roof because apparently the type of paint we have or something might taint the water). I will have to build a structure to mount a piece of plastic and guttering on to. Also I am planning to get a full range of test kits. The Apistogramma trifasciata are a few centimeters. About the size of a fighter, if not maybe a bit smaller

Wow $100 US just to ship some filter socks That's simply rediculous :facepalm: :an!gry

Looks very slick Awesome looking setup

Wow your tanks are amazing Also I love the betta in the last photo - he has the most surreal colours !drool:

I never did that with mine. I don't think it really matters with kribs and Laetacara. Just put a male and a female in a tank and leave them to it. When I got mine the guy I got them from just grabbed a random male and a random female out of the tank. Same thing with all of my Apistos. And they've all been fine.

Not too bad

Overseas a lot of people seem to use the Giesemann Midday and the Giesemann Aquaflora bulbs and apparently they are brilliant (no wonder - Giesemann is one of the best aquarium lighting companies). The Dennerle Trocal Color Plus looks really good too in terms of spectral output. Also I have heard a lot about the Aqua Medic Planta bulbs, but I have read that they have a shorter life span than a lot of bulbs so personally if I was ever going to order T5HO bulbs from overseas I wouldn't bother with them. Their spectral output is pretty much identical to the Dennerle bulb. The Planta bulbs are used together with Aqua Medic 10,000K bulbs. JBL bulbs look pretty good as well. Here Arcadia is pretty much the only option for good quality bulbs, and even then their bulbs don't really have the best spectral output. The blue is OK, but there is a large peak in the orange spectrum (just after 600nm) and the 640-680nm peak is very small. The plants need 640nm-680nm the most out of the red side of the spectrum. From "Lighting Spectrum and Photosythesis on Aquatic Plant Central: Your questions: 1. Sylvania GroLux bulbs are quite cheap but I don't think that they come in T5HO in NZ. They have a really good spectral output but terrible colour rendering so they are very pink/purple. 2. Overseas Aquaristikshop.com looks quite good. In NZ when buying bulbs and other stuff, buy from a specialist aquatic retailer if possible because the prices are usually much better than petshops.