Rob

A variation of the plant growing experiment I've seen is setting up identical plants but under different fluorescent lights (warm white, cool daylight, plant grow, etc) to see how much of a difference the different lighting made. Best to choose a plant that normally grows quite quickly, so that you can get measurable results in the time available).

Called into Pupuke Aquariums today and saw a real live madagascar lace plant (not for sale) - Ron seems to have the magic touch.

I'm not sure if they've presented enough solid evidence to convict for the murder - he should still be prosecuted for the arson, vandalism and theft. Either way it's ripped a family apart in a very public way.

You're welcome to come along Adrienne - I envisage it will be mainly social with "how'd you do that?" "why'd you do that?" etc thrown in - the May meeting we had quite a good discussion about low-tech planted tanks so seemed like a good idea to follow up with actually looking at some examples.

I know it won't be me - I'm one of those luddites that still doesn't have a mobile phone

I remember one year seeing a guy go through one of the exam rooms with some sort of hand held device (presumed to be a detector) - could have just been a machine that went bing. Think the uni has changed to fining students whose cellphones go off in exams, something like $100 fine.

Think at the time I pinged him he was just in the process of a taking an image of the Greek flag that was on the table question sheet. I should have thought about bringing along one of the cell phone detectors they use during the uni exams.

I just can't win - if my judging/marking favoured Wok it's dodgy; if my judging/marking favoured Caryl it's dodgy - I didn't hear any complaints from Norman though.

Hopefully this link works for you (has info about the presentations/workshops) and costs for casual attendees. https://sites.google.com/a/electrospan. ... y-schedule

I have great pleasure in announcing, in association with New Life Spectrum fish food and with the generous support of Hollywood Fish Farm, that our international speaker at conference is: Debra Dickinson. Debra is from Bayswater, Victoria and is a member of the Victorian Cichlid Society. She is an accomplished fishkeeper and breeder, specialising in Tanganyikan cichlids. Currently she has breeding colonies of seven different types of Tropheus (six of the types are wild caught), three different types of Frontosa, two different types of both Calvus and Compressiceps along with other colonies of fish we've never seen in NZ. Debra also hosts the website: http://www.cichlids.net.au - where you can view pictures and articles of/on the fish she keeps. A comment from one of the Waikato Club members who has seen Debra's setup: "I have personally seen her display and breeding setups and they are mind blowing." "...the most immaculate breeding setup I have ever seen." Debra will be covering: water conditions, colony management, breeding, nutrition and acclimatisation of sensitive fish. She will also be running one of the workshops. I would like to thank Hollywood Fish Farm for their support and also their long history of supporting our hobby.

Hi Sophia (we discussed the option of sunday only rego at our meeting last week) - if you (or anyone else) wanted to just attend on the Sunday then the price would be $30 (with tank crawl and dinner additional to that) - for the $30 you get access to the speakers, workshops etc as well as morning/afternoon teas and lunch. The cost for the tank crawl is to cover the transport that we are putting on - we won't be letting private cars tag along.

Just to confirm, contacting Owen (the details that Adrienne provided) is the best point of contact for registration queries as he is the one baby-sitting the registrations.

I also visited Auckland shops last week - was planning on a grand tour (similar to the ones I did years ago when I'd visit both Hollywoods, Pupuke, and numerous Jansen's (getting all the way up to the Silverdale one) along with somtime visits to Bird Barn and Massey Pets). - Tried to get to Aquavillage but heaps of roadworks out the front (then reading here it seems shop is gone/relocated/closed down?). - On to HFF Mt Roskill - always a good stop to make, pretty well spent my entire budget there. - Called in at Animates Mt Eden - not far from HFF so may as well call in on the off chance. I guess I still remember the days when it was a Jansen's, so it's always a little sad wandering around the (reduced) fish section - though the display tank looked good. My impression was that the lighting on many of the tanks made them seem a bit dreary. Since I'd already spent most of my budget I decided to forgo the rest of the tour and head back home.

Sturisoma panamense (well, definitely Sturisoma, pinning it down to a particular species may be a little more difficult).

I agree that (even though losing the gray) he looks older clean shaven - beard or goatee imo.