Rob

Hi Pies, just some comments (sorry Pies - I know you wanted facts): the Koi question (as Gabuce as implied) is slightly different in that it is listed as an unwanted/pest organism with associated fines for keeping/breeding/distributing. As for the not on the allowed list - you wont find Goldfish or whitecloud mountain minnows on the allowed list but you're still allowed to keep them - just not import them.

How big was this spotted hoplo that you've bought - the reason I ask is that (at least here) we only see small port hoplos and they all have spots - so I don't think the spots a necessarily an identifier for small/juvenile specimans. Having said that you guys down south do have a different range of importers so I'm not ruling out the possibility that you've got hold of something different (swines! ). I wouldn't really call the clay hoplos (Hoplosternum littorale) I've got dwarf - they've got a rated adult size of about 23cm which is larger than other hoplos - unfortunately it does look like I've got 2 females (I couldn't find out where they'd come from to try and track down a male).

Sounds like tinfoil barbs (Barbus schwanefeldi) can get quite large (up to 35cm) and will eat smaller fish.

I was more meaning that it wont reproduce from just a broken leaf/bit of stem like hornwort, oxgyen weed etc will do - you actually have to have that growing tip at the base of the plant for it to send out runners etc. Yes that base can be floating around sending out runners though.

Hi Polgara, I don't think hobbyists need to be concerned about having it in there tanks, but you shouldn't sell or give it away and should definitely dispose of any unwanted plants responsibly. Val isn't as bad as some water weeds in that it needs to have the base of the plant (where the roots attach) to grow and spread, unlike hornwort which can grow from stem fragments. The official wording (from the Environment Waikato website) is: "No person shall knowingly communicate, release, sell, offer to sell, display in a place where plants are offered for sale or exhibition, propagate or breed any ‘potential plant pest’, as detailed in section 5.4 of this Strategy." Section 5.4 is just a list of plants that they consider 'potential plant pests'

Looks like you found a range of things Andrew - some of the alternate text for the images was amusing

With the meal worms make sure you keep feeding them - that's where I went wrong the first time - not regularly adding a bit of apple - fed regularly they are quite rapid and prolific. Also may be an idea to remove manky bits of apple (dried up bits aren't a problem, it's more ones that have turned into soft mouldy lumps).

The theory for most plecos (including bristlenoses) needing wood is that in their natural environment cellulose (ie plant/wood fibre) makes a large part of their diet. Some people have found that when plecos get a diet high in meat they end up with gut problems/obstructions and die. Adding the driftwood is a way of making sure the pleco gets enough fibre and stays regular. There are some types of plecos though that are mainly carnivorous though - the one that springs to mind straight away is zebra plecos.

No I'm not sure of the lineage of my bosemani's - imported rather than locally bred but other than that i couldn't say. If i was ever to become a rainbow nut I'd be wanting location site info aswell - if you look at some of the better websites with rainbows you see the large variation in particlular species based on which river systems they originate from - can make ID difficult as most general fish books have a single picture for a given rainbow.

Hi Chuckles, Just to repeat some of what people have said already. Yes do water changes - nothing too extreme as it is recommended that any pH change be gradual. You should be doing about 25% water changes fortnightly just as regular tank maintenance anyway. As Ira and Polgara have mentioned baking soda is a temporary fix - probably the easiest way to add it is to dissolve it in the water change water - how much does depend on what your tap water pH is (7 in your case) - I'd probably add about 1/2 a teaspoon per 8 L bucket (assuming your only doing a 20-25% water change). Remember to monitor your pH (ie add a bucket of water, allow it to mix and test pH) - you don't want too rapid a change or to go the other way. The fish that you list are going to prefer the water neutral to slightly acid anyway so I'd probably be trying to get the water up to around 6.7-6.8 pH. I'm also curious about what a Kak loach is - not a very appealing name.

I found that I only had success rearing them on with a proper salt water mix - no luck just using rock salt or sea salt (that you can use for hatching them). As Caryl's implied they'll live on algae that forms in the tank (I just used a smallish tank, no filtration but it did have aeration) I also fed them with powdered brewers yeast, spirilina powder and everynow and then liquid fry food.

Removing the eggs depends on how robust the eggs are. With cory eggs it's reasonably easy - I've found that immediately after laying they're two soft but give them an hour or so and they can be more easily handled - just roll them onto the tip of your finger - most of the time they stick but I do also have one of those plastic pipettes ready in the other hand to suck up any that I dislodge that don't stick to my finger. The other way that people will remove eggs from the glass is with a razor blade - should have it at an angle to the glass so that you are scraping off rather than slicing through. Remove the eggs to a container with water from the spawning tank and possibly some light aeration. If removing eggs individually have them spread out in the hatching container (makes it easier to remove any eggs that are infertile or start to fungus).

The white worms would survive in a compost bin environment (they are considered to be a type of compost worm) - I'm just not sure about competition between the earthworms and white worms - hopefully it would n't be too much to worry about. As for where you can get them from - first port of call would be your local fish shop (I know mine as them out the back - so there's no evidence of them in the shop but when you ask at the counter it's "sure, I can do you a white worm culture". Alternatively you can get them from Biosuppliers in Auckland here's the web address.

As Andy says - I'd remove the eggs if it happens again. Here's an article about a guy in England spawning them: Loach breeding according to the article the eggs are small and slightly golden in colour - does that match up?

As for feeding them out - I'll normally dig/scrape out the pile that accumulates where the food is/was. I don't worry about cleaning them (that's why I end up with a little bit of compost making it into the tank). As for feeding out it depends on which fish I'm trying to feed. If it's discus (or other cichlids) I'll put the white worms into one of those worm feeder things (a perforated cone, the worms make their way out the holes and the fish pick them off); if I'm mainly trying to give the catfish a treat then I'll dump in the ball of worms as is - some will get intercepted by the other fish but the catfish then get to ferret around in the gravel getting most of them.

I can confirm that mopping up 500L of water from your lounge floor at 5.30 in the morning is not an experience I want to repeat - EVER! Every towel in the house got pressed into service and the washing machine was on continuous spin cycle since a damp towel will still take up water from a soggy carpet. Thankfully it was during summer so the carpet dried out without any apparent damage - house did smell like a 4 day old pair of socks for about a week though. Only had 3 casualties thankfully and the catfish that got lacerations from the broken glass had a full recovery. Looking back now there was an amusing aspect - numerous catfish busily exploring their new, extremely large but shallow tank - I could have done without the zap from the 4-way powerboard that reminded me that mixing water and electricity is not condusive to long life.

In a bucket with compost sounds OK, you'll need to keep them in a dark cool place (they don't do well if they get too warm and will hide away from the light). Would probably be an idea to have the bucket covered so that the compost doesn't dry out too much - they prefer damp conditions - not soggy though. The most common thing they get feed is bread soaked in water (sometimes milk) or cat biscuits soaked in water (though I don't really like the appearance of soggy cat biscuits so I put them on the surface dry and then drip some water over them) some people say about porridge but i hadven't tried that. Having the food on the surface means that that is where the worms gather and makes harvesting easier - I always end up with a small amount of compost making it into the tank though.

Hi Doc, Alan's suggestion of a diatom filter is a good one but not all of us have access to them. You could try one of the basic air driven box filters, packed with filter floss. I started with these types of filters (being a poor student at the time) and still use them in a number of my tanks (in combo with assorted power filters). The good thing about them is that they become more efficient at removing fine particles the longer they run (yes the flow rate through them does diminish though). I'm also not sure on the media you've got in your filter - I'm assuming there is a reasonably coarse sponge as mainly a mechanical filter and then the noodles as high surface area substrates for bacterial colonies (at least that's what my canister filter had in it when I bought it). I found this setup didn't remove the particulate matter as well as I would have liked so I ended up adding in a layer of filter floss after the coarse sponge. The reasoning for that placement was the coarse sponge removes the larger particles, then the filter floss removes the finer particles and finally the bacteria on the noodles break down the nitrogen compounds. Means that you will probably have to service the filter more often but hopefully the water is alot clearer.

Cees is looking at some further improvements and refinements.

Just to let everyone know - the FNZAS breeding scheme webpages are now online under the Breeding heading of the FNZAS Homepage.

That's what happens when old discussions get resurrected - that particular post was made in 2002!

The best way for sexing any type of cory is to go by body shape, this is easiest when looking down from above - females should be noticably broader in the region behind the pectoral fins. Using dorsal fin height as way of sexing corys only applies to a few species - most commony the peppered cory. As for breeding corys Clothahump has made a pretty good post recently here

Chris - yeah I'd get a couple, the brown ones are reasonably plant save (unless there's nothing else for them to eat) but the golden ones will clear fell any plants you have. There are some claims that while the snails will leave fry alone the will eat eggs - there's possibly some truth but I ahd the snails in the tank right from the start and still got about 50 new pygmy cories. Snails are useful in pretty well any fry tank - cleaning up uneaten food and any casualties - only thing to be careful of is a snail that dies - the amount of rotting flesh can quickly foul small fry tanks. My suggestion when choosing you snails is not to go for the biggest ones in the tank - stick to the small-medium sized ones that appear to have nice intact shells (the larger ones are likely older and closer to the end of their life span). With apple snails you can easily control an potential population explosion as they lay quite a large egg sack up out of the water (usually on the cover glass) - if you don't want more snails then scrape of the egg sack before it hatches. Also don't assume that just because you've got 2 apple snails that they will reproduce - unlike some snails they are not hemaphrodites but rather male or female.

There is an article here on breeding sterbai. When I bred them I just chucked them in a tank by themselves, started conditioning them on tasty foods and the damn things spawned before I even got a chance to do the cold water change trick. I know my fish were definitely not wild caught - got them from a breeder in Upper Hutt. As for rearing pygmy cory's - the main thing is have a suitable first food. I had the greatest success when they were in a tank with a couple of brown mystery/apple snail - the snails had created a layer of mulm on the bottom of the tank full of infusoria (apple snails are also called infusorial snails - because the encourage the growth of infusoria).

Bandit cory's were selling for about $23. Wish I was down in Christchurch - that Redwood place sounds great (especially since it's a retailer that imports), then I'd have at least a vague chance of getting some of the fish on my wishlist. I'm not aware of anyone currently breeding Bandits - but then not everyone is a member of FNZAS and also not evey FNZAS member registers their breedings. Chris - I guess the next step up as far as cory's are concerned would be one of the types that retails in the mid 10-20 dollar range. Perhaps C. trilineatus (they always gets sold as julii though), sterbai, panda. The other possible direction to go is one of the dwarf species like hastatus or pygmaeus - the raising of the fry of these is a little more difficult because of their small size.