Rob

Sounds like riccia except the not being able to handle warmer temperatures (possibly that's due to too rapid temperature change, perhaps if it was acclimatised slowly?). Ira - have a look at www.tropica.com under the entry for Riccia fluitans. In my experience riccia will form these puff ball things if it's not getting knocked about, otherwise it becomes a multitude of smaller pieces floating around.

Yip clay hoplos are the 'other' hoplos (Hoplosternum littorale), got both of them up at Hollywoods one time, haven't seen them anywhere else. I did not make up "logsucker fish" - you've got some wholesaler to blame for that - from the Baensch atlas they're actually some sort of Epalzeorhynchos (same genus as regular flying foxes) I just can't recall the species name at the moment. I bought them not so much for their looks but their behaviour. Yes I'm definitely aware of your acquisitive nature when it comes to Killies and you're definitely top of the list for where the first younguns go. Yip there are lots of things I'm supposed to be breeding for people around the country - the dwarf cichlids are quite high on my list of priorities at the moment (for a number of reasons - they're not cheap, some of them don't come in regularly and in some cases I only have a pair so can't afford to wait around too long).

Ok - this may take a little while. I think 14 tanks no longer counts as hobby and goes a fair way to obsession. At the moment I don't feel like measuring all of their dimensions so I'll just give a length for each tank. There are 4 display tanks: 5' tank: Fish pair of blue lumphead cichlids pair of electric blue cichlids 4 young electric yellow cichlids pair Katanga peacock cichlids pair featherfin synos 3 nigrita (?) synos 4 upside down cats 3 south american bumble bee cats 2 clay hoplos 2 large chocolate stripe cats 2 spotted talking cats 3 pearl mystus cats 1 pictus cat pair clown plecos 1 male bristlenose 1 male rubberlipped pleco 2 pakistani loaches 2 angelicus loaches 3 logsucker fish 3 black line flying foxes 4 boesmani rainbows 4 australian rainbows 2 lacustris rainbows 3 exquisita rainbows 2 unknown rainbows 3 herbertaxelrodi rainbows 1 male madacascan rainbow plants java fern vallisnaria gigantia sword plants 3' live bearer tank: fish guppies blue platies black swordtails 2 pairs American flag fish 3 zodiac loaches 4 swartzi corys 4 san juan corys 2 black line flying foxes 3-5 young clown plecos plants hydrocotyl indian fern balansae crypt unknown crypts java fern var. windeloev 3' dwarf tank fish 6 emerald eye rasbora 10 dwarf rasbora 10 indian hatchets pair empress dwarf cichlids pair twig cats 1 royal whiptail cat 8 whiptails (3 adults, 5 juveniles) 2 hill stream loaches 2 elegans corys 5 melanistus corys 3 golden eel loaches 1 young clown pleco 1 male featherfin rainbow 2 black line flying foxes plant ambulia crypts vallisneria ambrosium pearlweed anubias 4' discus tank 4 young red-turq discus 3 dwarf flag cichlids 2 female golden eye dwarf cichlids 3 porthole cats 3 flagtail porthole cats 6 flagtail corys 6 trilineatus corys 6 sodalis corys 6 sterbai corys 3 or 4 young clown plecos 5 diamond tetras 7 yellow phantom tetras 5 red phantom tetras 5 black phantom tetras 20 neons 4 cochu blue tetras 3 glass cats 4 marble hatchets 2 silver hatchets couple of unpaired tetras 3 black line flying foxes plants amazon swords leopard swords marble queen sword chain swords ozelot sword (?) crypts water star red rotala red pine tree bacopa (not doing well at the moment) Aponogetons The rest of the tanks are breeding and raising (with some of the raising tanks getting used as storage for potential breeding stock). 2' 1 male, 3 female agassizi dwarf cichlids 2 young bristlenose 5 pygmy corys 2' 4 borelli dwarf cichlids 3 skunk corys 15" 14 baby brazilian butterfly plecos 12" 6 Normans lampeye killies + young 12" trio rio napo corys some lampeye young 2' - with three partitions a) 30 or so young dwarf flag cichlids + 5 young brazilian butterfly plecos b) 14 young agassizi dwarf cichlids + 16 or so young pygmy corys + 2 young rubber lipped plecos c) about 40 baby whiptail cats 2' breeding pair of brazilian butterfly plecos (not breeding :evil: ) pair of clown plecos 2' pair blue faced dwarf cichlids 3 small vermiculated synos 1 small decorated syno 5 melini cories pair bristlenose 3 young rubber lipped plecos 2' two male feather fin rainbows (were supposed to be females but turned out to be males with their fins cropped :evil: ) 12" (old battery jar) male guppies 5 axelrodi corys outside - make shift pond with white clouds also separate plastic bin with the longer-finned white clouds from Andrew

One theory about why crypts do this is that if they kept they're leaves during the rainy season (high flows in streams and rivers) they'd get washed away, by losing their leaves they present less resistance to the water flow, so don't get ripped out.

I used to have 3 clown loaches. I ended up getting rid of them because of the damage they were doing to the sword plants. It seemed that they mainly picked on the broader leaved plants (or perhaps that was just where the damage was most obvious) - got to a point where I just got sick of those horse-shoe shaped holes and traded the loaches in.

If the neighbour is prepared to feed the fish then I suggest you lay in a supply of frozen blood worms as the food that gets fed. Reasoning - come in measured amounts (ie 3 cubes, 4 cubes etc), fish really like blood worms so that there isn't likely to be any uneaten food to cause excess pollution. The amount that gets fed is likely to be less than what they normally get fed, but providing they've been fed on a regular basis before you leave I wouldn't expect any problems - just fish really happy to see you home The blood worm thing is what I do when I'm going away for longer than a week - just stick post-it notes on the tanks with how many cubes each tank gets, point the flatmates in the direction of the blood worms and away I go. One more point - ask the neighbour to remove any dead fish (not that there are going to be any - but they can cause added problems if left to rot)

Yes Caryl is correct ---os rather than ---as. Just happened that the nearest book I had to hand has it mis-spelt. No I'm not just making excuses for poor typing/latin spelling skills check the Reed Field Guide to NZ Freshwater Fishes and you'll see I'm not fibbing.

Yip - I was thinking blue/green algae (cyanobacter). It can be annoying, especially as nothing eats it and it will cover everything. Caryl and Warren have both offered suggestions as to how to get rid of it. Caryl with the shorter term fix and Warren the more holistic approach. I would also add the following shorter term fixes as possibilities. 1. Total exclusion of light from the tank for about 3 days (When I tried this I wrapped a couple of heavy towels around the tank - worked OK, you may need to check the filter during this period as I found the dead algae would slough off and clog the filter. Also found that there would be a few bits that survived that required a follow up treatment after about 5 days). 2. Use one of the algae blocks from the fish shop (a block of white material, divided into six similar to a block of chocolate). This worked really well (it seems that the blue/green is particularly suceptible to it) but a word of warning - it is pretty hard on particular plants: vallisneria, ambulia, cabomba (I suspect that a few of the other stem/bunch type would be it) it didn't seem to knock sword plants or crypts though. Since the blue green does seem to be so suceptible you may get away with a lower dose that wouldn't have such a drastic affect on the plants). I would still suggest you heed Warrens suggestions though as you don't want it reoccuring.

Perhaps you could provide some more info, I have my suspicions of what it is but want to make sure first. Is this algae a dark blue/green colour with a musty sort of odour and just seems to form a sheet/film over everything?

Phalloceras caudimaculatus hence the other common name 'Caudo'.

Start off with LiquiFry and green water, once they're bigger they'll be able to take microworms and BBS.

Hi Midas, So you gave into the temptation and got some lumpheads then. Haven't had experience with successfully breeding them, though with my pair I find the easiest way to sex them is their dorsal and anal fins. The males are longer and more pointed, by longer I mean that they reach back and touch his caudal fin, supposedly size and size of lump are not definite indicators of sex. Limited experience with other mouth brooders has lead me to believe that the first couple of spawns don't succeed due to the female swallowing the eggs, but after that they sort themselves out - of course there are always exceptions to rule.

Not really an answer to Aqua's initial question but a bit of info for those that may want to 'hunt' their own laterite for setting up a new tank - you can gather your own from road cuttings etc providing it's in a locale where laterite is found. You're looking for a brick red coloured clay (yes clay, so if it's moist it will be reasonably sticky) not just a reddish dirt. I know of one place here in the Waikato where you can get it. If people are interested in the location PM or email me and I'll let you know where it is.

Most I've paid for a freshwater tropical fish is $100 (should have been $150 but when you're getting something ordered in for you you can usually come to 'an arrangement' since the shop has got a guaranteed buyer). What was the fish? Was actually 3 brazilian butterfly pl*cos (yes @$100 each). I've had one die (I was not happy about it - but thankfully it wasn't the female) and now I've bred 5 replacements (unsexable as yet) with the next batch on the way - hopefully doing better (numberswise) this time. Do I regularly fork out so much - no, it was a reward to me for finishing my university studies. I'd never contemplate forking out $5000 for one of those Asian arrowanas (I'm not that rich). My limit is probably about $150 - would definitely be some sort of pleco (not really into the Name Brand discus) and I'd probably be getting 3 of them at the same time (so hopefully I'd get a pair). Would I ever buy just a single expensive fish - probably not - you eliminate any possibility of natural reproduction.

Hi there Spawn - welcome to the fishroom. Good to see another person from Hamiltown here.

We had our clubs resident plant expert give a talk about this this month. His CO2 setup is commercial cyclinder hired from BOC gases, bought his own CO2 regulator (for coarse control) and then a needle valve (for fine control) all from BOC gases.

Waikato Club meetings are first sunday of the month (except January) - new faces are most welcome. This months meeting is on planted tanks ie substrates, fertilisers, carbon dioxide, lighting etc. Next month we're trying to get one of the wholesalers to come talk to us about what's involved with that side of the hobby.

Yip definitely, knows what he's talking about and doesn't bullshit you when he doesn't know. THere are times where I think I should just get my pay put straight into his bank account though. I checked out the last '"upside down cat" at the Goldfish Bowl and yes it is S. nigriventris (ie the true UDC) - though I have seen some places selling black spotted synos as UDC's.

I get the majority of the fish from my LFS (the Goldfish Bowl) here in Hamilton - I've developed a good relationship with the owner and he's happy to order me in things from the wholesalers that he wouldn't regularly stock (also if it's ordered in specially then I can haggle a bit). The Goldfish Bowl isn't as big Wet Pets but it looks after us really well. If anyone's coming to Hamilton and has only got time for one fish shop definitely make sure it's the Goldfish Bowl). The Flagtail corys I got 4 or 5 months ago - they were a special order in (they would have sold very slowly here in Hamilton because of their high price). The chocolate stripes I've had for a while but I still see them for sale around the place. The spotted talking cats was just a 'right place, right time' situation in that they were buy backs from someone getting out of fish. I'll have to inspect the Upside cats for sale here at the moment and see if they're Synodontis nigriventris or not. Sorry Pauly - I've never kept eels (I like them, just haven't added them to the collection...yet).

Yip I know the Dwarf Hara hara's - cool little fish, I love the way they go nuts over bloodworms and whiteworms. If I had to choose my favourite bottom dweller (that I currently keep) it would be close tie between Flagtail cory's, chocolate stripe cats and spotted talking cats, with the spotted talking cats just edging out the other two. Opps, forgot about the the hillstream loaches (spotted scooters, borneo suckers etc) - they've got to be my favourite ones.

Hi there Pete - yet another 'welcome to the neighbourhood' message for you. You mention an interest in bottom dwellers. There are a few of us lurking about that have interest in mainly catfish and also loaches. So what's your favourite bottom dweller you currently keep?

I've got two types of talking cats - the chocolate stripes and the spotted. They have only ever made noise when removed from water - it was a grating/croaking noise. They do not appear to be aggressive at all - they will bulldoze others fish out of the way to get to food but not maliciously. Mine are extremely nocturnal though, chocolate stripes slightly less so than the spotted, so make sure that there are suitable hiding places for them. Because they are so nocturnal I worry that they don't get enough food so have taken to putting in sinking food after the tank lights have gone off. If you have a dim room light then you should be able to see them foraging. They're cool looking fish with all that armour and prodruding body spikes.

I've had some experience with them - can be a bit tempremental to keep. Make sure that there is enough plant cover so that sub-dominant fish are not harrassed to death. I got them to spawn before (the pair layed their eggs on a flatish bit of driftwood and then the female picked them up into her mouth) but the female only held the eggs for 3 days before she ate them (she should have kept them/fry in her mouth for about 14 days). After that a dose of algaecide did in all the ambulia that the less dominant fish had been hiding in, then the dominant male killed them all

Went digging around for some pics of the puffers that I've got and think you may have been looking at, try the link and see if I've guessed right or not (there's more pictures by clicking the initial one onthe page). Malabar puffer

It's a little hard to say for sure how big the puffer you saw will get as there are a number of different fresh water puffers. My best guess (given what I've seen around recently) is that it would get to 1-1.5" long. Feeding puffers can be a problem (you may have seen Ira's posts about wanting snails to start a snail breeding colony to feed his puffers). They a picky eaters in that they usually only accept live food - mine get daphnia, adult brine shrimp, white worms and snails (mainly those small flat spiral ones, also through in some Malaysian trumpet snails every now and then to see how long they survive) - some puffers will accept frozen blood worms, though mine usually turn their nose up at them. Puffers also have a reputation for being nasty - I initially had some cory's in with my pair, but the cory's ended up having cropped tails - so now the puffers have there own little tank. So setting up the tank in the closet as a species tank for puffers would be a good idea. If they are the little puffers I'm thinking of then fresh water should be fine (though I'd tend to make sure that it's pH doesn't get too low), as for the filter - can't really comment other than don't have too strong a current/flow. Hope this helps - as always this is IMO and from my experience. Rob