Rob

Welcome Danny, :evil: :evil: Rob (who's not currently in a situation to have a hundred tanks and is jealous of those who are).

I don't know for sure how to ID C.microlepis from C.quadrifasciatus (as I've never had the two side by side). But FWIW here is the info the Baensch Atlas (vol 1) has about the differences "[C.microlepis] differs from C.quadrifasciatus in several ways: they lack a black patch on the gill; the first body stripe reaches to the throat; the third body stripe, excluding an angled band which crosses the eye, ends at the center of the anal fin. In contrast C.quadrifasciatus has an eye patch, the first body stripe does no reach to the throat and the third body stripe ends before the anal fin." Looking at the pictures in the book and the ones on the website Andrew posted, it looks to my eye that the most obvious thing is that third body stripe either ending before or in the anal fin (it also seems that C.quadrifasciatus just looks more stripey - but then perhaps I've been staring at the screen for too long ). Richard, you mention that you think it's illegal for the Siamese tigers to be exported from Thailand - they are also listed as being found in Cambodia, Borneo and Sumatra - maybe they're not coming from Thailand? :roll:

I collect freshwater shrimp to feed my fish, but Fee has got the ones I gave her living happily in her cold water tanks at her shop.

4ft, 220L catfish and Rainbow tank. 3 Lacustris Rainbows 2 Neon Dwarf Rainbows 2 Herbertaxelrodi Rainbows 4 Boesmani Rainbows 4 Madagascan Rainbows 3 Exquisita Rainbows 3 unknown type Rainbows Pair Burmese Hatchets Pair of small Electric yellow cichlids Pair of Blue Lumphead cichlids Pair of Feather fin Synos 3 Black spotted synos 5 Upside down synos Trio of Pearl mystus Pair of Clown Plecos 2 Pictus cats 4 Porthole cats 2 spotted talking cats 1 Rubber lipped pleco 3 Bumblebee cats 1 Chocolate stripe cat 5 glass cats 1 black line flying fox 3ft, 120L 'Discus' tank a discus Pair Rosy tetras 4 sailfin tetras 5 black phantom tetras 3 Cochu blue tetras 4 otocinclus 6 Trilineatus cory 4 Stebai cory 10 young clown plecos (own bred) 1 ancistrus 1 Sodalis cory 1 Melanistius cory 5 marbled hatchets 3 cinnamon kuhlis 3 dwarf flag cichlids 10 or so Nannacara (own bred - juveniles growing on) 3 small black line flying foxes 3ft, 120L 'Dwarf' tank 5 honey gouramis (own bred) 3 badis (unfortunately all male) 6 Pygmy cory (own bred) 4 Elegant cory 8 Amber tetras 15 indian hatchets (mainly own bred) 5 silver hatchets breeding trio of whiptail cats 10 juvenile whiptail cats (own bred) 1 royal whiptail 2 spotted scooters 2 young clown plecos (own bred) 5 emerald eye rasboras 4 mosquito rasboras 4 dwarf rasbora (own bred) 3 American flag fish 1 black line flying fox 2 hara hara cats 3 golden eel loaches 2.5ft, 80L Livebearer tank Guppies Blue platties Berlin sword tails Pair Celebes Rainbows 3 zodiac loaches 12 young clown plecos (own bred) 3 Swartz cory 4 Caudimaculatus cory 10 young sterbai cory (own bred) 3 Nanus cory 1ft cube(ish) - hopefully breeding tank 4 Napoensis cory 2ft, 60L hopefully breeding tank Pair Royal whiptails Pair Twig cats 2ft, 60L rearing tank Guppies (males) Breeding pair ancistrus Baby ancistrus 4 flagtail cories 7 masked cories 3 melini cories 4 skunk cories 18" hopefully breeding tank 4 banjo cats Pair featerfin rainbows 8" mini tank 3 dwarf puffers (1" adult size) 18" hopefully breeding tank 5 Gertudes blue eyes 2ft rearing tank 10 young adult dwarf flag cichlids about 12 juvenile Nannacara 2ft rearing tank guppies (females and too young to sex) 2.5ft hopefully breeding tank 3 brazilian butterfly plecos Pair clown plecos (different type to those I've already bred) 2ft cube pond 30ish white cloud minnows That's my inventory - so hopefully the position I've applied for works out so me and my 'family' of tanks can move to someplace bigger and I can get bigger tanks so that the fish aren't so cramped.

Supposedly regular earthworms are more palatable to fish than the tiger worms that are often found in compost heaps and regularly used for vermiculture. Some anglers still use the tiger worms, just store them in damp bran for a day or so and they rid themselves of the nasty tasting stuff.

Latin name for Siamese Tiger is likely to be Coius microlepis (formerly Datnioides microlepis), definitely Coius of some sort, possibly C. quadrifasciatus. Though they look cichlidish, they are members of the Perch order.

From a quick seach on 'flowerhorn' I found this: "Believed to be a hybrid between Amphilophus citrinellus and Amphilophus trimaculatum first developed in Malaysia around 1996." So a cross between a midas cichlid and a 3-spot cichlid. If MAF strictly follow their rules (based on the "what's allowed" list), no they're not allowed. But it appears MAF aren't too strict in enforcing this, if you look at what Fee has posted as currently on wholesalers lists then the following cichlids shouldn't be there (as supposedly they are not allowed) Red Parrots Electric Yellow (Labidochromis caeruleus) Venustrus Hap (Haplochromis venustus, now Nimbochromis venustus) Cichlasoma synspilum Ps. socolofi (Pseudotropheous socolofi) Shows what a joke the restrictions are (which benefits us). Hopefully MAF are working from the what definitely isn't allowed list (which they used to have on a website, but they've now removed to avoid confusion, the official line being that if it's not on the allowed list, then we can't have it). Here is the link to Fee's list of what's currently available from wholesalers - she regularly updates it.

Ira, you'd have to be an absolute idiot not to realise that the picture of psittacus swollen and pale was of a puffed dead specimen (hence the size and the pallour). Hmmm... there's got to be a reason these things are called puffers, right?

Just be aware that Colomesus asellus can be confused with Colomesus psittacus, the former grows to about 6 inches, the later 10-12 inches. What I have seen labelled as Brazilian freshwater puffers match the picture I have of C. psittacus. The info I have for C. psittacus is: 23-26C, 10dGH, pH 7, freshwater. Feed live food of any kind (snails, mosquito larva, earthworms); shellfish and crab meat. Reference: Baensch Aquarium Atlas vol 2, 1st Paperback edition. I've only had experience with the dwarf indian puffers, adult size of 1 inch, but they are pretty picky eaters, live anything the right size seems ok, they only pick at frozen bloodworms - leaving quite alot uneaten. They are surviving nicely on a diet of white worms, small earth worms, daphnia, adult brinshrimp, mosquito larvae and aquarium snails - I'll often 'rescue' the little snails from my other tanks for the puffers, they even polished off pea sized apple snails.

These long-fin livebearers, where the gonopodium is affected, are often functionally infertile ie they still produce viable sperm but they are incapable of successfully inseminating the female. This has lead to some people experimenting with artificial insemination of livebearers.

Usually the answer to putting seashells in a tropical fresh water tank is NO. It's nothing to do with diseases getting introduced, more the effect on the water chemistry. Over time the shells will dissolve, increasing the hardness and pH of the water in the tank - this could cause problems for the fish. There are a couple of exceptions to this, if the tank has been setup to house African Rift Lake cichlids or the tank has been set up as a brackish tank. In both of these situations the fish actually prefer hard alkaline water.

Malachite green tends to be one of the more potent medications - unless you're sure you've got velvet I'd lean towards not using it (IMO). If you do use it make sure you stick to the recommended dose ('a little bit more for luck' can be a bad thing with medications) Rob

I doubt the pH down itself killed the fish but fish can go into shock if the change in pH is rapid. From memory the generally held view is that you shouldn't adjust the pH more than 0.2 units a day (ie 7.2 down to 7 shouldn't over stress the fish but 7.2 down to 6.2 is likely to cause problems). You say that the fish have ben put back into fresh clean water, so I assume it's a pH of 7.2 again? I'd be inclined to just leave the pH alone for the time being (if more changes are made it's just likely to increase the amount of stress the fish are under). Testing for ammonia wouldn't hurt, I'd probably be inclined to reduce/stop feeding them until things have sorted themselves out (if they're not happy fishies, they're probably not inclined to eat much so rotting uneaten food is just going to add to the problems). I'm also assuming that the fish are just dying without obvious signs of disease (ie whitespot, mouth fungus etc), rather than their being stressed having bought on a disease. If there is no sign of disease don't worry about medicating the tank. Unfortunately I think it may be a case of weathering the storm. Rob

Hi Andrew, add me to the list of those that would like some Meteor minnows. They're one of the few fish that I think look quite good long finned. I've seen pictures of long finned neons though and thought they were some of the least attractive fish I've seen. Rob

Off the top of my head: Common diseases and effective treatments. General water quality issues remembering to make them familiar with regular tank/filter maintenance tasks/regimes. Probably an introduction to the nitrogen cycle (since fish may be sick due to environmental factors rather than some pathogen). Not knowing what knowledge the students have perhaps some basic water chemistry ie pH and hardness. The more humane ways to euthanaise fish. Other things that may be outside what you want to cover: Algae control. Basic external fish anatomy (ie this is a caudal fin, this is the caudal peduncle etc). Responsible disposal of unwanted fish and plants.

I should have written the equation more correctly as follows (just didn't want a 'but where is the ammonium hydroxide in your equation' question NH3+H2O <-> NH4(+) + OH(-) So the hydroxide ion will effect pH. The chemistry stuff aside I now accept that the use of ammonia hydroxide as the source of ammonia probably wouldn't have any adverse effects for a number of reasons noted by other posters - a case of the little chemistry geek voice in my head getting control of the hands on key board before the fish geek voice could think it through properly .

All right I'm deviating from topic but Caryls allergy to cleaning reminded me about someone I know of who is allergic to excercise - for real. When people excercise lactic acid builds up in the body (it's what gives you the cramps etc). Turns out this guy is allergic to lactic acid. Sounds all very funny that there is actually a medical condition where you're allergic to excercise - pretty scary for the others that were on the soccer field when he started fitting Guess he also has to be careful when wanting to get hot and sweaty with his wife. ps (since I should make some attempt to stay on topic) I don't do anything special as far as tank maintenance is concerned come spring time, though I am probably more likely to get the plants a bit of a prune (but then we've got a tank crawl coming up soon).

Ammonium hydroxide is also known as ammonia solution: NH3 + H2O <-> NH4OH I wouldn't use this for fishless cycling though, as it is going to push your pH up (ammonium hydroxide being a weak base). Often ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) is recommended as a source of ammonium for fishless cycling.

I second Andrews comments about your fish ideas. In addition here are a couple of my thoughts: Most of the fish on your list prefer slightly acid conditions but the livebearers (ie Guppies, mollies and the swordtails) prefer slightly alkaline conditions. I'm not saying it will be a problem - just something to be aware of and perhaps keep an eye on - if the tank is kept neutral (ie pH 7) then everyone should be pretty happy (mollies possibly being the exception - as Andrew noted, they seem to prefer a bit of salt in the water - I personally have never had much luck with them but that's just me). Personally I'd choose the SAE over the shark (solely because if you didn't you'd have no algae eater in the tank - though the live bearers will nibble on algae, especially the mollies). I would consider a bristlenose/bushynose pleco (don't grow huge like common plecos and are good algae eaters). I totally agree with getting the plants before the fish. Finding plants that survive in your tank can be a bit of trial and error. If you've got a single fluorescent over your 3' tank I'd steer clear of red leaved bunch plants (they usually demand more light), crypts would be good (they don't mind lower light levels and slowly multiply be sending out runners) other than these suggestions it's really whatever takes your fancy and will grow in your tank. Again I echo Andrews advice of building up your stocking levels slowly, starting off with hardier fish. I would be inclined to start off with either the catfish or the livebearers for a couple of reasons, they're generally thought to be a bit tougher and both types will eat food on the bottom of the tank (if you started with neons/cardinals any food they didn't eat as it floated past them would get left ignored on the bottom of the tank). Just a note on Guppies - guppies are what got me started in the hobby since then it has grown into an addiction with 14 tanks (and me dreaming of more) - you've been warned. I'm sure there has been more than one person who has had a situation. Also some people find guppies tough as nails and others find them difficult to keep alive. If you were NZ based I'd recommend getting locally bred guppies to start with rather than imported ones, as many people (including good shops) have lots of problems with the imported ones - but as you're UK based this may not be a problem.

Hi there and welcome Anita, that's quite an impressive tank you've got there and some 53 others stashed in the garage too. One day I'll get there (he said wistfully) - I've managed to work my way up to 14 tanks so far. With your 10x2x2 is the side-drop filter the only filtration it's got? Do you find it effective coping with that volume of water? From the diagram included with your pictures it seems to be a combination of an undergravel (since it's drawing in water through the substrate) and an air driven box filter - what equipment are you using to provide the air? Rob (who hopes to get into keeping Africans in the not too distant future)

I've heard a couple of places that you shouldn't feed bloodworms to Rift lake cichlids. True or false? If it is true why?

I should have suspected it would be Killish.

Correct because it's controlled by the power company so that it only operates at off peak hours. However, from what Pegasus has said - that it would be operating 24 hours a day (controlled by a thermostat of course) - I would suspect that his would be connected into one of the regular household circuits so would be using the more expensive 'anytime' electricity - therefore negating the cheaper power benefit. I'll have to go have a little lay down now - just what managed to part you from your hard earned cash?

I have to agree with Caryl and Bruce that it may be an idea to go to a fish shop and see what you like the look of and then do some research from there (BEFORE you buy the fish). Because I'm a fan of catfish and most of them perform a usefull task in the tank (clean up uneaten food) I'd recommend a catfish of some sort - particular type depends on what else is going to be in the tank. Please note that I'm not saying catfish should be used solely as scavengers, they need a sinking food to supplement what they get from scavenging.

I'm pipe dreaming about getting a couple of larger tanks (6' x 2' x 2'). I need to consider what filtration I'm going to use. The Baensch Atlas (vol. 1) says to have a volume turnover of about 3-4 times an hour (ie for a 100L tank the filter should pump out 300-400 L/hr). The LFS says that a volume turnover of once per hour is adequate, with twice an hour being good. I realise that it does depend on stocking levels in the tank, but assuming an average stocking level for a tank with only a few live plants what volume turnover would people recommend?