BigBossPants

I should never have sold my last ones! :'( does anyone keep this awesome little fish? Im looking for about 5, male or female, if anyone can tell me where I might find some that would be great

Hi, yes they will usually eat liver but it is not something they should eat all the time. Variety is the key, try things like fish pieces, shrimp, insects, pellets, tubifex worms, bloodworms, frozen 'axolotl tucker', small fish (if they are big enough to eat them, although fish can carry disease). It's better that they eat a diet made up of mainly fish, insects, or prepared axy food as it's closer to their natural diet. They find it harder to digest mammalian tissue, but it's fine now and then

I'd like to get either an albino or regular Senegalus, but the ones I'm looking at are tiny (albino is 6-7in and senegal is bout 3in). I have an Ornate Bichir (approx 11in), an Oscar (7-8in) and a Jack Dempsey (8in) in a 240L tank. My questions are: 1) How big should the new Bichir be before I can safely put them in the tank with the big boys? Safely as in not being swallowed lol. I do realise that I'm going to need a bigger tank soon. 2) How big should a grow-out tank be for the senegal? I am looking at a 900 x 400 x 600 (LxWxH), is it big enough? 3) What is the likelyhood of the 2 Bichirs getting on? Will the eventual size of the Ornate be a problem?

Aah I know a couple of these faces!! Luke and Heir - I work at Animal Antics I catch Heir's minnows most of the time hahaha

FREE male mice to good homes, all young and well handled. We have many colours available... Agouti, black/white, caramel/white, ginger/white. Caramel and ginger ones have red eyes. We are Animal Antics, a pet store in Mt Maunganui www.animalanticsonline.co.nz **You need to say that you saw this ad online to get them for free as they are still for sale in the store** **Limit of ONE mouse per customer as males cannot live together** **You must have a suitable cage for him to live in, otherwise we have several affordable ones to choose from**

They stay fairly warm, about 27*C upwards. I have a feeling that sized tank might be a little on the small side by then. Would be ok now but they will have grown... Thanks tho

Haha I would pry him from your steely grip!! He's my baby :oops:

Haha I instantly thought of Mystic actually! Hopefully she stumbles across the thread :roll: I hadn't thought of the pet store idea, not sure if I'd trust a shop tho, what with being closed at night and all. Probably cost a lot more than doing it privately too, but I will keep it in mind. Yep, they all live together happily at this stage Most of them r quite little, the Bichir and JD are the biggest at about 8" (guesstimate) There will, of course, be a box of beer or the like in it for any assistance, I'm not expecting ppl to do it for free!

I'm hoping to move from Tauranga to Wellington some time after Xmas, or early in 2009. I currently have a 4ft tank with an Ornate Bichir, Jack Dempsey, Green Severum and an Oscar. I'll be packing up my tank and shipping it with my other stuff, but it could take a few days and I don't want to have to panic about setting the tank up asap, not to mention what to do with the fish while in transit! So my question is... Would anyone be willing to have me send my fish to them beforehand, and collect them once I'm set up? I'd guess it'd be for 2-3 weeks... I'm not fussed about whether they go to the same place or seperately. Hard to say how big the fish would be at that stage, I'll have to ask again closer to the time! I know it's waaaay in advance but I'm just putting some feelers out there

Yeah, the ones we have at work are all about that size. I have one in a breeder trap in the tank at the moment... Any idea how long it takes for them to get to 7cm? Or does anyone have big ones for sale?

Does anyone have these? I'd like to have them in my cichlid tank with my Jack Dempsey, Oscar, Green Severum and Ornate Bichir. The biggest fish is the JD, I'd guess him to be 8 inches or so... And the Bichir is a bit bigger. I read they get to 7cm so assumed they will be big enough to not end up as food... Am I right or will they be a snack?

Hehe yes if only! He doesn't approve of my 'collection' as it is! Top of the fridge unfortunately isn't an option, I board so the animals are confined to my bedroom. If only the landlord knew what I had in there... hehehe I leave the oil column heater on at night now, and the 4' and 2' tropical tanks keep the room reasonably warm during the day (with the door shut) - Enough?

I raided the guppy tank at work the other day and got a bunch of fry ranging from about 2-6mm long. I intended to use them as feeders, but decided to grow them up instead. They are in a 23L 'cold' tank, with a 250L/H filter (set on low, so flow is probably less). Room stays fairly warm so the water isn't REALLY cold, but not tropical. Will they survive/thrive in this setup or am I wasting my time? Bar heating the tank (I'll be shot if I fork out for a heater) what can I do to get good growth out of them? At what size can I tell males from females?

Gorgeous! Is Leviathan in any of those pics?

How hot can they go? At the moment my tank is about 78 - 80*F but I want to slowly put it up to around 86 to get rid of my white spot. Will JD tolerate this temperature or am I best to try another approach?

Damn! I saw both of them itching a few days ago, checked them over and couldn't see anything... Then the other day noticed that my ornate is covered in white spots!! I couldn't see it because of his colouring, and still struggle to see it, but there are clearly little raised bumps all over him. JD looks fine, can't see any spots on him. I've been told that if I raise the temp. to 86*F it will kill it. I'm sure the Bichir will be fine at this temp but will my JD? Is "White Spot Cure" safe to use for them? Or is there a better/safer alternative? It is a planted tank, those are the only two fish in there. Temp. is currently just under 80*F

I'd put her in the laundry. My cats always had a room (laundry/bathroom/kitchen) which they were locked in at night, and whenever we weren't in the house, until they were old enough not to be a nuisance. It's not mean, as long as it's cosy and safe she'll be fine. Probably less stressful for her to be in there than sitting outside your door! She may not be a fan of it to start with, but she will get used to it.

Wow lots of replies! It isn't TOO bad just now, was worse before but I gave it a good clean, got it off all the plants and it's just on the sand now, but it is spreading. Would the blackout method harm my fighter at all? And should I still feed him during that time? I might try that first and see if it helps, then have a chat with my vet. I think he'll give me AB's cos he knows I've had training Thanks for all the advise, I'll let u know how it goes

Just the 4ft and little 23L fighter tank. I collect other animals though... At the height of my madness I had 3 cats, 7 rats, a 60L tank (chocolate gourami) and a frog tank all at the same time, now I'm down to 2 tanks, one cat and 2 rats.

I've been told that the slimy stuff growing in my fighters tank is cyanobacteria, and that I need to use antibiotics to treat it. Where would I get these from? I work in a pet store so should be able to get em in if they're an OTC type thing... Will antibiotics harm my fighter? I'm guessing it'll wipe out my good bacteria too... Is there another effective way of getting rid of it or are antibiotics my best option? I've heard that TLC can help because it out-competes the cyano for nutrients and stuff... TLC SAT maybe? Also will antibiotics harm my bichir or JD, as I think I see a few patches in their tank too. Fighter tank is 23L planted with a little light bulb, 5W I think? Big tank is 240L planted with a flouro bulb. Both have sand and plants from the same source.

Got the good camera going so finally a decent shot: And here's the JD, who is aptly named JD (Jack Daniels lol) He's so purty And of course, Belial my Ornate Bichir:

Depending on how much you need... Aqua One does a 'black silica' stone, really fine but not quite sand. I bought some recently for my tank and it's great, won't cause blockages if eaten and is pitch black. As far as I know it comes in 1kg bags, usually $5-6 each. Good for a small tank but not really for big ones. The 1kg was able to cover the bottom of my 4' almost when spread thinly over my sand. Just a thought

Name: Vicki Age: 21 Colours: Black, black... and black. Throw in dark red and dark blue occasionally. Occupation: I work in a pet store (cheap fish!) :lol: Music: Anything rock and most metal... Children of Bodom, Slipknot, Asmodeus, Seether, Evanessence, Lacuna Coil... To name but a few! Interests:Movies, music, animals in general, motorbikes (go red fury! :oops: ) religion, aqua-scaping, tattoos, piercings and the internet. Other pets:White odd-eyed kitty named Uri. Previously had 7 rats, 3 other cats, tadpoles, assorted fish, turtle, axolotl and birds. Most of them at the same time haha. Have been fishkeeping for 2 years, had goldfish when I was little but had no idea what I was doing Got my nickname from a strange conversation in high school: "So Vicki, what's your relationship dynamic like?" *Mr Mackey Voice from South Park* "I wear the pants in this relationship... Yeah, the Big Boss Pants!" Straaaange

Oh ok, might have a crack at it then especially with ol' Jack in there, he looks like he'll be a food stealer. Thanks for all the advice everyone!!

Good to know people have had similar issues, I thought about training him to hand feed too but the idea of being bitten once he's big puts me off a bit He now shares his tank with a big Jack Dempsey. Went back to the fish shop and he was there in a dark tank (where he had been for 2 weeks apparently), so I took him home. He's harassing the feeders and eating the sand, but so far has left Belial alone. Made a neat rock cave for him to hide in so he should be ok Also got beef heart, trevalli fillet and cichlid pellets for them today, will see how he likes them :D:D