spent

I agree, flowerhorns fall somewhere between average and ugly.

dwarf puffer = Tetraodon travancoricus, and occasionaly Carinotetraodon travancoricus if you consider it a separate species (which I've never seen in NZ anyway). What's ambiguous about that? There's over 1500 species of cichli.

What kind of fish will you be keeping in the tank? If you have fish that like to dig, like some cichlids, the gravel won't hold the pumice in place for long. Undergravel heating uses "substrate heating cables" rather than a regular aquarium heater, which are rather hard to find here, and you'll most likely have to build your own DIY style (and everyone knows water and electricity doesn't mix well). Also they pretty much need to be on constantly for their advantage over regular heating to even work, and that advantage is promoting a very slight water current in the substrate or warming the roots of plants or both. So unless you have a real need for the best possible environment for growing plants and a lot of cash you don't mind parting with, my advice is stick to conventional heating methods.

I just saw the weirdest thing. One of my kuhli loachs "climbed" to the top of a 20cm tuft of lysamachia.

Yeah, I agree there Cees. When you add the cost of shipping and a vet/health certificate, the economy grade isn't really that much cheaper anyway. Those prices include duty, but are for about 10 cans. If fewer are wanted then we should get away without having to pay duty, but shipping will be more expensive per can, and the prices would stay about the same. Ok Matt, that makes 2 of us. Another 4 or so cans and we're in business.

Brine Shrip Direct finally got back to me with a shipping quote. They recently reduced their prices, so one pound cans of Premium Grade (90% hatch-rate) will be about the $75, Grade A (80% hatch-rate) $65, and Economy Grade (70% hatch-rate) $55. This is dependant on enough people showing interest and I guess everyone still has heaps left from the lot Cees brought over anyway.

I'm in

I had a 400W HPS bulb on the other side of my room, aimed away from my tank and switched on for just a couple of hours each day as I was doing some photography, and my plants doubled in size in 2 days.

I think I'll order some myself soon. Was there anyone that missed out Cees? Or anyone else interested in a can? I'd suggest the economy grade this time. $165 a case compared to $288 for a case of premium grade. 43% cheaper and only 22% less hatches, what a bargain!

How much are you paying for shipping?

Hi, Anyone in or around Wellington breeding any of the following cichlids? Nandopsis salvini (Salvin's, Yellow-belly) Hemichromis bimaculatus (Jewel) Archocentrus nigrofasciatus (Convict) Herichthys cyanoguttatum (Texas, Rio Grande) Nandopsis octofasciatus (Jack Dempsy) Herichthys citrinellus (Red Devil)