Ira

Poisson=fish? hehehehe.

Just found a webpage that claims it's Da-Jay-Eye.

I'll definitely try breeding them once they've grown. I was told at least one was probably a female, their fins are clear instead of colored. But they're still far too small to breed. Ranging from about 1.25" to .75" I'd guesstimate.

That's one reason I bought them. I'd never seen them before. Pretty, rare and a buck each;)

I can't really say I'm sure they're not lineatus, but I can say I'm sure the guy that I got them from said they were red chinned panchax. Even still have the bag with the name on it. I can't remember his name. I think he might have said he was the president of the NZ Killifish society? I haven't been able to find many pics of panchax. Their body is grey with vertical black stripes, the fins are yellow with black tips. Here's a pic that looks like them. Oh, and I'm working on the live food. Got a whiteworm culture that's going nuts and some confused flour beetles that I'm waiting patiently to get going.

False advertising! The dozen Red Chin Panchax I bought at the last UHAS meeting all have yellow chins, not red! hehehe. Pretty little fish, seem to be quickly getting more colorful. They don't seem to like flake, though. Unless it's in very small fragments. Anyone know anything about these guys?

I'd actually thought of something kind of similar to that. But, instead of a bridge more of a...Ummm...Skyscraper. Thought it would be interesting to have a pond with a tall cylinder coming up from the surface of the water. That way the fish could swim in and up above the surface of the pond.

Yeah, not much at the one in Upper Hutt. Better off going to a garden center, as far as fertilizers and things the garden center in the same area has basically the same things.(And cause it's run by relatives I get stuff at cost:))

Hobbit, let's see what info I can remember without doing any research. They're south american cichlids, mouthbrooders, love moving gravel around all over the place. They're a bit agressive but in my experience the worst that happens is they chase other fish around, don't do any real harm. I didn't have any trouble with them even with tiny 1" blue rams. They're pretty tough, get to about 9" and aren't very picky about their water. They eat just about anything. I recently bought two replacements, they were about $18 if I remember right. They seem moderately common here, there seem to be heaps around Wellington at the moment, I don't know about in Australia. May be also called Surinams geophagus or some variation of that. I don't think you should have much trouble getting a good fish store to order one for you. Not sure of the common name, I've heard demon eartheater. Definitely one of my favorite fish. Oh, just remembered, it may also be called a Geophagus altifrons if noone can find a surinamensis.

Potassium nitrate is available at garden centers. What I've got is in a small 500 gram white container labeled stump rotter. About $7.25. I've been using a mixture of a chelated trace elements mix, epsom salt and chelated iron. Can't really objectively say if it helps, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt.

It won't hurt at the very least. Probably would make a pretty good substrate, lots of minerals, good flow through it.

Sounds like you've got an Appistogramma Stuftifino. Very common species name, just about every genus has many Stuftifinos.

Actually, I'm not fainting. The few prices I've seen for skimmers put a $1000 skimmer at the 500-600 liter range, so that tank would be about 5 times as big as I'm thinking. Already got the tank and stand, that cuts off $1000. Don't really need a skimmer, that's -$1000 again, Metal halides, don't need them without coral -$1000. Base rock, 1/5th the size=1/5th the rock so $200. Sump and plumbing, not planned, -$300, Coral, not wanted, -$2000. Fish, 1/5th the fish=$200, Pumps and powerheads, maybe $100 for a single powerhead. So, going by that logic my total would be $5300 less just for things I wouldn't need. My only expenses would be about $500. Could cut a bit off that getting cheaper fish to start with.

How much does it cost to get an autopsy on a fish? Be interesting to know what killed the fish sometimes if it isn't something obvious. Just had one of my Serpaes die last night for no apparent reason. But I wouldn't bother for just a tetra.

I feed mine twice a day, about noon or when I get home from work and then just before bed. I need to cut back on their food a bit though, I started doing water changes twice weekly and thought, "I can feed them a bit more now." So I started feeding them a LOT more. Too much, I think.

I've had very little luck with bought plants. I don't know if that's because my tank isn't a great plant tank or what, but most of the time plants I've bought(From animates if it matters) have just sat and done nothing or slowly rotted away. I HAVE had some Valisneria that did grow well, but that was maybe 1/4th of the valis I bought.

You only feed your fish every other day? Hmmm, and I feel like I'm starving mine only feeding them once a day.

You might try adding some salt to the tank. Salt is kind of a treatment for having no idea what's wrong, but it won't hurt. Might help a bit if it's due to some kind of bacteria or fungus. The usual is 1 tablespoon per 40 liters to 1 per/20 liters. This is salt for aquariums, don't use table salt.

Hmmm, How long would the carbon block last before it would need replaced? Where would you get a replacement? Sounds interesting, though, I don't really have much use for it.

Some people say that you shouldn't get more wattage than you need in case the heater sticks on it won't cook your fish. I guess they think you should have just barely enough to keep the tank at temp. I figure you might as well get the biggest if they're the same price, get your moneys worth.

A lot of animals aren't allowed either. In fact I've got one animal that is banned in Cali. A Quaker Parrot. I guess they're allowed to fly to cali, but not be flown.

Hmmm, I think it depends which hose connection you have. The 2 lever one I think is basically no restriction, the other is a pretty big restriction. The media also isn't much of a restriction. I think 800ish is just the maximum the pump can do with zero head, I don't think anything else in the system is a very significant restriction.

Actually, my wife is down there now. Left me home to watch the kids. Hmph.

I've got a small eheim too. Only rated for something like 500 liters/hour. No idea how they can get away with rating them twice as high as they actually flow. I could see them being rated at, say, 850-900 liters/hour. That's conceivable for an absolute maximum running one empty with short hoses, brand new(Or slightly used if it maybe needs broken in). Only way I can think to maybe get 1300 liters/hour is running empty with the outlet hose on the floor, that way you've got the extra siphoning of the water added to the fluval's flow. Hmmm...Actually I think siphoning the water out with the hose end near the floor would probably get 700ish liters/hour of floor, seems like pretty close to it anyway with my gravel vacuum.

Pet world and Redwood suck. Cause they're in Christchurch and not here in Wellington! *Mutter*Useless Wellington fish stores*Mutter*