suemack

looks like a zebra loach botia striata to me Ballistic......one of the smaller growing loaches and fairly readily available in NZ. They are less shy when there's more than one. I've got a mixture of loaches in my tank - zebras, polkadots, clowns, kuhlis and the batik loach ......the only ones I don't see much of are the kuhlis.....the rest interact with each other and spend a lot of the day out in the open. Picture attached is one of the zebras sue

thanks for that Kim. Haven't ever tried saving any of the babies as I've only got the 4 tanks and not a lot of extra space to rear them in. Though, have had a couple of my pygmy cories survive to adulthood, but think thats because they are so tiny and hide in the stones. sue

thanks Caryl There's 4 cories in this group, the tank is only a 24x15x15 inch (they share it with a pair of keyhole cichlids) so didn't feel there was enough room for more. sue

hi .....the cories got busy over the w/end laying eggs, if anyone is interested some photos of it can been seen here these are my original cories who up until recently lived in the 5 gall tanks with the guppies. Since they've been living as a group in a bigger tank they've been a lot more active and have laid several batches of eggs. The keyholes get rather enthusiastic when the caviar arrives :lol: sue

hi Helen ....sorry to hear about your cardinal probs would be really helpful if you could post a few more details about your tank.....size, filtration, what fish you have in there, how long it's been set up, results of water tests .....thanks sue

Congratulations Sarah .............looking forward to the photos sue

photos are looking really great bikiegirl.....love the plec pic sue

looking at the photo albums was awesome ....thank you so much for sharing them Caryl brings back a lot of very good moments and memories sue

hi Sarah we did have a wonderful time didn't we ......say hi to Chris and Tim for me will you Sue

hi Cal ...isn't it great to finally see fish swimming round in the tank. I wouldn't be in too great a hurry to add any more fish just yet......give your tank a bit of time to get properly established. If you can get a couple of test kits - ammonia/nitrite/nitrate - or you can take samples into the lfs (our up here test the water for free) .....you'll know when there is nil ammonia/nitrite and the nitrate is starting to show that the tank is cycled. Most of the loaches seem to be very sensitive to new tank water problems, if you are thinking of loaches it's easier to wait a while before you get them.......and if you do they vary in size greatly. Clown loaches can get to 7 inches plus, whereas the polkadots (angelicus/kubotai) and the zebras (striata) both remain smaller and are often available at the lfs. I ended up getting bristlenoses as they stay a lot smaller and more manageable than the common plecos.....bristlenoses are just so cute with their prickly noses too. Another good bottom feeder is the cory and there are a load of different varieties to choose from......their only drawback is they don't eat algae.....but they too are very cute and active in the tank and there are some incredibly beautifully marked ones round. Just spend time in the lfs and see what you like the look of .....then before you buy, go home and do some research on the net to find out what they are like in a tank........some of the catfishes can be rather preditory (cories and bristles aren't) Be good to hear how you get on Sue

you're dead right Cees....THAT is impressive! sue

that's very impressive Cees.....lovely natural colours. next challenge......find an insect and get in real close :lol: sue

same as for the fish........good water quality.

I've got zebra (striata) and polkadot (kubotai/angelicus) loaches that love a feed of snails.......and they don't grow as large as the clowns. sue

couple of choices for you Breakaway...... 1. keep squishing - I've had snails in my tanks since I first bought plants, I squish them (my fish gobble up the squished bits with relish) and siphon up the baby snails when I clean the tank......have never been over-run as I regularly siphon my gravel. 2. get one of the snail eating fish.....most loaches, puffers (but be warned - imo puffers are rarely ok with other fish) 3. strip the tank down, sterilise everything and hope that you don't miss a baby........and never buy plants from tanks with snail populations/or at least sterilise them prior to putting into the tanks 4. use some of the snail rid preparations that are available.......I have never used them so cannot give you any idea of the success rate of them. You would need to do water changes I imagine as all those dead bodies cannot be good for water quality. Apple snails, or so I've heard, eat plants. good luck with the snails......mine tell me when the water's too soft (am on rain water), have also heard that fry feed on the snail poop (not sure if this is true but sounds good to me :lol: ) Sue

WOW.......have been looking at those - they are awesome. You are going to have so much fun! sue

lovely colours and qualities on the picture Cees......what camera did you get?

plane doesn't apparently leave till 8.30 so we'll be waiting round for a while........................

come early if you can and say hi to everyone :lol:

think the plane flies out at about 8.30am tomorrow Chris......we have to be there at 6am for checkout sue

I'll be heading off from Whangarei just after midnight and joining the others at the airport in the morning. Weather's not too bad up here tonight.......hopefully it'll stay that way for the trip down. sue

got aquaclear HOB (hang on back) filters in all 4 of my tanks now fins and I love them....so easy to maintain and I've found them to be very reliable sue

hi booger firstly Congratulations next.....unfortunately if all your fish are in together most, if not all of the babies will be eaten. You sometimes get a few survivers if the tank is well planted with places for the fry to hide. Quite probably one of the females has given birth to all her fry and the one baby you saw is one of the lucky ones. If the fish are young sometimes they only have a few fry and don't look much different before and after dropping their fry. If the females are in with a male their eggs will be fertilised......and even if you take the male out for a while they will still be fertilised as the females store sperm. If the baby is still in the tank you could carefully catch him and pop him into a breeder net which sits in the top of the tank (get them from the lfs)......this would mean he'd be safe from being eaten. If you don't have another tank this is one way of saving a few of the babies. If you have another tank available it wouldn't hurt to take the male out for a while so that the female has time to recover without being chased round the tank.....the males chase them even more just after the females have given birth. good luck sue

couple of other basic things are to clean the outside glass on the tank.....it's a bummer when you get a good pic and there's spots or streaks on the glass and ....clean the algae (if you have any) off the inside. Took a lovely loach photo one day and when I saw it full size there was little specks of algae all over the glass - kinda spoiled the look of the pic :lol: photo is of bigger clown loach with botia striata (zebra loach) and one of the albino aeneus cories. Photo taken using the flash...click on the pic for larger image.

I use the flash with most of my fish pics Chris.....if I don't, unless I set up extra lights in the tank, I can't get a quick enough shutter speed to get clarity. I do angle myself to the tank so as not to get a reflection of the flash in the pic. sue