Mr T

I live in Brooklands and no deaths from water changes. There is no way that they would put chemicals in our drinking water without letting us know.

As far as I know, she will stop laying eggs. I keep my males and females seperate all of the time and no eggs until I put them together.

Congrats!

Excellent! Nothing wrong with being a fish geek.

I wet some peat yesterday and have managed to hatch 10 Striatum fry. They haven't spawned that well since the earthquake, where I lost 100 eggs, due to no power for a couple of days.

35hrs without power after the quake and not one dead fish. My 220 litre has 25 odd killies, 3 other smaller tanks and no problems. Power out for a couple of hours is not a problem. Just let the tank heat up by itself when power comes back on.

Congrats! Striatums are one of my favorites.

During the Christchurch earthquake, I had no power for 36hrs. I've got 6 tanks and never lost a fish. Mind you, I only stock killies and they can handle cooler temps. What was more of a surprise, was the fact I didn't lose a tank!

Wet the peat yesterday and only 3 fry so far. We had no power for 36hrs due the earthquake last week but the eggs were floating in my most insulated tank. Hopefully there are a few more today. Lets not forget, I collected close to 100 eggs.

You could always have a male only tank.

Thanks Barrie. I'm not sure how the water got in, as it was (I thought) an airtight container. Seems to be ok now that is also in a bag. Strange though, as I used it last time with no problem. I'm just about to do my last mop check and then its just a 2 week wait until I wet the peat. I'll let you all know how I get on with the hatch rate.

I have stopped the water issue in the peat, though its still quite damp. Should I try and dry it out a bit more? Only 8 eggs yesterday, today is the last day.

Have you been doing water changes?

18 today. I hope the eggs are ok, as the last 2 days I've opened the container and its had water in it. Normally the eggs are on damp peat. I've drained it and now floating the container in a plastic bag. Its hard to know when you've got enough eggs but I think I'll stop on Saturday, as I want to try spawning some Bitaeniatums next.

Unlucky for some, 13 eggs today. That brings the total close to 70. What I have found interesting, is that its not always the biggest female that lays the most eggs. Also, always check your hands after checking a mop, as quite often there are eggs stuck to them.

Well, you are all going to get bored with me writing, but I'm now using this thread to keep track of my egg collecting. I fed them worms at 6am, checked at 2pm and nothing. Checked again at 8pm and found 21 eggs. I think I might have to get a 2nd container of peat, if it continues like this.

Yep, on peat. You converted me a while back.

I checked the mops before I gave them a feed of worms and there were no eggs. Left them for 3 hrs, rechecked and found 15. I'm going to do the same tomorrrow and see if I have the same result.

At last, collected 20 eggs today. I've got 2 pairs and 1 trio set up in seperate tanks, with mops. I put them together last Wednesday and been feeding them up on worms. Been doing a few water changes, as suggested by Barrie and it seems to have finally paid off. I've had great success with Gardneri Blues, with my last spawning producing over 60 fry. Managed to spread them around the South Island a bit through TM and hopefully get some of the males into a local fish shop. I'll keep updating if anyones interested?

Had the same happen in 200 litre tank. Was advised just to let it heat up.

How many LPH do you need, per sponge filter, to run it efficiently? I'm needing to run 8 medium size sponge filters.

I agree with Barrie. I have a 220 litre tank, gravel bottom and heavily planted. I only stock mop spawning killies and have never seen them even attempt to dig in the gravel.

I'm wanting to neatly cut some 50mm thick polystyrene. What type or knife/blade is best to use?

I went to Redwood Aquatics today to check out the killies. The ones in the display tank are Nigerianus Gold. They also have a few Golden Panchax in different tanks. If you like the Nigerianus, then you'll like the Gardneri Blues.

Some people put a pair (1m,1f) together, others a trio(1m, 2f). Hard to tell which works best, as I have had success both ways. With a trio you might get one of the females eating eggs. As far as how many eggs, there's no hard and fast rule. With the Gardneri Blues, I've probably averaged 6-10 egss a day over a week. Some days there were none and the next there could be 15. I generally collect eggs for a week, store them on peat (floating in a container in the tank) and wet them 10 days after that. The other way, is to float a container of water with Meth Blue in the tank and store the eggs until they hatch in about 14 days. I can show you exactly how I do things when you come around. I am certainly no expert and have learnt alot from Alanmin4304 and Barrie. These guys have a wealth of knowledge. Also join the Killie club and this will give you alot more access to different Killies,cheap food and knowledge. Keep in touch over the next week and we can maybe organise pick up next Saturday afternoon?