David R

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... y.php?f=30

Not really, DIY = Do It Yourself. Google came up with about 9,620,000,000 results for "it", I think you may need to be a bit more specific and try to define "it".

You might want to remove that link before one of the mods see it....

monsterfishkeepers.com has a whole section dedicated to DIY, everything from filtration to monster X000g custom tanks!

Because "the wild" often covers a large area with different populations separated by geographic barriers, and also has other factors like natural selection, which would mean a bright blue fish that is smaller and less aggressive than the usual is a lot less likely to breed. Many species of central american cichlid will readily interbreed in the aquarium, and despite them sharing a common habitat they do not do it in the wild. Could happen? Possibly. Likely to happen? No. Yes, and in the wild they are probably nailed by a larger predatory fish before getting a chance to breed, and would pop up very infrequently. And in the hobby is it good practice to cross an albino oscar with a regular tiger oscar? AFAIK if you breed two blues you don't get anything, which is why a blue needs to be crossed with a "normal" to produce a blue-green which carries the blue gene but doesn't fully exhibit it (but does differ in appearance from a "normal") which can then be crossed back to a blue to produce mostly blue fry (what do the others look like? Any idea of the ratios anyone?). I think you'll find if you look at different populations of R. octofasciatum you will find they vary in colour from location to location (maybe only slightly, or maybe significantly), in the same way that africans, chinese and europeans vary in appearance while still remaining part of the same species. You say there are three colourations, I'm saying if you mix them up and cross-breed them how do you keep it at only three? We know that two blue-greens crossed together produce varying offspring, ranging from very blue to who-knows-what, so what do you call the rest? Well you're entitled to your own opinion and I won't take offence at being called silly so long as you don't mind me saying that yours is a very closed-minded and uneducated opinion. Go ask some of the african cichlid nuts about crossing different colour strains of the same species and see what kind of response you get... I'm not really sure what you're saying here, but I hope you realise its a bit more complicated than a highschool biology punnet square. The "normal gene" is obviously not totally dominant, otherwise when you cross a blue with a "normal" you wouldn't get a blue-green that differs in appearance from a "normal". I'm not really sure what you're getting at, as AFAIK "greens" are "normals" so obviously crossing the two would produce more "normals". You're certainly over-simplifying it though, if you cross a "normal" with anything but a "normal" then you no longer have a pure "normal", despite how similar they may look, and there lies my problem; if people start mixing them up, cross breeding them, in a few generations [of fish] then the market will be flooded with mutts that can't really be distinguished as one or the other, and will simply have to be known as "jack dempseys". If you don't believe how unscrupulous breeding can cause confusion in the hobby, look at the mess surrounding the Red Devil/Midas complex, as I ranted about here. Just my 2c...

Just remember plywood is a hell of a lot more flexible than glass. The dimensions of your tank, the thickness of the glass, and the thickness of the ply will determine the gay you can afford to leave between the blocks. IMO this kind of stand is pretty risky unless the ply is supported by a timber frame (3x2 or 4x2 depending on tank size and spacing between blocks), and I'd only recommend using it as a cheap temporary option.

Thanks Andrew. Could it? I'm not familiar with the origins of the blue morph. It may well occur in habitat, but if they mate with another blue they will not produce viable offspring, and their brighter colour and more more docile nature help stack the odds against it. While the blue morph may occasionally pop up in habitat I'd guess its more of a freak occurrence, and still believe they shouldn't be crossed and mixed. Perhaps someone more clued up on the origins of the ebjd could fill me in?

Conclusion; probably a bit cruel but still interesting to see.

Two greens crossed together should produce about 1/4 blue AFAIK, the rest are a random mix and should probably be culled to reduce the chances of them "polluting" the true JD bloodlines by unscrupulous or clueless breeders. IMO the greens should only be bred to produce blues, they should be treated like hybrids even though they technically aren't.

Good stuff! I couldn't help myself and got 6 small ones yesterday while Animates were doing 2-for-1 deals, up to 32 now, from 3cm to 20cm!

Meh.

What are you going to do with the fry, keep the blues and cull the rest?

Smidey you should contact the meter reading company, thats pretty poor behavior for someone who earns their living going onto people property. Maybe start by telling them the sheep got out and a car collected one and you ant to know who to forward the bill onto...

Best solution, although I've found it doesn't work so well for clogged filters or blown light tubes.

There are a few that are 15cm+ now, and the biggest two would be pretty much on 20cm total length (IIRC the biggest one then was about 18cm TL but I couldn't get a pic of it sitting straight on the ruler). Just been moved into the 5' so will hopefully keep growing.

Do people know that you are actually allowed to post a link to trademe for an item you are genuinely interested in purchasing, or is everyone living in fear of the banstick? :-? I'm not sure if you won it or how much it cost, but I'll answer your questions anyway; 1. Enough to make it not with while IMO. Unless the tank is free its not worth the risk, and even then I'd be reluctant. That is a HUGE volume of water and weight you are dealing with, why risk it when you could get a brand new glass tank made for around $500 depending on specs. 2. With strong people, a large van/truck and some josters (suction cup handle things). 3. I'd go for 2-3 300W Jager heaters, depending on where it will be and how warm the room is. If its not drilled for a sump/trickle filter you could use a few big canisters, but IMO a sump would be the best option by far. (Another advantage of getting a new tank made).

The ruler is only 20cm... :oops:

Fair enough, but just consider yourself lucky you didn't end up in Australia where fish prices (aside from natives) are way higher. My point is that people should be thankful for what they can get here, and that they can still legally keep and breed stuff that is no longer imported.

You horrible elitist capitalist money hoarder! They're only worth $50 max. Don't over-price them and you'll sell millions, everyone wants a small slow lizard that spends most of the time hiding, they'll be more popular that budgies as soon as the price comes down.

LOL! I'd skipped the bit about the cars and my first thought was that Lambo = leo + rambo!!

How do you reach the conclusion that it is over-priced? Animates selling beardies for $799 when breeders are selling them for $3-500 is over-priced, where else are you going to get a leopard gecko from? :roll:

Yeah right, not that its any of your business, but seems how you're imagining me as some spoiled investment bankers son living in his parents Parnell mansion on hand-outs from mum and dad, I'll give you a run down on my financial status. For the past three years since moving to Auckland I was earning just over $33k a year, both my parents are school teachers and are hardly loaded, and although my partner is an accountant she also has a huge student loan to pay back. Out of my weekly pay cheque I had to pay all the regular bills, as well as spending on my hobbies of fish, mountain biking, rare plants, and cars. In the end I took a break from cars/motorsport to spend a bit more on fish, its called making sacrifices. This year I started a new job and got a bit of a pay rise, and will be getting a substantial raise in a couple of months once I have finished training. But, we have also just bought our first house (oh yeah, I managed to save a bit too) so now the equivalent of my entire salary is being consumed on mortgage payments, and so we are left with my partners pay for all other expenses. If I want something I will save, budget, and make sacrifices to make it happen. I don't drink [much] and very rarely go out for dinner/drinks/partying. My wardrobe is pretty limited and my shoe collection consists of one pair of chucks that have lasted for over two years (aside from my steelcaps and a haggard old pair of runners). I've given up two of my expensive hobbies [snowboarding and cars], and Hannah and I haven't had a proper holiday in a few years. I have worked hard since I was 15 (now 28) to pay for my hobbies, which have always been more expensive than the usual cricket/rugby, and actually find your comments quite offensive, you obviously have a severe case of tall-poppy syndrome. I've got no idea of what you do for a living or your situation, so if for some genuine reason you are going through financial hardship then don't take my comments [or willingness to spend on my hobbies] so personally.

...which will pretty much be never. It will never be commercially viable to breed them on a scale that they do in the US, live insects aren't anywhere near as cheap here as they are in the US, and there isn't anywhere near enough of a market. Beardies dropped drastically from $1500+ to $500 and have leveled out at around $350-500 for juvis, and I doubt it'll get much cheaper as a lot of people who were breeding them will find them harder to sell and that its not worth while breeding them and give up. Unless MAF suddenly allows them to be imported, you will never see leps for anywhere near $15US. Why is everyone so concerned with the money anyway? People in the fish/herp hobby need to stop being so tight-fisted with their cash. How much do those yappy little cross-bred fluffy designer mutts sell for? They're not rare or difficult to breed yet fetch the same price as a leopard gecko or asian arowana. Pure-bred cats and dogs sell for $300-$1000+, golf club memberships can be hugely expensive, I know people who have spent $5000+ on mountain bikes that will be technologically obsolete in a few years, what does a season-pass at a ski field cost, and you can't even compare this hobby to the cost of competing in even entry-level motorsport. I'd happily pay $1500 for a lep if I didn't have other priorities for my hobbies budget (new 1000L+ tank) and I honestly hope they don't come down in price too much because if they were cheap there would be a heap of people who buy them and get bored with them very quickly. Once the fish/reptile is bought and the tank set up the ongoing costs are pretty small compared to most hobbies. Leps can live for 10-15+years, so even if you didn't breed them the cost of the animal spread out over all those years isn't that much. I really am sick of people complaining at how expensive fish/reptiles are, just be thankful people actually bother to breed/import them... :evil:

What I should have said was that it only eats meaty foods and its a pain that it doesn't take pellets. How many have you got left Roger? Any pics of the new fish?

You won't get any more satisfaction when the tank breaks and you end up with 1200 litres of water on your floor. You do realise you're talking about engineering a structure to support close to one and a half tons right? If you're into DIY then start out small, if you want a huge tank then don't play around, get someone who knows what they're doing to make you a proper stand.