David R

Line Breeding Line Breeding Fish The first few sites in each of those links have some useful information. Line breeding is when two related fish are mated together to promote certain traits. (Line breeding can therefore in a way be said to be a specific form of selective breeding.)

Cichlids (pronounced /ˈsɪklɪd/) are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. The family Cichlidae, a major family of perciform fish, is both large and diverse. There are at least 1300 scientifically described species, making it one of the three largest vertebrate families. Numerous new species are discovered annually, and many species remain undescribed. The actual number of species is therefore unclear, with estimates varying between 1300 and 3000 species, and one source suggesting 1900 species. According to wiki...

For the record, I'm only slightly eccentric, not middle ages, practically married, house doesn't stink and I'm not allowed tank everywhere. :lol: And I don't own a lowered car any more, but that hasn't affected how good a driver I am...

and all fish keepers are geeky eccentric middle-aged unmarried people with stinky houses and tanks everywhere... :roll:

Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist then The Travelling Wilburys Collection.

You'll need something quite large for three adult beardies, probably best to put your builders apron on and make one from plywood with glass/perspex doors on the front. BTW 'cheapest and nicest' is an oxymoron. Big and cheap isn't nice, nice and big isn't cheap...

Never under-estimate the ability of the mighty MSPaint!!! I use it for resizing all my pics. Picasa from Google is brilliant for a free piece of software. Unless you're a professional/photography geek perfectionist then its nearly as good as photoshop.

Nearly makes me wish I hadn't given up snowboarding!

In a way, yes. At least if you are trying to keep the 'strains' pure. Obviously in humans this isn't a goal and so inter-race/strain marriages happen. Same with fish in the wild. Mr bristlenose is going to mate with any mrs bristlenose he can get his bristles onto, he's not going to worry about keeping the strains pure. Breeding in captivity is a whole different story. Because you have removed the elements of natural selection/survival of the fittest, you must be careful to pick the best fish for your breeding stock. Also, you don't have geographic isolation keeping different varieties/subspecies separate (look at how many different frontosa there is from different type localities). So when selecting fish to breed you are essentially playing god/nature, and should put a little more thought into the fish you choose than the average joe who just goes to the nearest shop and buys a bunch of fish (which probably all came from the same supplier and even the same parents).

Exactly, if they've quoted you for 4.5 hours labour and it only takes 3 you'll probably still get the full bill.

But anyway, did he actually give you a quote or just an estimate? Did you ask why it was higher than the price you were quoted?

Actually $1100 + 12.5% GST = $1237.50

I certainly haven't, but I'm not going to risk a ban for posting up some jokes!! Are Madelline McCann allowed?? :lol:

Yup, there's a difference between survive and thrive. [not suggesting your fish are unhealthy Jim...]

Someone record it to DVD!!!

Sheesh, kids these days. We always looked forward to power cuts cos it meant board games by candle-light and toasted sandwiches cooked on the fire... :lol: Mum and Dad (in whangarei) said it was pretty bad, but the worst was over for us by about 4pm (just when I finished work).

Thank you Livingart. I've said it before and I'll say it again; LEARN YOUR LATIN!!! Common names are just meaningless and confusing... :roll:

Similar situation here, I've always liked them but thought they were a bit too pricey. I did pick up a sunshine and a royal at animates when they were buy-one-get-one-free.

One day I noticed my black aro looked a bit roughed up and stressed, and I couldn't figure out why, until I turned off the lights. When the tank was dark my 11" redspot pleco was chasing the 16" aro around at the top of the tank!!

Driving home from work yesterday I rear-ended the car in front of me. The guy driving got out of the car, and he was a dwarf. I was about to appologise when he said Ã'm not happy!" "Well which one are you?" I said. What do you call a black man flying a plane? A pilot, you racist!! Got plenty more, but probably too PG 16 for this forum...

Its erily calm now, seems too quiet especially considering we live next to some big powerlines that usually make a lot of noise when its windy. Is it a fizzer, or is the worst yet to come?

I've been trying to secure greenhouse roofs and our top fence at work. Done about as much as we can, just hope nothing too serious happens. I went and hired a generator because my parents in Whangarei have been without power for most of the day, and for $50 for the weekend its a cheap piece of mind. Silly question for those with generators or other power back-ups; how do you know when the power goes off if you're asleep??? I just thought unless I stay up all night the power could go off at midnight and I wouldn't know about it for 7-8 hours (depending on how late I sleep in)...

What are the dimensions of the tank, and how thick is the glass? What condition is the wooden stand in after having a slow leak on it? It could be something as minor as a leak in the silicone and the tank just needs re-gluing.

I feed the uarus and severums twice a day with pellets in the morning and either pellets or frizen food (discus tucker, seriously green, shrimp, bloodworms). The 3' with the heckelii, balzani, sajica etc usually get 3 feeds a day, two of pellets/crumble one of meaty foods. That regime + regular water changes has seen great growth and brilliant colours in all of them. Oh, and the big ornate gets a few big pieces of shrimp chucked in every 1-2 nights after lights out.

I had three around 8cm in a tank with a big piece of driftwood leaning up in the back corner of the tank with an airstone behind it. The loaches would rest floating vertically head down with their heads in the stream of bubbles!!