David R

:thup: :thup:

I'd agree, $2-300 for indexable juveniles seems fair, maybe a little less for a good sized group.

I'd think with enough space and territories a firemouth and salvini would work, perhaps a couple of male convicts would help spread the aggression. I woul leave the keyhole out tho.

I'd actually quite like a pond full of them... this is the bit that gets me; in other words "it really is a pest, but if enough people like catching it we'll ignore the damage it does to the environment".

Hit the nail on the head. It certainly won't be the silver bullet solution to restoring native bird populations, but every little bit helps and the money brought in from registration fees could be used towards dealing to feral populations of pests [cats included]. Yes there are plenty of other ways to help reduce the damage done to natives by introduced pests, but that is no reason not to introduce laws controlling the keeping and ownership of cats as there are with other pet species. :thup:

How often have the locally bred zebs been offered for sale? I recall HFF having a few at $399 each, but is that it?

So $200 each for the adults, $1000 total, or $200 for the group? If I'd spent a grand on a group of not-often-bred fish I'd want a bit more than $50 for the first couple of spawns.

I didn't watch the Campbell thing, not really a fan of his style either. This has been an issue for me for some time, even while we still owned a cat. I used to work at a [plant] nursery in suburban Auckland, and the damage done by cats there was huge. They would perforate a new plastic greenhouse roof in a matter of weeks to the point where it was like a shower when it rained, they would rotary-hoe trays of seedlings and crap in the dry mix, and on a hot day watering certain greenhouses was like a cat-crap sauna, so stinky!! Also the bias between dog control laws and the complete abscense of restrictions on cats rustles my jimmies. We live opposite AH Reid reserve (an area of bush with many large kauri trees and native wildlife), I'm not even allowed to walk my dogs thru there during the day on-leash despite them having done a Kiwi Aversion course, yet people bordering the park and in surrounding areas are free to own as many cats as they like, and those cats are free to roam day and night. Doesn't seem fair to me...

:thup:

http://garethsworld.com/catstogo/ I like laughing at the funny pics on the net, but really they are annoying, spraying, fighting, crapping, verminous killing machines. We got rid of ours a couple of years ago (as it took a serious dislike to my wife) and certainly will never be getting another as long as we live here surrounded by bush. We have two dogs that are chipped and registered, and fenced on the property (and out of the bush) and kept inside at night, perhaps its time cat owners had to jump thru the same hoops as dog owners... hope this doesn't get me a warning as a post intending to create a reaction, I'm just trying to discuss a current issue... :digH:

HA!! Awesome, wish I'd gone there when it was still allowed, would be like diving in an awesome planted tank...

Sounds like a good set up, just remember they're big fish and I wouldn't want to be keeping a pair of sevs and a group of geos in anything much under 4-500L. RE the Rotkeils, they are around, but there is also a lot of hybrid sub-standard crap out there. Partly my fault for [years ago] selling my female Rotkeil to a certain breeder years ago thinking he would try find a mate for it, and instead he got impatient and crossed it with a gold then sold loads of the fry on trademe claiming some unproven nonsense about the gold gene being recessive so the fish will look just like this pic of an amazing looking male Rotkeil he found on the internet. From what I saw of them the fish turned out to be about half way between a rotkeil and a regular muddy looking green, the hard part is at a small size its very difficult to tell them apart. Great fish if you can find them, I'd certainly like to keep them again...

I imagine with that sort of thing you get what you pay for, so going for a decent brand.

How much is it swinging by?

I'd try a small quantity of crushed shell in your sump, certainly not a lot or it may end up going the other way. Are you stull using the auto system or doing one big WC weekly?

HA! If only you were allowed to swim there, would be a dream to snorkel in... Cheers for the suggestions, will get googling tomorrow.

I've seen a couple of posts on MFK recently showing how to calculate how much K1 you need to deal with the weight of fish you're stocking based on the calculations they use for aquaculture, very interesting. It certainly seems to work well when set up right.

We're planning a short break in Feb with a few days in Wellingon drinking as much craft beer as possible, then onto the Nelson/Takaka area for a bit of R&R and outdoorsy type stuff. Keen to do some hiking, swimming, maybe kayaking or fishing. I know there's a few Nelson locals on here so any recommendations, must-see or must-avoid tips would be great! Certainly going to check out Pupu Springs, and the Mussel Inn pub/brewery, haven't got much else on the agenda yet.

been shopping while on holiday eh... I'd just chuck them in and see how it goes with the water movement from the sump then try the airpump if its not moving enough. I'm still not sold on them, everyone on MFK thinks bioballs submerged are useless cos they don't have enough surface area yet somehow this stuff is amazing. I'll be interesting to see how yours go, seems to work for the aquaculture industry...

:lol:

I think things like this are always cyclical, but there will always be dedicated enthusiasts who will follow regardless. The lack of new species coming in probably plays a part in the downturn in interest, as possibly does the 'secret squirrel' attitude of many keepers, it's hard to get a scene or buzz going about something when no one wants to talk about what they're keeping. African cichlids were the big thing for quite a while, now it seems like planted tanks and nano tanks (and planted nano tanks) are the current flavour of the month. Maybe predators will be back in vogue next, then it will be the turn of fancy plecs again...

Just updated the Pleco Collections thread with my change of stock.

Here's an update on my list, sorry no new pics yet!! Common name: Royal Panaque Scientific Name: Panaque nigrolineatus L number: L190 --Sexing (numbers of) Males : 1 [suspected] Females : Unknown : 3 --Breeding Successfully bred Y/N : N Common name: Sunshine/Goldy Scientific Name: Scobinancistrus aureatus L number: L014 --Sexing (numbers of) Males : Females : Unknown : 3 --Breeding Successfully bred Y/N : N Common name: Blue Phantom Scientific Name: Hemiancistrus Sp. L number: L128 --Sexing (numbers of) Males : 2 Females : Unknown : --Breeding Successfully bred Y/N : N Common name: Gold Nugget Scientific Name: Baryancistrus Sp. L number: L081 --Sexing (numbers of) Males : Females : Unknown : 1 --Breeding Successfully bred Y/N : N Common name: Clown Pleco Scientific Name: Pekoltia brevis L number: L205 --Sexing (numbers of) Males : Females : Unknown : 1 --Breeding Successfully bred Y/N : N Common name: Tiger Panaque Scientific Name: Panaque Sp. L number: L002 --Sexing (numbers of) Males : Females : Unknown : 1 --Breeding Successfully bred Y/N : N Common name: Royal Whiptail Scientific Name: Sturisoma panamense L number: --Sexing (numbers of) Males : 1 Females : Unknown : --Breeding Successfully bred Y/N : N

I've still got my "stamp collection" crammed into my 400L tank, and working on the tank to house them all. Been meaning to try take some pics but life tends to get in the way. How are some of your stripy little ones going Geoff??

link doesn't work for me