phoenix44

whoa! they are awesomely fat! good stuff! :bounce:

the sterilising light gets rid of pathogens, algae, nasties... im sure alan can explain it better. its a good thing, but lots of ppl ive seen buy it when they really dont need it.

I dont think i want to know :lol: i dont do beer any how, horrible foul tasting thing.

ryan everything I have ever learned about genetics, starting from school, to university, to now has taught me that inbreeding any species leads to complications with negative connotations. it limits the gene pool. the genes become very similar and as a result all of those in question can suffer from the same weaknesses, just as they can be as good as each other. what im trying to say is that line breeding them may just take the pure fish further away from the natural populations. I do not believe it is right to sell a hybrid as a species that it is not. however i dont think it is wrong to sell it at all. when i see a fish that i like i buy it. it doesnt matter that its a hybrid (like those steel blue apistos)... even i was slightly upset when i found out that my "borellii" were infact not. now if i were to sell you a fish for example and i know you have intentions to breed the fish; you bet im going to tell you if its a hybrid cause i know the ramifications of mixing 2 different species. now natural hybridising occurs in nature too, but this is not the case with regards to the severum. if you arent going to breed the fish, and they are, like many of mine going into a display tank- then all im looking for is the perfect looking fish. i dont care if its elder brother is also its father. i will not breed it - it is there to look good, and as long as it does that I am happy. it seems there is so much conflicting information in this case, that perhaps here we should just agree to disagree.

you just have to take a good debate and make it personal don't you?

I never said that, I said: ________ Mark I agree with you, because that is what happens in nature after all. and the argument is a fantastic one i must say I cannot find a counter argument of course :lol:

i like! :bounce: :lol:

computer says no :lol: is that a hoplo catfish i see ?

I'll let you know. :lol:

:lol:

If i buy a ram you can bet your left one that its not inbred. it take more than 6 months of good searching, and several different supplier orders to make sure they came from different import batches. PS- i no longer keep blue rams. 2. I no longer keep africans cause i was sick and tired of hearing cry me a river stories about bad stock, poor lines, stories of people who know nothing about genetics and how they preserve traits by culling of mutant fish. genetic mutation is the best, most common source of genetic variation- this is genetics 101. so if you kill off "mutants" you are getting rid of the one small glimmer of hope that the fish gene pool will expand. and since we're on the topic of mutant fish - if your fish is born with an abnormally large head (and ive seen this), take the hint and know that what you are doing is fundamentally wrong. also most mutations are recessive, and are not expressed - but still are still carried for on the alleles. it wasnt long ago that a race of humans wanted to preserve their blue eyed, blond hair traits... course we have a good, unmentionable word for them. surely no one is in support of keeping blue eyes in the family right? we cant be selectively impartial. getting back on topic, this post never was, and never has been about my fish so please lets not get off topic and coincidentally down my throat. all i want to know are what other opinions are floating around out there, and if they make sense from a scientific point of view. That all.

dunno how he carved it. i personally would have used a mini blow torch. can get similar results once you get the feel of it.

oh and i personally detest inbreeding. i even go as far as to avoid fish that have been inbred if i know for certain that they have been... the whole concept is mucked up beyond any reason. so when people sell cichlids etc, that have been inbred cause they want to preserve a trait - i just don't buy that fish. If its wrong for humans, then its wrong for animals... fish included. I suppose most ppl would be relatively ok with inbreeding fish on a comparative basis(to say if someone was to inbreed dogs to preserve a trait) because "hey its just a fish right? (i get to hear this all the time)" :evil: :evil: :evil: :lol:

yes but that is not consistent with profit maximation rules If i was a business owner operating in a recession i would do the exact same thing, i mean we cant possibly become a nanny state and make rules about how and what people do with things that we sell. unless of course you sign a contract to the contrary, but that isn't going to happen. :lol: ok maybe that was a bold and dangerous statement to have made, but im only using it in this context.

here's some nice african tanks for inspiration: http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/e_tank0809.php http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/e_tank0902.php enjoy! :bounce:

use meth blue / tonic. if he has no protective coat, the nasties in the water can get to him, and so he will look like he is getting worse. try putting it on his wounds directly too. it will stain him, but disinfect the wound.

my old biology book (campbell, 2007) says the same thing. if because of geographic isolation, the 2 populations develop unique traits, over time (thousands - millions of years) the 2 gene pools will vary. then if those 2 species (and now they are classified as 2 different species) mix - the resulting off spring are classified as hybrids. this is based, on physical appearances, genetic traits (phenotype and genotype). so you're spot on with that. my question however is: is it wrong for someone to mix the gold, and the red (lets assume the red is Homozygous dominant, and not heterozygous dominant); when it is clearly mentioned that the offspring are a cross between the recessive (lets assume that's right too) gold, and the dominant red? also - if there are as he says only 2 females in the country - and we know they arent going to be popping out wigglers any time soon, wouldnt it make sense to broaden the gene pool by mixing it with a gold... thus Increasing the strength of the genes, by adding new genetic information into an already limited population? i can understand, and agree with the cons of introducing a hybrid into established populations, but sometimes, when species are dying off this is exactly what is done, in the hopes that the hybrids genes will pass on and broaden a narrowing gene pool. i dont think we have enough information in this case to make an informed, educated decision with regards to what is truly going on => we ned to know what sort of dominant genes, or recessive genes we are taking about and this cannot be determined by breeding them to see what the resulting offspring are UNLESS a 100% hatch rate is achieved, and ALL the babies make it to maturity, and this continues to happen for a fair few batches. that way if there is a mix of solid colours (like pure golden and pure red) we know only 1 colour gene will be expressed. but if we see a wonky colour like a mix of red and golden then we know that the genes are being co expressed, and that opens a whole new can of worms. Just my opinion. the technical stuff in this post can be found in Campbell Biology - libraries, and booksellers should have it. I think it costs about $150. it a massive fat book.

baboon? its very cute in a grumpy like way. :lol:

clown loaches and dwarf chain loaches are the ultimate snail fighting machine. the skunks have been known to get agro and mental and attack all other fish, so ive always stayed clear of them.

good thing too :evil: :evil: :lol:

checker boards and red diamonds all the way!!!!! awesome stock.. glad to see nice stuff being increasingly available.

No supplier I know of has parts for these. but i sure do hope the fellow selling it on TM has parts, or waits on parts from where ever he sources the filters from. 1 year warranty too. so your call obviously. aquaone filters are alright. havent heard too many complaints about them. you get what you pay for at the end of the day. Then again i do blatantly favour the brands i know and trust.

was this in the same place i work?

saw the wink.. but that made me twice as suspicious! lol :lol:

for a bit more than 150, im sure you can find a fluval or an eheim. ill have a look out for good deals for you. ive heard of sun sun tanks, but not the filters. personally i like eheims, but everytime ive gone out to get an external filter, ive come home with fluvals. ps- feel free to come over to see what a great job a 405 can do.