phoenix44

yep see: the elongated fins show he is a male. just wait for a bit and your fish's fins will grow really long like this lille dude.

WOW!!! I'm so impressed with these stands. I've pondered long and hard how to make simple, strong and safe stands for tanks - this never came to mind! Now I don't have to worry about finding the right table for the tank every time I move house! :bounce: =)

val. the normal kind (not spiral). I know its a no-no at the moment but if its long it forms a beautiful canopy at the top of the tank and he can use that.

oh noes! i missed out! =(

ha ha yeah. feels like an eel almost. the 2 ghosts and him eat out of my hand. the electrical "shock" is far too minute to be felt by us. you can make out the other fish can feel it though cause they dart out of the way when the ghosts touch them.

they are aggressive though so keep that in mind. but u can keep them with the larger cichlids, they hold their own really well. dont put them with any thing small or peacful - unless its something considerably larger then them. i had some real nice ones once - but they ate the eyes of a lot of my fish. (if you want to breed them, but them in a planted tank that they can rearrange and give them a hiding spot like a pot or something).

congrats! that's great news! u can keep them in your tank till the fry are in the wriggling stage and then you can put them in a smaller rearing tank - just make sure the water comes from your main tank. feed them on egg yolk (old fashioned i know) after the egg sac disappears and then in a week start feeding them brine shrimp or just baby fish food like the ones available your lfs. it is common for the parents to eat the first few batches of eggs. but hey you have a pair of breeding cockatoos! rejoice! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

let us know how it goes! :bounce:

the electric fish need very clear and clean water. the ions in the water also make a difference to how they can emit the electrical pulses. I think poor water conditions (eg. dirty particulate water) hampers their ability to feel their way around their environment. they also use these electrical impulses to find other similar fish, and distinguish between sexes. It's almost like a SONAR (like in submarines); obstructions in the water bounce back the signal to the transmitter ( the electric organ in the fish). with these fish (like the elephant nose) - the electric organ is toward the back of the fish and the receiver is in the front, so if there are obstructions in the water; the signal doesnt make it to the receiver - and this leads to complete disorientation. (Imagine walking around in a small space blindfolded and banging into the walls constantly). secondly if the electrical conductivity in the water is bad then the fish cannot survive as it cant transmit the electricity in the first place. (remember pure water [deionsied] cannot conduct electricity at all). I once did a science experiment with 12 elephant noses when i was 15 - put them in a tank with the right sort of water for them - hooked up the anode and cathode to a very sensitive speaker which beeped everytime the fish sent a signal. it sounded like morse code. also (though im sure this is not very scientific) i noticed differences in the speed and frequency of beeps in responses to food, other fish and obstacles. I then proceeded to put the elephant noses in my tank once the experiment was done! lol

yep ive been using beef heart for a little over 10 years now (ever since i was 10!). It is always best to feed any fish a variety of foods and not just one type. so all my fish get a huge range of foods and they do really well. Having said that as with most things in this particular hobby - there is always more than one way of doing things, so i think most people are best experimenting with different foods.

i suppose you could. I used to feed fish wax moth larvae - so maggots shouldn't be any different. what made you think of maggots? lol =)

:bounce: No probs! :bounce:

yeah i think they do have to comply to some sort of safety regulations. That and I've heard of cases where insurance companies do not insure damage if they find the tank did not meet minimum glass thickness. As far as I know, the insurance companies are happy with both Jebos and Aquaones.

the shrimp will have more crude protein, and is very good for fish. as for what is the better diet.. .. well whatever the fish eat faster is good as gold.

your fish would love it. especially the loaches, cories and the killies. and it'll bring out the colour in the killies. works like magic.

oh and isn't an ox supposed to be castrated? (again just a guess).

i dunno. i thought ox were older and were used to plow fields. I have no real idea though.

ideally beef heart yeah but OX heart is the more commonly available substitute in any supermarket. some people even use liver, but it really dirties the aquarium.

a clove or two (small ones) of the "oily" type of garlic - not the big non-oily easy to peel garlic that has no taste.

Don't forget to put garlic in there! (then just watch as the colours get more and more vibrant!). =) oh and i usually get rid of the fat - then freeze the heart. then when its frozen i use a thin grater and grate the heart. then mix in garlic, coriander, thyme(really little - don't know why - i was told to do it as a kid so i still do lol); peas and then put that mix in the old blood worm packets. then freeze it! so when it comes for time to feed the fish; the beef heart is already in a thin shredded form easy for the fish to consume. hope that helps.

P-Clear! add a small bit and then wait over night. then all you need to do is siphon it off. it acts like kitty clumping litter, and all the Particulate matter "clump" so its dead easy to get rid of all the 'nasties'! PS- also add b-clear (biological clear) if there are other floaty things in the tank.

get some orange chromides if you can! I got three today, and they are absolutely stunning.

I caught this guy (who was obliging enough) in the "moat" in our hotel when I was overseas. There was about 50 of them - all big and the temp of the water was no more than 12degrees Celsius or so. weird huh?

I've had dozens of ppl come to the pet shop i work at, trying to buy borneo suckers for cold water setups - I always advise them that though that concept would work in tropical countries there is no way they would be happy with the temp in NZ! especially with the tiny size of borneo's that are usually available. Is there any one out there that has borneo suckers in a cold water tank?

he is cool! Now i just need to get me one of them!