Snorkel

Nice tanks and fish. Thanks for the great links.

I have absolutely no idea???.... Here's another photo.... These two fish share a 300liter tank with 5 other females and a Giant Bully which has gotta be at least 5 times there size, yet the brooding males don't let the Giant anywhere near their broods! He's been banished to the very far end! Dixon, I would bet that any bullies You get down there, will be similar in habits to these fish. Also, any bullies you catch now and feed up in a tank will most likely spawn like these ones, if thats what interests You. I would rather they didnt..... Since they started spawning, the way they behave has changed a lot. Still, its interesting all the same.

Why thank You kindly! Heres what they look like now.... They've got eyes!

This is what they look like now..... And down the other end of the tank, the other male has gotton into the act.... sigh!

Freshwater shrimp are in there thousands, no squazillions around here mate. Look in ponds, lakes, slow streams at night with a spotlite. Goldfish are bumb boring creatures, mabee not as boring as a koura thou! :-? Get some Bullies! White clouds are cool, you'll only need a pair, they breed easily, and dont eat there fry. Give the Bullies a go thou, the're even better.

Why thank You kind Heir! They were no trouble at all. In the late afternoon, the sun pours into my tank, raising the temperature alarmingly, but allowing photographs to be taken. Redfins! Blue Gills! So many bullies I have yet to see! When I did a scuba diving course a few years back, we dived on a sunk runabout wreck, there were zillions of bullies all over it. I remember they were so tame and unconcerned that it was possible to catch them (well some of them) by hand. I cant wait to go back down there and see them again.

Good on Ya for giving it a go. Keeping fish is easy. Here's a rule I never break. Don't change more than half of the water at one time.

Very interesting indeed! Now here's a pic of the spawn at the moment. I think I can see two small black eyes in each egg.... But mabee something completely different. There is a lot of eggs under that fish! If only I had another tank, I would have a go at raising them. Sadly that aint gonna happen. Also of interest, this fish is not black anymore..... They can change color very quickly.

I dunno what species it is. It might be a "Crans". He's normally sort of a bronzy greeny color but now that He's gaurding spawn has got all dressed up in black! Whatever species they are, I have got 2 male and 5 female. They sure are interesting little fish. Very clever, and quite tame. Easy to keep, eat anything and best of all, cheap! The filthy creek that I got them out of, was just a "ditch", with some water in it.

And another just for good measure....

Here's a couple of pics of a bully I caught in a local ditch gaurding his spawn. Unfortunately I was away and missed the spawning. http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj310/CWinkie/IMG_2706400x600.jpg

Dial up internet really sux.....

Sweet. I won't worry too much then. I treated the white spot with 150 mls of brooklands aquarium "wonder tonic". Its a mix of methlene blue, malachite green, acriflavine and quinine. I didnt follow the dosing instructions at all! Just squirted the stuff in till the water went blue/green and have kept on squirtin it in every day as the water cleared up. Apparently 150ml bottle is enough for 3000liters. Mabee this is so in a bare tank, but I,ve got pumice based sand in the bottom of mine and it just sucks up the chemical, so does the filter material. So far I've used half a bottle, enuf for 1500 liters! Anyway, there is still one little skinny bulliy which was in a real bad way when I got him, that has a few still left on him. The other seven are all clear now. I,ll keep squirtin it in untill Sunday when I go away, do a half water change, squirt some more in, and feed 'em compost worms till they full up and go. Scuba diving holiday up north. Thanks for the input people.

I'm going away for 7-10 days next week and I'm wondering if it would be ok to leave my fish unfed for this long. I have 8 suspected crans bullies and 1 giant bully in a 300liter tank. I got these fish from the wild and have just managed to get the white spot that they were infected with when I got 'em, under control. I've been feeding them up and they are fat as pigs and looking good. They have become super friendly and the wife just loves the little fellas to bits.... I would be confident to leave 'em unfed for a week, but 10 days? What does everyone on here think? What is the longest time you have left fish unfed for? Tank temperature is around 15*C.

It is 130mm long. Fat as a pig today thou! Full up on beef heart...

Thanx people for the interest. Thank you Stella for the ox heart recipe, will get one today, the fish is either satiated or bored with earthworms at the moment.

Jeeze, you guys have got it hard down there! I just throw on some scuba gear and I've got my 50 in 20mins... They stay alive out of the water for ages too. In a catch bag for half a day no worries! Wear gloves when ya get 'em, the big ones can nip pretty hard.

If anyone is interested, here are a few pics of a giant bully and also a couple pics of a common bully to compare it with.... and a photo of the six spines on the first dorsal fin (apperantely this ID's it as a giant) And here is the common bully (I think?) As You can see, they are quite different. Excuse the strange colour casts, I have not mastered white balance with the camera at all yet. If I can get a photo with the two fish together in the same frame, I will put it up so You can see the size difference.

I think carbon absorbs gases. I can't really "get my head around" that. You know, what sort of gases are present in a aquarium that need absorbing? I used it once, when I was first starting out, but soon stopped using it. Heres an idea nicmack, if Ya gonna use two filters, how about setting up a longlife one, with just large unblockable filter media in it? One just to grow the bacteria that the fish need,, and use the other one with some fiter wool in it for the small particals? Keep a close eye on the filter wool one and as soon as it starts to slow up, empty it out and start again with new wool. That way you can compare and will get a "feel" for the thing. I find that the more I experiment (play) with my tank the more I appreciate what is really going on in there. Anyway, just an idea. All the best, Snorkel out.

I didn't know that. Very strange. Never had much luck with daphnia, they always seem to introduce unwanted organisms to the tank. No doubt fish love 'em thou...

Yep, it is "almost definately" a "giant" bully. I had my doubts at first, but since I got it on Sat night I've been watching it and can now say that is quite different to the common bullies it shares the tank with. It looks different to them, but more importantly it acts very different. It is quite the predator, the 3 gambusia and half dozen shrimp that were in there have dissapeared! It spends all day in its lair under a piece of wood, (interestingly it "dug" the sand out underneath the wood), and in the evening it comes out on the hunt. Earthworms dissapear down its throat at an alarming rate (hope the compost bin can keep up). Its got its normal colours now and is quite an impressive fish. The other bullies keep well clear of it, but so far I've seen no sign of aggression from it what-so-ever. Hurry up with that book Stella, I borrowed McDowell's book from the library and was surprised that it was the only one in there!

Your allowed 50 per person per day...... to eat. They're good too! By the way, Your tank looks really great. You must be rapt with that.

Hahaha. Glad I'm not the only one! Since discovering a large dead goldfish and wondering what it was, I have been out looking in every handy stream and creek. Its totally addictive. I got a small stream 50meters from the house. Guess what? Its chocka with small brown trout! I would never have guessed. At first I thought they were kokopu, but last night I positivly identified them as trout. I'm gonna need another tank.... a BIG one!

If cannister filters are dirty and they stop, or even slow up pumping water, the bacteria in the cannister suffocate and die. Things quickly go down hill from there. Bacteria populations explode, they use up the available oxygen and fish die. A dirty filter is a enviromental bomb, waiting to go off. Even a short power outage is a danger. My filter is a aukward, messy thing to service, so I have thrown out the filter wool as this is the first thing to clog up. Also I dont bother with the carbon thing, in fact I just use the round ceramic clay/sintered glass things in it. It lasts a long time unserviced like this. Every now and again I check the cannister with a torch, its sort of see thru, and if its getting dirty I put the outflow in a bucket and give it a bit of a shake and it "comes clean". Also make sure all the connections are airtight. If it sucks air into the system, it will also stop pumping. Best thing thou, is dont leg it get so dirty that when it does stop working, You aint gonna have it "go off".