bev

don't know if I would plug that many things into one board but they do make them. saw some at bunnings wharehouse today, in sizes of 8, 10 and 12 plugs.

I saw one in a garden center that has a few fish in christchurch. 200watt for about $80, last week

2 weeks ago my bristlenosed fry (15 of them) were free swimming so I took them out of the community tank and into a seperate tank. Yesterday I noticed that the male is back under the bogwood fanning more eggs. Is this normal (the two weeks between batchs ) all the books I've read say 6 -8 weeks between batchs. I had homes for most of the first batch and the LFS said they would take a few when they are big enough, but what to do with the next ones? the growing on tank is full with this batch and the baby platies and swordtails. :-?

I dont wear gloves either but if I have cuts on my hands then I cover them with a waterproof dressing (TEGADERM from the chemist) the same as I do for work.

if you have an animates near you just ask them if you can have the polystyrene boxes their fish come in. Also I know that the $2 shop (or similar) has had heat pads, at least in christchurch. You just remove them from their pack and contact with air causes them to heat up, they last for about 15-20 hours, so that should give you plenty of time. These pads are similar to the ones that fish are shipped with originally. Hope this helps .

I got a new BN 31/2 weeks ago, male about 4 - 5 cm long to go in my community tank with what I had decided was a female (almost no bristles). At first they chased each other round the tank for about 2 hours then settled. After a week the male disappeared, when I had not seen him for 4 days I shifted some of the bogwood looking for him. Found with a mass of about 30-40 eggs (maybe more). it's now 13 days later and today while cleaning the tank I could not resist looking for him and the eggs. He was still there with a large moving mass of what I quess are babies (to hard to make them out clearly without disturbing them to much. So I quess the question is how long will he stay with them and how can I make sure that at least some of them surrive life in a community tank.