lmsmith

Lots of petshops don't mind testing your water - ring around and ask. Have you cleaned your filter recently? Does your filter have carbon in it? If the carbon is old, it gets 'used up' and starts leaching toxic chemicals back into the tank.

I think you've probably got a girl. When I saw how fat my girls were, I thought they were sick too. While she's doing normal fish things, I wouldn't worry too much. Hopefully the water change will induce a spawn and you'll be able to know for sure!

Fish can get whitespot from stress. Most fish cope ok with 50% water chnages, but it does depend on lots of factors like how often you do watch changes, what the pH of your tank water is and how clean your filter is. Do you have any other test kits like ammonia or nitrite tests?

This morning the rams had eaten about 1/2 the eggs. Some of the angel eggs had turned white (not viable eggs), but most of them were fine. When I got home tonight, there were about 70 wigglers with the angels. The ram eggs had hatched (could see a 'shell' where the eggs used to be), but I couldn't see any babies, so I can only assume that the parents ate them. I doubt it was anything else in the tank because the rams weren't letting anything near them. Later tonight I went down stairs, and the angels had eaten all the wrigglers. It sucks that all my babies have been eaten, but I guess that means I know I have 2 pairs, and when they spawn again, I might actually get fry for them to raise! :bounce:

a stable pH is better than one that changes. If it was me, I'd do regular water changes over the next week (daily) then twice a week after that. What's the pH out of your tap?

That means your pH has gone down (more acidic). Tetras usually prefer lower pH, but a quick pH change could make them look pale and unhappy.

Float them in a container in your tank. An ice cream container would be ok. Try to put an airstone in there if you can.

FINALLY! Someone who realises that not every idiot should have kids! :lol:

Is there a way to do exotics on an individual scale though? Maybe you would have to belong to a certain club or whatever, and every animal has to be documented and microchipped or something - I'm sure there's a way it can be done without a blanket 'no' put on everything.

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/fntdisease.jpg That might help

I won $4 on keno...so all in all, I only lost $18

I don't see why there can't be some sort of screening process. I don't know if any of you have been to the butterfly house in Thames, but they have heaps of exotic butterflies, and they have to have facilities that don't allow things to escape, and have to account for each body when it dies. There's no reason why we couldn't allow people who have the knowledge and facilities to look after exotic species, and have systems in place to ensure that they remain in captivity.

Thanks so much for all the information guys - I might have to see if I can get some!!

I'm saying that they could get the information another way (like by taking to the person you were PMing with) but if they want the actual PM from this site, they need a court order. I get what you mean about people saying untrue things on here too, I guess that could be a problem, but if they suspect you for something, you're probably going to find out somehow and can set the record straight. Spoon, when you ask for information held by MAF, you can often get reports and current investigations under the OIA. Your criminal reports are always accessible (you can actually get the court to print them and post them to you!). Suspected behaviour wont always be released because that can prevent them from catching you.

That's what I thought. I've been looking on the MAF site, but I can't tell if they're allowed in NZ or not

That's for sure - no one said it was efficient!!!

Sorry for the double post but.... http://www.essortment.com/all/whataresugarg_rhnx.htm Can anyone confirm this?

How much do chinchillas cost? Do you keep them in a cage? I would do this by PM, but I think everyone could learn a little about them They look really really cute! I want a sugarglider - anyone know if they're allowed in NZ? http://www.sugarglider.com/

The information contained in the PM is often in other places - straight away, someone else knows the information, and chances are, one of the two people it involves has shared the information in some way. In saying that, I'm not trying to say that you can't access PM's at all. Under the guidelines for the forums, it says that where something illegal is being done via the forums/PM's, action can be taken - that's a disclaimer to allow access by 3rd parties in the case of suspected illegal activity. If the information is "lost" there are legal channels you can go through to get it - our government has to be transparent. I'm not sure that the anti terrorism laws apply when MAF is the one implementing them, and it's really really hard to prosecute under them. Also, bio terrorism would only apply when there's terrorism involved - that is, an intent to create fear in the wider community. So, smuggling a snake, for example, wouldn't be bio-terrorism, but smuggling 200 with an intent to release them to cause fear in NZ would be.

You can get most information you want under the official information act. It can only be withheld if there is a good reason to do so - like national security, the advancement of democracy etc. If you want more information about how to access the information under the OIA, I can help you out. To access PM's, you would probably need a court order. It's like email - private and it stays private unless there is a good reason to disclose the information. I doubt MAF would bother accessing PM's on a site like this - there is lots of other ways to get the same information.

Ick that sucks!

I wish I could take credit for them spawning, but basically, what happens is I see eggs, panic slightly, then frantically try to figure out what to do - it just happens that they all seem to do it at once! They seemed to look happy enough, but I'm just scared that they'll get hurt, or be too busy fighting to be good parents. They're def. a boy and a girl; I've watched them spawn. Olly, I know this is gruesome, but did the jaw fall off, or just get dislocated....?

My angels, which spawned yesterday, were lip-locking. They are alone in a 3ft tank with their eggs. I've never seen them do this before - they are usually really peaceful. Is this fighting behaviour, or are they flirting or what? They're still caring for the eggs.

Are you kidding me???? What was the score????

I've got an AR620 - good tank. I think it's a bit small for your bigger catfish. You could look at a pictus catfish - they're beautiful. http://www.fishlinkworldwide.com/fish/products_pictures/pictus_catfish.jpg I saw Mystic's today, and it's stunning. They really need to be kept in groups with bigger fish because they eat anything that fits in their mouths. Bristlenoses are always good fish too. I've also got 2 Chocolate Zebra plecos, which are stunning fish - talk to mrpleco if you're interested in plecos. Mystus catfish are pretty cool, I believe they get pretty big though. You could always get a bigger tank :lol: