Jennifer

None of my females have ever had any black edges to the fins. The females are very yellow in breeding colours and have yellow fins with light yellow trim. They have a shorter face, a shorter body and are about 2/3 the size of the males. Both sexes have blue shimmering scales on their sides. They start breeding when the female is around 3cm. The females will choose their shell, usually one that has several other shells right around it. If the female does not have the room to develop her own territory in a group of shells, she won't easily breed. The male and female both guard the area. Males will not tolerate other males in their territory but females can briefly cross into other territories. Sometimes a female will move into a male's territory, but it is easy to move her out if you move her shell while she is in it.

A pH test, probe or drop checker all can be used to check CO2 levels. A low pH does not guarantee that there is CO2 in the water (it can mean there is some other acid present) but if you are using pressurised CO2, the desired CO2 is around 20-35ppm and that registers usually near pH 6, or green on your drop checker or pH test kit.

Great job with the problem solving by increasing feedings, etc. It is true that if your nitrates are zero that it is a sign that your nutrients are not keeping up with the demand your light is creating. In that case, the plant growth will be limited but if it is not too far out of balance, you may not see much of a problem. If it is too far out of balance, you may start to see signs of deficiency. To correct this, you will need to do one of two things: 1. Add more nutrients, or 2. Reduce your photoperiod/ light intensity Anyway, the holes in the leaves indicate a potassium deficiency. Have a look at this chart to see if you can detect any other deficiencies as well.

I dissolve it first in a cup of warm water. There are lots of other things you can feed, like pea flour, spirulina flakes etc. but the yeast granules are pretty cheap, $3 lasts me over a year. Whenever I add other foods, I tend to get die offs so I stick to the yeast becasue it works for me. I also tend to harvest the daphnia heavily for a couple of days after I feed so they don't have a terminal population explosion.

It depends on the type and number of dither fish you use. Even timid fish will be more outgoing in larger groups. Those danios are so active and outgoing that you don't need many of them to make a difference in a small tank with other timid fish. They are happier in bigger groups but I lost a few in the quake so only had two D. tinwini left. I added them to a tank of 15 Celestial pearl danios who were in hiding all the time - now all the fish in that tank are out and about all the time swimming with the D. tinwini. It has made a huge difference to the dynamics of that tank. I have had a couple of nano tanks on the go for a few years now and so have had the opportunity to try many of the small fish like microrasboras, ember tetras, D. erythromicron, CPDs, etc. and none really compare to the D. tinwini and D. nigrofaciatus in terms of their activity and outgoing nature. They look great in a group of 5 or more, however, if you don't like fish that never rest, they are not for you.

Maybe try not to feed too much. My 150L daphnia tank runs all year round and I feed them out to the fish all year round. They survive under the ice and they survive the hottest canterbury days. I never do water changes - I only top it up when it gets low. I only feed them once every 10 days or so on a half teaspoon of dissolved yeast granules.

I raise my fry in tap water so they are used to it. I do 30-40% water changes from the tap as well (and recently have had to do as much as 70% and cold water changes etc), and they are very hardy. However, I lost an entire batch of 2cm fry after picking them up off the floor in the quake. They were in the exact same water as apisto fry who ALL survived with no problem. I think these guys are more susceptible to shock than other types of fish but it may be related to fear/stress as it truly doesn't seem to be related to water conditions in my experience.... :dunno: I can send you more if you like P44.

I'd offer to take a video of the offending fish doing what he does best...but I am too scared to be the bait.... :oops:

Nibbling = fine. Defensive attacks that bore a hole into your flesh = not so fine. :tears:

I can't believe both of you would say that after having shellies! I need to take a pic of mine, the males have dracula fangs...

Welcome to my world. The shaking is not helping at all either.

Agreed. Dither fish are fast at the food, but if they do their job they will also stimulate a feeding frenzy in the other fish as well. Even very timid fish will get in on the action when everyone else is in having a good old time feasting. At least that is what I have seen in my experience.

Indeed! The plants look very healthy too.

Try looking for Danio nigrofaciatus, HFF sent some of them to me last year. They are the same size and have the same temperament. Alternatively, I know that Organism had some Tinwini recently. These little guys are highly underrated and when they are mature, they really develop beautiful markings.

I picked them because of their activity and their small size. Now they are one of my favourite fish! The males develop beautiful red lining to the fins and they are so friendly. Here is a video I found on YouTube:

I have had a similar problem with ember tetras and pygmy cories, then I added some tinwini danios and it changed the whole dynamic of the tank. Now I have used them again for some shy celestial pearl danios and everyone is all out and about now. They are great dither fish - always out, no matter what!

While I am not a moderator, I have absolutely no tolerance for personal attacks on this forum. Let me make this perfectly clear, the personal opinions of the moderators on this forum do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federation as a whole so do not make assumptions about what the Federation is or is not supporting in terms of actions of particular forum users, or their agendas. None of you are on, or have expressed interest in helping on, the fish committee, nor are you privy to the details of work carried out by the committee so you have absolutely no right to pass judgement. Discuss the issues all you want, but keep the personal attacks out of it and get the facts straight about the Federation that is hosting this forum for everybody's use.

Hi, I would be happy to help but I am traveling on business and have people taking care of my fish and some refugees already. Try getting some big square plastic bins from the warehouse, they cost about $15 and are really ideal. Hopefully you have filters and heaters that you can use as well as mature filter media so you don't get ammonia problems. If you don't have these, let me know and I can get some arranged for you straight away. The best way to reach me right now is by email. Shout out if there is anything I can do to help.

That aftershock was pretty impressive. Shout out if you need a hand with anything.

Wow, that's amazing. I best the filter stinks now though. :sick: Happy to help. They don't have the most luxurious accommodation but they have good clean water and food.

How about a normal green lotus? The large leaves would provide good contrast to the other plants. You could keep it cropped low and it would look nice and bushy. Happy birthday by the way...although I guess it is 30 minutes past by now.

I have lots of framed artwork and they all have proper hanging mechanisms. Not one even thought about coming off the wall in any of the 5,000 + quakes and aftershocks since September - although they keep going all crooked. :-?

Thanks for stopping by Adrienne. It is helpful to know that others care - at the very least it helps to recharge the ole batteries so that I can push on to help a little bit more. Again, I am very lucky, but it is hard to see the suffering of friends out there every day. Kudos to Antwan for coming around to help with water changes today. Its such a small thing but every little thing helps after a long week. A million thanks to Caryl & Grant for your generosity in helping our Chch club. Your selflessness and genuine caring is very much appreciated by us all.

Hi guys, if you are around the area, you are welcome to come here and I will give you some treated water. I also have some axy food I can give you if you need some.

Agreed. I have a 4 foot tank and a 6 foot tank that have survived both big quakes with virtually no problems. Both have good thick glass, are braced very well, have a lip to keep the tanks from sliding and have heavy stands with a wide footprint.