Jennifer

Just had a 4.0 aftershock happen....unfortunately my house was within a km of the epicentre. It was the biggest, loudest boom and shudder of the house. Honestly it was like a bomb went off on the front lawn! My ears are still ringing...

Morbid as it seems, it does help to 'talk' about it here. The experience was incredibly traumatic for me and many of my friends who had lots of damage and sustained injuries from being thrown around during the big one. I guess it is a bit like grieving - everyone goes home after the funeral and life goes on but it takes a long time to come to terms with the loss. I am so grateful for all the messages of support I have received in the last couple of days, it has really helped.

Interesting site showing the action in the area: http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/

Donna I have four Fluval 205 canisters from tanks that I lost. You are welcome to use them until I can get tanks up again but most have damage to hoses, intakes, etc that will need fixing before they will run. It might be possible to use parts from each to get one running.

Ever heard of a bucket? :lol: 8)

Getting stronger, that one was 5.4! I siphoned even more water from the big tanks! Not sleeping. Not sleeping at all!!!

It was!!!

I agree. I am feeling a little down about it today and very worried about the rest of the tanks.

Hey, that's what was hanging out of the back of my tank after the quake! I could have sworn I put that in the compost bin...

Weeks???? http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-storie ... k-to-come/

From a friend: Feeling a bit blue over it all...

We had a 'pulse' here last night that was very scarey (I had not been scared at all until then). Strangely enough, it didn't even register with others in town but it felt HUGE here! That aftershock just now was "only" 3.7 but it is relative to where you are as to how you feel it. Check it out here (I am glued to this site).

Most of you have seen my pics of the heap of twisted metal and broken glass, and I can't really bear to post them again. The pics below are of the big tanks I have set up now. During the quake it seems the house moved very strongly in an east to west direction. Everything on the west walls were ok, but everything on the east walls went over, including the two racks with 10 tanks. The shelly tank on the east wall was secure although it lost a lot of water and there is evidence the tank slid in the 'tray' which split in the corner from the pressure. The base of the tank is wide and stable: The big tank is on a north/south facing wall. During the quake, large waves flew out of he ends (onto me) but there is no evidence of the tank sliding at all in the 'tray' - the base is also wide and stable and the tank and stand are not overly tall: This AR850 was empty (now houses all of the refugees that were scooped off the floor). It was on the same wall as the shellies and the racks but it didn't slide or go over (although again, it was empty). The base is not flat on the ground, it is raised off on 4 (or 6?) legs. The tank has no 'tray' so theoretically it can slide off easily. I have loved this tank, but considering my experiences this weekend, I am not sure I would trust it to stay upright compared to the other big tanks: Still investigating safe alternatives for racks/tanks so please share your ideas if you have any.

Thanks Ryan, don't really have any schooling fish left but I will feed them something and see how that goes.

I am worried. I haven't kept African's before these guys so I am not sure if I am doing something wrong. Since the quake, I have now lost all the big shellie fry one by one after they were rescued (no other rescued fish have died, even some fry) and the colony is very stressed even though they are still in their original tank with heating and filtration going (after 2 hours of no power yesterday) . The waves had sent the little fry to all corners of the tank (where they still remain) and while there is no aggression the fish are just not moving at all and are all splotchy in colour. I haven't been feeding because I can't change the water and my test kit was lost in the quake (but I can't see why water params would be bad - large body of water, recently changed, understocked, filter going as normal). Should I be doing something different?

I posted a heap of photos to Facebook. Public link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7 ... 2e15285bd6

The aftershocks are coming fast now, about every few minutes and they are getting stronger - feeling a bit motion sick. I had lots of flooding from the sloshing big tanks, not to mention the 10 smaller tanks that took a leap off the shelves. I shot out of bed the moment the earthquake started and got thrown around the room and into the walls, couldn't stand up much less walk. I lurched toward the tanks, thinking only of the fish I would need to pick up off the floor. The sound from the earthquake and crashing kitchen items, bookcases and tanks was deafening. Thank heavens that the power was on at that stage so I could see and catch any fish that were swimming on the floor in the garage (it was doubly hard to see through the muck and my tears at the same time). I managed to save a few by scraping them off the floor, the others I found later washed down the driveway. Both apisto pairs survived but I lost the female with fry. Amazingly lots of hongsloi fry survived as did the miniature longfin GBA fry. Also lost all the big shelly fry one by one over the course of the day - none of the other fish died in that bucket so I am thinking they died of stress - strange because I thought they were tougher than the apistos but I guess not. All the refugees are together in one big tank now, and all are looking very good considering their ordeal. Our street has a big crack down it and our water is off due to fractured pipes. I am covered in cuts from all the broken glass and my feet hurt from glass cuts and stomping towels into carpet to soak up some of the water but I am eternally grateful for all the lovely people who have been calling, emailing and txting me all day. Your concern and friendship means so much right now and has helped me through a very tough day.

There were over 80 fry in with her and around 160 that I stole from her a couple of weeks ago. Just lost the lot in the earthquake but I managed to scrape the male and another female off the garage floor - still alive so far. Amazingly saved a bunch of hongsloi but the shellies are dying of stress. Lost a lot of fish but big tanks are ok (sloshed out about 15cm of water onto the floor, flooding the carpet in the lounge). Water main is off due to split pipes and doors are off their hinges. Sitting in the sun with a cuppa after working on cleanup and rescue since 4.35 this morning. Gonna be a long week.

Mum 1: Mum 2: Mum 3:

Guess how many fry (hint - not all are visible and these are what was left after I stole 2/3 of them)

Growing up! Male: A nice female with her bars turned on:

With carts too! :bounce: Mmmmm, sitting near the kitchen so you get the best stuff on the carts..... Edit: typo

Be sure to take him to that great Thai place. I can't stop thinking about it... may have to get a plane ride up there just for that oh, and for Yum Cha with Wok as well. 8)

Are they free living nematodes or parasitic nematodes that you see hanging out of the fish? If you see them swimming around they are most likely free living and will not be a threat to the fish so there is no real need to kill them - free food! If they are hanging out of the fish's vent/anus (as opposed to hanging OFF the fish), levamisole or albendazole will take care of them.

Shelf life is probably a couple of years, but it might be less once the container is opened. I have never used it before so I can't say I have had an opportunity to read the label. Some of the clinical signs include skin lesions and sloughing skin. This may not be an issue in NZ but I had a number of queries about it so I thought I would post something to clear up the confusion about what the drugs are that the study is referring to.