Jennifer

Veterinary Operating Instructions dealing with Registered Veterinary Medications - "A VOI is a set of instructions from an authorising veterinarian (AV) to a non-veterinarian to hold RVMs in anticipation of their use, and to use RVMs only in accordance with the AV’s instructions in circumstances in which the AV will not be carrying out a case-specific consultation. All matters requiring consideration by the AV have been addressed in the instructions." - NZFSA.govt.nz

I have been contacted by a few of you regarding the recent research breakthrough in the guppy disease Tetrahymena corlissi (a free swimming ciliate – protozoal parasite). According to the recent research article, there are three treatments that have been found to be somewhat effective. Of these drugs, the most readily available over the counter drug in NZ is albendazole. This product is licensed for use in cattle (but as with most drugs here it is off-label use for fish). There are many cattle wormers that contain albendazole but they all are combined with other drugs (e.g. praziquantel, levamisole) and many also contain drugs and minerals that are toxic to aquatic life (e.g. abamectin, copper, selenium, etc). However, there are two licensed products in NZ that contain only fish safe drugs: Arrest (Merial Ancare): A combination oral cattle anthelmintic containing 37.5g/L levamisole HCl and 23.8g/L albendazole. Packs of 5L and 20L. Leviben (Novartis): A combination oral cattle anthelmintic containing 100g/L albendazole and 75g/L levamisole HCl. Available in 5L containers. Obviously (by the packaging size) these would only be available through farm animal veterinary practices and even then, they are unlikely to be able to dispense a small amount. The authors of the study say that this drug was effective about two-thirds of the time when dosed at a rate of 100ppm (by my calculations that is 100mg of drug per litre of water) and for a long duration (dosing over several days). If there is enough interest, I may be prepared to get a VOI to dispense this, but it wouldn’t happen overnight.

In the new PFK magazine there is a good section on amazon biotopes with rummynose and cardinals together in big groups and they look amazing together. I agree with Josh, cockatoos would be awesome.

You won't really want surface agitation because it will drive the CO2 out. That uruguayensis will grow tall enough to block it soon. :lol: A big group of rummynose tetras would go well with the cardinals and would look spectacular. You could also add a pair of apistos. They aren't big fish, but they are more to scale with the size of your tank. Looking good by the way.

John Lee hooker & Bonnie Raitt (I sang with Bonnie on stage and played in a band with her brother in my younger days 8) ) she has some serious slide guitar chops.

Awesome. Stevie Ray incarnate.

I think crypts would go beautifully in your tank. Just plant them and leave them where they are and they will grow fast in the right conditions. In the last two photos above that is C. wendtii brown. Alan was just over a few minutes ago and we reckon it is about 250mm tall. Undulata will not grow that tall.

Definitely. Those are some serious guitar chops right there! Mayer is certainly one of the most skilled guitar players of our generation. Check out this cover of Hendrix's Red House (I absolutely love this song), some amazing guitar licks that are way harder than he makes them look! And, him doing Hendrix as good, if not better than, Hendrix himself. Amazing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqdkpCVb ... re=related And this one!

I had a bit of windelov that I started. At first it looked like this beneath the three T8 tubes: It got some brown spots that went away with micronutrient/macronutrient supplementation: Now the entire log is in this tank under 4 PowerGlo T5 tubes and for the first 6 weeks it went brown but now it is all coming back and growing like a weed with a much higher level of fertilisers and CO2:

I'm with you C&S, those are truly a couple of the very best guitar players of our generation. Positively fret heaven.

Hi Sophia, I have windelov growing well in very low lighting and I have some growing well in very, very high lighting so it is pretty adaptable in my opinion. However, it can go into shock when it moves to a new situation but I find that it bounces back well and grows very fast, particularly when you supplement with micronutrients (I am sure HFF has some Flourish Comprehensive that you could get if you don't have some already). My bolbitis prefers the brightest area of the tank but again, it is used to the light. You can see the new growth on the windelov as it appears as translucent dark green tips to the leaves. Hope that helps. They are great plants and are very hardy.

Oh, another thing, parakeets are generally smaller/medium sized hookbills with long tails. Most true parrots have short tails (aside from Macaws).

I really prefer African species of parrots (e.g. Poicephalus) as they are generally quiet and full of personality. Any kind of parrot has the potential to go through puberty and become unmanageable/intolerable though. :lol:

Don't get me wrong, conures are lovely but they tend (a generalisation) to be very boisterous, demanding and loud compared to some other similar sized parrots. Its like the difference between a border collie and a basset hound. Best thing to do is make a list of the things you like about birds and then it will be easier to pick a parrot that will be likely to be suitable.

They are totally different, although one isn't better than the other, its just that they have different personalities. The conures are gregarious and tend to stick to you better than a quaker who will take flight rather than huddle into you for security. I personally like gentle sweet quiet birds like Senegals, quakers and African greys but I don't go around with them on my shoulder so it isn't an issue that they don't 'stick on' as well as a conure. It seemed to me that you guys really loved Pepper's personality, and that is a conure personality. Maroon bellies are some of the best conures to have as pets if you like conures.

I used to breed them and found them quite shy but lovely. That's why I like the senegals as well.

Oh, you might be right. I must have thought they were supposed to be ready to sell in November. :oops:

Ballantynes sells escargot shells (small lime size) in a container of 40 for $29 (if I recall). Also, there is a store upstairs in the Riccarton mall (Bedding store) that has larger shells (lemon size) of all sorts of varieties and very nice - they are about $1 each.

Arghh, don't make me want a bird again......I need to get a Senegal chick dammit!! Why haven't I gotten one already?? Hmm, maybe it is because they are $2000 and it just rips my undies to think of paying that much when I used to sell handreared chicks for $300.... off on tangent, I know. :roll: Image courtesy of: http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures/g ... rrot-0016/

I can tell you where to buy some shells in town if you end up not finding any by other means. Awesome fish btw, makes me want another tank. :roll:

Baby conures?

Speaking of birds, they must be hatching right about now!

Well done Caryl! That's fantastic!

I completely agree with Alan. You can sit down and have a casual friendly conversation with your boss but if your boss is even a little bit better at negotiation than you are, you will walk away with less. Management is power play. They are there because they are confident and often they are protecting the bottom line. Having sat on both sides of the fence, I can say that it is attitude, rather than skills, that often wins in a wage negotiation. An example: Someone who I had trained in the workplace two years previously was wanting to apply for a supervisory role. The position was a bit out of her league considering her minimal experience but she had a very good work ethic and a lot of confidence. She was looking at a going wage commensurate with her inexperience (about $17/hour, well below what a supervisor should make in that business). I advised her about how to negotiate and she went in and asked for $30/hour and supported her request with a line of skills and attributes that convinced the manager that they couldn't live without her. She walked away with an offer of $25/hour, well above what she had expected.

I'd kill to be able to do that with Great Whites. Always been a dream of mine... Would love to dive with whale sharks too. Coooool