ally07

During transport in a plastic fish bin he must've freaked out and thrashed around, knocking himself against a bit of protruding plastic. As a result, he lost 2 scales and a bit of tail fin. I've read that it will heal in about 1.5-2 months.

That's a relief! I'm just going to wait for him to settle before feeding him pellets.. I'm sooo tempted to spoil him with a delicious insect treat though.. Next thing to do is to go back and get my certificate haha.. P/S I am working on setting up an online photo storage account so pics are in the works. EDIT: I've set up a Photobucket account but I can't upload the photos to the forum because it keeps telling me that it can only be 800 pixels wide. I've resized the photos to the smallest size possible but still no-go.. Can anybody help with this problem please? :dunno:

So many questions! I'll try to answer as many as I can.. -I managed to bargain it down to $400, which I can live with because I was prepared to pay $350 for a jardini.. -Was I supposed to get a certificate? The guy didn't mention anything about one and I didn't expect one because as far as I know greens aren't endangered..? -At Bird Barn he was swimming around quite happily with the other fish, as he is doing now as well. -The tank is approximately 750L, 1.8m (L), 0.8m (H), 0.6m(D) - if I remember correctly lol.. But the capacity is definitely right. -The tank is definitely cycled, it has been running for about 2 months with a pleco and some convicts. I just did another nitrate test and it looks like 5mg/L now, even though it still showed 0mg/L about 5 min ago, so maybe I didn't wait long enough last night. :oops: -Not sure exactly how to describe my filter config. but here goes.. 1. Overflow pipe leads down to sump 2. Water goes through three layers of fine filter wool 3. Drip tray leads down to lots and lots and lots of bio-balls 4. Underneath bio-balls is some ceramic noodles 5. In the "reservoir" area is an airstone and a pump which sends the water back into the tank above -How do I upload pics without a flickr account? The pics are all on my Facebook account but I doubt if I can link the URLs to the forum haha.. (And I'm not too keen on doubling my friend count with unfamiliar forummers, no offence ) EDIT: @Henward: Yes, I have researched arowanas rather extensively for about 3-4 years, when I first got the crazy dream of owning one. Every tank since then has been leading up to this glorious setup. But I imagine it's like having a newborn, you read all the books but when you really have the baby you freak out about every little cough. (I hope my arowana is just coughing!)

Finally, I've purchased my first arowana! :happy1: I went to Bird Barn yesterday with the intention of looking for a jardini, which they didn't have. But they did have a juvenile green arowana available (!!) Unfortunately it has a bit of gill curl on one side, probably due to an unhappy childhood, but otherwise he (?) is such a good looking fish and he's got so much personality. Quick question: He does this slight "gasping" motion with his mouth, just a very small opening and closing every few seconds, but not like he's really struggling to breathe or anything. I looked it up on the internet and there have been a few reported cases on various forums and in most cases the fish didn't make it. Reasons reported were food stuck in the throat; bad water condition; lack of oxygen in the water and internal infection. As far as I know, Bird Barn has fed this arowana pellets only, but even if there was live food it must've taken something like a frog bone or prawn shell to get lodged in an arowana's throat. (Ruled out as unlikely) I tested the ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and pH which all came out to 0.0; 0.0; 0.0; 6.8. (The pH is slightly higher than I'd like but I'm working on bringing it down with more tannins - thus unlikely) The tank is filtered by an overflow into a wet/ dry tower sump with an airstone inside (I counted about 4 different points of aeration - therefore unlikely) Behaviour-wise he seems to be doing just fine, no loss of colour, he swims around without a care in the world but he isn't eating yet (I'm putting it down to new environment). Is it possible that the gasping is due to "house-moving" stress or something to do with his gill curl? Any thoughts would really help me to get to the bottom of this and let me sleep better at night.. :-?

Thanks for the input.. I've heard stories (myths??) of silvers in ponds turning slightly purple from exposure to the sun, but I don't think I want to spend so much money running UV lighting just to experiment on a jar if the results are doubtful at best haha.

Philosophical debates regarding the "worthiness" and "beauty" of each fish aside, is it worthwhile tanning a jardini? Of course, its colours will never be as brilliant as the reds or the golds, but will tanning improve things? Or is it not worth the effort and electricity to run the lighting? Just wanted to get some information before the aquaria-shopaholic inside me releases the Visa.. (again) :nilly:

Bichirs are on my list as well.. Especially when they get big. I'm so afraid that they'll see my fingers as sausages and be tempted to take a bite! Black ghost knives feel quite weird to the touch but they're really shy anyway. I initially didn't want to touch them but I gave it a go and it was fine.

The sides and the back of my tank are blacked out so hopefully that will reduce the environmental stress. After reading the replies I feel like I'm a bit paranoid about the lids. Is there any chance that the arowana will knock the lid clean off and thereby escape, or will it just possibly crack the lid?

:oops: I kinda decided to keep my old lights which is only about 1m long because I've found that placed in the middle, it looks really really cool (esp at night). Think of a spotlight on a stage with a black background, ie the jar will be centre stage haha. Have thought about silicone slide bolts, but can it be removed if I ever decide to sell/ change my tank? How would the acrylic sheets fit? Just over the glass lids or in place of the glass lids..?? :-?

I've recently upgraded to a 650L tank and I'm saving up to buy a Jardini in the new year but my only problem is.. How do I secure the lids so that the fish doesn't jump out? I'm not entirely keen on putting weights on the lids in case they break and because it looks really ugly. Any suggestions?

In a bid to counter MTS, I've combined my bristlenoses and my platys into one breeding tank. Now I'm wondering if adding a small powerhead, though good for the bristlenoses, would cause the platys undue stress?

LoL, grab a beer and cheer him on from the sidelines! :bounce:

Oh man, your mantle piece idea sounds sweeeeeet.. If your spawning tank doesn't already have sand, you don't have to put any in.. Bare bottom would probably be the easiest for the male, but it's been proven that sand doesn't really hinder performance either.. Unfortunately the father could not be reached for comment as he was too busy keeping fry in check.. :lol:

They're.. so.. beautiful.. I loved the 'dragons', beautiful masking on those fish.. I'd love to get my hands on a pair, but haven't seen any in NZ so far.. Thanks for the link, I've been inspired to line breed and explore the full potential of my pair.. :bounce:

That's cool.. When my couple was together I fed the male in one corner of the tank and dropped the food right over wherever the female was hiding out.. That was the only way she could wolf down a couple of quick bites before he started chasing again..

All I can say is.. Don't freak out about the female - she will withstand more punishment than you'd think. With my previous attempts, I'd kept in mind the "4 day rule" and never ventured past 4 days, and every time the female took some beating I'd freak out and abandon the attempt. So I never got anywhere. With my recent attempt, I just had to force myself to leave the female in, and after 6 days of treacherous beatings and bites, I saw eggs. The female has recovered really well, and is barring at the male again now. So, just stick to your guns!

I've read that you should jar the fry once they start getting aggressive, especially the males. By the time they're ready to be jarred they should be able to do without a heater. The only fighters of mine in the heated tank are the spawning couple. The rest are jarred in the same room, but I never open the window because of drafts and I turn the heater on at night, so it's a comfortable room temperature throughout the day.

I don't see any problems with breeding in the tank you described. As I've recently discovered, bettas can breed in a tank with sand, makes no difference to the father's gathering of the eggs. Plants will make a good spawning site for the couple because the female will want to hide for a while before spawning. But the only trouble might be removing the female afterwards, if she hides behind the plants. All the best!

Cool.. I've now got 2 fry left (out of 8) free swimming in the tank. The batch was pretty small, but I think that was because I didn't condition the female as fully as I could have. I chose to leave the father in and so far he's been doing a great job, and to my knowledge he hasn't eaten any fry, but he might have eaten the weaker ones. I'm currently conditioning the couple again, but I won't spawn them again till the fry are ready to be jarred. Hopefully they get better with practice! :lol:

:bounce: They spawned!! Woohoo!! :bounce: After months and months of trying and waiting, I see eggs!! Soooooo happy!! :bounce: Female has been taken out and the male is now guarding the nest, which for the record, is HUGE.. I'm estimating about 30-40 eggs, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. I also checked the gravel, not a single egg left, so just goes to show that bettas can spawn with gravel.. Hope it goes well!! Omg, no sleep for me tonight! :bounce:

Hang in there is my advice.. We've all been there, we know what it's like to come home and be greeted by "floaters".. I recently lost a puffer fish to internal parasites, but in a way I couldn't really do anything about it, and I just reminded myself that while in my care he enjoyed mussels everyday and clean water parameters, what more can a puffer fish want? Another time, also recently, I was conditioning my female fighter for breeding and she jumped ship while I was at work.. I'd only bought her about 2 days before. She wasn't an expensive half-moon or anything, but I HATE clearing up dead fish - just makes me feel sick and depressed. So, don't grieve over it for too long, accept it, learn lessons from it, and take a day off to go LFS-hopping! That's what I do whenever I want to feel better (dead fish or not) - just go to all the LFS you frequent, or some you don't, and just have a look. Even if you don't end up replacing the fish straightaway, there's something therapeutic about hanging out at a LFS.. I'm always worried that the LFS might think I'm trying to steal something because I'll go in, wander around and around for about 20min and sometimes walk out without buying anything! :lol: Cheer up! :bounce:

Welcome to the hobby! Once you're in... There's no way out... *Muahahahaha!* But seriously, start saving money, you're gonna need it to support your eventual Multiple Tank Syndrome, from which there is no known cure. :lol:

Hmmm.. Interesting.. Maybe it's genetic? Some aros have worse DE genes than others? Haha, sounds like a fun weekend activity! :bounce:

Hmmm.. I don't think so. From what I've been reading and researching about aros (for my future dream tank), the main causes of drop eye are fatty foods resulting in a "pocket" of fat on the upper eye lid, causing the eye to "drop". Another reason is having a reflective bottom surface, or having other pets/ children running around beneath the tank, causing the aro to look down at its own reflection/ external movement. I don't know this from first-hand experience, but it's based on what I've read on aro care/ husbandry. I'm tempted to buy them whatever the reason! Aros are my dream fish, pity they are so expensive..

We're not all rude, ungrateful customers.. But if someone is in the service industry, then they should at least have a working knowledge of what they're selling. A waiter wouldn't go down well with a food critic if he/ she couldn't recite the menu for the night, so why should we accept mediocre service in an industry which handles live animals? ..which is why now is the time for us to buy tanks, accessories and fish! Stimulate the economy! (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!) :bounce: