BikBok

one of my friends daughters got some of her 2009 L1s upgraded to merit - she wasn't sure why.

welcome! love to see some pics of your guppies and tanks.

we like fishing - just don't have a boat to get to the decent sizes.

well I've chucked the fry on TM and will see if anyone wants them. Otherwise they could be eel tucker.

lol - I'm not youth but i like the convenience of facebook. Can check in with all my friends/groups in one go.

I will be asking those sorts of questions and asking what options he has when I go with him to the Course confirmation day next week.

not sure.. but maybe you need to logout and then back in as you and ask to join your own group.. then you should be able to post as you and other peoples posts will go on your own homepage as well since you are now part of the group.

he looks better in real life.. he also seems to have very slight tuxedo shading. here goes .. the next pics shows his red colouring on fin and tail better. what do you think his tail type is?

the actual tail is split with a small piece separating the two sides. I will upload some (bad) photos shortly.

I've tried and tried to get a photo but can't - he's too fast and my camera sux. Basically he is a pretty wild type colouring and has what I call a scissor tail. he's the only one of my fry to develop this tail so I'm not sure what to do with him. I had him in a tank with a lone female from same batch he was and they have now bred.. I want to sell off/ rehome all the fry becuase it's only a small tank but I don't know what to call the parent! If it's a fault I'll give all the fry away as feeders. There's only about 15 I think. He looks very much like the one below, only more colourful with red in dorsal and tail. http://www.tropicalfish-scotland.com/fish.cfm?pid=818

if you have any decaps they love that too and grows them well.

pretty sure it's Monday 17th

haha - she just fed him two more and then let the third go in front of his face and he went for it.. he may be learning! her crazy method may have worked!

definitley - she has a difficult personality and is difficult to talk to. thank goodness my other child has a great dean .. wish they could swap! My daughter has the opposite problem and I have teachers asking me if she has been tested for giftedness. (which I haven't had done) I reckon whatever has given him the learning difficulties has presented itself as flipside for my quirky daughter who passes everything with flying colours and has an amazing talent in art and writing. anyway -- didn't mean to hijack the thread. CONGRATS TO ALL WHO HAVE DONE WELL IN NCEA - it's a launchpad to better things.

we keep a trio of guppys in the eel tank to provide live food - fry - for the resident striped peacock However he has shown no interest in eating them so far .. He happily takes bloodworms from her fingers and investigates if she has food every time her hand is in the tank. So today my Miss 14 catches a fry and holds it by the tail, letting it wiggle in front of the eel . he nozzles it and then gulps it down whole.. My daughter is elated and is hoping he will now have the taste for fry! she said she just has to not look at the guppys face when she does it - ruthless!

we will certainly look into computer/word processor help for this year although his particular dean is less than helpful and doesn't believe in "special need labeling" and therefore is skeptical of diagnosis etc.. despite us shoving reports from four different professionals in her face. She did concede and let him have an extension on time in English for his junior exams but in 2010 was very difficult to talk to about it because he was doing ok in the other subjects, she merely brushed it off and said he was choosing not to engage in English and needed to try harder. made me mad! *where's the brick wall smiley* Yes his interest in English has waned but it's because of discouragement- but despite that he did study and try hard for his end of years and externals. We talked to our son about getting a writer and he thought it would complicate things having someone staring at him waiting for his instructions . it would impede his thought process (one of his difficulties is an uncommon anxiety disorder - basically his brain is permanently wired for fight or flight - diagnosed by a behavioral optometrist of all things!) but he is open to the idea of a word processor if it's allowable .. then all his energies can go into the thinking and not the writing which hampers his thinking. I am familiar with that.. it's called crossing the midline - or more accurately not being able to cross the midline. You can notice it in kids who put their books at awkward writing angles and lean their body all over the place. There are exercises that can help with that.

how do you mange to do waterchange and pruning in under an hr? I must be doing something wrong.. it takes me up to an an hr per tank ( a little less for the smaller ones)

my ottos fixed that but at least it's easy to clean off. It usually appears in newish tanks but it can grow in low light levels so maybe while you were away, it was building up due to no tank lights being on?

yes, wattle downs is great. Sea on one side.. ponds on the other! We live right opposite one of the pond reserves which has ponds and a lovely walk. Have often seen large mysterious fish which we have yet to identify. Lots of shrimp and also unfortunately gambusia (mosquito fish) Hollywoods regular prices seem to be the most competitive for tanks but keep an eye on animates - they do have some really awesome specials. i got my 170L tank and 70L tank for half price. We almost got an ocicat years ago... but heard about their hunting/roaming instinct and so went complete oppose and got a Ragdoll lol - from the same breeder. My sister has Bengals .. they sure can hunt too! Stunning and beautiful but too active for me! I've seen them jump from floor to shoulder in a single leap and then on to the top of cupboards. they're always trying to get in the sink, shower, they tip over water bowls to try and get wet ha ha. Cats are cool

you could start small.. see how you like it and work your way up. 2 years ago I had one small 34L tank... now I have 4 tanks of various sizes.. it's a bit addictive.

what's this dreaded guppy disease? I have lost 5 adult guppys in four weeks , starting with my three big females ... and I haven't figured out what got them. All the other fish in the community tank are fine including sensitive ottos. I only have three adult guppys left.. a snakeskin who seems strong and robust, a little wildtype, and a red tux who has slowed down in the last two days and preferring to stay near the bottom of tank. I think he might be next :-( My QT tank is full of fry and I don't want to infect them if I can help it. I haven't had any new additions for months . water changes are regular, nothing unusual in the water testing.

yay for Hollywood FF and yay for you making the effort to find the fish a safe home. now.. have you thought about starting up your own lil tank?

that's an awesome looking coop. Our neighbors had something a bit simpler which kept most predators out but somehow our "SPCA special" got in and killed their chickens. Dog was gone the next day. no chances taken as other neighbors also had sheep. This was in the day that it was common for dogs to wander on and off their own property. .. not now.. you must make sure your dog is properly fenced in more than ever, and the chickens are in a safe coop.

the NCEA is just weird.. it has it's good points but i mainly see the flaws! My son is not academically minded but he was formally assessed as having a high IQ but with an unusual set of learning difficulties. He worked really hard (at least the 2nd half of Y11 he did) and came out with a decent amount of credits incl some Merits and Excellence. (graphics, technology, maths, science, Info man, health.) More than some of his friends in fact .. They passed BUT he didn't because he didn't get enough English credits. now don't laugh...English has been the one subject that always kicks him in the pants- always has been. Mainly because of having to write it all down! English does not come easy to all and it's really really different to when I was at school and we had School C eng to pass) I know without a doubt that he absolutely knew his materials and subject matter for all the ext eng standards, he gave me some pretty deep reflective answers when I questioned him.. I studied with him and he did Pass ALL his Mocks, some with merit. .. but that's because his teacher /HOD could understand his way of writing. (to do with his learning difficulty) but in the externals. the pressure was too much and the SLD got in the way and I doubt the examiner would have been able to read his writing/grammar/syntax. If it had been typewritten or done Orally he would have been fine! So there we have a boy with above avg-high IQ who didn't pass NCEA because of the Eng .. and yet ESOl students can take an alternative course and pass... He got more credits than some of his friends, they passed he didn't -- it has really gutted him. To make matters worse.. NCEA Eng requirements are changing ... 2011 is the transition year but his school is going for the new system with the new/revised standards and the course content is different. he will not be able to count the credits he did achieve in ENG and will have to start all over.. including the stupid wide reading log which has now been biffed out and exchanged for a new standard. that's my moan for the day ..the ENG standards seem to have very little to do with being able to communicate in English and should not be compulsory IMO - especially if ESOl students don't' even have to do mainstream English - hardly seems fair. This year he will probably have to repeat Y11 ENG, because he can't even fill in the gaps like you can in some subjects as the new standards don't match up with the old ones he did. (He only passed 2 internals, narrowly missing out on the others)

how is the fishy doing today?