jasus_edwardsii

hi was woundering if you are heating their tank??if so they wont hibernate.you say you have a male and female ..? it could possably egg retention.goole it . hope this helps..the fact that she cannot dive is of concern.If you are wanting to hibernate then and they are in cold water limit their diet as their metabolisim slows and food sits in the intestine and can cause consterpation ..observe what goes in and what goes out.. hope this helps..

paradice fish

vairious specises of small aquatic worms hitchike into tanks on wood and weed collected from outside.I also belive aquatic animals appear from thin air.I once ad a one gallon jar outside with some nutrince to grow some green water to feed my fry and i ended up breeding rotifers of some kind.I dont know where they came from.I have seen the small worms you are talking about in some tanks before.I dont belive they pose any threat except maybe to small fry.

I done some of my aquaculture studies at mti.Very nice bunch of people. I leared so much..The team there also do alot of work with all our natives including koura... Have the best collection i have ever seen

yeah males fight .They can be very aggressive and territorial. But being such a hardy fish they seldom do each other too much harm except one will be less dominant and spend a lot of time hinding.In there natural habitat in Asia they live in small pools and drains so can tolerate alot of variations in temprature and water quality flucuations.Best to have 1 male and a trio of females.Male makes a bubble nest on tank surface.At this time he becomes aggressive to all other fish anywere near his nest,even the females.Cool to watch him when he has babies ..very good dad picks them up and puts them back in nest. for a fish i find they have personality.i once trained mine to jump out of the water and take flake food from my fingers.hope my ramble helps...

Thanks chilli :lol:

Hi I have been keeping various fish species for years on and off.Tried breeding cold water species few years ago.WCMM,Gold barbs,paradice fish and gold fish.Have moved and had a baby since then so the wife has down graded my tanks .Now i have a semi cold water (i run it at about 19 deg C in winter)225liter tank with WCMM paradice fish,golden barbs and a trio of large bristle nose. also have a 65liter tank with 4 comets and a large inanga.We also have a 4yo female red ear slider in her own 1m x 500 x 450 tank with a few gambusnothings that have escaped her jaws.Have had a keen intrest in all aquatic enviroments .I fish and dive also.Was commercial fishing for 12 years before going back to school and studing aquaculture.I collect new zealand shells and currently manage a live lobster export plant.I have joined this to interact with people with the same interests.