Bellshill Belgians

They do prefer to be kept in groups of 3 or more. You will see much more of them in a group. They are facinating to watch.

cuckoo synodontis?

usually find mine will get an air bubble in the siphon tube if the flow rate is too low. So check your return pump size and that it is moving the right amount of water. Air bubbles are the only thing I know that will break the flow of water in the siphon.

The only time I have seen this with my turtles is when the water temp is too low and it is actually warmer on the basking shelf. One of my heaters stopped working well without me realising.

Hi, I have sourced some spineless Opuntia ( Cactus pads) from Coromandel cacti in Auckland. They are $15.00 each and they will ship them. Joanne

HI All, What brands of water pump do people use for returning water to the tank from a sump. I am looking at around 2000L or 2500L per hour. I have resun king pumps on my outdoor ponds and have found them pretty good running for 2 years 24/7 without any failures but wonder if there is anything anyone has found better. Thanks Jo

Didn't think there would any market for them. Mainly because they are hard to catch in an 800L tank and I live so far from the main centers. If you want some you are welcome, otherwise my snakenecks like them a lot.....

These are the rats of the fish world. I started with 2 in my 800L tanganikan community, they have bred & bred & bred, and ended up controlling 80% of the tank with all my large frontosas pressed against the glass at one end. They are the most aggressive fish I have ever dealt with. I have spent months slowly catching them and culling them and still they breed and attack my other fish. I would think very carefully about introducing them with any other fish, definately best in their own species tank where they can beat each other to death without harming other inhabitants. They are also very hard to catch, learn very quickly what a fish trap is and will hide in tiny holes and rock mounds. beware!! Joanne

I think you'll find a 6.8kg bottle will need filling rather a lot. I have a 30kg bottle on a 300L tank which lasts me approx 4 months.

Hi, I bought some stuff from here about 6 months ago. It came eventually, took a bit longer than I thought it would but I was happy with the service. Even with freight it was cheaper than I could get it in New Zealand. Joanne

Weighing the small turtles is quite useful to check they are gaining weight. I weigh all of my hatchlings every 2 weeks to ensure they are gaining weight. I also find sometimes with shyer babies they will start to feed if you help them by waving very small pieces in front of their faces using small tweezers. Bloodworms are great but may be messy in all but a bare bottom tank, it is especially hard to siphon off sand. I usually use a bare bottom tank until my young turtles are feeding well, then go for river stones (too big to eat). I wouldn't remove them to feed in a separate tank as this will likely stress and frighten them more. Good luck, Joanne

Hi, I definately qualify for Wop wop status!! I have a 22,000L plastic water tank for the house which collects rain water off my roof. It comes out of the tap as soft and acidic as I can measure. Great for my SA corys, tetras etc. I modify the water using a rift lake recipe (MgSo4, bicarb & salt) for my frontosas/altos etc. Although this is a challenge I seem to be able to maintain good water quality, test it all regularly to make sure all is ok. I guess it depends how much effort you want to put into making sure the water is right for your fish. If you just want to turn on the tap and change your water without thinking about what you are doing you may have more problems than if you were on mains supply with a more neutral ph etc. At least my water has no chlorine in it! Joanne

Hi, This afternoon one of my pair of breeding Neolamprologus brichardi has decided to kill it's mate. The two have been breeding happily (new babies about every 3 weeks) in my frontosa tank for the last 9 months and there are lots of their offspring (those that have survived being eaten by tankmates) in there too (ranging in size from approx 5mm to 4cm). They have a huge territory at one end of the tank and the frontosas tend to stay at the other end ( 6 foot tank). I have changed nothing in the tank (apart from some of the water this morning - usually once a week approx 15%), there have been no new fish for 9 months. The attacked fish is looking very sorry, tattered fins and bites on its back, probably won't survive. I didn't see anything wrong until feeding time this evening when I saw it's mate chasing and biting. Seems a bit odd to me, anyone else seen this happen?? Jo

Hi Plant gurus, I have run out of CO2 in my cylinder for the first time. Where does everyone get theirs refilled? I tried our local BOC gas agent here in Opotiki and was told they send them away to be batch filled every 4 - 6 weeks!!! I surely don't want to be without it for that long. I bought the cylinder in Auckland from the Nova Fire safety place in Gray Lynn but am hoping there might be an easier (especially closer) way of getting it refilled. Hope you might have some helpful ideas, Joanne

Hi, I have imported stuff from Aquaristik in Germany. I ordered online, it took 2 weeks to ship my goods and a week for them to arrive. Very happy with the service and the freight wasn't too horrendous. http://www.aquaristikshop.com/cgi-bin/n ... ommenν=1 Good luck Joanne