kim

i would 100% say it's not enough light. tanks work on 8-12hrs light a day , if the tank is in a light room then 8-9hrs if in a darker room 12hrs . try putting it on for 10 hrs and working from that if you find you still have brown growing then up the light, you dont want to be over growen with green. how old are the tubes? they will only last 6mt-1yr and the tubes that come in the ar620 tanks arent that good. adding a bit of plant food will not hurt!

brown on your plants could be 2 things 1 you have changed fish foods and are feeding them to much or 2 your tube is over 6months -1yr old, most tubes will still give light but they stop giving the good light after 6mt-1yr depending on how long you have your light on. so how old is your tube?

any shop can get nice fighters in, but alot of people dont want to pay the price of the fancy ones, i have had some nice fighters in but when you are looking at $50 a fish people dont want to pay it. the best time to buy fighters is when they come in and most shops get them in every few weeks. you also can order what you want as the importers we deal with are very good at getting what we want, some times it does take some time but they do get the job done in the end. as for bringing fish in from oversea's you can do it if you get in touch with the importers they will charge you the price of the tank and you have to pay maf , but it can be done!

wait a few days! you want your temp to be right before you put fish in , the last thing you need is to be turning the heater up and down for the next few days , your poor fish will get white spot.

the babys are doing great i had the day off yesterday and i was phoning up bugging mum to see if they had been feed and to do water changes on the tank , she said to me anyone would think i hadn't keeped fish before :lol: , i went out and picked up a digital camera yesterday so i will try and take some pic's today and post them tomight (fingers crossed)

i have knowen angel's to breed as young as 6months, but its better if you dont let them do it until they are closer to 1yr old because then they are full size.

eels are great but they do hide abit, sometimes alot depending on the eel. oscars do better with other fish in the tank mostly to clean up any left over food they spit out. borneo tigers do well by them selfs and become very friendly they eat live food and dry food , mine eat's blood worm's as well,

hi Rob and welcome it's better to find out about fish before you jump in the deep end :lol: and yes the bigger the tank the better but you dont have to go and buy the biggest and best that is out there, buying a co2 set up isnt something a shop should be selling you so dont get talked into buying what you dont want or need, i have alot of people come in and say they have this and that and half of the stuff they dont need! enjoy this site and ask lots of ?'s thats how you learn and remember we have all asked these ?'s before see you round

its normal when you first set up a tank to have the ph high, that ph isnt that bad so dont stress, just make sure you dont have any shells or rocks from the beach. a good way to lower you ph is to use spagnent moss wrapped in a musslin bag(sorry about the spelling) you get it from garden centers, its good bacause it doesnt colour the water like peat moss. dont put alot of fish in your tank ,just play the waiting game then your fish will be happier.

how many fish have you got in your tank? take some water to your lps and get your ammonia tested ASAP! whats your ph then? If your ph is lower than 6.8 your fish should be safe until you get your water tested (thats if its ammonia) KEEP FEEDING DOWN! best still dont feed today.

Hi CatBrat, i have owned 4 of them in my time, 2 of them where my daughters as when she turned 5 i got her, her own tank and i made the mistake of saying to her i would buy her 5 fish , because she was like me and had been round fish since she was born she didnt want guppies or neons she wanted different fish so she got 2 in her tank haha. they are very lovely and in real life even more so! i was lucky to get lots of sue and craigs babys as i was the one who sold them there first lot of tanks and i put them onto the guy that had the breeding zebras that they brought. i havent got any at the moment but they do come up every so often, so when i get some in i will let you know.

they are getting harder to get so if you see any round grab them, importing prices have gone sky high so most of the importers will not bring them in, mind you i dont blame them because the shops would be selling them at $450+ , so when the price comes back down they will be getting lots in because everyone wants them.

just an update, babies are great !!! im working sunday so if anyone wants to see them come in then and i might even show you the video of them hatching out haha if you want . other wise mum and dad will be in work tomorrow so just go up to the plant tanks and have a look at the babies.

update! they hatched today!! they are so cute , they are clear in colour with a yellow egg sack, i got to tape some of them hatching out , what a buzz! i have over 20 , 16 in a breeding net because they swim away from their dad, he is keeping some in line :lol: will let you no how they go

ok so the water isnt right because you keep putting ph up in it, ph burn is when a fish is in a different ph that its use to, some fish can handle changing if its slow but i think what you have been doing is putting ph up in and the fish swim under it when you pore it in, your ph keeps going low because you have lots of fish for your tank size, fish go to the loo in their tanks and if its overstocked then you need to do more water changers, also gravel has something to do with our ph, if you have a low ph gravel then you need to add more gravel or put shells in it to bring it up, shells (you buy them at a pet shop) not just from the beach, crushed shell is what your looking for ,put the shell in a filter bag and put in your tank , test every day if it goes to high then you will have to take some out or add some if it doesnt work, lasts about 6months and is you cheepest way of doing it. 6.5 is ok for them to live in.

cool if you dont sign in you become a guest :lol: must remember that for next time. ment to ask how often are you feeding the fish and how long have you had them in the tank? sounds like stress and maybe ph burn

you look a bit off colour :oops: chris :lol:

welcome June remember to ask lots of ?'s as thats how we learn, and you will find that everyone has different idea's so you will have to find what works for you, work out what fish you like! look around , study the fish and see how they move in the tank because you might like them in the shop because they look cool but getting them home you might not like them, also by looking at different fish you can see what you like and find out when to add them to your tank, alot of fish don't do well in newly set up tanks, but you can get them in a few months , keeping fish is a pleasure and if you do it right the first time it will not be a chore, DONT PUT TO MANY FISH IN TO START WITH! its not a race you don't have to have your tank set up yesterday! as for the fish clubs in Auckland both you can go and have a look at for free and see if you like it, they are both different, I'm with the north shore club and we have meetings every first Tuesday of the month (but January) and we have an auction of fish and plants and sometimes filters , heaters,tanks and what ever the club members no longer want, we have trips away and bbq's, dinners and lots of fun

eggs are looking good! cant put a web cam up at work and the video cam isnt working that great because they have breed in such a deep cave(for them) and the eggs are the same color as their cave. i will take some pics if i can but will do it stage by stage. they are ment to take about 5 days to hatch from what i can figger out so thursday or friday (fingers crossed) my shop pupuke aquarium is the corner pupuke rd and lydia ave , birkenhead/northcote if you are coming over in the weekend i will let you know when in on because im having some time of this weekend.

they have breed!!! got a nice lot of eggs and everone that has been coming into the shop has been looking at the eggs, now wait and see how many i get, i know dont count your eggs before they hatch :lol:

THEY HAVE BREED!!!!!!! IN THE SHOP!!! IM SETTING UP A VIDEO CAM SO I CAN WATCH THEM HATCH HAHA HOW SAD IS THAT.:lol: NOW FINGERS CROSSED THEY MAKE IT!

hi im the president of the north shore aquarium club, if you need any help with your club just let me know! also i own a lps so you can put a notice up in my shop if you want, also auckland club and our club have just done a doco for tv 3 so we will get a spin off over that and will be looking at passing anyone that gets in touch with us onto the club that is closest to them, good luck in starting your club and make sure you do get in touch with our club as we do a few out of town trip that your club can come on and also we have an auckland interclub comp that you can enter, cya kim

whats the ph? when did you do a water change last? try putting malkon in the tank as well you can mix those two meds find,

she is about 3 1/2 inch -4 inches , i only have one left as i have sold the rest but i get them in all the time. but with them breeding i didnt want to stock to many as i hope to be selling my own soon. if you are after a few females let me know and i will see what i can get, enjoy them and i have found the jbl pleco food to be the best to feed them, it has 10% woodfibre

and the fins are different in the females , i would put money on it that they are 2 boys , but i could be wrong haha :lol: i have 4 of them and 2 look like to one on the left (in the pic) and my girl has no bristles at all and she was flirting with them today. she is ready to breed