Caryl

Another fish that can look quite uninteresting until you get a large group of them and then their colours really stand out.

Your tale of your venture into fish keeping is not uncommon. I think many of identify with the "I started with one tank but now have 6" Welcome to our forums.

Merry Christmas to you too and keep up the posts

About time for a pond update. Here it is in the middle of having the left side trimmed. It has to be emptied and repaired as it has developed a leak since the big quake. Every quake since seems to have made it a little worse. I don't mind having to keep topping it up at the moment but once summer hits and water restrictions are required I don't like to use so much. We have decided on using liquid rubber but will wait until after Christmas to give the latest fry a chance to grow enough so we might be able to catch them! We were going to line it but it will be too difficult, especially with the built in waterfall at one end and the overhanging decks at each end.

I have always liked these fish but they are not so common down here. They can often look quite pale and plain when in the shop but given the right conditions (and calmer surroundings than a busy shop) they will colour up beautifully.

I think it more a case of the big one bit the fish, not the other way around

Oh dear.I am sorry for your loss but see Livingart, it wasn't albino it was sick! If you want to shift suspicion, always blame the severums

It is a chocolate gourami but I am sorry to say I suspect it is not well

I wouldn't worry about the alkalinity. I am sure the fish being sold in shops are in plain Wgtn water. You could ask them to test the pH of their shop tanks to check. The acidity is more important when breeding them. Once you start mucking about with the water you have endless problems keeping it stable, especially in such a small tank. I used to keep Africans and they were perfectly happy in neutral water instead of the alkaline waters it is said they prefer. The breeder pointed out he was breeding them in neutral water and since his fish couldn't read they didn't know they were supposed to prefer it a lot more alkaline How alkaline is Wgtn water? It surely can't be too bad as councils try to keep the water as neutral as possible to protect the pipework.

Odessas and Ancistrus are all I have left in my 4ft tank of geriatric fishes. Not all are old though as both keep reproducing. I have bred them outside in a kiddie pool over summer and the results are bigger, brighter Odessas!

You could also be annoyingly pleased or pleasingly annoyed It is waiting for you to go away for it to pack in totally.

I enjoy your mini profiles thank you Boban_nz. The black phantom is often under-rated but they can look spectacular in a large group.

Clown loaches are lovely when they are young and colourful. Impressive when fully grown though, even though they lose that bright colour.

Not that I can think of.

I don't currently have bacopa but did so, with no extra fertiliser, many years ago. I currently have Anubias nana, C affinis, Java fern, Java moss and mini sagittaria. Every now and then a tiger lotus or two appear, grow madly and overtake one end of the tank, flower, then die off again. Never add anything to my tank if I can help it.

I might be able to help you here. I will get back to you after doing some checking (see my PM. I sent it before I saw this thread)

I have Anubias nana and C affinis (tons of it). I will send you a PM

I will have to leave that for someone else to answer Chou99 as I have never used any chemicals either.

Thanks for that boban_nz. As usual, your photos and videos are topnotch I like zebra and leopard danios but am in agreement with fmueller in that I don't like albino and long finned varieties. Isn't it good that there is a fish for everyone?

It is an old joke fmueller but, unfortunately, accurate.

None of those plants require fertiliser balls. In fact, I have never used added fertiliser and have to keep hauling excess plant from my tank as it all grows so well. There are some heavy feeders who do require excess fertilising but the ones you have aren't in that group.

I was relieved to see the full subject heading as on the index it says " F/s guppies some with flu..."

Is she able to eat? Are her fins clamped? Make sure her water is in the best condition and give her a day or two to see if she comes right (assuming she does not appear too stressed at being upside down).

The bigger the tank the less aggression as they have space to move away. I found dwarf gouramis did not go well with standard sized ones but others have had no problems. A lot depends on tank size, planting and the nature of the individual fishes. Blue gouramis are stroppier than the others and, if I remember correctly (it was a long time ago) the pearls caused problems too. I would stay away from angels in a tank that small (and they will grow faster than the tetras so the neons would have a shortened life span) and stick to dwarf gouramis as a feature fish..