Caryl

The little dots are copepods or something. Also edible for fish. Daphnia change colour depending on what they are eating. I used to have 2 containers. One with green algae in it and the daphnia were bright green. The other container did not have anything green in it and the daphnia were brown.

Neon I am back home now but was at Paton's Rock. I will be posting a link to my Photobucket pics when I get them organised. We went to Pupu Springs, Farewell Spit, Wharariki Beach, The Naked Possum, Wainui Falls and walked some of the Kaituna Track. We also visited a number of the other beaches around Takaka. We went to the old Salisbury swing bridge that was destroyed in the floods. Unbelieveable how high the water level must have been, and how strong the current. There is still a lot of mess everywhere and a lot of road works as they repair the damage. The springs and all the other waterways are as pristine as usual and look lovely. Here is an interesting note for those who get upset at innappropriate housing for fish... The people we stayed with have a small goldfish tank in the games room. It would be about 40cm x 30 x 30 and has 2 goldfish about 10cm long in it. The water gets changes every few months when it "looks dirty". They fill a bucket with water, plonk the fish in it, totally empty and scrub out the tank (no soap used) and refill it. There is no filtration, light (no plants) or air pump. The fish are fed daily. When we saw them the fish were gasping lightly at the surface as it was a hot day but did not appear overly stressed. They look otherwise healthy. This tank is the only home they have ever known. These goldfish are 20 years old.

Welcome to our forums. This site is run by the Federation of NZ Aquatic Societies (FNZAS). This is a group made of of fish clubs around NZ. You do not have to belong to the FNZAS to be a member of these forums but we try and encourage it 8) All the details can be found on the Home Page. Click on the logo at the top left of the page

7.30pm Monday and Friday is the usual time for several of us. Caper sends me the occasional funny but has not replied to my emails :-?

Why have these people not applied to get a special needs reader/writer for exams? This is organised through the school.

Some people have no imagination :lol:

Fish inside get fed every 3 or 4 days (if I think of it) although my young platies have been fed daily up until now. As I am away (in sunny Golden Bay) at the moment, they will go 3 days without food. I do a water change once every 3 months or so (takes about half an hour to do 3 tanks) and the occasional top up due to evaporation in summer. Filters get cleaned out once a year or so. The pond fish get fed once a day during the summer months, most days, just so I can sit and watch them while I have my cuppa.

but did you spit it back into the tank or was it too far masticated by then? :sick:

Looks gorgeous. We found hidden parks around Hong Kong too.

I do not understand the modern NCEA system as my kids had left school before it was implemented. Are the levels 1, 2 and 3 like the old 5th, 6th and 7th form? Do you have to get so many credits per level then over a certain total at the end? Are these credits then used to get into uni?

I loved the blue! It made it even more stunning

HOB filters do block up very quickly, especially with messy fish like goldfish. You will have to keep rinsing the sponges. Just rinse enough, in old tank water, to allow a decent water flow through. Clean the gravel when it looks mucky. I would not bother every 3 days.

I was going to suggest what Zayne did - except Perspex or glass would work.

ALL baby birds look dreadful :-?

Tannins are not dangerous.

The endlers I saw overseas were nowhere near as colourful as those in the pic either. They looked like small, multi-coloured guppies.

Care sheets for these all say they should have a varied diet eg; Axolotls are carnivorous and should be fed every 3-4 days with a varied diet of appropriately sized prey items, such as bloodworms, earthworms, crickets, blackworms, whiteworms, lean meat, small pieces of shrimp, daphnia, mosquito larvae, very small snails and appropriately sized fish pellets. Feed just as much as they can comfortably eat within 10 minutes. I would think nothing but ox heart may not be so good for them? Ox heart is said to be very lean though so that is good. Ours ate earth worms. Blood worms would have been way too small for it.

How will water changes help if the tap water is high in nitrates? Found this... Health Effect of Nitrates on People High nitrate levels in water can cause methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome, a condition found especially in infants under six months. The stomach acid of an infant is not as strong as in older children and adults. This causes an increase in bacteria that can readily convert nitrate to nitrite (NO2). Do not let infants drink water that exceeds 10 mg/l NO3-N. This includes formula preparation. Nitrite is absorbed in the blood, and hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying component of blood) is converted to methemoglobin. Methemoglobin does not carry oxygen efficiently. This results in a reduced oxygen supply to vital tissues such as the brain. Methemoglobin in infant blood cannot change back to hemoglobin, which normally occurs in adults. Severe methemoglobinemia can result in brain damage and death. Pregnant women, adults with reduced stomach acidity, and people deficient in the enzyme that changes methemoglobin back to normal hemoglobin are all susceptible to nitrite-induced methemoglobinemia. The most obvious symptom of methemoglobinemia is a bluish color of the skin, particularly around the eyes and mouth. Other symptoms include headache, dizziness, weakness or difficulty in breathing. Take babies with the above symptoms to the hospital emergency room immediately. If recognized in time, methemoglobinemia is treated easily with an injection of methylene blue. Healthy adults can consume fairly large amounts of nitrate with few known health effects. In fact, most of the nitrate we consume is from our diets, particularly from raw or cooked vegetables. This nitrate is readily absorbed and excreted in the urine. However, prolonged intake of high levels of nitrate are linked to gastric problems due to the formations of nitrosamines. N-nitrosamine compounds have been shown to cause cancer in test animals. Studies of people exposed to high levels of nitrate or nitrite have not provided convincing evidence of an increased risk of cancer. Do a Google search on how to reduce it.

Never watched it actually but I have seen the trailers and understand the concept 8)

I meant my daughter got a lot of hers from the previous year's intake at the place of study.

Your nitrate needs to be at least under 50ppm and preferably less than 25ppm.

The leopardfish do not seem to be bothered by the high temp so I have not done anything to try and bring it down. Perhaps I should re-name it the non artificially heated tank 8)

Then you should only have given one word Joe isthmus

My hero :happy1: :happy2: :love:

Current outdoor temp south side of house in shade - 31C Lounge 30.5C (I have been out so doors have been shut) 3 tanks in lounge; 4ft tropical with lights on but surrounded on all sides and top (except front) by solid wood unit - 26.5C 3ft platy tank with no lights on 29C cold water tank - 29C