Caryl

I hope you have all had a relaxing Christmas Day and are enjoying the leftovers today. My fish got some much needed fish food for Christmas so they are happy

Depends why it is wobbly. Poor construction or uneven floor? I would not put a tank on a wobbly stand, especially if people walk past it a lot.

Fish are like humans - some are good natured and easy going whereas others are mean and nasty. You will get the occasional angel that is good with whatever is added to the tank but others will attack. If you have a pair of angels that start spawning then nothing will be safe!

Grumpy made those remarks in the old site. As a result, the smileys, or emoticons, at the end have not come out in this new site. If they had, you would see, I suspect, that the opposite meant.

Tanks looking really nice but, as said, eventually you are going to have nipped, and eaten, fish in there. They are often good when smaller but they get to a certain size then get territorial and the attacks start. Some angelfish never attack other fish but they are rare.

Discus are hard to keep and not recommended for a beginner, especially as you say the only fish you have bred are platies and I suspect you didn't specifically breed them, they just did it all by themselves requiring nothing specific by you. This is not to put you down, just saying you have jumped from an easily bred fish to one that is a lot more difficult with specific requirements. You seem to be going all over the place in your ideas for fish to breed. I suggest you sit down, decide exactly what fish (1 species) you would like to try first, then research to find out what conditions are required to be successful and if you are able to supply those conditions, or able to buy the fish for that matter. You say you are short of time and money so your fish selection should keep this in mind. Discus will take more time as they require excellent water conditions all the time and plenty of water changes too. Good discus are not cheap and, if you want to breed fish, you should choose the best you can find, not the cheapest. I know when you first start you get all excited and enthusiastic but if you jump in over your head, things will not go to plan and you will get disillusioned and give up and we don't want that. We want you to enjoy the hobby for years to come! Something that is cheap to do, and easy since you live in Auckland with more constant higher summer temperatures, is to breed semi-tropical fish, like barbs, in a hard sided kiddie's swimming pool. I used to buy 6ft diameter ones from The Warehouse ($24.99 last time I bought one a few years ago) and set them up outside (in summer only as it is colder here in winter than where you are). Fill the pool with water and get a pile of oxygen weed from a local waterway somewhere (free). Add bunches to the pool and anchor each bunch with a rock. Once the temperature has warmed and stabilised at a minimum of 18C overnight, add the barbs and leave them to it. I have bred golden and Odessa and ruby barbs this way (not all at the same time in the same pool of course!) I don't want to put you off, and it is good to see such enthusiasm, but step back and have a good think about what you want to do and what is required to do it, then RESEARCH before doing anything else. Continue to ask questions here by all means but read books, search for information and consider joining the local fish club if there is one near you. Good luck

You need also think about, if you successfully raise fry to adulthood, what you are then going to do with them.

Obviously superior plants

According to wikipedia... It is native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become an invasive species in many areas, where it outcompetes native species. The red-eared slider is included in the list of the world's 100 most invasive species published by the IUCN.

I remember someone carving polystyrene with a circle of wire (with a handle tied to it) heated over a gas stove. She then glued gravel to it using aquarium safe silicone. Sand would be better though as it is lighter. Hers weighed a lot, making it harder to position in her tank. Looked great though! The tank bracing stopped the poly from rising.

Have you seen this request? They may help this lady and her birds... We need help in feeding two rare and endangered birds so they can be released back into the wild. Are you in christchurch? And do you have any spare live fish (about bully-sized)? Or tadpoles? Two Australasian bittern chicks (both female) have come into a rescue centre in Christchurch. They are very young and just learning to feed for themselves. We are keen to give them access to live fish so they can learn to feed properly before they're released. Do you have any spare feeder fish you can donate? Do you know anyone in Christchurch who can help? If so please call Jackie on 0272164636 Please like and share to help these birds. Thanks. Some info on bitterns: Australasian bitterns are secretive swampbirds in the heron family. They're only found in NZ, Australia and New Caledonia and are the rarest bittern species the world - rarer than blue ducks, kokako and brown kiwi. NZ and Australia have < 1000 birds each, and the species is thought to be extinct from New Caledonia. These two chicks were found by members of the public near Travis wetland in Christchurch. They're doing well under the care of Jackie Stevenson and will hopefully be released soon.

I have just noticed that if I get an email notification of a PM, if I click on the "Read full message" it takes me to my Inbox and I can read it but not reply. If I want to reply I have to go back into the site and then my Inbox. Not sure if this is normal and the email link is read only or if I should be able to reply once I have got to the message in the Inbox.

Despite having pulled out heaps for several others lately, I still have red rotala and Crypt affinis to spare, plus Java moss. If I can find my second Anubias nana (I am sure I have two of them) I can also offer a sprig of that. PM me if you are interested. I offer them very cheaply

Thanks Ade. We are really pleased with it. It will be stained, and the house exterior painted, soon after Christmas.

You could always phone, fax or email them.

We do not exchange presents either but get together for good food and conversation (or a few games of Cards Against Humanity this year ) Tree was more difficult than expected and had to have a few mods done to keep it upright as half a tree, out of reach of 1 year old. We will have around 15 people at our house Christmas Day but everyone chips in and brings something edible and we fire up the BBQ. Very relaxed. The Christmas cake is for the local Stroke Club which is having an end of year lunch next week.

I need something small that can be put out of reach of 2 dogs and a 1 year old then kiddie proof the lounge area. I think I will get down my big 8ft tree and see if I can use just the top two tiers and put it on top of the pellet fire with the huge cane woodbox in front (have been unable to find a cheap wooden playpen to put around the hearth). Just bought a dancing fairy in a tutu.

He should sell them, rather than give them away, as people take more care of things they have had to pay for. Besides, he probably has to arrange to be there while the person collects so time and petrol involved for him.

Are they going to be inside or out? The plastic becomes brittle over time.

Hope it works this time, although a larger tank is easier to look after than a small one. Remember you will be limited to what you can put in just 20L.

Hope it works this time, although a larger tank is easier to look after than a small one. Remember you will be limited to what you can put in just 20L.

If only I lived closer I would help re-home some of them.

Bad luck for the live trees

Hi and welcome. We hope to help those in NZ specifically as not all items and fish are available here so it pays to have local knowledge. Your user name reminds me of the poster that says "I Never Run With Scissors" and underneath it says "The words With Scissors are not necessary"

More importantly, the hebes stop the herons from landing on the fence before descending to wipe out the fish! The pond is shaded all summer by a large Chinese Silk tree plus the decks overhang each end by about 1m. It is also over knee deep in the middle so temperature is not usually a problem. The water lilies cover a lot as well. It was cleaned out last year (or the year before) so not as much plant as there used to be. The fish were having to use machetes to get through the oxygen weed! It has been very slow to grow back, thank goodness. I shall have a look for some puha. The mint wasn't actually intentionally planted, I had used some soil to pot up ferns which were hung over the far end deck and the mint came up from there!