Caryl

Tell her she is worth celebrating twice!

They will breed if they feel like it but if they don't feel like it - then tough cheese :lol: I had mine 3 years with nothing, then suddenly they bred prolifically for a year or 2 then stopped again. 5 years later, fry have started appearing again :roll: . Nothing had changed in the tank or with the maintenance in that time. I have no idea where mine lay their eggs as I have never seen them. The only way I know they have been up to something is when I suddenly notice fry zipping all over the place! Others have found they prefer tight spots under, or in, logs or rocks or similar hiding places. They don't seem to care how many of each sex you have, as long as you have at least one of each to start with Dad looks after the eggs and fry but they are pretty much on their own once they have absorbed the egg sac. They have large orange eggs and the fry are a good size when hatched. Fry wil happily suck on algae and wafers alongside the parents and other bottom feeders.

Family always comes first! Have you thought of taking her and the kids to the meeting and telling her it is a surprise birthday party? It could easily be turned into one. :lol:

Pollution levels never occurred to me when I was collecting beach sand :-? Stones do not absorb anything so as long as it is washed thoroughly there shouldn't be a problem - unless the beach you collected from has oil or similar on it.

Placemakers and similar stores have them

I know a number of people who have used sand from their local beach with no problems. You just have to make sure there is not too much shell in it as it raises the pH. Perhaps it depends on where you live as to how polluted it is

I'd say the corys too :bounce:

What dosage Alan?

I thought that's what the bristles were for! :-?

To my knowledge I have never had ceramic noodles affect the pH. I thought they were all inert :-?

I thought you were going to suggest tying the string around his tail and pulling him out! :lol: JOKE!!! DO NOT TRY THIS!!!! :-?

I wasn't aware they now named guppy tail colour patterns seperately.

I wouldn't be surprised if the guppy has been outbred by the bristlenose these past couple of years actually

When we first set up a tank (over 30 years ago) we chose a lovely dark reddish coloured gravel. The pH kept shooting up over 8.0 and we couldn't figure out why. Turned out the gravel the lfs had sold us was for African tanks and designed to raise the pH! :roll: Once we realised, and told the lfs, they said nobody else had complained and they didn't know gravel could do that :-?

Hi and welcome. I would have thought it a bit high considering you are doing 40% weekly water changes but not too high for the fish.

Can't wait to get a copy of the official finished version! :bounce:

I didn't know anyone who had a doorbell when I was a kid :roll: :lol:

So what is in the tank for the seeded media bacteria to continue feeding on?

There you go, a good number of suggestions there. I had a BN out of water for over 2 hours once (I didn't know it was there) with no aftereffects. As long as their surroundings are wet or damp they seem to cope easily.

The competition, for junior FNZAS club affiliated members only, runs from AGM to AGM (June to June). It doesn't matter when I receive an article within that 12 months as it goes in the next magazine with available space. Magazines go out Feb, May , Aug and Nov. To be eligible for this 12 month period I would need the article by March 31st 2010 at the latest as that is the cut-off date for the May edition (the last before the AGM). As to what to write about - as long as it is aquatic related, just about anything goes. Remember photos are good! Have you set up a tank recently? How did you do it? Bred a fish? What sort? Tell us about the fish, what conditions they require, how you bred them etc. Had a plant flower out the top of the tank? What conditions did the plant require? Do you keep turtles or axolotls? Either write about some aspect of fish keeping you know, or have tried, or research a fish or plant etc that interests you. The junior who won this year wrote an article on breeding his celestial pearl danios. He also wrote about making a cave for his kribs. He has written about other species of fish too. Have you tried a bit of DIY with something? Built a filter? A tank background? The possibilities are endless. If you have an idea you aren't sure will be suitable, PM or email me about it and I will help all I can.

Read the next thread down as it talks about breeding them Females are bigger and fatter. They will breed in a community tank but few fry will survive.

My 280L has 3 loaches, 3 hoplos and at least 10 bristlenoses. There are more than that but that is the most I can count at one time when they come out to feed :roll:

It may not be anything wrong. I have never heard of any disease or illness that causes them anyay (which isn't saying much, I don't know a lot about fish diseases :roll: ) It may be just a colour change they go through as they age. You haven't got new glasses recently? Perhaps they have always been there but you are only now able to see them :lol:

Are they otherwise behaving normally? What makes you think it means something is wrong with them? Perhaps it is teenage acne