Caryl

Bud (the budgie) likes magazines and books. He also eats chicken, peas and corn (or anything else on your plate). He loves banana skin and biscuits :roll:

Articles should go to me first for the magazine, then we add them to the main page

Creepie crawlies is a well known scientific term for these

I hope you don't mind if I go slightly off topic here shadowfax but your RCD and the difference between what you meant and what I thought it was reminds me of the firm that does the security at our local wine festival. They are called BSE Security (or Services) and my friend, a doctor, calls them the mad cow guys as he thinks 'Bovine spongiform encephalopathy' when he sees BSE :lol: He does not call them this while they are within hearing mind you as they are all very large Pacific Island lads and although he himself is 6ft 3, he is not as well muscled as them 8)

Oh, I thought there had been a recall of some residual current devices :lol: Isn't that disease around usually anyway so all pet rabbits should be vaccinated whether there is an outbreak or not?

It is not the temperature range I have a problem with, it is the definition of "cold water". They are semi-tropical and there is a difference. Just because a fish can survive at lower temperatures does not mean it is ideal or best for the fish either.

Who's been having fun then hmmm? :lol:

Humans wiped out their habitat plus they nest on the ground so eggs and young are easy prey to stoats, weasels, possums etc. One of the reasons snakes are not allowed in NZ is that many of our unique birds nest on the ground (not to mention the geckoes, tuatara etc.)

They are not true coldwater fish though. I really object to swords and guppies being sold as cold water species when they are not. They can survive in the average modern home thanks to insulation and ambient room temperatures which are usually around 18C or higher.

Good luck with the meeting. Hmmm, an opportunity to have many hands make light of rebuilding those pond edges eh???

Hi and welcome to the forums. 9L isn't a tank, it's a bucket! :lol: Can't help with the fighters sorry.

Start a new thread for it under clubs Minchton. It would be good if you can get the club going again. There has been some interest from new members here :bounce:

Danios are fine down to about 18C. Although they can tolerate lower, it isn't good for them and just because they will, doesn't mean you should.

I didn't know that! Mind you, I guess it makes sense. One would assume a water spider would eat what's in the water.

Tie the mesh to a thin bit of wood or dowel that is a bit wider than the tank so the wood sits across the top of the tank and holds up the mesh. You can then slide it to wherever you want depending on how much space you decide you need on each side. You could also peg it in place.

Dunno about cleanest but they will certainly be well filtered :lol:

I hope you are taking photos of the progress!

If I use local sand I have to collect it from well above the tide line otherwise there is way too much shell in it (good for Africans though) and the pH goes up.

Plain brown is their base colour. The other colours got bred into them. I'd say it is just coming into its colour. I have noticed all this season's fry in my pond are about 2cm long. Most are still brown but at least one I have spotted is half brown half red already. The majority of my fish are red. I do have a couple of large bronze, one orange and white, and two half red half blacks but the amount of black keeps lessening over time. Another possibility may be your fish died and another family member replaced it so you wouldn't be upset figuring you wouldn't notice it looked different Sexing those things can be difficult. When ready to spawn the males develop white spots behind their gill plates. Try looking down on them from above. Males are more streamlined whereas females are a little fatter either one side or the other (due to eggs) so it makes their tails look like they are slightly out of alignment. Easier to see this on comets rather than the short fat varieties.

I will be interested to see what it looks like now. They look like fish in the middle of changing to me. I have had some take years to change colours and others do it withing the space of a few weeks. Some change colour when very young and others stay the same for years then suddenly change :-?

Hi Malina. Your boyfriend wouldn't be Nathan by any chance would it?? 8)

It wasn't when your pump broke Ira :lol: We had a good downpour yesterday too, enough to fill the pond, but not as bad as that. We needed it. Our section is on an old riverbed so excess rain drains very quickly here and doesn't cause problems with the ponds. 29.5 here at the moment :roll:

You will find it of great benefit Stella. It will also be fun.

Most small goldfish seem to start off brown then slowly change colour as they age - except for those that stay brown.

If these fish have been in a pond, they may be stressed by being put into a tank. I know I have never found pond fish cope well being put in a much smaller (compared to a pond) tank. Sounds to me like a dark fish going pale due to stress. Goldfish do change colour over time. Many are a dark black when young but go to grey as they age (balck widows and clown loaches immediately spring to mind). I have orange and black fish in my pond. As they age the black slowly disappears until they are all over orange.