Caryl

Some swim immediately and some drop to the gravel.

I think the translation is "my platys have just had offspring" Bigger fish, including the mum, will eat the fry. Have plenty of fine leafed plants for them to hide in, or separate them. Feed them finely crushed flake food.

Number of fry varies a lot from half a dozen to 20 or more (there have been reports of up to 200 but I have never seen this many) depending on the size and age of mum. Feed them small amounts often. Crushed flake is fine. Mum can drop fry every 4 - 6 weeks and can do so over a few days.

My Africans were having living and breeding at pH 7.0 :roll:

Only 27.1 here but quite windy and higher than normal humidity

The time frame seems wrong to blame the new filter or media but I have no other suggestions off-hand. Apart from the gourami, the rest are bottom dwellers. Have you a "dead spot" in the gravel somewhere? Are the surviving fish acting as normal?

Well last night was my surprise birthday party! It was the best birthday ever so I thank my daughter, Kelly, very much for all the hard work she put into it. The hardest part I think was blowing up 50 balloons :lol: Every time one burst I claimed a year back so I am now only 45 :lol: Guests were told presents were unnecessary but if they did wish to bring one, to make it on the theme "Caryl's Golden Years Survival Tolols". As a result, I got some very funny gifts including; a pair of slippers made out of sanitary pads (very ingenious!) a pack of Tena Lady incontinence pads a spade (as the giver said I was a friend who called a spade a spade so deserved a real spade of my own) a walking stick a bottle of revitalising V Werthers Originals a travel hairbrush (from a friend who couldn't believe I often left the house without remembering to brush my hair) a fish in a plastic bag (apparently it is actually soap) eyelift cream a flashing birthday button a "Too pooped to party" birthday candle Nivea anti-wrinkle cream Chapstick walking socks Barley sugars little racing motorbike I think the finniest was the "Lonely Planet Guide to World Travel for Over Fifties" my friend Dorothy made. On the front it said Once you are fifty, the world is your oyster... Shuck it! :lol: On the back cover it had the following blurb; 23 ways to say Eh? What did you say? in 14 different languages Slow dancing (and we mean slow) in Rio Zimmer frame walks through the Andes Resort hotels with pre-chewed food LARGE PRINT maps available Nan naps on request You think you're old - wait til you see the tour guides! The birthday cake was lit with many sparklers - and set off the fire alarms!!! 8) More pictures added here

Quite right, the mechanism is in fact refraction and the amount of refraction depends on the density of the ionised layer and the frequency of the signal. The overall effect is similar to reflection but because the refraction varies with frequency, some signals are not refracted as much as others, so do pass right through the layer with only a slight bend in their progress while others have enough refraction to bring them back to Earth again. If you Google "HF propagation refraction index" you will find a lot of information.

Jude don't you mean he knows which side his fish is battered on? :lol:

Separate it from the others then and see if it perks up once it is not being attacked. Keep an eye out for infections from wounds etc.

Yes, if the ionisation layers are at the right density, the right height and we choose the right frequency it just might work - but then again, it might not. It is also affected by sun spots, of which there are none at present! :lol:

Having used Eheim, Fluval, AquaClear and Jebo, I liked Jebo best.

Seems very much an attitude thing. If you go in positive the hypnosis will work then chances are it will. I know of some who tried it. Success rate was about 50/50 I think. Neither of my parents smoked but all 4 of us kids took it up Eldest now only smokes pipes as he claims it is less harmfull :roll: Second eldest was a 40 a day for over 20 years saying you had to die of something, until he worked out he could have bought his new car with the money spent. Stopped cold turkey and got his car. Never smoked since. I was more a social smoker. Met my husband who was asthmatic, so gave up for him, cold turkey. Guess I should credit him with saving my health :lol: Youngest tried giving up numerous times and claimed an allergy to the patches. Finally gave up for good a couple of years ago.

I don't have an old diamond ring, let alone want a new one! Waste of money :roll:

If he is unable to eat I would put him out of his misery. Lockjaw seems to be something predatory fish, particularly marines, are more likely to get so I doubt it is the case with your neon. Some fish, like goldfish, have a tendency to swallow stones with the occasional one getting stuck. Again, I doubt the neon did this. It is possible he whacked into something and damaged his jaw, otherwise I can't think of anything else being the cause. Can't suggest a cure either sorry.

Oh dear from me too :lol: I had to research to see what adzuki beans were too :roll:

Watch out for didymo!

Hmmm, isn't Pingu a penguin? :-?

Kids left home years ago and I hate breakfast in bed so no, didn't get that. I didn't actually eat breakfast since I knew I was getting a treat at the Kekerengu Store (anyone who has been there will know the food there!) and I knew I was going out for lunch and dinner. Not fair that I have to weigh in at Weight Watchers today!!! :roll: I had a really lovely birthday, the best ever, and I don't think it has ended as I think something is going on this weekend but it is a surprise

Think of the ionised layer working as a mirror so the signal goes up and is effectively reflected, rather than refracted, so therefore it travels down as long as the ionisation is dense enough. If it's not dense enough then the signal is refracted and will proabably not come back to earth at all. At certain densities it will in fact absorb the signals and will not come back to Earth or pass through. Different layers at different altitudes and different densities all have differing effects depending on the time of day. The angle the signal hits the layer also determines whether it will be reflected back to Earth, refracted slightly, or pass right through. A signal hitting it at a very low angle will reflect back at that same angle so the distance from where it is transmitted to where it is received is much greater than if the signal goes up at a much steeper angle and then comes back at the same angle and therefore is much closer when it comes back to ground. The thinner the ionised layer, the lower that angle must be for that signal to bounce back. The frequency of the signal also has a dramatic effect on where it comes back. Some layers can reflect a vertical signal back down again. Tests are done for this called ionospheric sounding to determine the effects at different frequencies of the ionisation of the ionised layers. Check out ionosond on Google. There are websites you can look at to give you the results of ionospheric sounding as it is done by various organisations. From these you can work out what frequency to use at what time of day to get your HF signal to where you want it to be - with a bit of luck, because the angle of reflection may mean that the signal comes back to Earth either before it gets tyo you or after it gets to you so you may not hear it at all. Also check out MUF (maximum usable frequency) and ALF (alternate lower frequency) Have a look at http://www.ips.gov.au then look under "educational" and there's a huge amount of information on all sorts of stuff to do with propagation, the sun's effect etc. Are you training at Woodbourne? Feel free to contact us if you want to talk to Grant about any of this stuff. He has also run amateur radio classes. (dictated by Grant - Amateur Radio Ham and one who has worked with HF radios for many years) :bounce:

Thank you all for the birthday greetings and happy birthday too to enzoom1 and Mel :bounce: The day finished with a meal in Kaikoura as Grant got called out :roll: Rather than wait until he got home I went with him so we ate down there. A lovely meal with the staff singing me happy birthday with a candle in the hot apple pie :lol:

Not anything wrong with Fluvals. What other brands of filters do they sell? Get rid of the TV

I have someone else in another forum worried about their black moor doing the same thing, just sitting on the bottom. It comes up to feed then sinks again. I suggest you try the cooked shelled pea trick in case it is the beginning of constipation. Can't think of anything else :-?

They claimed they hadn't left the pond :roll:

Here are the rest of the pics