Caryl

Well, despite the night temperatures dropping to 10C, as soon as I added my tropicals to the pond, I notice the odessas were spawning this morning. Hopefully the golden barbs will do so too. They have the leftover plants from my 4ft tropical I cleaned out last weekend plus yesterday I gathered oxygen weed from the river and have weighted it down in the ponds with rocks. The fish don't seem to mind young Liam (Jude's grandson. The 2 of them have been visiting here) playing with a motorised boat in their pond either :lol:

Tell me who you are looking for Jim or what you want to do. I like doing secret squirrel stuff

We went with our torches to see what we could see. We saw lots of fish, glow worms and wetas. We didn't see any eels or carnivorous land snails. Have a look here to see what we got up to. If anyone can name the fish that would be good. I think the pair are whitebait.

Pufferfishnz the BBQ was last Saturday! We had a great time with about 14 people attending. We were sheltered from most of the wind in our garden corner and nobody fell in the fish pond. I did go wading at one point as I was asked how deep it was. I can now tell you - it is exactly knee deep (if they are my knees) :lol: A new president will be voted in at the AGM in March, along with the other positions. We decided it was easier to wait until then than call a special meeting to appoint a replacement for a couple of months. If you wish to put yourself forward as president (or any of the other positions) please let us know, or if you know of someone you think will be suitable 8)

NEVER medicate a fish unless you are sure of the disease for which you are medicating. Does this sound like it?... Gas Bubble Disease is caused by a sudden dramatic change in gas pressure in the aquarium. This can happen by changing too much water at one time or by adding cold water to the fish tank. Gas bubbles form in the fins and skin of the fish. The bubbles look like blisters and are very easy to see. The skin will crackle if you run your finger across it. If not treated in time, gas bubbles in the bloodstream will kill the fish. The treatment is to add alot of aeration to the aquarium. Lights should be left off to minimize stress. If you see alot of bubbles that have already popped, consider adding a general antibiotic to guard against secondary infection

Should i seperate the baby fish who are not bloated or off balance and feed them as usual while the others go on their shelled pea diet? No Another "silly" question but how many peas for 4 med sized goldfish? There are no "silly" questions. Start with one pea. If they eat it all add another etc until they stop eating the peas (assuming they have been willing to eat peas in the first place. Some won't). Their scales are not sticking out- that i can tell- as they are constantly on the go!!! What does it mean if they are? Looking like a pinecone (when seen from above) can be a sign of dropsy. Sorry if i offended anyone with my "pregnancy" question You did not offend anyone!

I have lots of plants left over. One of our club members is about to set up their 6ft tank again so they need all the plant they can get.

and after the strip down

...After I stripped their tank down this afternoon! They have never had it so bright 8) The plants had got so overgrown there was not much swimming space. Root systems were tangling everywhere and the rotala and some other plants had taken over. Here it is before I started... It was a good opportunity to find out what I had in there as it was hard to see many fish at once. I knew I had a few bristlenose fry. I found 16 I had one more golden barb than I started with and these have now gone out to the paddling pool The odessas had had more fry than I thought too and numbered 16. The big ones went into the other paddling pool Missing were 2 hengelis (one was found in the fliter) and 3 rummy noses. Total overall was 66 fish. Since a number are being housed elsewhere for a while, there are currently 28 fish back in the tank (I think) :roll: Anyone want BN fry? Common brown variety.

I haven't got a tank for mine either but will have to get one now :lol: After we return from overseas I will be in touch with TM as he makes lovely tanks

Anyone know what this bug is? :-?

I just sent my son down to Animates to get me a Fluval FX5 and media, after you lot said they were half price. Haven't got a tank to put it on but it pays to have a spare filter lying about doesn't it? :lol:

Email it to me Sally and I will put it up for you.

Quite a few members seem to use the automatic sprayers with no problem. I spray for flies in my home but not at the same end of the room where the tank is situated. My tank has a glass lid with a wooden one over top of that so I doubt it would matter but I prefer to play safe

Grant is learning how to use his new Canon EOS450D and EFS60USM lens. These bugs are all over the place and when they bite I come up in huge whelts. They are only about 1mm long but vicious! This one was sitting on one of those plastic fold-out picnic tables... We lit a mozzie candle and that seemed to keep them at bay. Pity it didn't work on the flies as well :roll:

I am not forced to watch soaps or sport (unless you count endless reruns of Top Gear) but I do have to listen to the National radio station when Grant is at home. Thank goodness he often isn't! :lol: When he is home we are usually both working in the same room so have to compromise who listens/watches what. :roll:

You should have seen us (Wgtn club members and Marlborough members) in a motorcamp at ChCh passing over plastic bags of plants and chilly bags of aquatic organisms to people pulling up outside our unit! :lol:

You mean there are people out there who actually watch the soaps and sport on TV???

Remembered to pop into the council building today. No native fish display. They said they had one set up once but had difficulty maintaining the tank to suit the inhabitants' requirements so it now had a very large angels, some danios and kribs in it, along with a few others I can't remember.

Anyway, let's get back on topic eh? :lol: pufferfishnz I have PMd you with contact details for a local breeder of dwarf lop eared rabbits

He would just look daggers at someone while he ran them through with his sword :lol:

I haven't seen rabbit meat in supermarkets for a number of years either. My dad used to breed and kill them for the local supermarkets but that was a long time ago.

You can give us the auction number. It is the direct link that causes a breach of guidelines.