Caryl

Cookieskennels you are aware those posts are a year old aren't you?

Happy birthday Mark. I hope you were delighted with your Turk.

The heron is either new to the area, or only moved up to our street after cleaning out ponds further north! We have many cats drink from the pond. The netting is upsetting the smaller birds who used to bathe in the waterfall. We might have to pull the netting off that bit. The net isn't as colourful as it looks in the pics. We have now strung nylon around the edges and maybe this will do and we will be able to remove the netting. The heron will not be here long hopefully before it moves on. :roll:

Although "conjugate" is appropriate –adjective 5. joined together, esp. in a pair or pairs; coupled. :lol:

I think it's great there are now enough salties in NZ to have a dedicated site specifically for marine.

OK, came home today to find one blue heron sitting in the middle of the pond ON the netting! :evil: I then remembered I had done an article (for the November AW, due out in the next week) about pond predators so looked up what I had written 8) It said that herons were wading birds and didn't like to get their feathers wet so the pond had to be deeper than its legs (which it is, except around the edges) or the netting had to be 15 - 30cm above the water so it couldn't spear the fish through the netting. Hmmm, this required some thought as the pond is too big to practically build a framework over it. We finally decided we could thread nylon through the netting lengthwise then pull it up tight at each end. So... Grant wobbled out on the ladder and started threading nylon from the pergola to the opposite end. He then listed the aid of mother duck and over she goes!!! The nylon was tied to the tree at one end and the pergola at the other. It now looks like this As you can see, the fish were out and about, following Grant down the ladder, obviously thinking that if he fell in all their Christmases would have come at once! While the heron was there they all disappeared so obviously they have some sense! I wil keep you posted as to the efficacy of our efforts.

Not as red though and it doesn't give me the same pleasure to watch it feed as I get from the fish

That will be a cat. The bird would have eaten them :evil: We got the green as it was all they had. It will fade

As a result of this guy... We have had to do this... Not pretty but hopefully it will stop him. I found a dessicated half eaten fish body under one of the bushes while anchoring down the net. Not sure if a cat dragged it out alive or if it died and was scooped out as it floated near the edge. Wasn't the heron as it only just arrived - luckily I was looking out the window when it came in to land! I stood guard while Grant rushed out to buy some netting. We had thought of using the stiff wire stuff but it would have cost over $300. As it was, the netting was $50. One of the disadvantages of habing a large pond :-? . We had to get 4m x 10m of netting. Eventually we might get around to anchoring it in a neater manner and perhaps getting the net ends under the decking. This was a quick fix-it job.

So does anyone have any pics of these interesting, and varied, costumes?

Java fern

Bet you're not as gutted as the 2 females :lol: You will find a male I am sure.

and photos will be in the November Aquarium World Some of those shown are the 1st pace getters I think

The one on his knees is Jim R and the other is Chris, not billaney.

Fighters will attack anything with flowing fins (although there are some exceptions)

I should have remembered the Ninja Turtles as we have this on our hall wall... He is the same height as me. Many kids have drawn on our hall wall over the years. We said they could as we were going to redecorate but, since Gareth was 7 at the time I drew the Ninja Turtle, and he is now coming up 27, sa you can see we still haven't got around to redecorating the hallway! :lol: I also added Spiderman as I though he would be appropriate among the spider webs

They will love the mozzies

The fighter is seeing the guppy as a rival and will continue to attack it. Don't worry about the guppy's fins though, they will grow back. Just make sure the water is as clean as possible so it doesn't get secondary infections. You are going to have to keep them separated as the fighter will continue the attacks.

I use aluminium foil.

The plastic goes 3/4 up the sides and the mix stays slightly below the plastic top level so it doesn't rot the box.

Goldfish tend to nibble at the roots which kills off the top of the plant :-? My tank had Java fern and water sprite in it. The sprite grew faster than the fish could destroy it :lol: Duckweed I don't think you can grow lilies in it as they need a certain depth (might be wrong there).

I agree with all the above but would recommend a 45 x 30 x 30cm or 30 x 30 x 30cm tank as smallest. Remember though that your trio (assuming they are a mix of sexes) will breed so you will need space for the resulting fry.

They are very messy fish and love rearranging the substrate so plants are out as they are quickly destroyed. As you noted, a large tank (250L minimum) is needed and very good filtration. You will also have to be prepared to do frequent water changes as well. Best to keep as much equipment as possible outside of the tank or they will break it - particularly heaterstats! An under tank heat pad would be a good consideration, or the more expensive non-glass heaterstats. You can get guards for the glass ones but oscars are good at destroying them, despite the covering. They will eat just about anything and like variety. I know of one who loved bananas and would eat half a banana per day, along with other foods, both meat and vegetable. Some people like to give their oscars toys to play with. A ping pong ball for instance. Most owners say their oscars recognise them and come to meet them when they approach the tank. The one who ate bananas would continually bash his head on the end of the tank when his owner entered the room until she spoke to him, then he would happily swim off again. They are fish with character!

Hi and welcome karynjoy. You are right, your fish choices won't be compatible. I suspect one is also a marine! :lol: Of course you can keep all of those fish, you will just need a few more tanks

TM are you referring to Hokitika Waterworld (as it used to be called)? I don't think they have their big display tanks any more. Don't know what happened to the massive eels they had in them.