Caryl

I am still confused as to which group it is you are an active member. :dunno: :-? :oops:

Born this morning - the next generation of fish keepers... Introducing Theodore (Theo) Lucas Emanuel Simpson :love: Named after his great grandfather (my dad)

Active member of MAC?

Welcome. There is plenty of information on the main webpage too.

Picton (there's an aquarium on the waterfront) and the Sounds. Explore Queen Charlotte Drive (watch for idiot tourists in camper vans). Yealands eco winery is interesting even if you don't drink. Pelorus Bridge area. Walk the Vernon Lagoon. Rarangi and White's Bay. Not sure what your interests are.

Whitebait? :dunno: Stella might know.

I disagree The smaller the tank the fewer species you should have. Larger numbers of one type look a lot better than a few of several.

Do not get any short finned varieties as these should be kept in ponds. 120L or 3ft long would be minimum suitable size for an aquarium. I gather plants from the local river so save a fortune when they are uprooted or eaten The fancier types do not destroy plants like the faster, short finned varieties. Make sure you have very good filtration.

There is good group of fish keepers in Christchurch.

Hi and welcome. You can't get better than Adrienne when it comes to Betta advice

We had a 120L tank which was slightly easier to cool than the 250L but both required daily (sometimes more) input of 3L frozen containers. The poor freezer was running non-stop trying to keep up. This was in a room which could reach 28C in summer and we needed the tank at 15C. The temperature difference was too much. We have since bought a chiller (long after the tank was dismantled - just in case we decided to set it up again) and it will still be in the garage somewhere. Anyone who has seen our garage will understand why I am unsure exactly where :bggrn:

I have a 900mm (width) x 400mm x 300mm (high) Also have other sizes stored in the roof I think (all smaller). Got lots of filters, heaters, gravel (black and dark brown) etc lying about plus lots of other fishy stuff if you ant to come and look.

Fans, Slikka pads or frozen water bottles won't have a hope in summer.

:iag:

I thought there was already one in that area? They took many of Donna's rescued turtles after the Christchurch earthquake.

I am one of those who would say any short finned goldfish should be in ponds. Even 70L is way too small for goldfish. If you must put them in a tank I would start with a minimum 3ft, 120L and go up from there as they grow.

Could be, or just sorting out the pecking order. I used to breed barbs outside over the summer months so they had plenty of space. I would buy the kiddy pools from the Warehouse (3m diameter high sided ones, about 1m high from memory) then weight down clumps of oxygen weed (gathered free from a nearby river) and fill the pool. Once the temperature had reached a minimum of 25C and stayed relatively high overnight as well, I would add the fish then leave them as long as the weather stayed warm enough. Plenty of insects and other critters would end up in there for food. At the end of summer I could slowly drain the pool and catch the resulting fry, which grow much faster and bigger than tank bred fry. They seemed a lot more colourful too but that may have been because of the large number triggering more realistic behaviour and colour than smaller numbers in smaller tanks.

What size?

There are quite a few if Trade Me is anything to go by Sally J, a member of this forum, has a lovely marine tank. If you set up a tank and need rotala I am once more over-run with it!

As they are all franchises, it varies from area to area.

If it is indeed robustum then I suggest you leave it alone so it can get established well again in the wild.

As M robustum is rare to find in the wild, and only in select places, these days bets are good you have not found some. Try using Google as there is a lot of information to find. I found this on the NZCPN site... Features Perennial aquatic herb which if in pools of water is firmly rooted to the bottom. Stems spongy, inflated up to 1.5 m long, emergent portion 300 mm tall, erect to prostrate. Submerged leaves in whorls of (4-)5-7, (15-)20-35 x (4-)6-10 mm finely divided, pectinate with 26-32 pinnae, brown, these diminishing in size toward water surface. Emergent leaves glaucous, tinged red, narrowly ovate to oblong, apex acute, otherwise similar to submerged leaves. Flowers perfect. Sepals 4, ovate to deltoid 0.6-0.8 x 0.5-0.6 mm, petals 4, weakly hooded, 2.5-4 x 1-1.5 mm. Fruits globular to slightly turbinate, 1.5-2 x 2-2.5 mm. Similar Taxa Similar to the naturalised M. aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. From which it differs by being monoecious (males and females on the same plant), the exposed stems usually pink coloured and by the leaf tipes which are acute rather than blunted ended

Cam I bet you say that to all the boys Looking good! :cophot:

:cophot: and great looking aquarium :thup:

We have just finished demolishing 43m of fence ready for the new one to be started :happy2: