Caryl

I always thought that too calculator but saw the following in a Practical Fishkeeping article about what not to say in an aquatic store and one of them was "I must be doing something right if they’re all spawning" Their reply was... Good old anthropomorphic behaviour has a lot to answer for. We humans like to breed when conditions are good, when things are just right. We like to be in a position that we can provide for our kids – even if Jeremy Kyle would disagree with this. And what’s more, we assume that this mentality carries across the species into the world of fish. The problem is that it doesn’t always. There are many species out there that tend to spawn when things are going well and truly up the creek. Certain catfish, for example, tend to be triggered by deteriorating water quality, indicative of rainfall to follow. Some creatures will only reproduce when subject to appalling conditions as their breeding indicator. Certain inverts, too, tend to go into spawning mode when things are much less than desirable in the tank, and this isn’t an entirely freshwater phenomenon.

Have your Christmas holidays on the upper east coast of the South Island. Tonnes of limestone for free!

and they did let you in! :slfg:

Welcome. The water in ChCh used to be good for fish keeping. Not sure what it's like now.

Try not to terrify any non-English speaking attendees this time! :sml1:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/progr ... n-the-spot

Your first book was a great read so I am sure this one will be also :thup:

You will have to let us know what weta omelets taste like 8)

You can also look at "Turtle Rescue and Rehoming", Donna's site on Facebook. It has a lot of information for you, including a turtle care sheet.

Terracotta ones are great and you can often get them free if you ask the garden centre if they have any broken ones

Perhaps from one of the existing goldfish farms like Braeside Aquaria. They supply many of the pet shops around NZ so are used to shipping fish.

Learned from me I missed the typo! :facepalm:

Ben making fudge this weekend for my parents' church fund raiser. Have had to taste test them all too :bggrn: There's 5 different flavoured fudges there. :thup:

Yes. My daughter has been to that festival (she was nannying for a singer and record producer so got to stay in the VIP tent) and she said the mud there is unbelievable but nobody seems to mind. Neil Diamond - Jonathon Livingston Seagull :dnc1:

Liquid dubstep? I imagine people in gumboots trying to wade through liquifaction in their back yards :bggrn:

Yeah, the birds are cute too :gigl: :thup: Our red bellied conure liked to eat whatever Grant was eating so he had Weetbix and fruit for breakfast, fruit for morning and afternoon tea, sandwiches and biscuit for lunch and meat and veg for tea. He also got extra fruit and veg. Like our budgie, he was particularly fond of chicken!

Nice thought! 8) Pond has been refilled. Still waiting for more oxygen weed to be added and fish put back in. Wanted to get the temperature up a bit first. Grant hopes to finish a new filter today. The one we have clogs constantly so he is building a mesh cage around the inlet so it stops sucking up leaves and muck (we hope). Still no sign of the turtle :thup:

We visited the Parrot Park at Kerikeri :love:

We have been trying to get a hand reared quaker parrot for a couple of years now but no luck so far. Hopefully this season will be a good one (unlike the past two) :thup:

I think most start breeding about now. If she wants a pet it's best to get a hand reared one. Does she know how noisy they are?

I thought a lot of aquatic plants also grow emersed but it can be a slow job adapting them to submerged. Baby tears and lysimachia were two that came to mind. Mondo grass, as said, will not last submerged. Neither do peace lilies or spider plants.

I suspected damselfly nymphs as we have a lot of them about. I will put them back in the pond in that case :bggrn:

No sign of any more ants since using the bait :happy1:

What are these and are they good or bad for the pond? Alice came over and helped me lift out the plants and catch more fish. Those bronze ones really know how to blend in! Still no sign of the turtle but she may have moved out overnight - if she had sense. Filled a wheelbarrow high with oxygen weed. PS. Alice is looking forward to her share of the baking.

We have a bucket through which many holes were drilled. It was then lined with wind break material. This is working well to stop the larger stuff. Fingers crossed the pump will handle the fine stuff. It is easy to pull apart and clean, or replace bits, for that matter.