Caryl

Thank you. Has someone actually got the Common Seal mentioned in the constitution? I know it had been lost for many years and I have never seen it used in the 30+ years I have been a member of the FNZAS. Asking out of curiosity.

Google tells me (I have no personal experience with pukekos) that they are tribal birds so if you release one back to the wild the other pukekos will kill it. Apparently they can be great pets when hand raised so being on its own won't worry it. They have a life span of around 9 years.

I went tropical freshwater as I wanted an easy care aquarium that required little maintenance and would not be a problem when I went on holiday. As much as I love looking at marine aquariums, they are too much work for me. Good luck and show us your progress.

OK then. You need to look at the basic differences between the two and decide if you have the money and time to devote to a marine (I guess I should not mention a native marine which is easier and cheaper than a tropical marine). If not, go freshwater. Money and time are the main differences between the two. The money part especially will be ongoing. If neither money, nor time, are problems, then you need to decide which you like the look of the best as there are different pros and cons for either option with too many variables.

As you know, cost is the biggest factor with marines being more expensive to set up and run. Have you thought about hedging your bets and going brackish? ?

What to do depends on the outcome you wish to achieve. If you only have a small pond, and no room for more fish, then there was no need to do anything. You could just leave the fish alone and they would do what comes naturally then eat most of the fry. One or two might survive this. As you decided to try and raise some fry, why not put the original fish back in the pond and raise the fry in the paddling pool? You can't raise goldfish in a bowl as they are very messy fish and produce too much waste. No gear needed.

Solder is only about 60% lead. On it's own it would too soft. You need a flux too. What are you trying to do?

The browns are reproducing as well.

Don't know if it is one of the previously seen two or another one.

Terrible photo as glass was dirty and lots of reflections from surrounding windows but I wanted to get some photos before they disappeared again. There is a teenage ancistrus (the one on the left side of the aquarium, you can just see a bit of the head) and 2 fry. You can just see dad's bristles bottom right

When you buy several fish from a somewhere, chances are they are from the same spawning or hatching, so the same age. This means you can get several die at once, not because they have a disease, but because they are the same age and dying of old age at similar times. I doubt the pH has anything to do with your problems. I have often seen a group of fish bully a single one that has been added at a different time.

This is not something I have come across before. I did a quick online search and found another fishkeeper with the same problem in his X-ray tetras but nobody had any ideas in that forum either. ? It does seem odd that you have lost a few fish, all seemingly for different reasons. Do you have a test kit to check the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? Water changes are all well and good but do you know what the council is adding to the water? Our local water used to be good but now the council adds lime water and caustic soda to raise the pH as it was corroding the pipes. I know of local fishkeepers who have had major algae problems since council started doing this but have not noticed any difference myself, probably because I am a terrible fishkeeper and do not do regular water changes! My tank is heavily planted and the fish load is small. Every time you add a medication to the water, you are upsetting the nutrient cycle, possibly meaning it has to go through a full cycle again. I rarely add anything to the water, especially if I do not have a definitive diagnosis of the suspected disease. If a fish needs medicating, I separate it and treat it in a small container. That just made me think - if it is only one fish getting sick at a time, it is unlikely to be something wrong with the tank as a whole or you would get several sick fish at once. It is new fish that are dying? Perhaps they already had something while in the shop. Do you quarantine your fish before adding them to your main tank?

I find mine in farm water troughs too but I guess they are in short supply in Auckland ?

Bugs would be interesting. Just make sure their container is escape proof ?

As far as I know it doesn't matter as they are found all over the place.

The shrimp will be fine and can take 5 - 26C. Not sure if you will be able to open this link...

Catching and letting go back where you caught it should be fine. No problem taking fish between islands. I transported fish in large 30L(I think) barrels with leakproof lids but they are dark blue so not see-through. I got them from a paint shop. They were used to bring paint powder into the country so maybe they are now using clear ones? You can lie them on their sides and they don't leak. I have never had any success with cling wrap for stopping leakage.

I can't see any sign of redness around the gills or rapid breathing, indicating parasites or other nasties or I would wonder if something was infecting the barbs you added 2 weeks ago. I am assuming you did not quarantine them first. Water temperature OK? Sorry I can't offer any other advice.

Is this the same tank your other sick fish was in?

I Googled car aquarium and got lots of interesting ideas but not quite what you had in mind ? The Chinese have produced a car with an aquarium built into a seat rest console. I'm sure there is a way to build your idea but, if the idea is to introduce your daughter to nature, I would be inclined to catch stuff to put in a holding tank, wherever you stopped. Find out all you can about what you have found in that location, then let it all go again before you move on.

I believe it is very good for biological filtration as it removes nitrates so helps reduce algae. It is grown above water with only the roots submerged. The roots should grow very well and provide good cover for fry. Some put them in hanging baskets on the top edge of the aquarium, no good if you have a lid that totally covers it, or put it in a hang on the back filter.

The subject heading was still correct though and he did ask if anyone had them available now ?

I thought it more likely to be injury than disease. Sorry he didn't survive but you tried your best.