Caryl

There is the North Shore Aquarium Soc that meets in the Sunnynook Community Centre on the 1st Tues of each month. 7.30pm. Kim (member here) is president

Very nice! Natural looking too - I like it

Welcome to the site. I suggest you also join the Dunedin Aquarium Club as several of their members have experience with tanks as big, and bigger, than yours. Talk to Denise at The Pet Warehouse, as she was the president last I heard and they have their meetings there. For lighting I would suggest 4 x 5ft fluorescents. I use bright white or daylight tubes in mine but you can also add the fancy spectrums. How lucky to be building the tank into the house! Make sure you have left height at the back to access the tank from above with nets as the handles stick up and get stuck.

Hi Todd and welcome. Check what size your coldwater fish get to as many will not be suitable for a 2ft tank as it is too small.

What is an L-number? Over the last few years, the hobby has seen an increase in the numbers of loricariid species offered for sale. Many new ones have been discovered, and it is proving very time-consuming for the taxonomists to fully identify the fish and give them a scientific name. To overcome this, a numbering system has been devised that gives these catfish an identity until they are described by science. As a result, you will see many of these beautiful catfish offered for sale with an L number, or an LDA number, with the L referring to the fact that the catfish belongs to the family Loricariidae. From the Practical Fishkeeping website

Welcome to the fishroom tanksman. Perhaps you may join us in the chatroom sometime. A lot of us are in there around 9pm

You can place some of them under the gravel, just under, not totally buried. How well they work depends on the power of the pump supplying the air. If you have somewhere in the tank you can put it without it being seen (behind a log or plants for instance) and without having to bury it, it will go better.

Growing well phillz!

That is a great site isn't it? Check your pH. Smails need it to be alkaline or their shells rot.

Perhaps it depends on what sort of pumpkin you use. Remember in the wild fish will try and eat anything that falls in the water so fruit would be a part of their diet if they were lucky

That may be Shae but we also know they lie!!! :lol:

They should be fine. Did they have algae on them in the river? If not, I doubt they will now. If you are really worried about it then boil them in an old pot for a few minutes.

Hi and welcome. A brackish section might be a good idea as more people are getting interested in them. I will see what I can do

I have never tried pumkin as I thought it would make a mess but obviously not if Alan_au uses it. Will give it a try.

I believe so

It is said water temp makes a difference. Warmer water = shorter gestation, cooler temp = longer gestation. Anything between 4 - 6 weeks.

He can breed them (put males and females in the same tank and try and stop them!), but it is always better to keep lines as pure as possible

I use frozen peas and just save a few when cooking them for us for tea. After I have had mine, I squeeze the remaining peas out of their skin then drop them in the tanks. Some go in whole and some are squashed, it doesn't matter. They are soft and will break up in the water anyway which is why you must be careful to see they all get eaten if you drop in several peas.

Name: Caryl Age: 46 Occupation: Own a computer company with husband Grant and work part-time as a medical receptionist. Also editor of NZ Aquarium World magazine, Fish Tales (club newsletter), and Interface (Ham radio newsletter Sex: yes Book: Scifi/fantasy and recently the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich Hobbies: fish, reading, crosswords, jigsaws and club activities with MX5 car club Family: Husband Grant and 2 kids Kelly (25) and Gareth (23) Other pets: Misty the cat Location: Blenheim Car: Honda Odyssey, Mazda MX5 and Isuzu 4WD ( I also have a bike) Favourite food: too many to name but so far maintaining goal weight (2 years so far) after losing 30kg

I believe this is quite common with discus.

They are both the same type of fish and will cross breed. Swords are just platys with long tails They are all Xiphophorus sp.

1. Can't help with ther spectrums but you can use different lights for different effects. Personally I just use daylight or bright white tubes. 2. Tropical tanks usually use flourescents as they are cheapest to run. 3. Lots of different filtration used but for a 4ft tank I would recommend an external canister filter. These filter larger volumes of water without taking up tank space. 4. Sumps are not often used in freshwater tanks but I am thinking of using one for my next tank. 5. Fish lie, this is a well known fact! :lol: It doesn't matter if she just fed them, they will act as though they haven't seen food for a week. Twice a day is plenty, just make sure you do not overfeed and all food is actually eaten.

Welcome wizard. You have photos? :lol: Maybe like the ones sent to me yesterday. People should not spontaneously take photos in front of reflecting windows when they are not wearing appropriate clothing :roll:

I don't think anyone knows how to sex them. Apparently breeding them is difficult but possible. They deposit bright green eggs beneath the surface and these adhere to stems and roots of floating plants.

Shops usually sell males only as that is what the general public wants - the males with the long pretty fins. It is the same with a number of species Plus, I would guess that if females are in short supply then fewer fry around to bring the price down by breeding heaps.