Caryl

You mean you don't go for the AGM alone? :lol: I am really looking forward to this year's conference. It sounds like Mitch and the team have pulled out all the stops. Oh yeah, I am sure the AGM will be interesting too :lol:

Some of the ChCh shops have websites. Redwoods, www.redwoodaquatics.co.nz Petworld, www.petworld.co.nz Animates, www.animates.co.nz TM in here has Critter Kingdom in Stanmore Rd so you could send him a PM. I would also ask at Organism (cnr Ilam and Clyde Rd) 03 351 3001. No competition in the top of the south so prices will be higher. ChCh has the best selection in the country as I have heard a number of North Islanders (including Aucklanders) say they wished they could get the selection they have in ChCh. It is possible someone up north bred the blue rams and sold them to his/her lfs which is why one place has them but no one else seems to. If a tank is deeper than 45cm it stops the light from reaching the bottom of the tank adequately (due to refraction and stuff).

and I, as editor of the Aquarium World, appreciate the effort pies puts into his regular marine articles. They always attract positive comment and interest.

No, they need to write to the FNZAS asking to join. A letter is then sent to all affiliated clubs asking if anyone has objections to this. If there are no objections after 3 months they are affiliated to the FNZAS (on payment of the YB levy and capitation fees of course). I am sure if they want to send observers to conference there would be no objections. They haven't asked to do this though. Mind you, after sitting through the AGM they might change their minds! :lol:

Vallisneria likes a lot of light by the way and so do a number of swords.

It was and he did - a good time was had by all

Enquiries on how to do that have been made Alan

Quite a few plants are adaptable when it comes to temp. You may find some will die off after time though.

Will do so later

pH won't be your biggest problem either, it will be the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates that will give you an idea of what is going on. Did you get test kits for these? The Nitrates and ammonia in particular. Things would have gone well until the toxins built up over time - around the 2 - 3 week level which is why things were OK to start with. Whoever advised a 24 cycle time was gravely mistaken, as you have found. African cichlids in the wild live in a pH of around 8.0 plus. Mine live in 7.0 as that is the pH the breeder bred them in and they have never known any different. They are living and breeding happily at that pH, it is not critical. This also saves me having to try and alter the pH as my tap water is 7.0. I doubt any treatment given the plec would have triggered this off, just coincidence (assuming you followed the instructions). Wait until the tank has stabilised then give us a rundown on what fish you have left and we can check stocking levels then. Good luck! 8)

I don't know a website off hand but find this book very helpful The Rockpool Fishes of New Zealand, Te Ika Aaria O Aotearoa by Chris Paulin and Clive Roberts ISBN 0-908953-01-1

Tim if your son is going to charge you interest I suggest you start charging him for food and lodgings

The school kids would be cheaper and do a better job :lol:

There is always interest Tim. The biggest problem seems to be we have to order such large numbers to make it economical

NZ is right on top of several major fault lines. They are always a worry and there is always active fault movement. I have never noticed my animals reacting pre-quake (indeed, my cat slept through the last one we had) but they said the local elephants all tried to head for higher ground just before the tsunami.

I would put 'zoomy' fish in a long tank rather tan a hex so they don't keep hitting the sides. I prefer measurements of length rather than litres. As stated, it is surface area that is more important. Angels are well suited to hex tanks as they just cruise slowly, as do the fancy goldfish but shoaling fish which 'zoom' are much better in a longer tank with more zooming room Filtration and maintenance also have an effect on stocking levels.

Just a one off documentary.

Last night in the chat room Jude said her gouramis were going berserk, leaping all over the place and going nuts. All other fish were fine. We then hear on the news a big quake hit Sumatra in the early hours of this morning. Now, pearl gouramis come from this area - coinicidence? :-? Do gouramis have a telepathic link to their cuzzies in Sumatra?

We did pour it through nets! The biggest problem was the build-up of mulm on the bottom. Luckily the barbs kept trying to wriggle their way up through the muck in the bottom of the nets. Boy can they jump! :lol: When we tipped the pool up it only had a small amount of water left in it.

It isn't the quick water temps that are a problem, it is the constant high temps in summer (depending on where you live of course )

http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=3725 I used to have a rock pool marine and needed a chiller in summer. Most fish caught in the sea grow too big for an aquarium but rockfish and triplefins from rockpools look cool. Mt tank was 3ft x 1ft x 1ft with an AquaClear filter. It had sea anemones, sea cucumber, hermit brab, starfish, brittlestars, chitons, shrimps, a rockfish, triplefins and anything else we could catch in the rockpools. We topped the tank up when required with fresh sea water and gathered sea lettuce for the inhabitants to eat. Luckily we are only 20 minutes from the beach.

Finished the job today. I now have slimey green concrete :lol: and an empty pool. Final head count - the 8 originals plus today's count of 54 fry makes a grand total of 126 fry. There were probably more but we got sick of catching them and some were so small they were hard to see so are possibly floating about in the driveway from when we tipped the pool up to get the final water out. They are now inside in an unheated standard size 3ft tank with a Shark internal filter. Not sure if the small ones will survive in there with the parents but never mind. :-? The plants were just big clumps of oxygen weed pulled from the park and weighted down with rocks. They survived well (until I pulled them out of the pool, they are now a bit dried out) and stayed healthy despite not being planted in substrate.

That was it. It wasn't A pond though, it was several. The view didn't show us the rest so I don't know if they are all linked or whether you can walk between them. I would assume so for cleaning etc.

The thing is, you must add the fish slowly, not all at once. Fish produce waste which is attacked by good bacteria which builds up in the filter as a result of the fish excreting. Adding too many fish at once means the bacteria can't reproduce fast enough to keep up with the wastes produced. A tank, by the way, should NEVER smell foul.

They do it in Wgtn too critter_guy but that programme was based on the North Shore/Sth Auck/Auck Fishkeepers interclub competition. Good to put faces to names and recognise a few I have met before The tanks looked good and I loved Maurice's pond!