Caryl

Sounds hopeful to me!

Painting polystyrene is a good idea. Cardboard is another although drips show up. Black material would work too.

The latest issue was posted out this morning. Some very useful and interesting articles in it as usual

I ran an ugf for several years without ever having to clean it out (certainly not yearly!) and had good healthy plant growth over it too. If the substrate is deep enough the plants don't mind.

That is what I was going to suggest Alan.

I still find nothing wrong with undergravel filters. They are under $20 plus the cost of a pump.

We kept 2 of them in a 60cm x 30 x 30 and fed them worms.

Advertise a meeting, get interviewed for the paper (human interest story) and go from there.

We don't have chlorine in our water so I just top my tank up with water from the outside hose - cold. Think of goldfish in a pond. In summer the bask on the surface but if you go near they dive down to the bottom where it is a lot colder. It doesn't worry them. I know an elderly fishkeeper who never uses filters and never equalises his water temperature. He gets away with no filters as he understocks and does regular water changes.

To get into chat you must download the Javascript programme which is free. Can't remember the site. There are instructions in one of the other threads I htink. I will check and get back to you.

Some are fine and some aren't. I feel in this situation that ignorance is bliss :lol: I flew from Auckland to Blenheim with an ice cream container of axolotls once. The air hostess said 'eww' but otherwise didn't object. She didn't see them until after we had taken off though.

Perhaps Willie was Jewish :lol: Quite a few non aquatic plants are sold as aquatic and some do better than others. I don't think this one would last too long.

You can carry fish on the plane (within NZ) - just don't tell the airline. Get one of those nicely coloured chilly bags to put the bags of fish in and carry them with you as hand luggage.

Welcome gizzygirl and good luck with your fish.

Welcome morknmindy. You will have great fun setting up your tank. Do you have any idea of what sort of fish you like? This will help with suggestions of which ones to add first. Surely you can find someone with a pond for the goldfish? Is it a common one or does it have a fat body with fancy long fins? Common goldfish are best in a pond but the fancy ones like it a bit warmer. Perhaps you would like to meet us tonight in the chat room. A group of us are usually there from 8.30 - 9pm onwards.

Are they from Kelly's Peter? If so I can vouch for them they are gorgeous!

They are quite common but not usually noted as they are in small numbers and hide in the gravel, coming out at night. They are also harmless to fish but in plague proportions do eat fish eggs. Paradise fish - Macropodus opercularis. Temp 20 - 24C. Hardy but aggresive when spawning. Not seen very often these days either. They are bubble nesters.

It depends how cold though wok. A cold tank in Auckland would not be as cold as a cold tank in Dunedin!

Not to sell andyman but try goldie. She might part with some fry. They don't take long to grow and breed.

It is my understanding these are a result of overfeeding. Cut back on the feeding and the worm numbers will also drop. Here is what my Baensch Atlas suggests... Fill a small gauze or fabric bag with meat and at night hang it near the bottom of the tank. The worms scent the meat and will gather in quantities. If the bag is removed before morning the worms come with it. They can be destroyed in boiling water. Planarians are also eaten by macropods. I wonder if by macropods it means paradise fish? Pardon my ignorance.

and petplanet suggested furan.

A cory is a cory no matter what its colour or markings. They will happily school together.

white spot looks like salt all over the body, not one spot that keeps getting bigger.

All right Alan missed the typo :oops: . I now have a pic in my head of all these bristlenoses in kilts!

I suggest you join the North Shore club Susi. They meet in the Sunnynook Community Centre, 148 Sycamore Dr. Sunnynook 1st Tuesday of the month (except Jan) 7.30pm. Their president is Kim from Pupuke Aquariums. Their fees are $30 - family; $20 senior/senior citizen partnership or $15 senior citizen or junior. Their editor puts out a helpful newsletter too.