Caryl

Hi Annie and welcome. Obviously Bill knows you from somewhere else. Doesn't the internet make the world smaller?

I've never seen a country wearing a dress, must have taken a lot of material! :lol: Has someone painted parts of Melbourne black? 44 degrees is a bit hot isn't it?

There's my problem, I haven't got an Uncle Bob!

A number of people cultivate their own worms to feed their fish. You have to be careful when collecting them that they have not come from somewhere which has been sprayed with anything toxic. My kids used to love feeding garden worms to the fish and see how far a worm would stretch between 2 fish before it broke!

There was something in my article that confused you or you are just confused between the two bits of information? The information used in that article was taken from a book by Dick Mills and magazine articles, it was not based on personal experience.

NEWS FLASH!! Suspected Terrorist Caught In Sydney Pet Shop! A suspected terrorist was arrested today after being caught in an outer Sydney suburban petshop. Armed with a digital camera, she was seen acting suspiciously near the BBS hatchers. It is thought she may be planning to train brine shrimp to carry miniature missiles to blow out the supports on the harbour bridge. A search of her home is currently being undertaken. So far, long lengths of black plastic piping and a large hot water cylinder have been confiscated.

Love your post Frank. I am not a fan of the big fish and much prefer large shoals of small fish. Isn't it good that this hobby provides such a wide variety of shapes and sizes to fit all requirements? A lot of guys seem attracted to fishkeeping for the technical side of it and spend hours and sometimes $$ building something that is readily available in the shops. But at least we wives know where you are!

Welcome to the board frank, we hope you enjoy yourself. We had an odd ball in the back yard the other day but we threw it back over the fence to the neighbour's - it was their basketball. :lol:

Gee some people's relatives are more useful than others! :lol:

I can't see that anything is wrong. If your oscar is placid, eating and looks well then don't worry about it. Not all oscars are temperamental.

A lot of the fish shops in Christchurch use cascading tanks for their plant displays. Some of the cascades bend in the middle to form a right angle.

That's a helpful answer Jo. You would have a good idea of what's what being in the aquarium rental business. Very helpful reply.

Hi Frances, good to see you finally introducing yourself. I gather you have been looking around here for quite awhile. As you can see, we don't bite (well, not hard anyway). I have an aunt and uncle in Rotorua. Do you still have that aquarium place in the centre park? Run by Jo I think her name was?

Hi Colin, good to see you. Have you got much smoke coming your way? I saw the news last night about the fire on the Mt.

Sorry we got off-topic cat. I found I got too confused searching the net about cichlids as there was so much information, some of it contradictory, and too many cichlids. Find someone who breeds them and ask them to take you through step by step. I hope to have electric yellows, blues and peacocks too My tank is now sitting at 7.4. The breeder I spoke to said all his fish were second generation and were only in 7.4 too so I won't have to muck about with the pH when I do water changes.

You are probably too late already goldie!

The shape of the plant in the link is correct but mine is the same dark green colour all over so I guess it is a sempervivum. Organism (I keep calling them Orgasm!) gave me an information sheet on how to look after my Venus Fly Trap. I will keep your offer of some later on in mind thanks Andrew.

We certainly did have a good time. I enjoyed meeting macka and his fishes and catching up with goldie. We saw a few shops and bought lots of plants but couldn't get any fish as my tank ammonia level was too high. Andrew gave us contact with a fish breeder so we got to visit him and his fishroom too. All in all it was well worth the time and effort to go down. This is the fun side of fishkeeping and what I enjoy most about my club and the FNZAS. They allow me to meet many fishkeepers who I would otherwise not know existed.

I don't think my cactus is a cactus as it is not prickly. Must be a succulent. It's sort of shaped like a flower with lots of smaller identical 'flowers' growing all around the edge. The other plant is a Venus Flytrap. It was a hard decision as there were several interesting looking ones to choose from.

Yes, take it back to the place you bought it from as it will be covered by the Consumer Guarantee. Make sure you are polite about it though. Not only is this more respectful but you will usually find them more helpful.

What sort of bulb were you using? They recommend changing fluorescents on tanks every 6 months but I never do as I can't afford to do so. I often use those short fluorescents that fit an ordinary socket. They work well. I always buy daylight or bright white tubes from a wholesaler so can't tell you whether pet shops are more expensive than lighting shops.

There are several different species of what are commonly called fritters, er whitebait. Our local ones stay small and grow about 8cm. Go visit underwater world at Hokitika to see some giant whitebait.

Lime will increase your pH. Our council adds it to the water supply as the acid water (was 6.8) was eating away the pipes. The supply at my house is now about 7.0 - just right for most but I want it higher for the Africans.

Organism have some beautiful fish in there and the cleanest tank (and shop) I have ever seen. I bought a carnivorous plant there, a cactus, and some aquatic plants. Couldn't get any fish as my new tank set-up has awfully high ammonia readings at the moment. Stopped at the Ure river on the way home and got some limestone to help the pH in the African tank I am setting up.

Do they sell the inanga for the same price as those in the supermarket?