Caryl

Buy Sell & Exchange magazines are always worth a look. In Blenheim we often have tanks turn up in the weekly auction. When buying 2nd hand, check the glass for scratches and give the silicone a poke. It should be springy. If it isn't, it may mean the tank has been sitting empty for some time, or is old, and the silicone will need replacing.

Does this mean we've gotta start breeding bigger fish (since we're too small compared to cattle and sheep)? :lol:

I am pretty sure weather loaches are a banned species in NZ.

Thanks Andrew. I know others were taking photos so hope more get posted. I have just spoken to HB Aquatics and they would prefer I didn't show photos of their set-up as their tank designs are unique. Company secrets and all that. I thought that might be the case and I am glad I asked them first or I might have got into lots of trouble Warren - If you remind me of the names of your fish I will rename them instead of calling them fish 1, fish 2 etc.

And a beautiful flower it is too I assume you want our photos of aquatic plants in general and not just flowers? It certainly adds to the plant survey.

Conference was a great chance for me to meet some of The Fishroom members. It is always good to be able to put a face to a name. A fuller report, with more detail, will be in the next Aquarium World magazine. Conference started Friday night but we arrived too late to participate so I can’t tell you anything about it. The Mayor of Napier opened conference and then we listened to guest speaker Gordon Dine, a Life Member of the Hawkes Bay Aquarium Society. He had been involved in the Napier Aquarium since its original concept more than 25 years ago. Gordon talked about setting up the original aquarium and changes in fish keeping over the years. It was very interesting. After morning tea we got on with the AGM. This was very quiet for once with no major dissentions in the ranks, few interjections from the cheap seats, and no remits to discuss. Timaru have resigned citing dissatisfaction with the federation, lack of communication, and a belief that the federation doesn’t do anything anyway. They claimed no one from the FNZAS had bothered visiting them since the late 80’s. Considering they hosted a conference in 1990 and the FNZAS president in the early 90’s was Timaru member Bruce King, we found this hard to understand. Disappointment was expressed that Timaru had not voiced its concerns to anyone before now and they could have at least sent delegates to represent their club over the years. It was suggested we should drop the capitation fee from $7.50 to $5.00 next year. Hot debate followed and the suggestion finally accepted. One of the members present was from DOC and she talked a little about DOC’s position when it came to aquatics. She also had posters exhorting people not to release unwanted aquarium pets into the waterways. The best thing about these posters (in my opinion) was that each one had the DOC logo and the FNZAS logo on them. Each club was free to take posters back to their clubs. The final business of the AGM was to elect new officers. The trophies were presented to the various winners. The final decision of the AGM was on who would host conference 2004. Marlborough is hosting 2003 but no club came forward to host the one after that. It was at this point the suggestion was made to go offshore – to Vanuatu. Airfares overseas were usually cheaper than internal fares, Vanuatu used NZ currency, and it was the cheapest option out of the islands. A letter will be going out to FNZAS members informing them of the opportunity to attend. On this exciting note, the conference was officially closed. We then looked at, and judged, the entries in the video competition. The only entry in the club poster competition was from Marlborough. I was then asked to give a small talk about the display I had also made, showing what our club offered members. The display board featured examples of our club newsletter, a Beginners’ Guide booklet for setting up a tropical tank and Basic Aquarium Lighting, advertising posters, club business cards, raffle books, club yearly programmes, the FNZAS fund raising and publicity booklet, 3 fold information leaflets, a club calendar and examples of our club tank and pond competition certificates and rosettes. We then had free time before dinner at the Golden Crown Chinese Restaurant. The opportunity to then enjoy Napier’s nightlife was too tempting for some while others headed back to the Kennedy Park venue. Sunday morning started with a mystery bus tour and a visit to the local Farmers’ Market in Hastings where lots were buying fresh produce. Then we went to the British Car Museum at Hamouana. From there it was on to Kim Crawford winery (Te Awanga) for a sample of wines. Back on the bus and we were off to the Clifton Bay Café, by the gannet colony, for a delicious lunch. The most interesting stop of the day was at HB Aquaculture (Awatoto). This company breeds seahorses (currently about 60,000 of them) for the overseas market, paua (abalone for you non kiwis), brine shrimp (to feed the seahorses), paddle crabs and crayfish (aka rock lobsters). The crayfish have not been successful though as they are too slow growing. We were split into two groups and given a guided tour of the facility. It was a very interesting afternoon. Back at Kennedy Park, we had a little more free time before heading out again – this time for a tour of the new Napier Aquarium. What a wonderful place! Not only could we tour the facility at our leisure (with wine and cheese served) but we were also able to go behind the scenes and check out the huge filtration units and other machinery needed for the smooth running of the place. We could have spent a lot longer here but dinner was waiting so we wandered down the road to the Napier Cosmopolitan Club. A number of raffles were run throughout the weekend. The evening finished with a Dutch auction, then the passing over of the FNZAS banner to the next hosts - Marlborough. There were plenty of raffles and prizes handed out throughout the weekend, thanks to the generosity of sponsors. It was good to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. This year saw a number of new faces so I hope they enjoyed themselves and will return again. As usual, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and look forward to the next conference in Marlborough 2003.

Finally! I have prepared and uploaded photos Grant took at conference. They have been divided into sections. Go to http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/carylnz to see a list of my photo albums. The first one is from the 2002 FNZAS conference just held last weekend. It has pics of members at the AGM and shots taken at dinner and at the car museum. Napier Aquarium has photos taken from there (what else would it be? ) but some are a little dark due to the lighting. Warren's Tank (Fishroom Warren) is not too good as we visited at the worst possible time and the sun was shining full into the room and the tank. It still gives you an idea of what his tank looks like and what lush plant growth he achieves using CO2. Feel free to look at the other albums too as they are of various club trips, competitions and fish. Enjoy I am waiting for permission to upload photos taken from HB Aquatics. As soon as they have given the go ahead, another album will be added.

Paradisefish are legal here. I used to have a beautiful male in cold water but as he grew he got more and more aggressive. I gave him away in the end as he was hassling the other fish. He was the only one of his kind in the tank and at the time I could not find a female for him.

As far as I know, the Ancistrus, or bristlenose, is not a plecostomus, although they are often called plecs by mistake because they look so much like the Hypostomus plecostomus. Don't quote me though

Hi Zeta, Welcome. I liked your photos too. Is your fish a bristlenose or a plec? They are two different fish. A bristlenose will only grow 15cm but the plec will grow over 40cm! Rosy barbs are a shoaling fish and would be happier in a group of 6 or more. Perhaps they would not get on your nerves so much if they were in a nice group. I like the hoplos as they are a nice chunky fish with personality.

I think he may just be defending his territory and as there is only one of him and several of the others, it should not be a problem. If you want to separate the Betta, put him in a square plastic container and float it in the main tank. It will keep its temperature without the need for another heater. I use those 'critter keepers' to separate fish when necessary. A clothes peg will anchor it to the side of the tank if it has a tendency to move with the current. You can float him in a preserving jar (or similar) too and make a wire ring around the neck of the jar which then has a 'handle' which sticks out one side and folds over the edge of the tank to keep it afloat.

Welcome Chris. My husband and I were in Hamilton last week - and it was sunny! Last time we were there we couldn't see the city for the fog Nothing wrong with those of you who have goldfish as opposed to tropical. One day (I have been saying this for almost 20 years) I will have a pond in my front garden for some goldfish. Spread the good word about this site please. May I suggest you contact the Waikato Aquarium club and join up?

I would have give him more time to recover too. Another point is...it is now considered cruel to euthanase a fish by freezing as they die very slowly. The best way to kill a fish is to dash it hard onto concrete. Hope this does not put you off fish keeping! :-?

I will be doing a proper report on conference once I am home again Cees. At the moment I only have sporadic access to the Net.

Conference has been very interesting so far. I have met a couple of people from The Fishroom too We went on a mystery bus trip today and visited a winery, a British Car Museum, lunched by the gannet colony and ended up at HB Aquaculture where they are breeding seahorses (about 60,000 of them), paua (abalone for you non kiwis), brine shrimp (to feed the seahorses) and crayfish (rock lobster). This evening we are off to tour the new HB Aquarium. Tomorrow Grant and I head for a week in Mt Maunganui so hope to visit Living Waters there and meet Fee in her shop in Tirau. Bye from conference for now as our taxi will be here shortly. In 2004 it has been suggested conference be held in Vanuatu. All are keen so any FNZAS members interested had better make sure they have a passport and start saving now!

Being good I started a new topic. We used to have a vacuum siphon. It was green plastic with a thin uplift. The water went up through the device and then went through a fine mesh bag back into the tank. Any debris was left in the bag. It was pretty useless as siphons go as it did not have much power and lacked suckability It was for those who wished to clean their gravel without having to do a water change. Handy for picking up leftover uneaten food from the bottom of the tank but too slow for proper, thorough, gravel cleaning maintenance

I have no idea whether doing water changes during the cycle period is a good idea or not. I am terrible at water changes and my tanks only get them two or three times a year (if I think of it).

Is this a freshwater or marine tank? I never use anything in my tanks, especially during the cycling process. A well balanced tank should never need any sort of additive (my personal opinion). You will occasionally get a white bloom when setting up a tank but it should resolve itself after a few days. I know that when I do water changes in summer I am more likely to get an algae bloom than at other times of the year. I now don't do water changes when the local water tables are low.

Hi Karen, Welcome to The Fishroom. To calculate capacity, multiply the internal length, height and breadth in centimetres and divide the answer by 1,000. This will tell you how may litres your tank will hold. My maths is useless so doublecheck this but... 48" x 12" x 17" is 122cm x 30 x 43. Multiply and divide by 1,000 comes to 157.38 litres. Don't forget this is water only. Once you have gravel and rocks, your internal measurements will be smaller. Put the gravel in first and then measure your internal sizes as it will make a big difference. If discus are as expensive in Aussie as they are here, you will certainly want to make sure you have everything right for them before purchase! Good luck. At least you know where to come with your questions now. There are plenty of members ready and willing and able to answer most questions.

"Brackish water is halfway between fresh and marine. It is found in estuaries where the river meets the sea. Depending on the tides, or season, the salinity (saltiness) can vary greatly." So begins the article "Try A Bit Of Salt" written by me and found in the Aquarium World Dec. '95 magazine. I will send a copy of this to Cees and ask him to add it to the articles section of The Fishroom. It details how to set up a brackish tank (perhaps Midas could print off a copy to give to the shop) including what gravel, filtration, plants and salt to use. It talks about covers, lighting, hydrometers (to measure specific gravity s.g. - salt content). Also covered are what species of fishes are suitable for the brackish tank and suggested stocking levels. I will send it to Cees as soon as possible and hope it will be useful.

I have just read, in the EDAS Fishtales April 2000 magazine, that experiments seeking memory enhancing drugs are being done on the plant Bacopa monieri. They don't say whether it enhances the fishes' memory, or if it is for humans but one member reckons it must work for humans as he remembers how terrible it tasted! BTW: EDAS stands for Eastern Districts Aquarium Society (Australia)

Once again we got off topic from the original thread Perhaps we should ask Cees to move these earthquake posts to a separate thread as I am sure the information Warren has given will be interesting and useful to many but they might not realise it is here since it is under the heading Fibreglass Tanks.

The water varies from region to region. Here in Blenheim we had no problems until the council decided the pH was too acid as it was eating the pipes (pH 6.8) so they now pour tons of lime and caustic soda into the town supply. A number of people are now having algae problems they never had before and I have had reports of dead pond fish after a water change. Picton have to let water sit or use water conditioners (or agers) to get rid of the chlorine. The most successful fish breeder we had in our club lived in Renwick and had bore water. I don't know how aquarists find Nelson water (you can eat their tap water it has so much rubbish in it!).

Warren's reply was still in transit when I read the orginal post so I didn't read it until after I had posted my reply above. My wall unit is attached to the wall but I doubt it is good enough judging by Warren's information. We already had extra piles under our wooden floor so it is braced from below. The wall unit itself is 3.6m (12ft) wide and goes from floor to ceiling as it covers the whole end wall of the small end of the lounge. I do not have any chairs near the tank so no-one should get injured from it in the event of a quake. It also has a solid wooden lid covering the glass lid beneath so when all my souvenir glasses from the wine and beer festivals and the Ansonia clock and books come crashing down, they should bounce off the lid and miss the tank below. Here's hoping the polystyrene absorbs a lot of movement!

Quite frankly, I don't think most fishkeepers in NZ give earthquakes much thought when it relates to their tanks. It is a case of - fingers crossed. Besides, when the big one hits I guess we figure a cracked tank is going to be the least of our problems! I have a 1.2m tank built into a wall unit so it is enclosed on 3 sides with a raised lip along the bottom front edge. It also sits on 3cm thick polystyrene. We are on a faultline which runs up the valley so an earthquake would most likely move my tank forwards and backwards, not side to side (although the solidly built, well braced, wall unit would stop the sideways movement). Because of the way it is built into the unit, any earthquake big enough to manage to tip it forward would also do serious damage to the house itself. Having the glass break would be most likely and indeed, I have had that happen after a very minor quake caused a stress fracture. The tank at the time was 250 litres approx. and the water travelled through almost 7m (22ft) of carpeting, across 8m (26ft) of vinyl and was making its way up the hall carpet when we got up in the morning and thought - gee the floor looks shiny! Splash splash. The fish were lying on their sides, still wet but no water left. Luckily we had a second tank all set up (the one in the wall until which has almost 350 litres in it I think) as we were waiting for it to stablise before transfeerring the fish. We grabbed them and threw them into the second tank figuring not-quite-stable water conditions were better than no water at all Only one fish died. They were all big fish 15cm or over, a mixture of silver dollars, a silver shark and some acaras from memory. They all had severe scale damage on the side lying on the gravel but recovered well (except the dead one ) I feel guilty every time I see the current Earthquake Commission adverts telling us to Fix Fasten and Forget. I know the bookcases should be bolted to the wall but my newest one is not (and it has all my fish books in it!!). I have been in a big earthquake and they are no fun!! The one I remember moved our house 10cm (4") off its foundations and I can still hear the sound of the chimneys crashing down around us and the pictures and ornaments smashing at my feet. We didn't have a fish tank in those days