Caryl

Let me know how you get on with the Canterbury club Arly. Even if none of them keep marines they should still be able to point you in the direction of someone (or somewhere) who does, or tell you where to go to get the help you need. We have our national conference Queen's birthday weekend so if you have not been given assistance by then, let me know and I will speak to their conference delegates. Clubs should be encouraging members by giving good advice or help so I am keen to hear of any in our federation that do not do so. By the same token, I would be equally pleased to hear you got a LOT of help and advice! Redwood Aquatics, The Fishtank and Pet World (and Kritter Kingdom I think) all have marine tanks.

I would expect a heater to last at least 10 years. The heaterstats we have used have lasted quite a few years. If they are going to die they seem to do so within 1 to 2 years or keep going and going and going... We have an undertank home-built heat pad with a thermostat which has been going about 10 years now with no problem. The only other tank I have running has a heaterstat which must be at least 10 years old. I doubt dearer ones last longer than cheaper versions. Indeed, the dearer ones can sometimes be so full of fancy circuitry there is more in them to go wrong! Our heaterstats have all been run in a well insulated house so perhaps that makes a difference to their lifespan as they don't have to work so hard.

Breeding snails is not difficult, it is stopping them from breeding which is hard! :lol: Make sure the water is alkaline and hard or their shells will not develop properly.

Goldfish love the juicy roots and new bits at the bottom so nibble there, or do their darndest to pull the roots up so they can get at them! I had great success with mass plantings of Java fern in my goldfish tank. These are too tough for most fish to eat and goldfish are no exception. They certainly munch on it, but not as much as softer plants, and the Java usually grows faster than the goldfish can eat. You have to put up with nibbled leaves when you have goldfish but you will have less nibbled bits with Java fern. Java is a very hardy plant and tolerant of most conditions so easy to grow. Cold water does not bother it (well, not in a indoor cold water tank anyway). Good luck

Nice fish Benny. I love the archer. Is it hard to feed? Most books I've read said they only take live food.

I was interested in your second to last sentence Pegasus when you said you had problems until they added fungicide. I thought you had to make sure your paint or sealant did not contain fungicide as it was toxic to fish? Obviously not or are there different sorts of fungicides?

Hi Arly, welcome to The Fishroom. There is a club in Christchurch. Click on the "FNZAS.org is here" logo at the top of this page and look under 'clubs'. A contact name and phone number is given. I don't think any of the members have marines though. They are a very small club.

Just watching an article on TV3 about 12 arowanas at Jansens. Priced at $5000 they have already sold one. They come with CITES certificates and other information and it took a long time to get them here through the red tape.

You can only catch them during whitebait season, otherwise it is illegal. You also have to know which rivers to look in.

The trouble with keeping them in ponds is their colouring. Very hard to see when looking down. If you have a pond with a glass side so you could see them side-on underwater it would be good.

Try ringing Underwater World and asking them. I am sure they would know. The bigger ones may be aggresive but the smaller ones weren't. They just swam about in a school quite happily. Mind you, they were the only ones in the tank so they didn't have anyone else to harrass.

Inanga are coldwater fish and I think it would stress them to put them in higher temperatures. Some people say goldfish can be kept at tropical temperatures but I believe these are at the lower end of the scale (lower 20'sC).

We kept 7 inanga for a couple of years in a 2ft tank. They are a very pretty fish but my West Coast born father was horrified and said it was a waste of good whitebait. He wanted to wait until they were full grown and big enough to make a pattie out of each one There are several different species and the ones found in Marlborough don't grow very big - about 8cm from memory. Others, like the kokopu, grow like oscars. The Underwater World at Hokitika is great isn't it? I have been a couple of times now.

I have not had any personal experience breeding these fish but can tell you they are hard to sex. The female is more cloudily coloured and doesn't have any red in the edges of the fins (according to a book I looked up). The breeding water should be 26 - 28C, pH 7.5, dCH 2 deg, dGH 10 - 15 degs. Add 1 teaspoon salt or seasalt for every 10 litres of water. Fry will die if the chemical composition is not right. Fish spawn on uncovered stones, level or upright surfaces. Female lays 200 to 300 eggs, one beside the other. Eggs have a short stalk and incubation is 4 days. On hatching the fry are transferred to pits excavated in the bottom of the substrate. Both parents care for the eggs and later the fry with the male chiefly guarding territory. Fry are typically yellow black. Occasionally they feed on mucous produced by the parents. For the first 14 days, filter water through active charcoal and check pH. Then replace quarter of the water with fresh water, and later a third to a half. These fish are sensitive to chemicals. Hope this is of help to you. Good luck

Jack Dempseys are available in NZ as one of our club members has one.

I vote for black Warren. It looks very effective and gives good contrast. As you say, once the plants have grown you won't see much of it anyway.

Shops like Jansens would not bring fish of that price in if there was not a market for them. There are people out there who would pay big money for a well bred fish. To each his (or her) own I guess but I think I would prefer the small car!

We will have our digital camera with us at conference. I hope to be able to see your tanks sometime over the weekend Warren. We will have to get away fast on Monday morning though as we are heading to Mt Maunganui from Napier. We will be happy to take photos if required.

Only 18!!! You should have put a cut-off date on it Warren. It is this attitude of 'we'll get round to it' that made me step down last year. I was sick of nothing getting done and no support. If members don't pull their collective fingers out I can't see the FNZAS lasting much longer I hope our registrations arrived safely?

My book says they grow to 25cm and are hard to sex but the male is slimmer and his genital papilla is pointed whereas the female's is short and blunt.

That is good to hear Benny. Everything I could find out about them said they were very picky eaters and would only eat live foods so it sounds like you are lucky to have one which will eat pellets.

I liked the 'morning tear' too Andrew but didn't dare mention it as Cees already says I am too picky where his spelling is concerned I thought it more likely to have an afternoon tear on Saturday after the AGM though. See you at conference and perhaps we can cry on each other's shoulder :lol:

Welcome to The Fishroom Benny. I like gouramis too. What is a BGK? I also have not heard of the eartheaters, they sound interesting. This is the only site I belong to. I was the first one to join and Cees (webmaster) used me as a guinea pig to find out what worked and what didn't as I had never participated in a group like this and had no idea what to expect. I told him that if I could figure out how to sign up and send in posts then anyone could!

They eat small fish, worms, insects and crustaceans. Guppies would be the easiest feeder fishes I imagine as they are not called the millions fish for nothing!

According to what I have read (and I had to look up what this fish was ) they are difficult to keep and eat live foods. Perhaps it has to wiggle before they will eat it?