Caryl

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?

I wonder if he has swallowed a stone and it is stuck in his system? Goldfish are good at that. Some Epsom salts may help but perhaps someone has a better idea.

Well I certainly hope we don't find one in NZ either! Snakes are not allowed in NZ, not even in zoos, and I would love to see a real one. I think they are fascinating. Not sure I could handle the mice required to feed them though - I hate mice.

I thought Ihad replied to this but I can't find my post. I wonder if I put it somewhere else by mistake? Never mind. I don't have any medications at all. I have had occasion to use Malachite green but haven't needed to use anything for years now. I have Stress Coat on hand but it is not a medication and is used to help a fish through its problem, not cure it. I think of Stress Coat as like a fishy valium.

Like Warren, I gather all my driftwood off the beach. Our local beaches don't have any suitable (lots of wood but not suitable) so I make special trips to Hokitika. The rimu and rata washed down from the bush is beautiful. Such interesting shapes and wonderful colour. It would never occur to me to 'buy' driftwood. We are lucky to have such resources available here in NZ, free and safe (if you avoid the katipos) to pick up off the beach. I have a couple of old baths in the back yard and I keep my wood under water in these. When I need to use one it gets a good scrub with an old toothbrush and nail brush then it goes into the tank. I used to boil them first but don't bother now. I figure the salt water should have killed the bugs. Let me know if you want some Disney (give me an idea of size needed) as my husband makes regular trips to Hutt hospital so could arrange to meet you somewhere. At the moment I think the pieces are all relatively small (suit a 2ft or smaller tank).

Warren was involved in the relocation of the fish and tanks in the public Napier Aquarium when they started their rebuild. Ask him to tell you about moving them! He wrote a great article about it. Perhaps we could get it posted here when Cees starts uploading them.

When my kids were little they loved feeding earthworms to the goldfish as they stretched an amazing distance when a goldfish was pulling at each end!

I wonder if it is something in the water. I gather the algae and Ethel's slime problem occurred at the same time? Is it your own bore water or are you on a system? The council here cleans out the pipes sometimes and sends caustic stuff through. This can play havoc if you have just done a water change. A fish will overproduce slime for protection. On the other hand, she may have 'velvet' and your store will have medication for that. Does your library have any good fish disease books? Pegasus's suggestion of using Stress Coat is a good one. Think of it as fishy valium. It will not fix the cause but will help Ethel cope with conditions until they are corrected. Get some Cycle (or other live bacteria stuff) to help speed up the cycle on the other tank. Ethel may be at the surface for extra oxygen as the higher the temperature, the less oxygen in the water and she is a large lass who needs plenty! We have our fingers crossed for you and Ethel.

You would be welcome to tag along. Check this Forum under FNZAS Clubs, you will find the name and number of the Canterbury club secretary. I don't think they are particularly active but perhaps they just need some new members to come along and enthuse them!

Did they seem ok one minute then dead the next or did they exhibit some change in behaviour or something first?

Christchurch has lots and lots of fish shops! Our Marlborough club makes trips to ChCh to see them once or twice a year. The main large ones are Redwoods, The Fishtank, Animates, Petworld, Kritter Kingdom and one who's name I can't remember but recently discovered in Moorhouse Ave by Countdown (or was it Big Fresh?). Animates started off well but we have been disappointed the last few times we have visited. Not much in the way of fish or plants but we may have visited at the wrong time and a new shipment may have been due. There is a fish club in ChCh, they meet in Sydenham but appear to be very small - considering the size of ChCh and the amount of pet shops they have to choose from. Perhaps we will let you know next time we organise a trip down there, Fatman, and you can join us on our fishy tour.

Welcome Lizzy! Good to hear there are good keen members in the Kapi-Mana club. I know one or two of your members and they are a nice bunch - especially Helen who has been kind enough to pick my husband up from the ferry and get him to the hospital and back on several occasions. He has to ring and see if she is free again next tuesday Do you have any trouble keeping dwarf gouramis in with the larger ones? I could never do it as the dwarfs seemed to be very timid and were easily intimidated by the larger gouramis. I only tried a couple of times but each time the dwarfs died. Of course, it may have been something else causing the problem, like less than ideal water conditions which the larger gouramis were already used to.

At last count I think there were about 56 wineries in Marlborough but new ones seem to open every day. The landscape is getting pretty boring - miles and miles of grape vines. All the fruit trees are being ripped out to make way for grapes. We used to have a diverse base but now, if the wine industry ever falls over (disease, teetotallers taking over the world, prohibition brought in, or something wipe out the vines) we will have nothing. No more cherries, apricots, apples, blueberries, peaches etc etc etc but olives are becoming more popular. Our virgin olive oil has got rave reviews overseas apparently. How do they know if the olives are virgins? We also have several breweries. Perhaps if the brine shrimp experiment works out, one of our major exports will be brine shrimp eggs! See you at conference (assuming Grant is well enough to travel then). I think he could find his way to Hutt Hospital blindfolded by now! Helen, a Kapi-Mana fish member, has been kind enough each time to pick him/us up off the ferry and get him/us to the hospital each time. Unfortunately, we never have enough time between ferries to visit any fish shops!