fishplants

Nice idea with the superglue. I normally use nylon fishing line but that can be quite tricky. Nice plants too!

My Red Barclaya flowered and then died off, as did my Green Barclaya at roughly the same time (same tank). After 9 months the Red Barclaya is growing again :happy1: but no sign of the green at this stage. :dunno:

Not a big piece by our standards!

No worries! There is quite a bit of confusion and uncertainty around the Anubias species in NZ (as with a lot of aquatic plants). There are more types available in Australia, but the prices I saw in a Melbourne petshop had me wincing, between $40 and $60 AUD for a piece of Nana Petite or Afzelli!

It's not Anubias Barteri var. Barteri, it is Anubias nana var. Barteri. The leaves are unusally large due to the situation it was grown in. If you think the leaves are big on that piece, wait 'till I get my Anubias Barteri Barteri going (if I don't kill it in the interim!) Pleased you are happy with the plants!

Persistence is the key with any algae. I have rarely found any ‘easy’ option works, ie just add 20mls of chemical X and all the problems will be solved. There is one notable exception to this, and that is Flourish Excel, which I have used successfully on BBA as many others have. I have also (partially) successfully used Flourish Excel to control the same string algae you are currently fighting. Not as the direct chemical contact that kills BBA, but by essentially ‘starving’ the algae of nutrients. Excel is an organic carbon, and dumping lots of it into your tank will encourage the proliferation of bacteria, hence the water goes cloudy. These bacteria consume a lot of nutrients (and O2 BTW), effectively starving the algae that gains it’s nutrients from the water. The reason I said ‘partially’ is that, while the visible algae disappeared within a day or two, it came back a few weeks later, but not as vigorous. It was then a matter of fertilising the root structure of my plants, keeping up with water changes, removing excess waste etc. The small amount of string algae slowly declined and has not been visible for the last two months, and my plants are growing stronger. Complete blackouts (no lights and tank covered in a duvet for 3-5 days) can knock this algae back, but I have tried this several times, and have found the string algae comes back just as strong. I believe this is caused by weakening of my plants each time a blackout occurs, and when the lights come back on the algae is able to respond first to the relative abundance of light and nutrients. So, as with most algae, it is a combined approach that works, there is very rarely a ‘one shot fix’ for algae. Hope that helps.

When I was breeding discus I used this method: - drill a number of 10-12mm holes in the bottom of a 20l bucket - multiple layers of filter wool (dacron) in the bottom of the bucket - fill the rest of the bucket with pre soaked peat, to the point that would allow say 5l of water to be poured in without overflowing. - this bucket is placed on supports over another bucket. - pour your 5l of tap water into the peat bucket, and walk away. - in the catching bucket will be some extremely acidic water, with an extremely low TDS. - mix this with your tap water to get the desired PH/TDS for your breeding tank. This may seem cumbersome but has the advantage that it is cheaper than RO, takes up less room than an RO unit, and is more precise than just adding peat in a bag or in a filter. I would pour the water into the system in the morning before work and then use it for w/c in the evening. Note that the water in the catching bucket is extremely low in PH, so I wouldn't recommend using that without diluting with tap water. Hope that all makes sense.

We would always catch them at the mouth of the Waimak (Canterbury) when spinning for salmon. We would (accidentally) foul hook them but they would also take the spinner when retrieved close to the bottom, testament to their ambush skills and diet.

I am aware of E. Leopard and E. Ozelot, A. Minima and C. Parva in NZ.

Hey Joe, I really like it and so do my fish!

I don't have a lot of experience with fancy plecs, but as Adrienne hinted at, loaches are not that good with them. Loaches tend to dominate the bottom and subsequently the plecs stay in hiding. Clown loaches are extremely outgoing as far as loaches go. Due to a persistent snail issue in two of my fancy plec/Discus planted tanks, I have introduced two Angelicus loaches into each tank. In my experience these are quite shy (but awesome snail eaters), and so far seem to be fitting in well with the fancy plecs. In fact, I see the plecs more than I do the loaches!

Hey there, Organism in Christchurch sell a wide range of their products. The ingredients list is very impressive. Don't know if sold elsewhere in NZ?

Thanks Jen.

Having no plant for two years while the seedlings germinate!

I keep two L066 in a 5 footer, along with 4 Gold Nuggets. No problems there at all. If you want 2 Kings, buy them. BTW, I got my Kings from HFF too.

Thanks Jen. Will removing the flower stem prevent dieback of the parent plant? As you know, this tank has only been set up since November, I don't really want my nice Red Barclaya disappearing this soon! Thanks

Thanks KP! :thup:

Yeah Luke, I definitely meant are cheap! By time you add up equipment, medications, chemicals, food, power, water, and most of all - time (and the strain on relationships!) discus prices are definitely low compared to the costs. But they are awesome fish!!!!!!!!

Because they are unique with their large laterally compressed bodies, and often stunningly marked. The reason they are expensive is because of that, but also because they can be very difficult and time consuming to breed, successfully. As fry they are very susceptible to poor water quality and illness and often die for no apparent reason. They will also not grow without large frequent waterchanges, as much as 90%, as often as twice per day, every day. Add all that up, and Discus are cheap.

Was so impressed with your skills and success KP, that I had a good look at my Red Barclaya and Green Barclaya and noticed they both have a single flowerspike! The Red Barclaya was only a small pup that I got in Nov/Dec last year, so I am surprised at the flower spike so soon. Will be interesting to see if the spikes will reach the surface, half a metre away.

I had one tank of growout fish, juveniles to sub adults. They would go through periods of a similiar annoying/upsetting behaviour. No matter how cautious you were around the tank, one would do a mad dash and the rest would follow, crashing into things and damaging their bodies. Then they would be fine for a long period of time and then revert back to the silly behaviour. Discus are rather complex when it comes to their emotional side, but are aslo quite simple at times and the 'pack mentality' rules their behaviour ie one dashes so they all do. I have given up worrying about their swings in mood, and mad dashing, and not eating. I now just leave them to it and they always sort it out, eventually. Spawning Discus will always change the mood of a tank full of Discus, but I have never had the mad dash behaviour caused by a spawning pair. Two of my discus community tanks are producing 3 lots of fry every week, and there is no mad dashing, just lots of territory defence. Hope that helps?

They retail generally for around $170-$200, although it is possible to get them cheaper than this.

Yes, 5 foot 400l.........soon! Currently I have these three plus another L018 in a temporary 45 litre tank until the earthquake repairs are finished on the house. There is no fighting at this stage, although they are all young. They all share the same piece of driftwood and seem to have an uneasy truce!

No, you cannot catch them and take them home as pets. They are listed on the Gamebird Schedue and as such, have legal protection. To do so could result in a hefty fine and confiscation of property.

Sheepsnana - the discus made a full recovery surprisingly and have grown into nice adults. Embarrassingly, this has happened three times, and there appeared to be no long term damage to any of the fish. When I catch trout and salmon I too kill them immediately with a very sharp blow to the back of the head. I hate seeing fish thrown into a fish bin alive, to suffocate slowly.