hovmoller

Testudo hermanni
 
 

After taking eggs last Tuesday (22nd August) the first fry hatched this morning with another couple well on the way. I only kept about 15 or 20 eggs this way then collected another 20 to 30 on the Thursday and Friday placing them on peat. I will hatch them in another couple ofweeks. This week Ive been picking eggs daily and placing on peat so will give them 2 to 2.5 weeks before hatching. So much easier hatching from peat as you get the fry all the same size.

Got a new batch of fry (A-line) over the last weekend so I now have approximately 200+ new Geophagus orangeheads to grow out.
There are still around 50 juveniles from the first batch; might do a clearance sale soon.

The loaches are in!! I think some of them are a little confused, when I opened the curtains this morning there was a group of about a dozen of the smaller ones swimming around mid-level in the water column schooling with the Lemon Tetras (who are a similar size)! The tank is certainly a lot busier now, the loaches are pretty active already, I was a bit worried they'd vanish into the wood pile and never be seen again but that hasn't happened.

My very simple  4ft Barb, rainbow tank.
Substrate is washed sandpit sand, and plants just one type of Hygrophila and then Java moss.
Plenty of filtration so have to admit not much maintenance, recently took out a bucket of moss which had taken over, but had let my cherry barbs hide a couple dozen 'youngins'
Fish are a selection Barbs,  Rainbows of dubious  origins, a couple of confused bolivian ram and 3X L200, each 20cm- refugees from a friends tank that save on glass cleaning.

Ok here's my Chocolate Zebra Hotel. 100L tank, 7 fish in there, all hiding. 
Can you spot 5 of them in the dark photo? 
 

Ok here's my Chocolate Zebra Hotel. 100L tank, 7 fish in there, all hiding. 
Can you spot 5 of them in the dark photo? 
 

Ok here's my Chocolate Zebra Hotel. 100L tank, 7 fish in there, all hiding. 
Can you spot 5 of them in the dark photo? 
 

Ok here's my Chocolate Zebra Hotel. 100L tank, 7 fish in there, all hiding. 
Can you spot 5 of them in the dark photo? 
 

Ok here's my Chocolate Zebra Hotel. 100L tank, 7 fish in there, all hiding. 
Can you spot 5 of them in the dark photo? 
 

I suppose these qualify as being rare in NZ:
Geophagus sp. "Red Head". Hopefully we can spread them around and make them not so rare.

Cool idea! will be interesting to see how it develops  

Tank
1.2m x 45cm x 50cm
1/2hp Hailea chiller
Jebao DC6000 return pump 
Jebao RW8 flow pump
Bell siphon in overflow to create wave motion in rock pool

Rock pool
1.2m x 55cm x 70cm fibreglass pool
DIY Polystyrene surround
100mm sand bed 1.5 mm grain size

Building false rock surround
Used 100mm polystyrene glued to 12mm ply frame for support with Nomore nails fast grab.

Filled gaps with expanding foam

Coated with Cemex Float

Painted with acrylic house paints

Then stick on tank, need to paint the rock work on pool to match

Upgraded the air system in the fishroom.
25mm electrical conduit with screw in air taps.
ahhh so nice and organised 
 

Upgraded the air system in the fishroom.
25mm electrical conduit with screw in air taps.
ahhh so nice and organised 
 

Upgraded the air system in the fishroom.
25mm electrical conduit with screw in air taps.
ahhh so nice and organised 
 

My B-line juvies are now nearly 4 months old and most are or about 5cm in size; a few are closer to 6cm.  Here is one of the growout tanks:
A number have already been sold through private channels whilst a sale post have been placed recently into one of the local Wellington Facebook groups' page.
 

Their parents have spawned a new batch of eggs within the last 24 hours.  Here's a video of them prior to spawning:
The new batch is the third one.  Like hovmoller's, most of the second batch were eaten.  I saved about a dozen of the second batch through separation.  The second batch were spawned around June, about 7-8 weeks after the first one.
For size estimates, that catappa leaf is about 22cm long, which would put the male (at the back) roughly around 12cm at 24 months old.

I suppose these qualify as being rare in NZ:
Geophagus sp. "Red Head". Hopefully we can spread them around and make them not so rare.

My most recent FTS.

So I know I'm not the only one wondering about this but why does no one ever import any discus that look like they do in the wild?
Plenty of other weird looking discus gets imported.
Most other aquarium fish do and these wild discus types are certainly popular overseas so why not in NZ?
I'm not after real wild discus.. too expensive and too risky for me. Been there done that.
So if anyone can import some good quality brown/blue/green wild looking discus at normal discus prices then I'll be the first to buy a group I promise!
e.g. from here: Stendker in Germany or from Asia I don't care as long as they meet the criteria above.
I can't post in the commercial topic but would love to hear what any importers or shops have to say about this?
Thanks!

So I know I'm not the only one wondering about this but why does no one ever import any discus that look like they do in the wild?
Plenty of other weird looking discus gets imported.
Most other aquarium fish do and these wild discus types are certainly popular overseas so why not in NZ?
I'm not after real wild discus.. too expensive and too risky for me. Been there done that.
So if anyone can import some good quality brown/blue/green wild looking discus at normal discus prices then I'll be the first to buy a group I promise!
e.g. from here: Stendker in Germany or from Asia I don't care as long as they meet the criteria above.
I can't post in the commercial topic but would love to hear what any importers or shops have to say about this?
Thanks!

This is my tank 480ltrs,  

Hey everyone! Share your FTS (full tank shot), let's see what NZ'rs are keeping.
I'll start.
My tank is a 450L home to 3 species of polypterus, 1 convict cichlid, 1 red oscar, and 1 Cuban cichlid.
Tank will eventually be a dedicated setup to a breeding pair of Cuban cichlids once I grow a suitable male to maturity.
I recently re-scaped it by removing a large piece of wood, adding the twiggy bits and getting a greater size range of stones to make it more naturalistic.
Keen to see other people's stuff!

Ok I'll participate. I suppose it could fall in the rare category.
I still have two Bandit Cories - C. Metae. These are no longer allowed to be imported (not sure why) so are hard to come by.
I am still VERY keen to breed these, so if anyone has any the would like to sell me please send me a message.