Pegasus

Thanks for the kind feedback It started with the first three lines as a reply.. but then I thought I may as well answer "all" the questions that are likely to follow he he. Bill.

So it is :oops: ... Pretty close though Bill.

:)... Just about I would say. There are a few people over here that specialize in plants, but many (what were once common in our tanks).. are now either banned by MAF (Ministry or Agriculture & Fisheries).. or in very short supply. There is another area of the site that shows plants and fish species. Click on the "FNZAS Homepages".. at the top right of this page and you will be directed there. One of my regular "visits" to Holland ( :oops: been corrected... it's DEnmark )is to Tropica.com... wonderful plants and pics. Look forward to your posts

Hi there, Lot depends of what type of fish you want to ship... eg:... Large.. Small.. Coldwater.. Tropical.. etc. Also need to know the distance being sent, and if it would be just an Overnight" delivery.. or "two days".. like some shippers take. Large fish may need to be bagged up singly.. whereas some of the smaller fish can go six to ten in a bag. Be Prepared: Do a water change the day before you intend sending the fish. This will ensure decent water for the trip.. as ammonia levels can build up quickly in the bag during the trip. Ensure that no fish waste is added to the bag if possible. If they are say.... Adult Guppies... then you could "possibly" get eight or ten to a bag (300x450 size) for an overnight trip. Use good quality fish bags if possible with the rounded corners. You would need a suitable styrene box.. plus a heat pack if the trip is a long one. Most of these "Heat Packs" generate heat when rubbed vigorously.. so avoid doing this until the very last moment before you finally seal the box. Fill the bag with approx one third water.. then insert an air line from your air pump into the neck of the bag and twist to create a seal. Allow the bag to inflate... then twist the neck of the bag some more and pull out the airline while keeping the bag fully inflated. Fold the neck of the bag over firmly and hold in position with two good strong rubber bands... MINIMUM 100mm (4") allowance for twisting and folding over. There should be no air leaks. Crumple up some newspaper and place in the styrene box, then add the bag or bags, packing each so that they can't roll around. Add the heat pad if needed, but don't lay it directly on the plastic bags.. just pack it so that the heat can circulate. Coldwater Goldfish etc: As above, but ommit the heat pack.. plus one or two fish per bag only... depending on size. Plecos... Spiney Catfish etc: Use Tupperware containers.. one third water.. two thirds air.. plus heat pack in most cases. Adult Swords.. Cichlids etc: One or two per bag.. as above.. depending on size. Adult Angels: ONE per bag always... plus heat pack. Plants Only: Just pack loosly in wet newspaper and place flat in a poly bag. Seal to avoid leakage. Post in a bubble pack type envelope. Mark the box CLEARLY with the name ... plus LIVE FISH... PLEASE CONTACT ON ARRIVAL.. and phone number if they are being sent to a collection point... like a service station or somewhere. Contact The Person: Contact the person as soon as you send the goods. Inform them which service you have used, and when to expect deliverery.. AND WHERE.. in most cases, as many courier services will not deliver to home addresses.. but will drop parcels at a selected pick up point. If in doubt... DOUBLE BAG ALWAYS Some add a couple of drops of "Stess Coat" for the trip. The snails can be packed in a simple small strong cardboad box with bit of wet plant.. but they won't need a lot of water.. just a cupful perhaps, and the bag can be much smaller... plus the heat pack will not be needed. Shop Around: Not a lot of carriers will transport fish these days.. and the cost can vary tremendously. Look at paying around $18:00 for a local overnight trip.. and triple that for some areas... but this depends on the carrier. Try NZ Post... they are pretty good.. but not ALL branches will handle live stock. Hope this helps

Hi Kardinaaltje Welcome to New Zealand and the Fishroom. We are quite limited here in the plants that we have compared to Holland. Saw all your links and will visit when time allows.

Deb asked: Yes... It does resize Deb... "Eventually".. but during that time it not only slows the system down for dial up users, but makes all following text unreadable without scrolling sideways... unless they wait for the pic to fully load. Cees has made several posts regarding keeping pics to a reasonable size (600x480).. Would be good to resize it if you could Bill.

Ok.. Time to get a bit squeemish.. and I am only writing this to say what "I" would do if it were my fish.. so I take no responsibility for the outcome. The blister looks like it is not caused by external damage.. so therefore is something internal.. like a fluid of sorts. From the pic, it looks to be slightly transparent.. and possibly filled with fluid. First I would remove the fish and place in a very wet towel. Then I would make a small incision at the crown of the blister, then apply slight pressure to drain the fluid. Then I would apply raw Iodine to the small opening I made and allow a few seconds for it to dry. If you have no Iodine.. then use raw salt, but in my opinion, Iodine is better. Return the fish to a clean tank for a while. Then I would prepare a salt bath, using two heaped table spoons of Sea Salt per gallon of water. Leave the fish in this for ten mins to half an hour... then return to a clean tank.. (possibly a QT tank) I would repeat the salt baths every second day and watch for progress, or more fluid buildup. The salt can be increased to up to four table spoons over a week or ten days if needed.. but only if you see infection setting in. Use a fresh mix for each salt bath. Nothing else should be in the salt bath treatment tank.. no other meds of any sort. The fish will be fine in a wet towel if care is taken, but leaving the blister at this point will either mean it will get to a point of bursting... or.. the fluid will be forced further into the body... which it might be doing already.. but either way, you need to do something. As above... just my thoughts on what "I" would do. Needless to say... but avoid other tanks (wet hands.. implements etc).. that you have used for the sick fish. Could you reduce the size of your pic to 640x480 Take care now,

Bit hard to accept at this time Lynda.. but my guess is that it "was" the gravel.. moreso than the driftwood. Gravel sat in a tank outside (if it was used gravel).. was bound to be pretty stagnant beneath the surface, and even when stood just a few days without full water cover, it can get pretty smelly. The readings you took look pretty bad as well. Also hard to say... but I would cut your losses and save any fry that you might see... then do a full stripdown.. boil the gravel or dump it... and set it up again. Bare tanks have their bonuses in that you can control the situation much better. Power filters in these situations are not the best either, and a simple sponge filter will often cope in the smaller tanks. Hope you find another suitable pair, as watching the Angels with their young is a great sight. Take care, Bill.

Geez Lynda... Really sorry to hear about this, as they seemed to be doing real well. Just wondering about the gravel that was in the tank. Was it in there when you transferred the water from the four footer..? Did you wash it first... or had it been stood a while..? Strange that "both" adults died overnight... did any fry die...? Bill.

Might be ok Lynda... Thing with the bare bottom tanks are that they are heaps easier to clean, and any losses can be spotted immediately. If the parents are well conditioned, they will breed every ten days... but give them a break after a couple of spawns

Hi Lynda, Like I mentioned about leaving the parents in... Mine are "Old Hands" at this, and my main reason for leaving them with the young was to STOP them breeding again.. but often they would lay another clutch anyway, and occasionally care for two broods. Sorry about the mix up with the tanks.. but the fry (if you decide to move something).. would be better in the smaller tank until they start taking shape. If the fungused eggs start to accumulate too much.. then siphon them off.. (use a piece of airline tube),.. otherwise leave them, as the parents will herd the fry to a safe area. Bill.

Hi Richelle, Tank sounds wonderful.. and hope you get the time to post some pics. A warm welcome to the NZ Fishroom, and we know you will find lots of interest here

Hi Lindy, A couple of points you should consider. If the parents were looking after the young... then it would have been better to leave them for a while where they were. Good parents not only protect the young, but also "clean them up" on a regular basis by mouthing them. It also gives the adults a taste of being parents, and I have often left mine with the young for a month or more.. but I'm not recomending this Other point is, that the young are in a four footer.. where food will be hard to find. The fry would have been better off in the two footer. Wait till it is getting dark... turn off the lights and place a small lamp at one end of the tank. The fry will congregate there. Net them up into a container and do the switch... Adults in the four foot... Fry in the two foot. By day six you should be able to feed newly hatch brine shrimp if you have some.. otherwise a prepared fry food. I don't bother with the water changes "too" much.. but you can use a slow siphon with a mesh or guard over it to avoid sucking up the fry. This article I wrote might be of interest http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/the-no ... vt929.html Take care now Bill.

Can't help you there... but there must be heaps on the net. The one in the pic was sent to me around three years ago by a friend in Vancouver Canada. He had heaps of ponds and bred fancy Goldfish for a living

The only people that I know that use the lever type are the major glass companies and the shop window installers.. however.. You "could" use some "sink unblockers".. (Sink Plungers).. that are available at any hardware store or the Warehouse, and would be a fraction of the cost of the commercial type ones. They would certainly have the suction and grip.. but you might have to design a handle of sorts for them.. possibly of rope or something if it would fit. Certainly wouldn't rely on the existing handle staying in there Bill.

Just what you are looking for HB http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/grumpy ... Barrel.htm Bill

Hi Shaun, We have "another" part of the site here which holds a heap of info.. along with this.. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/articles/techni ... thickness/ To see the other info... click on the FNZAS Homepages at the top right of the screen. Bill.

These were quite the rage in the late '60's.. but the commercial ones were just a single bow (half hoop) perspex tube around 50mm diam. They usually sat in a "hoodless" single tank, but a few I saw went from tank to tank. Saw some recently (can't rem where).. that had a "bridge" around 300mm diam, and that ran from tank to tank.. looked quite neat. Shiuh asked: You still need heaters... as there is no "actual" flow of water in there. Once the tube is filled and the ends are below the surface, the water remains in there.. just like an upturned bottle of water will remain full.. as long as the opening is in the water... but the water inside can be well above the water level. BTW: Fighters getting confused in there would soon run out of surface air (non-existent) and perish. The old ones were a smooth hoop style with no sharp corners to navigate. Bill.

A warm welcome Limegirl Hope you find lots of interest here and tell your friends about us.

Switch off the light that you want to replace and allow some time for it to cool. Then remove the bulb and look on the glass head of the bulb and it will show the size.. like... 100w ... 120v Which means it is a 100 Watt bulb running on 120 volts. Thoughts before you buy: Check the type of bulb fitting you have. There are two types... one is the Edison Screw.. (as shown in Ira's pic above)... and the other is the Standard Bi Pin type.. (which has a small pin at either side of the metal bit on the bulb) Wallmarts should have them... and all will have the equivelant to normal bulbs on them. Note for others: NZ Power is 240v AC. Bill.

We "certainly" hope not Caper.. you are part of the family here. Do you not have a local tropical fish club or trading paper that may be a source for some plants and fish..? Bill.

Deb said: Look under the NZ Website section Deb.. there's heaps of info there. Definitely sounds like the bogwood. Take it out and boil it on the barbie.. then rinse off and boil it again until the tannis are leached out of it. Takes quite a time, but it will eventually come right. If your water is "yellowish" as you say, I would check the pH doesn't get too low.

Hi Zallyn... welcome to the bottom of the world (almost) Nice fish, and a great pic. Look forward to your posts

Hi there Chicken, Welcome to the NZ Fishroom. There's lots of ways to fill that five footer of yours, and there's lots of help here if you need it. Don't forget the styrene pad underneath before you fill it, and ensure it is on a good solid base and that it is dead level all around. Take care now

Removed several posts regarding drunken fights etc Nothing to do with the topic. Bill.