Pegasus

My "Combtail/Roundtail" that I have been watching develop so carefully is beginning to turn into a "Triple Sword" by the looks of things. Still... It'll be a change from the Delta's and will be interesting to see it's development. Great to see you on the forum again Peter. Hope you find some fish Ywork Bill (Pegasus)

Caryl said: A day in which you don't learn something, or help someone, is a day wasted This is a LOT better signature than your present one, and if you're going for the Prezzie of NZ... you need a good signature he he.

Hi there Ocar... Glad you found the fishrrom. A warm welcome to you. I too was looking for the same plants some time ago, or what I commonly called the "Madagascaa Lace" plant, but had no succsses. A chap in the States said he could help, but due to import restrictions... it didn't happen. Regards, Bill (Pegasus)

Riccia might be the answer... Look in the plant survey (click the twin fish at the top of the page)

Sorry once again Angel. Might be time to think back over everything that was done before all this started.

Saw the last pics Kerry,... Nice job. Looking forward to seeing it filled and planted

Hi Elapid, Great of you to join us and hope you like it here. We have quite a few African keepers here, and we would all like to hear about yours. Welcome to The New Zealand Fishroom. Happy Days, Bill (Pegasus)

I'll try again, but I waited over five mins.... the others loaded great

Great article Kerry, although I got to, and there seems to be four photos missing, but it looked brilliant up to that point Looking forward to seeing it completed.

Hi Angel, Sorry for your loss, it's always hard to diagnose without knowing every detail. Don't know a substitute medication, as I avoid them where possible. The epsom salts mentioned will also help to flush the system of the fish, and you could try a tbl spoon full in a gallon of water as you would for progressive salt treatments. Just watch it carefully, and if distressed, move it out quickly. The swim bladder can be affected in many ways, like from parasites, hardening of the walls, external pressure from some other cause... so it's really hard to tell. Hope the other guys pull through.

Hi Angel, Does sound a bit like swim bladder probs, and might be through bacteria if it has affected other fish. Raising the temp 5degF might help, (85 max) or the medication is Quinine Sulfate, but I wouldn't go there. It could also be Bloat, as Angels tend to bolt their food down. This tends to affect the swim bladder also, like a too full stomach/gut, and undigested food in the intestine, possibly from pellet feeding. I would raise the temp first, then feed only live foods to act as a laxative for a few days, and in case of bacteria, do some regular water changes. They could of course also been in a scrap over terrirory or breeding mates, but I think you would have spotted any obvious damage to them. HTH, Bill (Pegasus)

My Qtanks are bare bottomed, but I always add some plant, either floating of weighted down to give the fish a bit of security. The basics are, 1/ A container to hold water.... Could be anything.. a drawer lined with plastic sheet, a strong cardboard box, a chilly bin, a kids toy storage box... or anything, provided you can make it hold water and the heater is kept clear of the sides, and as above, can be set up quickly using water from an established tank. 2/ A net.. themometer, and some containers that can float in the tank if needed. 3/ A filter... Sponge is good if it is established. 4/ White Spot and Fungus cure, plus Sea Salt, and food. Pointless stocking up on meds you might not need, or could become dated. As mentioned, I always keep a few fish in the Qtanks to keep them active. Thanks Peety... much appreciated, Saw you on the Discus Board the other night I don't know.... these Kiwi's get all over the place he he. Regards, Bill (Pegasus)

Laying the heater on the gravel will create a "hot spot" and will shorten the life of your heater, plus the gravel sometimes gets baked onto the glass causing the glass to turn black. The heater should have free circulation all around it for the best heat distribution.

Hi John, I know

Thanks for the feedback Shilo, and Kerry, Kerry, my little site is very very basic, and is mainly there to assist beginners, and is far from finished, so many of the links are still in the process of having articles added to them when time permits. Most of the stuff I have prepared already, but it is mostly on another drive I have sitting on the shelf. Must get around to hooking it up and transferring the info. Watch for the updates. Hey John, we do some silly things and make many sacrifices for our fish, and those were some of mine It really would be pointless putting a couple of sacrificial guppies in with "any" Oscars

Answer to this is that you can never be "absolutely" sure about the health of a fish, which might have been perfectly healthy in the shop conditions, but due to stress of transit or other reasons could become sick within hours or days of being placed in the new enviroment. The couple of sacrificial fish (guppies.. platies) will, if healthy enough be able to accept the quarantine conditions without stress, as hopefully it will have similar conditions to your normal tanks, and be fully established. The above is just the practice that I follow, as I find that new arrivals tend to settle down much quicker if they are not dumped into a tank void of other fish. A very old aquarist taught me this when I first started out, and his version was that the new fish will be under stress, but the regulars are not, which helps the others settle in. I suppose it's a good idea to leave a couple of healthy fish in your Qtank to keep it established anyway, but my Qtanks always have "something" in them, and are always established. As always, JMO, and I do what works for me. I'll ammend the above to avoid confusion.

Hi Aqua, I wrote this for my own site, but you may find it useful. Quarantine. One of the hardest things to accept in keeping tropical fish is Quarantine. We look at the fish we buy and think "Well, they look healthy enough" and in most cases pop them straight into our lovely established tank without further thought, but in the world of the aquarist it is the things you can't see that you should be concerned about. We then wonder why suddenly we have sick and dying fish in the following days or weeks. Almost all water, apart from distilled water, contains masses of living organisms, some good, and some bad, and in aquarium water these organisms amount into the millions, many of which you can't see without a microscope. A single drop of water can contain enough of these bad organisms to bring your tank from a wonderful picture of perfection, to a tank full of sick and dying fish, and this can happen overnight. It's hard to spend money on another tank just for the purpose of quarantine, but this extra tank can have many uses such as a fry rearing tank, a breeding tank, a place to grow extra plants, a place for that odd sick fish and so forth, but it should be kept available and ready to use so that you can use it immediately if the situation arises. So What Are The Dangers? Any fish, plant, snail, rock, gravel or any implement taken from another tank and put into your established tank can be a source of disease. Even your wet hands can transmit disease from one tank to another. All new fish should be placed in separate quarters (Quarantine) for at least ten days, and longer if possible. While these fish are in Quarantine (or prior to their arrival) you would be wise to add a couple of your regular healthy fish from your regular established tank. Doing this it allows you to watch not only the new arrivals but also your regular fish to see if any ill effects are noticed over the ten days or so. Invariably if any fish do become sick then you will have to treat the whole tank and all its occupants, but this depends on what the fish are suffering from. You must at this time be extremely careful that you don't use any implement such as nets or filters from the quarantine tank and use them in your established tank. As mentioned above, even wet hands that have been in your quarantine tank can transmit any disease that might be lurking there and affect your main fish supplies in your established tank, or tanks. If possible make your quarantine tank "Out Of Bounds" to everyone except yourself, this includes all children that love to flick their fingers in the water. Other Precautions. There are sterilizing solutions that you can buy for nets and equipment, but for the cost of these you would be wise to purchase a spare net and the bits that you may need. Be sensible and think before you act, as a moment of neglect can cause you great heartaches when your fish begin to die. Original at homepages.paradise.net.nz/grumpygr/ Happy Days Bill (Pegasus NZ)

Hi Dianna, You could move the males, or seperate them, but your "oodles" will have lots of males among it, so it's a bit like a fire... hard to stop once it starts. A good combination is three females to one male (gives the ladies a rest now and then) Guppy do have a breeding season... it runs from January one year, to January the next year.... in other words, none stop ... and even without males (once fertilized) they will still keep dropping. The female fry are just about born pregnant, and will drop at about six weeks. They say that if a pair didn't eat their young, and neither did the offspring, that they would produce three million plus offspring in a year, and as Caryl pointed out elsewhere, "They don't call them the millions fish for nothing" Select the best... cull the rest, is a good plan. Avoid "interbreeding" too much, as you'll finish up with weak strains and more runts than good fish. Introduce quality new stock from another source if you want to raise some decent ones.... but it takes time and dedication. Happy Days, Bill (Pegasus)

You have mail

Same here Stephanie, and the interface board and circuitry, or details where to get it. Just what I'm looking for

I would be interested in a pound sealed can. So how can we get the ball rolling. Dennis wants some, Janey and Andrew, Colin, and Cees sounds like he is almost out. I would imagine anything that the local supplier could produce would be double the overseas price, but I could be wrong

Hi Christine... Welcome to the New Zealand Fishroom. Be real nice to hear about your setup and fish. Lots of great info here across a wide range of subjects, so you could be busy for a while picking out the ones of interest. There's another section of the site (click on the twin fish above) where you'll find several articles, a plant survey and lots more interest. Hope you enjoy, look forward to your posts Bill(Pegasus)

Andrew said : Sorry Andrew.. the old brain is on the blink again You are quite right.

Andrew said: Are we talking 60 bucks NZ or 60 bucks US ? Around $792:00 NZD is a lot "o" money for shrimp

The shell grit at the lower part of the bag will be a lot "dustier" than that at the top of the bag, as everything has settled. Possibly it could be something just as simple as this It pays to rinse the grit off before using anyway.