Pegasus

Hi John, We seem to have similar probs, and similar answers. he he.

Hi Dawn, Sorry if I got hold of the wrong end of the stick I saw:

Hi again Dawn, Hate doing this, but.... PLEASE don't put a heater in your goldfish tank. It will shorten their lives considerably. Goldfish can survive freezing conditions outdoors for months on end, and in many cases can live (I could be wrong here but) ten years or so plus or minus. Why spoil this. The goldfish might look ok, but in the long term it's demise will arrive sooner. The same applies to most tropicals that are kept for long periods at well over the prescribed heat. They too will die a premature death. By all means get yourself a Betta, but keep it in the right enviroment, and if it's a male, you can only house one per tank. If your goldfish are not TOO large, then why not consider some White Cloud Mountain Minnows. They are beautiful little fish and will give you a further interest. Perhaps looking at your situation you should extend the house a couple of rooms or so. This tropical and coldwater bug is really catching Happy Days, Bill.

Hi all, Cees said, Glad you added that bit. Aquarium water is my main concern Hey John, Now if you or I were an "Average" fishkeeper, would the last several posts "encourage" you to keep fish, or make you think twice about getting involved. This was one of the points I was trying to explain in my previous post :) Should this topic not be in the "Technical" section ?? Or perhaps we need a "Water Chemistry" section Happy Days, Bill.

Hi John, you say, Nothing to forgive my friend. The forums are here to express our thoughts and opinions. There were a few of us that hopefully made a contribution to the hobby of the early days by passing our knowledge along and where possible breeding true to type, and I would like to class myself as one of those people. Happy Days Regards, Bill.

Hi Dennis, Yes, I've bred them, but never managed to rear many. It was in my early days, but I imported water from a very, very soft source, namely from my friends place who lived in Batley in England. They need exteemely soft water and if I remember correctly my pH was around pH6. There seems to be quite a few that have bred them, and the Cardinals, but at the moment I am just easing myself back into the hobby, but might consider the Cardinals if I get time. Regards, Bill.

Hi John, Well, up to now you've been a good boy, but I don't agree with all you say. We knew about ammonia/ammonium/nitrite/nitrate/hardness/pH/water chemistry, which saw us through the hobby, but as you say, things change, and you have to keep up with developments, but you say, Perhaps we didn't have ALL the answers, but if I in particular had a prob I found out why, after all it was my living for almost twenty years until I shut shop. We didn't have ALL the answers because there wasn't ALL the questions and confusion there is today, in fact I am not surprised that many hobbyists leave so quickly after being faced with all the tech jargon that one supposedly has to know in order to keep fish. If one or more of my fish died I would want to know the reason why, even if it meant cutting it open and examining it under a microscope. Say what you want, but 80% or more of fish deaths in the hobby today are caused by negligence, not the lack of understanding the latest technology, but the understanding of the very simple basic rules of fishkeeping that are so easy to learn if more people cared to take the time. Regards, Bill.

Thanks for that info Rob. In the early days the only hardness we were concerned with was the dH I believe, which is also a German conception I believe. When things start getting TOOOOO technical I revert to old memories, which always seemed to work Thanks, Bill.

Yup... Seen Helen... Many years ago, but shes still going. Good pics of her on the H.F.F website, but very little else of use I'm afraid Bill.

John said, I must admit John, that you have enlightened us each day with your posts and your range of knowledge. Just talking about heaters.... I have two in my one and only tank. One is set for normal temp (76-78) and the other at 74 and will only come on in the event of a failure of the main heater. But hang on, I must tell you about my new....... he he :) Bill. BTW: Love the Avatar.... Wondered what you looked like

Hi everyone, As mentioned elsewhere, I picked up ten neons over the weekend from a TFS in Northland. Nothing really exciting about this in general, but I arrived home with one dead. Looked as though it had been caught with the net and squashed, however, the fish I got were a good size, and in great condition. I watched them over the couple of days and established that I have four, perhaps five females, and the rest males. My days of spawning, and trying to spawn the neons has long gone, and I had no thoughts of spawning them until last night. I had done a water change and fitted a homemade waterfall type filter that fits on the outside of the tank and will eventually replace the internal one once it becomes established. A couple of the neons started chasing each other around in typical tetra fashion, but then I noticed the sex differences, and over the past 40hrs or so they have been going through all the motions of spawning, not just the odd pair, but several pairs, and occasionally two or three males concentrate on one of the plump females. Nothing special about the water, although it is soft, (tank water) and very slightly acid, with the temp around 78f. One pair, at this particular moment are racing in and out of the Myriophyllum, round and round.... typical spawning behavior. Not much point in spawning at this time, as the tank is full of angels They probably haven't noticed this the horny buggers. Bill.

Hi Dawn, Sounds like you're off to a good start with the water changes and the testing. Keep up the good work Funny, but I looked at one of these "Combined" test kits on the weekend, but the price was way out for me at $129. You asked: S'been a while since I breathed the air of the city, (cough...cough) but if I remember there was a place in the back streets of Glenn Innes that did a nice range of fish, then another just opposite the offramp at Remuera called "Fish N Cheeps". The one at Lincon Rd might be the Bird Barn, I'm not sure, then there was another in Glenn Innes just in the main shopping area, and I seem to remember one in Henderson somewhere, and of course there's Hollywood Fish Farm at Frost Rd ... errr Mt Albert, I think ?. Yellow pages might help you here?? See you're into Quilting... Long arm or Domestic, Auto or Manual?? :) I'm in the trade, (semi retired) so email if you want advise. Regards, Bill (Pegasus)

Hi Dawn, Love the fishy names. Sounds like you might be ready to expand your interests even further. Sure hope you bought a heater and stat for those barbs You won't get a better sight than seeing three of four hundred of those schooling in a tank. Hope that doesn't tempt you too much Good to have you with us, and we look forward to hearing more about the many "C's" you have. Is there a reason they all start with "C" Best regards, Bill (Pegasus).

Hi John, I'm a little confused here, as I didn't know you could colour test for hardness :oops: When you mentioned "bright yellow" in your original post I thought we were talking pH. For your water to have 89.5ppm of hardness I would think your tester DOES show bright yellow, and so your water must be quite soft and slightly acid. As far as I know, you can't have hard acid water, nor can you have soft alkaline water, so the hardness is related to the pH. I'm not up to date with todays testers, not at the prices they ask for them, but we used to test for hardness with a soap solution, eg, so many drops to lather. Hi Rob, We must have posted at the same time. he he. Whats the "K" and the "G' stand for... perhaps kelvin (heat.. more confused) ?? and General??? As I said, I'm a little behind the times here :oops: Bill

Hi All, Managed to get out for a few hours today and visited a tropical fish shop or two up north from here. Many of the fish I saw were pretty pathetic looking specimens, but just seeing a collection of fish again was pretty exciting to me. I looked over the fish, bought a few things I needed, regected the test kits at just short of $25 bucks apiece (I needed three) and settled for ten quite good looking neons for the grandkids and a few accessories. Down the end of the shop was a tank with several large angels, a few aduld gouramies, lace and blue, and an assortment of various species from cats to khullis, plus dozens of smaller tetras. I watched one of the angels with interest, as she was chasing everything away from her "possie". She looked pretty aggresive, so I looked closer. There attached to a Java Fern leaf was a huge cluster of eggs... must have been 300 plus. I was leaving the shop and asked how much the angels were. "Twenty bucks for the adults" the woman said. "Does that include the eggs?" I asked. "WHAT EGGS" she yelled, red faced. I showed her the eggs, but she still couldn't really see them, so I grabbed a net and with the handle I gently lowered the leaf of the Java so she could see. Her face went redder and she gabbled on about how she hadn't noticed them. Then she asked me what I thought she should do. I was in my element Half an hour later and a lot of detailed explanation with my driver getting more and more angry because he wanted to get off home, she thanked me for the advise, gave me her card, and I gave her the NZ fishroom address, and I left a happy man. I didn't buy the fish, as I don't think the eggs would have survived the trip, or if she would have continued to look after them in strage quarters, plus she was a bit fin torn for my liking, but still, I had a wonderful day Bill.

Hi John, Who's been a busy boy then... all these post... Great stuff. See you've been digging up a few old topics, which again is great stuff as many of the new members won't have seen the older posts. Bit of a change from the old BBS eh Thanks for the conversion. It took a while to get used to litres over here, but when it comes to tanks I still think in gallons he he. Keep those posts coming. Regards, Bill (Pegasus)

Hi John1, No diplomacy here by the look of things my friend :) You did say, Like us all, or most of us, we tend not to consider the amount of fish we have until either a problem occurs, or they grow to such a size that our other fish suffer. Obviously you will have to make some changes in the near future, and your one tank will become two, then three then..... The key words at the moment are that your fish seem content, and apart from losing a few neons you are doing quite well. Just watch your critical levels, as things can change rapidly with so many fish. Regards, Bill. (Pegasus)

Hi, Recently got some Myriophyllum propinquum from Fee. (Tropical Blues) I love Myriophyllum, Cabomba, Ambulia etc It arrived in a perforated plantpot, and to be honest it looked pretty dead, as it was a dark shade of brown and was kind of squashed up in a ball and looked dried out. I popped it in the tank and the following day I was amazed to see all the strands had straightened out and reaching for the surface. The tank has a single 4' Growlux (Sylvannia). By the second day it began to turn green again and had grown what seemed to be an inch or so. Day three it had hit the surface of the 18" deep tank and had begun to bush out nicely. The strands are now heading to the ends of the tank. It must have grown at least 150mm since I got it and seems to get longer every time I look at it. This "Friendly Aquatic Soil" ??? What exactly is it ?? Whatever it is, it sure is making this plant grow at a rapid rate. We should have had this forty years ago Can this "Soil" be bought as a seperate item ?? Bill.

The question is "when does YELLOW become LEMON" or visa versa Errmmm.... pH meter.... My son got me it with the tank he so kindly provided me with. I bought a test kit for pH, but the blasted thing only goes from 7.4 to 8.8 I ask you, what damn use is that if you need acid conditions, and it was $10:70 at that. The pH test strips were the most acurate thing I have used. You COULD get them at the chemist, but I don't know if you still can, but they gave a definite colour that you could match to a chart. Accuracy.... Can't really say, as I have nothing to compare it to that can give me a correct visual reading, but the water TASTES and SMELLS pretty normal and that's usually a good indication for me. he he. Bill.

Hi John1. Glad you could join us. We have a few members from your side of the water (See members list) Bright Yellow.... They don't make it easy do they. Suppose bright yellow is a "pale" yellow, or a "washed out" yellow... like a...... banana perhaps, but slightly paler. Did you not get a colour chart with your testers ?? I have a meter that reads my pH as I can never really determine what true shade the colour should be, even with the colour chart. We have a few clued up members here, so perhaps they might be able to explain a little better. What sort of fish do you keep?? Regards, Bill (Pegasus)

Great Avatar Lizzy... your's too Goldie... Welcome to you both. Some nice bits of wood can be found on most beaches above the high tide mark. Just soak a while to get rid of the salt content. Saw a good idea the other day for those that use pipes for their Pleco's and such. Person in question used a piece of plastic (pvc) downpipe, but to camouflage it they spead silicone over it then rolled it in gravel. Same idea could work with some bark chips if they were inert of any toxins. Bill

Hi, Got a couple of days to spare. These sites have heaps of info on everything from pelletized fertilizers to CO2. Hope you find them interesting http://www.brainyday.com/jared/aquarium/info.htm http://www.aquabotanic.com/boards/index.php Bill.

Hi Flipper, Welcome to the NZ Fishroom. There's a couple of links here that you might find interesting reading. CAMALLANUS ROUNDWORMS. CURES AND CONTACTS. http://www.thekrib.com/Diseases/nematodes.html http://www.inkmkr.com/Fish/CamellanusTreatment.pdf Would be nice to hear about your fish in the "Welcome" section if you find time. Hope you find the forum interesting and enjoy your visits. Regards, Bill (Pegasus)

He he Good Question. Who counts.... Enough to just about cover the base of the spawning tank from a spawning. Sometimes if other females were ready they would be spawned in the same tank adding to the total. Bill

Hi Dennis, I've bred countless thousands using shallow tanks (approx 10" deep by 3' long) with around 5" of water. I used the Breeding Trap method as mentioned in the breeding trap article I wrote here on this forum. Works for most of the Barbs as well. After trying the marbles, spanish moss, heavy planting etc, this was the method that gave me the most return. The fish were transferred to another tank after spawning, and the fry (onced hatched) were tranferred to growing on pools, which in my situation were namely heated paddling pools 6'x4'x1' deep, but you don't need to go to this extreem. They grow quickly and were saleable in around four to six weeks, but yours may take longer. As Caryl said, two to one ratio works good. The females should be on the point of bursting and in top condition before you decide to put them together to spawn if you want good returns. Everything else... Spot on Caryl :) Get your live foods ready, (baby brine shrimp, micro worm etc) cos you will need it if you want them to grow fast. Bill.