Pegasus

Hi SoulkeepeR, Just checked on the net and it appears we might not have a "Petsmart" over here. Many of the fish and product brands are not available to us here in New Zealand, and this includes many of the fish species that hobbyists in the States take for granted, but hopefully some of the restrictions that MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) imposes may be eased slightly in the near future. Bill (Pegasus)

Well Warren, you're a very clued up guy, that I respect the opinion of tremendously, but I must say I have to disagree with this.

Geez.... Is that the time YAWN.... another long day... or is it two, I can't remember Ok... Where's the link for our growing list, or have we already got it. Edit. Just checked... We have

Hi Warren, & others, While on the subject of plants, could I ask, If plants are reared under intensive growing conditions, eg, fertilizers, CO2 etc, how do they fare when taken out of that enviroment and placed in a normal tank with only fish wastes to survive on. Bill.

Thanks Warren Not up with additives for plants, but just wondered if it could have been causing Ira's problems. Bill.

Hi Lizzy Good to see your posts, and welcome. Is the mouldy look there all the time, or not. Just wondering if it might be the algae off the glass clinging to the underside of the fish, which would give a "Mouldy" look.

Another good link to add to the Technical "Useful Links Section" Great posts SoulkeepeR. Keep it up, and I think we might have to re-name you "Postie" Good one :) Happy days:) Bill

Good answer, but what did you buy :)

Hey SoulkeepeR, you got here... Great stuff. See you've got some puffers and more interesting stuff, AND a breeding pair of Tiger Oscars, which would be nice to hear about. You made the perfect entrance by intoducing yourself. Wish all the new members would do that. Good to have you with us.... Enjoy. Bill (Pegasus)

There's a good pic and a great writeup on that very fish right here on the NZKA site. http://nzka.killi.net/

Hi Benny, Try them with half a terracotta plantpot, it might give them a bit more security. Best to place it out of sight and strong light if poss.

ALL posts are USEFUL Ira, but are you sure this concoction is not giving you the nitrite probs you've been having lately? A Very handy link, I'll add it to the growing list in "Useful Links"

Now now Caryl.... Behave yourself Just jumping up the ladder a couple of rungs. The Mollies, Platies, and Swordtails are also quite easy to start a selective breeding program with, but also one that you can create problems with if you are not careful. By this I mean that you can create fish that are weak, or have some other form of weakness in their character, be it colours, or some other deformity, so you have to cull all the unwanted characters of the fish before they are alowed to contaminate the work you are doing, and you need to keep strict records of your procedures. Just re-read my post :oops:

Hi Terry... Cool logo As far as I remember, once a female guppy is fertilized, or even been in a tank with a male, and even for the first time, the dominant genes of the active male can be passed on through several broods. This is why it is so important to segregate the males from the females at the earliest point in time before they become sexually active if you want to breed in, or breed out, a certain characteristic, like a high fin, or a distinctive colour. Black is ALWAYS dominant in the colour range, and is the hardest to erradicate, and also hard to achieve in fish that normally have no black in them at all. Don't assume that because they have no colour that they are all females, although some females are almost as colourful as the males in some variations. It is not unknown for female guppies (and various livebearers) to change sex if no males are available The female certainly won't sort the boys from the girls, they all TASTE the same to her The first brood you got are now possibly old enough to start getting colours, and your ten others may colour up later. Examine them very carefully for the gonopodium starting to take shape if you want to sex them early. Changing tanks to stop the males fertilizing them will make no difference, because of the above, (eg, Once he's been there it's a bit late) and even if a female is "dried out" she may still produce throwbacks from some earlier impregnation. This occurs with most livebearers, and to produce a new strain or variety can take years until the strain breeds true, but many aquarists do it otherwise we wouldn't have some of the wonderful variations we have today, so it is not a lost cause, and well worth attempting. Hope I've got my facts right, and hope this helps. We really need someone who has done a session of line breeding to give us some pointers. I did a bit in my early years, mostly with livebearers and Angels and got some very acceptable results, but you have to be ruthless and remove anything that does not hold a dominant factor that you are aiming for, and you ALWAYS start off with "True Virgin Fish" both male and female, which is not always imperrative in the egglayers. Guppies are an excellent fish to start a new strain as you get fairly early results. They say that if a single pair of guppies started to breed, and they had young, and that brood had young, and the next brood had young and so on, and if no fish were eaten or died, then that same single pair could, with all the offspring producing as well, produce three million offspring in a single year. Geez... This was just going to be a short post. Got carried away somewhat :oops: Happy days. :) Bill

I guess your fingers looked "Finger lickin good" (KFC) :) The old Oscars can give you a nasty nip as well.

Just doing one of my normal thirty hour stretches. Editing papers, checking and answering a few queries on my sites, trying to stay awake, and catching up on a few boards I've been neglecting lately. :roll: :roll:

Geez... You're up early :) I've added mine to the "Useful links", so I'll add yours as well. They may come in handy. Actually.... It looks a better prospect than mine :)

Amazing what you find on the net. This certainly takes all the guesswork out of things :) http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/java/L ... volume.htm Pity it doesn't do Litres, but it does calculate ppm as well as the weight. Note also that it is possibly American Gallons, not Imperial, but perhaps someone could convert it

Sounds like you have several tanks. JMO, but personally I would get them outta there real quick and into another tank until you sort your water out, even if it means losing a few. Suspend them in a container in another tank with an air supply if you have. Concentrate then on what exactly has happened to your guppy tank. Can't see that trimming the plants has caused your prob, but the dying duckweed might of, but the question is: "Why did the duckweed die?" it's got to be one of the hardiest things to erradicate.

Quite right Bruce, there is an excellent list of breeders of various species listed on the FNZAS.ORG site, and it may be possible through the various clubs to contact these people as needed. If interested breeders were willing to be added to a handy list here in the NZFR, along with details of how they could be contacted, it would assist many of the members, not only in disposing and purchasing fish, but possibly in creating more detailed discussions on the aspects of breeding the individual species, provided they were willing to share their knowledge with the rest of us. I for one would love to see detailed post by someone who has bred say Discus, the Catfish, selective line breeding of Guppies and the various livebearers, and so forth. Not just the fact that they have bred them, but "how" they did it. Many spawnings are achieved simply by the act of nature, but "planned" spawnings with a definite end product in mind are topics that would be of great interest to us all.

Hi Arly, Don't know if your question was aimed at me or another member?

We seem to have a large number of fish breeders that specialize in certain species. Would it be possible to compile a list that can be located at the head of this section that would give all the contact details for the relevant breeders? Any Suggestions?

Added the links to the "Useful links section" Bill

Thanks again Andrew. Glad you made a point about interbreeding, as that was originally one of my questions. I kept some Aphyosemion species (Can't remember which) in my teens, along with some Panchax (now I believe Pachypanchax) playfairi. At that time I was still "green" to fishkeeping, but they were some of my first fish. Now I know why certain "Other" species kept disappearing for no reason Despite all that, I would say they were among some of the most interesting and beautiful fish that I have ever owned. Thanks again Bill (Pegasus)

Added the link to the "Useful Links" section Bill