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fishy-fish

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Posts posted by fishy-fish

  1. I can supply some africans... electric yellows, demasonis, red top ice blues and hopefully adding a few more species on there in the coming months. I'm in the Coromandel so not exactly local, but hey, freight from here is probably cheaper than driving around aucks any way! :D PM me if you would like to discuss.

  2. yeah sounds like the impeller. I had the same problem in my canister and found that the hole for the impeller rod that runs through the impeller had been enlarged over time of use causing the impeller to "rattle & hum" during operation. A new impeller assembly should sort that out and give you back some litres per hour that you've lost too!

  3. Hey bro, congrats on the Dem holding. It's pretty exciting having the prospect of your first batch of fry. Dem fry are super cute too! If the female has been holding for 2-3 weeks then I am pretty sure she is ready to strip.

    I have stripped 6 Dems in the past 2 weeks so here's what I do.

    1. Take the opportunity to do a water change and drop you water level to 50%. Put some of the water in a shallow-ish, clean container. You want to be able to get at the fish so high sides are awkward, but you don't want the fish jumping out and flopping around your living room either. Choose you container carefully grasshopper :sage:

    2. Take out all your rocks and bog wood. I know this sucks, but do it. As ryanjury said, Dems are buggers to catch and you need to remove all hiding places and obstacles to catch them successfully. Plus the more you chase fish around the tank, the more you upset your community. Trust me, this is the fastest and safest way.

    3. Catch the fish! (Da!) I use two nets. A big black one and a small white one. They hate the white one and often will find security in the black one. This is also a good time to mention the value of tank dividers. I wish I had one for my bigger tanks. It would certainly make it so much easier to catch fish by sectioning of the mum.

    4. Once said fish is caught, place her quickly and carefully in the stripping container. Now you are ready to strip her. I use cotton buds on my Dems as it seems a bit gentler but be aware that they soggy up pretty quick and swell, so have a few on hand. Everyone uses different things, but you want something that will pry her mouth open, not damage her, and not get in the way of the fry swimming out.

    5. Gently take the mum in your less dominant hand (I'm a lefty, so it's my right) and hold her just below the water. Make sure you don't damage her pectoral fins so try to have them laying against her side. Then with you other hand, using the toothpick or cotton bud etc. pry her bottom jaw open. You can gently massage her gills to "squeeze" the fry out, but with some patience and the right technique, they normally exit on their own accord.

    6. Put mum back in the main tank and place your fry in a fry tank or fry saver. I make my own fry savers out of 2L ice cream containers and just float them in my main tank.

    Hope this helps and good luck! :spop:

  4. hey mate thats good mel is coming to get some fish off you i have sold her some of my awesome fish.u should do a swap she has a pair of red empress she got off me they deserve to be bred from.i keep mainly malawis has a wide range maybe next time she comes down here.she could bring some back up for you?just a thought mate

    Yeah man sweet. I'm keen on diversifiing my malawi stocks. What fry have you got at present?

  5. how far to is it from paeroa...travel time..

    Paeroa to Whitianga is just over an hour drive. We do have a spread population when you consider Whangamata, Waihi, Thames & Coromandel. It would be a matter of changing the meeting location, rotating it so it shares the travel distance issue around. If it's once a month, it's not too bad.

  6. I would join if you had the meetings at Miranda hot pools :cofn:

    Miranda Hot Pools... now there's an idea! :happy2:

    Give it a go. I would appreciate any excuse to visit the Coromandel :D

    Yeah, not a bad spot of the world. We suffer through it :wink:

    Well I guess the first step is putting the feelers out, hence this post. If we can get a half dozen punters to start I'm sure we can go from there. Could be a bit of fun I reckon!

  7. Hi all,

    I have recently reignited my fish keeping hobby after 15 years of fishlessness. Got hooked when I was 15 and spent 4 odd years in the hobby adding tanks to my parents disgust until they stopped me at 11! Had a go keeping most things and like most hobbiests, I went from guppys to cichlids pretty quick. (although I kept the guppies to feed the cichlids!) When adulthood was calling and I went flatting I said good buy to my fish and then work, marriage, kids etc took over. Anyway, fast forward to a few months ago, and I was chatting with my bosses one night after work and suggested we get a goldfish bowl for the desk at work... well one thing led to another and the goldfish bowl turned into a 6ft malawi tank! I work at Guthrie Bowron in Whitianga as the Flooring Manager and now I am the Fish Manager also! It's pretty sweet having a tank at work. I get to enjoy the fish all day long and get a kick at of clients and especially kids who take an interest and let me talk "fish". Well of course the buggers started breeding, so my bosses said I could have the fry as payment for fish management, so I convinced my beautiful wife to let me invest in a tank for home. A 500L tank! Then came the two breeder tanks in the garage and another one at work. It's like an addiction I tell ya!

    So I am loving been back in the hobby. The knowledge is slowly coming back to me, and this website is fantastic and very helpful. (I've been trolling around for a couple of months before I finally joined).

    In order to keep the Mrs happy and supportive, I'm hoping to make a little side income from breeding. At the mo I have 6 week old Red Top Cobolts (Metriaclima greshakei), Electric Yellows and 4 week old Demasoni's. I've got a nice Peacock colouring up with 4 females, so fingers crossed that they breed. PM me if you are interested in buying or trading fish.

    Any hints, tips or advice is always welcomed and I look forward to getting to know you all.

    Steve (Fishy-Fish)

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