ben

Hi all Does anyone here keep botia (loach) species? They form the bulk of my collection, and am keen to discuss experiences/offer help/get help etc.. Species that I keep include Botia Macracantha (clown loach) Botia Modesta (blue botia or orange-finned loach) Botia Hymenophysa (awesome!) Botia Horae (skunk loach) Botia Striata (golden zebra loach) Botia Almorhae (aka botia lochachata(sp?), yo-yo loach, pakistani loach) also Horseface loaches (terrific with sand) Black Kuhli loaches Giant Kuhli loaches I am looking for a good home for my four Botia Modesta. albeit reluctantly! I don't really want to take them to a pet store (at least, not a pet store in Wellington). They are similarly sized at about 4 inches SL. My biggest, Rocky, would be 5 inches. They will supposedly max out at about 6 inches in the aquarium. I don't want to split the group of four, and I don't really want to put them into the hands of a courier. But I'll offer them FREE to a GOOD home! I'm in Wellington. Ben

You don't read much about earthquake risks to tanks on the American forums, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to see what Kiwis do to minimise loss in an earthquake. I used to like earthquakes, but since I've been serious about keeping fish, I sh*t myself when I think about them! (excuse the French) I look forward to the day I have a house with a basement, that's got to be the safest place for your tanks right? aahhh, my very own fishroom can't wait! Ben

That's exactly what I wanted to know, Warren But tell me, why do I need to wire it to my lighting timer? I'm from the school of thought that says leave the co2 on all the time, and if you run into problems, aerate at night. Which is what I do at the moment. I take it that wiring it to the lighting timer would mean co2 injection during the photoperiod and not at night? My other question refers to the needle valve. Are these things easily made? It sounds a wee bit daunting. Can I buy one instead? Of course, if they're not hard to make I'll save my money... And finally, do I buy the regulator from BOC or somewhere else? And where would I find a pneumatic supply shop in the greater Wellington area? Or at least, whereabouts would I find such a shop in the yellow pages? Thanks very much for the info. I'm 100 times closer to pressurised co2 than I was this time yesterday! Ben

I have been using diy co2 for a while and changing the bottles is getting old. I would like a pressurised setup but am not sure what to get here in NZ. I don't think I need one of those ph controller things at this stage. What is a good low-cost system for me? Thanks for any help. Ben

Any botia will absolutely nail a snail population in a short amount of time. I have even heard of the two tiny botia species overcoming jumbo apple snails! I think Botia sidthmunki (sp?) is the dwarf loach most often seen in shops. Don't get less than three though. hth, Ben

I agree, WetPets is the best store I've visited. How about the redtail cat! And those giant clowns! awesome..

Thanks for your replies When I started fishkeeping, I shopped at animates here in Wellington. It wasn't long before I started looking further afield and visited the Hutt Pet Centre, as well as that garden centre in Upper Hutt. The place in Upper Hutt had some Banjo cats which were good to see, but not much else. The hygiene at the Hutt Pet Centre was unsatisfactory so I stopped going there. These days I rely on Pete at Fins and Fangs to get me what I want. He seems to be the most knowledgable, his prices are good (or at least negotiable ), and he's near my work. Animates is a nice store, nice display tanks, but they change staff faster than they change fish, and they hardly ever have anything out of the ordinary. The Botia Hymenophysa that I got from Animates were ordered by mistake. Animates does keep a decent stock of seachem products though. If anyone can be bothered (probably for the hundredth time) writing the details of where the U.Hutt and Wgtn clubs meet, I would appreciate it. I want to get involved ! Ben

Hi all! Since I'm new here I thought I'd let you all know who I am, particularly seeing that now I've found a fishkeeping club after 18 months of wondering whether one existed in Wgtn! On that note, I'm sure a few flyers in pet stores wouldn't go astray. You guys have been hard to find! I have been keeping fish seriously for about 2 years or so. Currently I have two tanks, one 10 gallon Tropiquarium, and a 50g display tank. In the 10g I keep 3 juvenile Botia Hymenophysa (green tiger loach- stoked to find these guys a couple of months ago) and a bristlenose to keep the java fern algae free. In the 50g I keep clown loaches and Botia Modesta (blue botia/orange-finned loach). I have two 2l bottles of diy co2 going on this tank and am very happy with the growth of my marble queen swords, twisted vallis, and stargrass. Unfortunately my java fern doesn't seem to do as well under the 3.25 watts per gallon in the 50g as it does in the 1.5 wpg of the 10g tank. In the past I have bred guppies, kribs and electric yellows, and I am on the lookout for something else to breed - perhaps ancistrus. I regularly frequent the american forums, in particular Loaches online, and Tom's Place. One of my favourite fish sites on the net would have to be The Skeptical Aquarist. It's so good to find a forum in NZ! How many of you guys keep loaches? I would like to see a forum on this site for loaches, so long as enough of you keep them of course ... I'm also interested in finding out your favourite pet stores ... I'm so jealous of the shops I see in magazines like PFK and TFH. The shops I have visited in Wgtn have never impressed me very much. Do you guys buy a lot of livestock off stores, or do you do a lot of trading within the club? Regardless, I look forward to spending some quality time here Speak to you soon. Ben

From what I understand, the true SAE is on the prohibited list but comes in fairly regulary as 'flying foxes'. The links provided above distinguish between the true SAE and the 'fake' ones. The SAE's sold in Wgtn are always (in my experience) sold as flying foxes, I'd actually never heard the term 'black line flying fox' till I read this thread. The true SAE is a fish worth its weight in gold when it comes to algae control. They do get reasonably big though. Ben