F15hguy

You cant say that without pics, thats just mean

Ghots catfish need to be kept in groups of AT LEAST 5 or more or you will run into problems getting them to feed properly and they will be Very skittish

Sledgehammer

hrrmmmmm even with computers these days art is way beyond me gimme a fish tank I can make it pretty but anything else..... :facepalm:

dunno why but all my profile details have disappeared, fixed now

kewl, do us backwards NZer use it for humans still??? I heard that it had too many potential side effects so was a last resort only for humans(well almost last, there is also di-metronidazole) one Vet got dodgy and accused me of trying to self prescribe of human parasites, woulda come back with a killer comment, but couldn't stop laughing at the guys accent

I go for Zeebee's but maybe with a more green planted sort of background

lol, most commercial setups are using that stuff as well as regular pvc piping. in 5 years I only had to clean out 2 points in over 3km of piping and that was due to planaria buildup (pipe had dropped into water) just make a small down pipe with a tap on the end so you can flush the system easily

umm even 2 BN's in a 50L is pushing it. must say though that you seem to be blaming the colour when in fact the Browns should technically be hardier fish (opening can of worms here) it is far more likely that the browns have suffered poor handling somewhere along the supply chain and have had a weaker immune system (browns normally get mistreated a lot more due to their ease of breeding/lower price) which has been compromised when added to a tank with a immature system (a lethal ammonia spike can last just a few min's in some cases and will not be detected, 0.5ppm imo is normally the remnants of a much larger spike)

which gets me to thinking, does any1 know of a vet that can get me metronidazole? the vets round here are a bit stingy when it comes to prescriptions without a house visit and that gets a bit ridiculous money. (have a friend with a Hexamita infestation an a brand new pair of discus (one fish dead already other in quarantine probably will stay carrier))

or you could just insulate the tanks now and save on power while you wait

a duvet and a emergency blanket (you know those silvery ones) wrapped around a tank excluding the top reduced heat loss to 3 degrees over a 8 hour period on a 200L tank

ummm... imo very easy to breed, listed as a good breeder for beginners in a book from 1965 Relatively straightforward, provided you can obtain a compatible pair. Unfortunately matching adult fish is a tricky process, with males often killing females if they are simply added to the tank together. Some hobbyists have had success by inserting a clear divider in the middle of the tank and allowing the male to get used to his potential partner this way, removing the divider after a few weeks. A far more preferable and easy method is to buy at least 6 young fish and allow them to pair off naturally. Once a pair forms it’s wise to remove the other fish, and tankmates of any kind are not an option beyond this point, as they will almost certainly be killed when spawning commences. The aquarium should be set up as suggested above with slightly soft and acidic water of pH 6.5-7.0 and a temperature of 75°F. It’s best to use air-powered filtration as fry may be sucked up by power filters. A variety of flat stones will provide potential spawning sites. Feed the fish lots of live and frozen foods to bring them into condition. The fish become sexually mature at around 4-6″ and once you have a pair they should breed without too much encouragement from you. Spawning can often be initiated by performing a large (30-50%) water change with cool water. The pair will choose and then thoroughly clean a spawning site within their territory. This may be a flat rock, large flowerpot, or a pit excavated from the substrate. Spawning occurs in a similar fashion to many other cichlids, with the female laying a line of eggs before moving away, allowing the male to take her place and fertilise them. Up to 400 eggs may be fertilised in this manner. The eggs hatch in around 3-4 days, and during this period the male will defend the spawning site while the female tends to the eggs. Upon hatching the fry are moved to a pre-excavated pit in the substrate where they remain until they become free swimming. This usually takes another 6-8 days, and at this point they can be fed microworm, brine shrimp nauplii and powdered dry foods. They should be left in with the parents until broodcare begins to diminish (usually around 6 weeks), as if they’re removed the male may attempt to spawn with the female again, and if she isn’t ready to do so he may turn on her. from seriouslyfish.com

Tonic salt. Test kits. 12 gauge shotgun. any other medications have a shelf life so should only be bought when needed. might be worth stashing a $20 note in your first aid kit instead

imo the google images dont do it justice, 100 x better than a neon in the right light

I know of a few breeding harems around NZ of balzanii's, maybe a few have turned up reacently If there is enough demand they should come into the country, I'll have a chat with a couple of people and see if we can work out a way to notify the importers of certain demand. yet there is too many previous cases of people going I want I want and then never taking it when on offer. even on fish that are in the country people will go into their LFS's and order something in and never show up, this puts LFS's off the whole specific ordering thing

a bit overstocked in a 50L tank. what are your stocking levels?? are there any other fish in the tanks? how big are the BN's? male to female ratio??

have heard a theory that they were actually called angle fish originally due to their shape and a misspell led to their name nowdays

same question with answer http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=59621

+1, definately not a jd, probably not a convict, most likely a very cool looking hybrid

lol, old news, I have heard (from a reasonably connected person)that a shipment of adults has found its way to canada for the aquarium market there

lol im sure I can guess what store you went to my only experience iswith sun sun is with the pumps and every second one came back within 3 months for replacement impellers, they seem to have very soft metal shafts in the models I dealt with.

possible causes: ammonia too high (should never reach 0.5ppm) N stands for.... if nitrite then good, if nitrate the sounds to me like you have no filtration atm. other possibilities include bullying, wrong type of wood, worm infection etc... but start with the basics. what size tank and what filter are you using? pH. 6.3 - 7.0 is that the fluctuations??? then im surprised its only your BN's dying

ok but tell the truth, how many are we not seeing

ummm, DON'T clean the media, only clean the sponges!!!!!!