Thorned Rose

Thanks Silverdollarboy2 -I'd not heard of Keyholes before - they look perfect for what I'm after. The tetras and barbs have definitely given me some food for thought too. Really tossing up between glowlight tetras, lemon tetras and cherry barbs or maybe some combination. I wouldn't mind some blue colouration somewhere (*maybe neon tetras but I'm not sure how I feel about putting them in pH 7.6) so if anyone has any more suggestions for something with a bit of blue (or all blue lol), it's much appreciated!

Forgot to say that the temp is currently set to 25C

I just cleared out my tank of guppies and suddenly my options have opened up! I've looked into a number of different fish but I'm really struggling to find something suitable. I currently have a pair of silver Sailfin Mollies and a pair of GBAs. I ideally want a pair of larger fish 10-15cm kinda size and a group of small (pref tightly) schooling fish. I have a 240L (120cm l x 50cm h x 40cm w). Lighting is four twin/dual 21" power compacts (I think either 55 or 65W daylight) but I only usually have half of them on as all four of them on burns the duckweed that covers the water surface. The tank currently has two air powered sponge filters but I'm going to put the HOB trickle filter back on. It's a, shall we say, unexpected natural planted lol. The tank was orignally meant as a bare bottom temporary tank but it's taken off so well I've kept it as is. The java moss has essentially become the substrate and along with the duckweed has made for excellent nutrient uptake. I've needed to do only very occasional water changes (like once a month!). I'm now starting to slowly add some black sand and I'll be adding more variety of plants (I want to get rid of most of the duckweed so I can up the lighting again). My biggest problem in choosing fish is that my pH is usually ~7.6. It has spiked in the past to 8.2 (I think out of the tap it's about 8 but I need to retest) but has stabilised since I've added more wood. I tried to test the GH and KH today but I'd be pretty sure my test bottles are borked and need to be replaced. KH test *seemed* to work and came out to 40ppm. I do think the water here is decently hard (not super hard but medium - medium-high) as we get some water scaling. Ammonia and nitrite are of course 0 and nitrate is <5 (my test doesn't show lower than that but the colour was barely there) Fish that I have considered thus far have been Boesemani rainbows but discarded that after reading you need at least 6. Kribensis, but as they are bottom dwellers, I would prefer something more free swimming. Orange Chromide but I don't feel good about putting them in anything other than brackish. Discus but I don't know how well they would do with my parameters. Glowlight tetras because they seem to be the only small fish I've found thus far that would remotely tolerate my tank's water. Fish that are decently hardy are also a good idea as sometimes I might miss the odd water change lol That said, Sailfin Mollies are sensitive to ammonia and mine have always been happy, healthy and breeding. The only one I've lost was from an ammonia spike after a damn guppy died that I didn't see for a few days. If you have read this far, thanks for reading my novel lol! I really appreciate any help and suggestions!!

If only my bubba spoke english now so she could translate for me! Sailfins. Errr, kissings? Are there kissing mollies? Or do you mean gouramis?

I forgot to mention that just before the male got really interested in the female, she started looking a little more rotund than she had - possibly eggs ready to be fertilised? Hence why looking a little fatter and increased interest from her hubby? Incidentally, these two are also fascinated by my 6 month old daughter - they will come from the other side of the tank just to sit there watching her lol. None of the rest of us garner that much attention from them (me included *sad face*).

A couple of questions. I got a pair of gorgeous white sailfin mollies a couple of weeks ago (my first) and I've never seen mollies act the way they do - they stay close together almost all of the time and like to be in physical contact, intentionally nudging and 'caressing' each other. I'm trying not to project human emotion onto them, but they seem to genuinely like/love? each other lol. Is this normal for mollies or have I just happened on a couple of love struck wierdos? Also does anyone have info about molly mating behaviours? I figured mollies would be very similar to guppies in their mating but so far they haven't been. Up until last night the male showed little interest in mating with the female (only once that I saw) but now he is suddenly very interested - he keeps nudging her vent and then mating with her while she is very receptive, just hanging in the water waiting for him.... do females have fertile periods where they release pheromones or some such (in oestrus for lack of a better term)? Or is it perhaps that she is young and has only just become sexually mature?

What JaSa said! Breeding for colours is far more effective than trying to feed for colour - it's very limited in it's 'enhancement' abilities and imo only really effective for fish that had a crappy diet to start with (see fish that looked dull, insert fancy colour enhancing food here, miracles! But really fish just needed decent food). Anyways, arguably you can get away with just feeding something like NLS Small Fish Formula/Optimum Flake and BBS. But, like with most things, variety is the spice of life! - NLS, JBL NovoVert/NovoBea, BBS, live or dried daphnia, mosquito larvae/pupae (which mine LOVE and go nuts over), blanched courgettes, spinach, silverbeet, cucumber etc. I also give mine blanched peas (deshelled) once a week which is especially important if they end up eating a lot of high protein/fatty foods like heart (which I don't recommend specifically feeding to guppies). For a special tasty treat (like once a month), you can give them chopped up earth worm. Live food is important for pregnant guppies and fry will also grow faster and healthier if they have live food

Awesome, thanks guys! Guess my gups just don't like it lol. >.< I may try soaking it for a while first (which I know you are supposed to do anyway with dry foods) before I give it to them.

I was after NLS Small Fish Formula for my guppies but the LFS didn't have any so next best thing was the Optimum flakes. However they didn't have any of the Fresh, only Salt. The guy I asked (about having any Small Fish Formula in stock) said there was no difference between the Fresh and Salt variety other than packaging. I am dubious. I have a distinct distrust of any LFS (irregardless of current reputation) just having been stung so many times in the past, but mostly my guppies (and sailfin mollies for that matter) don't seem to care too much for it - they'll gingerly eat it with a lot of spitting out then eating again. But a lot of the food just gets left till its sat around for a while before they eat it. I haven't been able to compare the ingredients list/analysis on the Fresh and Salt so opinions much appreciated

Yep, why?

Holy Moly! That must have been an impressive setup! Originally I got guppies for my daughter but had to step in after fearing for their life under her care lol. Since then, they've really grown on me and I would love to breed them and produce my own strain. But being a mama takes priority at the moment (my youngest is 6 months) so I am just happy with my moscows and tinkering with some albinos. Excited that I'm getting some albino Endler hybrids soon. Do post pics! Would love to see them

Thanks! ^^ I'm really looking forward to the male fry maturing - they look like they're going to colour up awesomely

Here's the photos (finally!). Clicky to get full size. My two fully mature males: Close up of the mature male I can sell: This picture is him but without the flash so the iridescence shows up better (it has a lot more green than actual because of the plants) Photo of 'Big Mama', my biggest (and most mature) female: Big Mama again on the left, and one of the younger females on the right showing the blue iridescence they have. And this one just for fun (The album is here also: http://s290.photobucket.com/user/reassertion/library/Purple%20Moscow%20Guppies) In case you don't know, Moscow colours tend to look different depending on lighting (and their mood lol). I tried to get as best pictures as I could but they can look like the photos, or against a bright background they can look pastel coloured with purple and an almost olive green and in diffuse light they can look just dark purple, almost black with no iridescence. The females are pretty much as you see them in the photos but a bit darker. They are mostly just a grey that gets darker along the body. But they have a slight, mostly blue iridescence. The younger male I can sell will colour up very similar to the one in the photos, or I can part with the male in the photo if you really want him (he will just be a bit extra).

Guppies normally take anywhere from three to 6 months to show decent colour but a lot can depend on how fast they grow - higher water temp (26C) can make them grow faster but can also cause problems (like bent spine) so I keep mine at 24C. Feeding live foods (mosquito larvae, daphnia, baby brine shrimp) and a varied diet is the best way to get good growth. Moscow fry seem to colour a lot earlier than many other colour strains My two youngest males are about 3-4 months old and starting to show colour nicely now (compared with the few classic coloured guppies I have that are coming up for 6 months and still not fully coloured) - I'll try and get pictures of my two mature males and the younger two so you can compare. Only one of the younger males is potentially for sale (breeding age but not fully coloured). Otherwise there is the Lower Hutt seller who has the blue moscows at $10 each (and I think about $25 courier?). You'll want a ratio of 2-3 females per male. I could either part with the young male and 2-3 females or I can breed however many females (around 4, maybe more currently available) you want to whichever male(s) you want and just send females - you would just have to wait 21-40 days for them to drop fry and then another 4-6 months for fully coloured males (but you would potentially have lots). Say three for $20? Courier would probably be $20-$25 but would have to confirm....

I have some male purple moscows fry/adolescents that haven't coloured up fully yet so not quite sure what they will be and won't be ready for a little while yet. But I have a number of (mostly virgin) female moscows available at the moment (purple/blue). (I can breed them to my purple males before shipping). I'm in Auckland however so would need to courier (about $20-$25). Otherwise there is a seller in Lower Hutt that ships. You can also very occasionally find them in pet shops. Many of the snakeskin guppies are pretty stunning and more common in the shops