nzfauna

Hi there, I am preparing to move house in the next year, so want to give away all my guppies and two tanks. I want them to go to a fish enthusiast rather than just someone on trademe. I have been breeding these yellow females for a few years now, and they seem to reproduce stably. There are also some green or yellow snakeskin males, female green diamonds. You can see the fish and tanks here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdWiJWkMeh8&feature=youtu.be. The yellow females look a bit pale in this video, but I think it's because I had only just turned on the light. The tanks are mature.

Bump...

Hi guys, yep, I've attached a photo of the tanks. And you can view a short vid of the fish here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdWiJWkMeh8&feature=youtu.be

Hi there - I would like to see these fish go to a good home in the Nelson region. I'm attaching a nominal price of $50 for everything. 1st tank: For a few years now, I have been breeding with a line of yellow female guppies, which are now mostly breeding true. I have been using two of their offspring snakeskin males as the fathers. There are 10s of fish in this tank now - mostly females. 2nd tank: I have been using this as my 'overflow and males' tank. The highlights are: 1 unusual blue/green male, 1 orange/yellow male, a green diamond female, and a couple of partially snakeskin males. The tanks themselves are 40L each, and include the built-in filters/pumps etc. The tanks are well established and healthy. They have a few plastic plants in them, and non-invasive, naturalised 'seaweed'. I am selling these fish because, since moving from Wellington in July, my current and future priorities have changed/will be changing. I want these fish to go to someone who knows a lot about fish, fish-keeping, and ideally someone who is keen on keeping up the yellow breeding. See pic and vid of fish and tanks in post below. Vid shows the fish. Please reply in this thread if you're interested or have questions.

Update So, after I fixed/cleaned the filter, thereby restoring the flow rate, and siphoning up and rinsing some of the gravel, this white stuff has started to decline. Slowly but surely.

There will always be microflora in a tank. They are just opportunistic and grow when more favourable conditions eventuate. I don't generally overfeed, there is very little left on the bottom after say 30 minutes. And I do water changes regularly (once, twice, three times a week), and the tank was not 'neglected' - although I did stop cleaning the glass to see what it would do. Perhaps, in this case, the severe decrease in flow rate led to conditions that allowed the slime or fungi (or whatever) proliferate. Perhaps decreased oxygenation, altered water chemistry, and current strength. I'm not going to disrupt the whole tank and clean everything - it will recede on its own. I think that will be better for the fish.

Hi Sophia, thanks so much for suggesting this, because it prompted me to look at my flow rate. Without me realising it, part of the filter unit had become clogged. I've now cleaned it out thoroughly and it is certainly a stronger current now. I've also taken measures to prevent that part becoming clogged again (because it's hard to get at and clean!). I'm now quite sure that the very low flow rate was the reason for this microflora 'explosion'.

I've just noticed the flow rate is very low (well, not as high as it was). Maybe my motor needs a clean out or replacement?

I suppose it could be from left over food, but i have had fish for years and never seen anything like this. It even grows on bare glass! As well as water changes, what can i add to the water to kill this growth. Salt? A regular dose didn't seen to work. Cheers :-)

http://postimg.org/image/i8l8dn57n/full/

So, i have this stuff growing over the bottom my tropical water guppy tank. It also grows on plants and glass. Any ideas what it is and how to get rid of it? Will post pic below.

Oh, and he died the next day Although, I think the babies in the tank are his, so here's hoping.

OMG. On the evening of the third day of treatment, the poor little male guppy took a nose dive. He was sitting at the bottom, breathing heavily. I've seen enough fish dying to know that this was the end for him. I read somewhere that Melafix can make it harder for fish to breath, so I did a 25% water change (no dechlorinator) just before bed, turned off the lights and hoped for the best. This morning, he seemed relatively normal - I'm pleased, but still worried and will watch him closely. Will do another water change tonight. The tail hasn't degraded any further. I am hoping that the problem was just the overgrown weed issue, and that his tail was rubbing against it too much, or that he was being nibbled. My water is pretty clean - about 25% water change every week, and I have one of those UV sterilisers that gets used every few days, and after a water change. I will be very, very hesitant to use Melafix again. Certainly not in this way (whole tank treatment). The instructions say 5ml a day for 7 days, then a 25% water change, then continue if necessary.

Hi guys and gals. I have just started treating my tank with Melafix after one of my lemon yellow male guppy's tails started looking a bit ragged. I'm not sure if it is from 'fin rot' (I'm not convinced), or from the tank being overgrown with oxygen weed and other plants (now pruned), or something else. Anyway, the Melafix is in, hope it works. It seems like such a low dosage (5ml per 40L). Is there any actual proof that it does what it claims to?

The heavily pregnant one has become quite 'aggressive', even towards the (slightly less) pregnant female.

How come?

I've decided, for the moment, to take her out of the breeder box, and instead put my male in there. She looked kinda stressed, and this way he won't be able to chase her endlessly round the tank... Is this a good idea? I only have 2 females and 1 male in this tank.

Hello everyone I'm just returning to livebearers after several years' hiatus, and I'd like to gather the collective opinion of FNZAS on breeder boxes... There are those square netted ones, and ones like: http://image.dhgate.com/albu_262909032_00-1.0x0/new-clear-plastic-frame-fry-hatchery-fish.jpg (which is what I've got): I've just put one of my very pregnant swordtails (below) in a breeder box with some weed. But now I'm questioning myself. As you can see, she's very pregnant, boxy, and you can see the eyes of the fry inside her (at least that's what I've come to believe those things are).

So, a lot of people have said that the bacteria in a biological filter will die if you turn your filter of for too long (others disagree, or give time limits etc). My question is, why would they die in that environment, when they don't die in the bottle the come in? I'm guessing it's because (some) bacteria can just go into a kind of stasis in the absence of the right conditions, and just start respiring and growing again when good conditions return. Either that, or some bacteria can form resistant 'bacterial spore' bodies that 'sprout' again when good conditions return - likes seeds. Any insights?

There haven't been any problems Seems to be working good. However, the 'crystal clear water' effect is somewhat lessened because I've also got a tannin-leaching piece of driftwood in the tank, lol. Just need to wait till that process finishes - although activated carbon has helped quite a bit in removing tannings - and dramatically quickly.

I posted this as a reference for people who might be looking for this information. Yes, I could have worked it out myself, but I only thought about it after setting up the tank. It has been a long time since I set up a new tank, and I forgot. And I knew AquaOne would have this information on hand. AquaOne's black silica sand is more like a light gravel, specially made for aquariums and their filters. I bought a 5kg bag. Haters gon' hate!

The two farms that I know of are: Clearwater Crayfish, http://www.clearwatercrayfish.co.nz/ Sweet Koura, Francie & Peter Diver [[email protected]] Clearwater Crayfish sells a booklet on farming koura, which you might find useful.

The ones I can vouch for are: Animalz 31 Johnsonville Rd Johnsonville } YEP WAS IN THERE RECENTLY Animates Kaiwharawhara 132 Hutt Road Wellington } YEP WAS IN THERE RECENTLY Animates Lower Hutt 541 High Street Lower Hutt } YEP WAS IN THERE RECENTLY The Pet Centre 28 Rutherford St Lower Hutt } YEP WAS IN THERE RECENTLY There is also a pet store in Miramara with fish: http://www.wellingtonvets.co.nz/miramar-pets-fish

Thanks for all the responses so far! Yes, the reason I want to turn if off at night is solely to eliminate noise. It's not a noisy filter, I just feel more settled with complete silence (I live in an areas with complete silence at night). Occasionally the filter will make some noise, but I just turn it off and on until the impeller or whatever jiggles back into place. The water trickle noise is non-existent because it has a nifty little extender that means the overflow empties out underwater. So my question is just about whether turning the filter off, but leaving the heater on, for 9 hours a day is going to kill my fish. My tank filter is not HOB (hang on back). It is built into the hood, like these: http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/prod ... ms/m/2591/ I also have a UV steriliser in it - which I will always turn off at night.

Hi there. My tank is 40L, freshwater, and heated to about 23 degrees Celsius, with a few fish in it. It is one of those hooded ones where the biological filter system is all built in. I also have a UV steriliser that I will turn off at night. I would prefer to turn the filter off at night, because the tank is in my bedroom, but leave the heater on. Am I able to do this, without detriment to the fish? The considerations I can think of are: - Temperature gradient/mixing - would the warmer water rising to top/cooler water sinking to bottom over night cause any problems? Can the fish choose a comfortable spot? I'm presuming it would be OK. - Oxygen - will there be enough oxygen without filter action? The entire surface of the water is open to air. I'm presuming it would be OK. - Biological filter - will the bacteria remain moist enough to survive the night? I'm presuming it would be OK. Thank you, NZF