Bilbo

Looks to me like a severum. Not a convict anyway.

Best of luck. These fish are most likely macmasteri and not viejita but still an awesome fish. They can be a bit stubborn to breed compared to the cacatuoides or agassizi. These fish are not true blackwater fish like bitaeniata, panduro or nijsseni so can breed in pH 6 - 6.5 and up to 5 dH. Peat is not needed but cant hurt and may even stimulate spawning. Lots of mossy larvae and small (or chopped) earthworms or blackworms and maybe some whites or grindals occasionally. Top quality water is the number one concern with these fish.

Mine look pretty flash as well. Not quite as colourful as the photo but not much different. I have 2 lots of fry growing with a total of about 35. I also have a spare male if you need him Ryan.

I agree but still big congrats to all those who did well and worked hard last year despite the system.

Best of luck Supasi. Temp does play a huge role in sexes during the first 4 - 6 weeks but pH plays a small part in it as well. A very low pH in will also trend towards males but only once you get into the low 5's or 4's. If you have a temp at 25 - 26 you should get a mixture. If you still want micros I have a few going so more than happy to give you a full culture. I can meet you 1/2 way in Turakina?

Congrats on the spawn.

Its back. Noticed a Bolivian ram with a few worms yesterday morning so I dosed it with the correct dose of aviverm and then 5 hours later I added 3 drops of the avi hi-min 40% stuff to 60 litres of water. 30 minutes later I started syphoning the worms off the bottom and then by last night I did a 100% water change. This morning I put the ram into a new clean tank and it looks good with no sign of any problems. After losing 3 large worms I guess it will be over the moon and its eating really well. Tomorrow will be the day to start on everything else. Lost a big pile of fish recently so not many to treat. I don't know if this is the same infection I had 6 months ago or a new one but either way I am getting tired of treating for this worm. :an!gry

Based on my own experience only and others will have other (probably better) ideas. In my larger planted tank I have the CO2 running 1 - 2 bps 24/7. Some people recommend a solenoid to turn the gas off at night and some don't. I don't have one so I cant comment on how good or bad they are. I do know that a DIY CO2 system usually runs round the clock so I leave the bottle running but I never run the CO2 levels high enough to be an issue so I have great plant growth and have never had a fish gasping at the surface. Sounds like a great tank, best of luck with it.

Blue circle whitespot cure is the best by a long way. High temperatures and salt do a good job but the blue circle stuff is faster, less stress and will work on all the sensitive fish at any temperature...and its cheap.

Dwarfcichlid.com is the best starting point. Good list of fish there. HFF gave you a list that included borelli? I didnt know they were bringing more in.

Beautiful fish Danval thanks for sharing. Mine are stunning also but I cant get a good pic. Without doubt the best apisto we have in NZ at the moment. Hope I am still somewhere in the queue

This is one of my favorites

Best wishes for your wife. Hope she can have a quick and full recovery. I have been keeping an eye on this site too. Really looking forward to it building up because it is really the only one of its type here.

I have about 20 fry with one set of parents and 15 with another both around 2 weeks old. They ate their eggs for a while but the last few spawns I have just left them to it and they have been great parents.

I went to a hardware store yesturday that had about 20 wine barrels for sale that had got full of rain water. They were covered black with larvae and (after asking permission) I got enough to full and freeze half the cubes of an old bloodworm tray of washed and drained pure larvae. A second large bowl full of many hundreds more live ones for feeding over the next day or two as well. I couldnt even imagine counting how many were there but I would have caught many many thousands and only tried 3 or 4 of the barrels.

Is the base 2500 x 1000 in 10mm? If that is the case then the height wont matter to much becuase the base will probably crack. Even at a safety factor of 2.5, which is not ideal when you are talking about 1.5 tons of water, you should have 14mm base. Ideally you should be aiming for a safety of 3.8 so 16.5mm base. If you are planning a 5mtr x 1mtr tank then a 20mm base or a double layered 10mm glued together and well braced would be a safer option.

Great shots and beautiful flowers. I have an ozelot sword that is doing the same thing without flowers, it is about 30cm above the tank now with 3 groups of buds.

Sometimes a science lab can buy it in bulk or in concentrated (possibly dry???) form ready to make up but I still can’t imagine ever getting through a litre. If you are getting that much fungus then perhaps the water is wrong? Alder cones or even dry Camellia (Camellia japonica) leaves are a good natural anti fungal / anti bacterial agent and they are free. Cant hurt to try some if you are hatching a batch of eggs every couple of weeks.

Is the local pet shop still open? They might be able to order some in for you, cant hurt to ask. Failing that I am in Pahiatua a couple of times a week if you can get that far I can bring some them from Palmy if you want to order them.

I still use a ladder which is about the most wasteful of any but from what I read the inline reactor is the best you can get. At the moment I would be happy with a simple diffuser though.

Can we get either of these yet? Limnophila aromatica (Red), L.hippuroides or Nymphaea glandulifera. I read that Blyxa japonica isnt here but can anyone suggest a good substitute?

They are a bit pricey but worth it, extremely cool fish. They don't seem to have a downside at all apart from being a little temperamental when you first get them.

Otocinclus! These guys are amazing. A few in your tank and it will be gone in a week.

Its a flood waiting to happen. You will end up emptying one tank and over fill another and the flow only needs to be a tiny bit out. It could possibly work if you got the flow pretty close and then fitted had a syphon between the tanks to keep them all level.