Bilbo

P44's fry grew alot faster than most normal apisto fry do. The only way to get fry to grow quickly like that is to have a good supply of infusoria or paramecium in the tank for them to find and munch on between normal BBS feedings. His fry grew up in a planted tank with algae so had loads of bugs to eat. Dont give up you arent doing anything wrong. Sorry about the female but best of luck with the fry.

I did culture them once with ice cream containers. Just put old fish tank water and a piece of apple in a stocking in each one. The fruit should be just starting to turn bad and you could also add a tiny pinch of yeast to the water. Leave in a warm spot for 2 days and then put the lid on for 2 more days for the young to hatch and start growing then pour the water through a fine net. The water can be reused and then just put the apple back in. If you leave the lid on for more than 2 days then stand back or have fly spray.

So how do they compare to the jobes sticks? I have never seen that brand before where do you get them

I have never driven through rain like we got today around 4pm in Palmy. Literally every car had pulled over to the side of the road because we just couldn't see anything.

Does anybody have a problem with using these? Jobes Plant Food Spikes for "Lush Ferns and Palms" They are only a few dollars for a pack of 12 and you can break each one up into 3 pieces. 16-2-6 Total Nitrogen (N) 16% 2% Nitrate Nitrogen 10.5% Water Insoluble Nitrogen 3.5% Urea Nitrogen Available Phosphate (P2O5) 2% Soluable Potash (K2O) 6% Derived from Ureaform, tripple Superphoshate and Potassium Nitrate. Chlorine (CL) not more than 0.2%. I have used them with no problems and they seem to get an ok write up on plant forums.

You are doing the right thing with root ferts. Sword are heavy root feeders but also like good light and CO2 to grow quickly. They will also grow quite well under low light but much more slowly. I have even seen them grown in a tank next to an open window with all day sun. They were just floating on top of quite dirty water and they were huge and going crazy with plantlets coming off everywhere.

Both Java and Christmas moss look really good in an aquascape. I was surprised how good boring old Java looks when its done properly.

Cant wait. The chooks are already getting webbed feet and the new bark on the garden floated out over the lawn last week I will keep an eye out for your tent and kids Lyndy if they dont get shot down over Ohekea :lol:

I was looking at that too. Maybe just a mark on the picture? Maybe its just getting its roots sorted out before it starts growing. I have found a few plants that look a bit sad for a while after being moved.

Mike Wise will be able to tell you what it is but I think he will ask for a clearer photo. He had a go at me once for a poor picture. I am undecided because females usually don't have a blue coloured stripe above the lateral line and the lateral line tends to be thinner or in most cases it is separated into multiple black spots. Also females usually don't have blue on the face and the pelvic fins usually don't have much colour and those ones look red. But that fish doesnt have the finage I would expect from a male and as Jennifer already pointed out they do have spots on the anal fin and this picture shows some faint spots.

A friend of mine did the same thing with a car battery operated pump. Just backed his Ute as close as he could and filled a Shultz tank. Sounds like a good idea to me because I sure wouldn’t be wading out mid winter collecting sea water. This is looking like a great project elusive_fish, cant wait to see more pictures.

Looking forward to getting mine too thanks Caryl :bounce: and thanks to Phoenix44 for processing my late subs so quickly so I could get it.

I like glosso if its grown correctly and kept trimmed otherwise it becomes a bit straggly and where the light isn’t quite as bright it tends to grow taller. I have never managed to have a good glosso tank so I am envious of those who can so I hope it goes well. Is dwarf hairgrass available?? That does look cool when it’s filled in properly and there is a little bit of water movement around it.

Its strange. I cant tell if its a bot or not but I don't really want to stick around to find out, it freeked me out Maybe if people give a load of person information on the basis that it is supposed to be a game then it would be worth someone employing thousands of people to ask and answer random questions? That sounds a bit to much like a conspiracy theory but as JK says "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain"

Yes they are compleatly diferent fish. The A. sp. Blaukopf/Blue-head aka A. sp. New Blue or Steel-blue is thought to be a domestic cross between the resticulosa- & caetei-complex. No one is sure exactly where it came from but it is still a very nice looking fish. The fish that Supasi and I have has been IDed as likley to be A.cf.eunotus "Spaltenfleck/Split-patch" because of the unusual double caudal spot. Here is mine.

Dropsy is really tough because it is really only the symptom and not a disease. It can be caused by bacteria, parasites or a virus and some people claim it can even be caused by something as simple as a cold water water change. What ever the cause it is usually a failure in the kidneys or liver. Don’t use normal salt because this will only make it worse but Epsom salts can help by reducing the swelling if you are wanting to try to cure it but I agree with everyone else that it should be put out of its misery. Good water quality and correct paramaters for your fish is the best thing you can do to stop it.

Sorry to say all the panduro have gone. P44 What is the yellow cheeked apisto. The only reference I can find is A. sp. 2 which is sometimes incorrectly known as A. sp. Guttata Xingu. It is probably A. sp. Xingu which is a lovely little fish closely related to eunotus and A. sp. Blaukopf/Blue-head. Either way I don't think we have ever had it in NZ. A.trifesiata have been bred but not in large numbers yet. IMHO breed the agassizi. They are challenging but not extremely difficult and people, like me, will pay good money for a pair of them.

I was waiting for this to pop up again Confirmed as far as I know A.eunotus A.agassizi A.cacatuoides A.hongsloi A.trifesiata and possibly A.macmasteri. The only ones easily available are cockatoo's.

I don’t know what it is but it seems harmless enough. Bristlenoses eat it or it will disappear in a week or two by itself.

Yeah they are really nice. I just got some of the green one and I love that but red is an awesome looking plant. I can agree with above that they are really heavy root feeders so JBL balls or even Jobes Lush palm and fern will do. I am using mineralized top soil mixed with vermiculite under Daltons propagating sand. *Joins the back of the queue * *Pushes past Phoenix *

He was a lovely fish and only a few days ago when I saw him he looked healthy as anything. Very sorry to hear about your loss especially for something as nice and as rare as that. You have fallen victim to the one spawn per pair rule.

I have seen one or two large clowns, a friend of mine in Wainuiomata had a huge one at about 300mm long. I guess it takes space and time like everything else. Good luck.

Sorry.. I like it and used to have a lot of success with it. I think flourish works better but at about 1000x times the price I would go with PMDD or these days I now use PPS which is very similar but separates the macro and the micro solutions into two bottles. The biggest problem with PMDD is supposed to be the chelated iron in the trace elements will react badly with the Potassium and Magnesium which is why some people now use PPS which separates them out. I am not a chemist so forgive me if I get the reasoning wrong its just the way I understand it. PPS Ingredients list Macro Solution In 1 litre distilled water add 59 grams K2SO4 (Potassium Sulfate) 65 grams KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate) 6 grams KH2PO4 (Mono Potassium Phosphate) 41 grams MgSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate) Fill with distilled water and shake well. Let sit overnight. Dose 1 - 1.5mls per 50ltrs every morning just before lights come on Micro Solution In 1 litre bottle: 80 grams of CSM+B or equivalent trace element mix Fill with distilled water and shake well. Let sit overnight. Dose 1 ml per 50ltrs every morning just before lights come on. I have net paid for it yet because the hydroponics store says it to small a quantity to worry about. Normally I flick him $2.00

What is 'ppmd' ? I know about pmdd (Poor Man's Dosing Drops) and I use it when ever I have a planted tank set up.

I had the privilege of seeing these fish today. Great job P44 they are looking really good and growing many times faster than I thought they would have.