Bilbo

I am facing the same problem. I have a tank full of rainbow fry and a few glowlight fry that are slowly starving to death because I didn't prepare in time and I cant get my infusoria / paramecium cultures to mature fast enough. Sadly they will be ready probably by Wednesday but I wont have any fry left by then.

Very sorry to hear of your losses. Hope you guys are doing ok.

I have started a small 600 x 300 x 300mm using mineralized soil mixed with vermiculite to about 20mm and 40mm of Dalton's propagating sand on top. Substrate does matter and can be the make or break of a good planted tank. Dalton's propagating sand or some other coarse sand works well. P44's suggestion of Flourite is also good but it can be expensive. Loads of info is available about the pros and cons of different substrate.

While you are googling them try to find out how to feed tiny fish with tiny mouths. Getting the eggs is the easy bit.

Hope you are ok Jen. Its a shame about the fry and fish but at least the owner is alright.

Thoughts with you South Islanders. Looks pretty serious.

Very very nice. Congrats. I dont want to even try and guess. Quite a few though.

Sorry I saw your question on the other thread and then forgot to answer it. As Ryan says just damp is best. I get 3 pads and soak them for an hour in hot water and then ring them out. If you tip the ice-cream container you shouldnt get a puddle in the corner. I use CD covers on top of them because it makes it easy to pick it up and dip into the tanks to feed out. I feed them cat biscuits A few things to watch for. Once every 2 or 3 months they will crash so it pays to have 2 or 3 cultures going. Once they crash the smell is like the bog of eternal stench so don't get any on your fingers.

Great job. They are going to look good in your tank.

how would she go about doing that then?

....you accidentally syphon a mouth full of water that would give E. Coli Dysentery with no effect.

I can’t think of any good reason to move to Auckland either apart from promotion, job security, better living conditions, more money, more activities and opportunities for the kids, better shops to spend money in, warmer climate..... I am losing this battle so its simpler to say we are really gunna miss you guys. Probably just about as important is we are losing 2/3rds of our local execs. You will both have to keep coming for the meetings though eh.

Congrats :-)

I have a 10 ltr bucket 1/2 full of mineralized soil but I haven't got motivated enough to start the planted tank yet.

This sounds awsome. Cant wait to see some pictures too. I think 1000 cardinals would look pretty cool

I agree with henwood on this one. crude protein (min.) 5,0% crude fat (min.) 1,0% crude fibre (max.) 0,9% moisture (max.) 92,0% ash (max.) 0,8% When you look carefully at that analysis only 8% of your 100g pack is anything other than moisture so $7.00 for 8 grams of usable food.

If I am reading this correctly then he had a pay rise 12 months ago, and I am guessing being a contractor he has a contract renegotiation, then that should be in writing somewhere. If that is in writing then you have a case to claim for the full 12 months of back pay. It’s pretty unusual for a contactor to use a vehicle from the company he contracts too. If he was to do that would he need personal insurance to cover his client’s equipment or does his client cover the insurance for their contractors. That worked once, would he have? If so can he use the same threat again? I kind of know how you / he feels, I don’t have the greatest time when it comes to wage negotiations or bonus time.

I don’t think any animal, humans included, should have to suffer minted peas, mint sauce, mint garlic yoghurt, minted lamb or any other minted. It should be a cruelty issue. :-? With the exception of peppermint chocolate and curiously strong mints Tiger worms should be ok, I have fed them to discus before in small numbers but they need a wash to remove the yellow ooze that comes out. Normal red or grey worms are more likely to be eaten, put a wet towel on a dry lawn overnight to catch them.

I have an old Sony cybershot which has never taken any pictures worth looking at but I gave it a few tweaks and I am a bit happier with the outcome. I still think I need a new camera if I am to compete properly. Cute Cockatoo fry Eunotus Eunotus pair darting away

My recommendation is newly hatchedbrine shrimp 3 - 5 times a day and adding paramecium to the tanks so the fry can snack on them between meals. But I didn't have paramecium when I last had apisto fry so newly hatched brine shrimp, a little bit of microworms sometimes and loads of moss or any other plants or leaf litter. I think P44 did a fantastic job with his and maybe part of his success was all the glosso that he had in the bottom that would have been swarming with microorganisms.

Yes just feed her normally. This has never happened to me but I have heard that you don’t feed her daphnia, its funny to start with because sometimes they gather them all up and guard them like fry but it mostly ends badly when she eats one and then will eat all the rest including the actual fry. If you are even 50% sure you have eggs or young coming then get your food cultures ready now. Starvation kills more fry than almost anything else.

All tetras are opportunistic and will pick off the fry if they can. They are fast as well so I would have them out. Remember each baby is potentially worth $10 - $20 and a $3 neon can eat quite a few of them. In a biggish tank or in the wild the role of the male agassizi is to guard the territories of all his females. Each female should have at least 300x300mm and up to 500x500mm to herself and the male can be at least that far away. In a standard 2' tank there isn't enough space for this process so that's why males get killed. If you are worried then definitely remove the male but do it carefully so you don't upset your female. Never remove the eggs and leave the pair together even in a big tank because she has nothing to protect so no territory restrictions and she will be grouchy. My last trio spawned in a 1 mtr by 500mm tank and they were fine all together

A cheaper option is Jobes lush ferns and palms. It probably has a downside but I used it in my last tank and swords, val and all the heavy root feeders went really well.

First thing is change continents to South America Sorry just had to. I have seen a number of african tanks with just light coloured sand and some nicely placed white rocks or coral that look really stunning. Its just about being creative and then matching it with some great looking active fish.

Far be it for me to argue with our plant experts but I am looking at the plants around it thinking they must have enough light. Twisted val is a bit light hungry but I doubt that in this case a lack of light is causing this. For me its either a lack of some nuturient or an excess of some. Have you been using excel or any liquid plant ferts?