Colour_genes

. Haha, no showers for a week, then? Right! Maybe a tanker could 'mistakenly' deliver a load of water to the 'wrong' address for you! Yes, I've been surprised by how well the crypts are actually doing. None of that 'meltdown' business at all; and yep, they struggled in my tropical tanks as well. Now I'm thinking I should be getting a bigger tank for my subtropicals. Sigh.

Morfin2, Ohh, I understand the pain!! of waiting for the rain . Was on tank water myself some years ago BF (Before Fish). Fortunately it was in Nelson which tends to be fairly rainy, but I vividly remember one summer. I will send a wish and a little rain dance your way . Stocking choices sound great, red and golden barbs together sounds beautiful. I highly recommend long-fin Danios, they look almost like they are flying around the tank rather than swimming. I have Windelov Java Fern, Crypt wendtii, and lilaeopsis in my sub-tropical and all are growing really well, if that helps.

Hey Morfin, hows the tank coming along? Be great to hear about your progress and choices.

Welcome. Nice 'scapes, look forward to seeing them mature.

Now listed on TM.

Very nice work Jasa. I think the Lutino Pandas are actually really attractive to look at. Are they as cannibalistic of their fry as most inos seem to be?

Hi, offering first on here before it goes to 'auction' elsewhere. Large (60 x 45 x 45 cm ) Exo Terra terrarium with all catches, latches, glass etc intact, good overall condition for sale. Comes with 2 x Green & Gold Frogs (both 2 yrs old, one is a little smaller than the other), a light holder with UV bulb that sits on top, and all the interior decorations - stones, wood, pothos plants, moss, plastic tray for water, brown polystyrene background etc. Photo taken 2 years ago when I first set it up, looks a bit wilder and 'messier' now but basic setup is the same. Also a smaller plastic terrarium about 30cm long to pop the frogs into if you want to do a major clean-out. Wanting $250.00 for the lot; absolutely 'pick up only', but happy to hold onto it for a while if you need to come from out of town or whatever. Please PM me if interested and you are welcome to come have a look if you need to. Only for sale as I have got too much on at the moment -something has to go! Cheers.

OK, thanks anyway. I only wanted adult males, so I'll keep looking. good luck with your ones.

Hi, what colours / age / sex are the Bristlenose? Thanks.

If you are worried about power outages, maybe look at some of the fish that can handle slightly lower temps in the 'warm room' range. Then if the power goes out, any drop in temperature will be less of an issue (I'm assuming a bit here, but I'd imagine you have a woodburner for room heating in winter, as many rural folks do, so the house won't get too cold during any power cut?) I have a 20-21oC tank with White Cloud Minnows (2 colours, and do look a bit like Tetras as well), Danios ( long-fin in 2 different colours , and there are several other variants available), Hillstream Loaches, and a 'Mini-moth catfish' (hara jerdoni). It looks good, plenty of activity and colour. I believe several of the Barbs & Platys, the Paradise Fish and Peppered catfish are also happy in this temperature range. Google 'sub-tropical Aquarium' if you want to see more info. A sub-tropical in 330L would look awesome!

If the filter has been off for some time, and there is uneaten food in the tank, they may be suffering ammonia poisoning. Water can look clear & clean & still be toxic. The pictures aren't clear enough to be able to tell what else may be wrong, anything from a parasite to bacterial infection could take hold if the fish are weakened by improper water conditions.

Hi, welcome to the forum and to fish-keeping. There will be lots of good advice on here, I'm sure you will enjoy it. There are various cheap/ish shortcuts for keeping fish when you don't have a lot of money available. If you are interested you are welcome to come and have a quick look at my set-up, I might be able to give you some ideas. I live in Shirley near the Palms Mall, just PM me if that would be helpful to you. I keep Fancy Guppies, White cloud minnows, danios and bristlenoses. Also, I have a few bits of old but still usable gear lying around, there's a few things you could have for free, and some others very cheap. And some aquarium plants for free.

I'm looking to buy an adult male bristlenose, Christchurch area only. Ideally I'd like a calico / marble (have 3 adult females & no boys) but will consider other colours. Anyone able to help? Thanks

Look in the specialist corner section on here, in the 'anabantoids' section (that is bettas and similar fish) and you will find a whole thread about breeding bettas and a lot of other info as well. Good luck with your project. A suggestion from my experience - start small, like with just one pair to begin with, and build up from there after you have bred them successfully for the first time. I found it a lot of work, and needs practice to get everything right.

If she has been nice and fat, then suddenly got thin she may have given birth to fry. Depending on what else is in the tank with her, all the fry may all have been eaten and she may have been hassled and pursued while giving birth, and so is now struggling to recover. Or it could be worms or other parasites. A search in the forums should give you info on the various wormers and how to dose them.

Your stocking level does seem on the low side, which is good. Could you tell us what type / brand / rated capacity / flow rate your filter is? How long has the tank been set up? Sounds like the most likely cause of your problem would be either overfeeding, or excessive light levels, or both together. You could try cutting down feeding to once a day (ie half as much as you feed now) and/or reducing light levels in the tank (especially if you are getting any direct sunlight on the tank - sometimes the lower angle of the sun in winter can let direct sunlight onto your tank where there is none during summer). Give it a week and then see if anything has changed.

Your best bet would be to visit a specialised camera shop (not Noel Leeming or Harvey Norman etc but a proper, dedicated photographic shop where the staff are photographers and actually know what they are talking about!) next time you are in Auckland or other bigger city, and talk to someone with specialist knowledge Because tanks are darkish, and fish move fast, and are often fairly small (depending on what you keep of course) the two things you really need in a camera for good quality images are - top performance at high ISO settings (this is what enables you to get a fast shutter speed so your fast moving fish doesn't come out all blurry in the photo), and, if your fish are smallish, either - a very good macro setting or better still a DSLR with a macro lens. If it was me, (and this is just my personal preference you understand, but I do have a serious interest in photography) I would buy a Nikon mid-range DSLR, and a tamron 60 or 90mm macro lens. Judicious buying, if you don't mind second hand, could give you this combination for $1000 or just under. A 50mm lens and converter/macro adapter rings would be cheaper than a macro lens but slightly lower quality and slightly more difficult to use. I find Nikon cameras have settings / menus/controls that are easier to understand than some other brands. If you need something a bit cheaper you need to either really research which cameras have both good macro settings and the ability to focus at very short camera to subject distances, or - ask a pro. I know it's a bit of a 'techy' answer but hope it helps a bit. Alexay is totally right about getting really good bright lighting inside the tank when taking photos, it will make things way easier for you

Still for Sale. Wil go on TM soon

Bristlenose / Ancistrus. They have happily been eating Super Green for a while now & not too keen on the change!

I have a bottle of this for sale, purchased less than a month ago and has only had a dessert spoonful taken out of it. Been kept in fridge since. Purchased by mistake by confused hubby . Used once in desperation but not suitable for my purposes. Cost $23, sell for $15. Prefer pick-up (Shirley area, Chch) but will consider sending via NZ Post. Please PM me if interested.

Do you know the pH and hardness of the water in those tanks ( especially compared to the other non-infected tanks)? I'm wondering if you have an overgrowth of saprolegnia, which has spores that can 'lie in wait' in the water column or the biofilter, and prefers water with low pH and hardness. It seems to be implicated in similar 'white fuzz' problems others have had. Try reading this link - the bit about sapro is halfway down the article - and there are further references as well. http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Columnaris.html Hope that helps in some way

Still available. Will go on TM by end of week if not taken. Will come with supply of mealworms for food for first week.

Sorted

My microworm cultures have fizzled out on me for some reason, so I would really appreciate a starter please. Happy to pay or can swap for plants or ? Thanks for any offers. Can come & pick up some afternoons or next weekend

Add to the list Riccia and duckweed. Also some livestock - heaps of Malaysian Trumpet snails & a few red ramshorms also free