Colour_genes

I have heaps of aquarium plants from prunings etc, that i can't bear to just chuck in the compost - so if you would like some plants (mainly small-med size or cuttings) come and get 'em. Want to clear out the buckets etc before winter. Java moss, java fern (plain & windelov), ambulia, hygrophila (water wisteria), stargrass, a little bit of what I think is lilaeopsis, and possibly a small crypt or two. Absolutely PUO, I'm in Shirley near The Palms Mall. Weekend or evenings only. Please PM me if interested

I have one small G&G Bell Frog, about 18 -20 months old, with it's plastic terrarium (about 30 - 35cm long) for sale. Pick up only. Includes some sphagnum moss, gravel, artificial plant etc for decoration. $25 for the lot. No shipping, must be picked up. Only for sale as I have too many. Please PM me with any enquiries.

Yes, I have been keeping them separate, but will the smaller ones ever catch up in size to the larger one, so I don't have to?

I have 4 Green & Golden Bell Frogs. One I morphed myself, now approx 18 mths old and approx 8 cm S-V length, was kept warm and active & fed well over it's first winter. The other 3, I purchased about Nov this year, and they are also approx 18 mths old - I assumed when I bought them (seen only in photos before they were sent to me) they would be much the same size. However they turned out to be only 4 -5 cm S-V length, and while they have grown a little since I got them they have nowhere caught up to my frog. They were 'brumated' (is that the correct term for frogs?) over their first winter apparently. My question is - do these frogs keep growing until they reach something like the average adult size, or can they become permanently stunted by incorrect feeding or care in their first year of life? Is there a chance the smaller ones will actually remain that small? I ideally want to get at least one breeding pair from the four I have, but at the moment the 3 smaller ones I doubt would be safe in with the larger one. It is getting tiresome maintaining 3 terrariums (1 large glass one, 2 of the smaller plastic ones) when I really just want 2 frogs in the one enclosure for the near future. Any suggestions? Thanks

Hi, sorry the GBA and albino are gone. Still waiting on final outcome on Rio Ucayali due to shipping issues. Might have one or two brown longfins available in a few weeks when I have time to clear out a large tank so I catch the little blighters.

Might have one or two small ones. Will check tanks tomorrow

Rio Ucayali breeders & juvis on hold. Others still available.

I need to make some space in my tanks for a breeding project so have the following for sale - 1 adult breeding pair of Rio Ucayali Bristlenose, about 18mths old, proven breeders. $50 pair, may be able to ship these at your cost. 1 or possibly 2 juvenile Rio Ucayali BN, offspring of above pair $10 each 1 adult male albino Bristlenose, proven breeder $10 several younger BN, mostly brown & 1x GBA, some semi-longfin $5 each The last 3 lots I would prefer pickup, in Shirley near the Palms Mall (can hold them for a week or so if needed), or will possibly ship if you are buying several of them or also taking the adult RU pair. Please PM me for any further details. Cheers

What is it that you are using the airpump to run?

I have the dwarf climbing ficus in with my green & golden bells, which seems to work well; not sure if it is the same as ficus natasha though, which might be a bit more like a tree. I also have pothos, and trying some acorus grass. I do have a fern, not sure what variety, but it really doesn't look too good and it keeps getting crushed.

I have what I am 90% sure (identified from comparing photos etc of the leaves and growth habit) is 2 varieties of Pothos - purchased as un-named 'baby plants' from Bunnings. They don't have them there the whole time, but they come in regularly every few months. You just need to check regularly & know what you are looking for. Only a few dollars each, too

Welcome. Great to hear you have an interest in breeding guppies. I may be able to help with a few plant varieties as well - I'm always pruning bits out of my tanks .

For a nano tank I'd suggest nano fish . Something nice and bright. Maybe 3 or 4 male Endlers or Guppies, White Cloud Mountain minnows, small tetras etc, and a couple of really nice plants.

My terrarium has a sphagnum moss substrate, with several plants growing across the moss (ferns, dwarf climbing ficus & pothos), also several pieces of driftwood taken from a lakeside so I didn't have to deal with salt on it. I adapted a largish plastic container for the water area, so I can lift the whole thing out and clean it periodically. Looks relatively natural, but also easy to clean & look after. My frogs certainly seem happy in it. Suggest you have a look at the care sheet for Green & Golden Bells at the top of the Reptiles & Amphibians section, which has some good tips as well

I have an adult breeding pair of Rio Ucayali, but I was absolutely convinced I had 2 females for almost a year. Then, almost overnight it seemed like, one sprouted bristles and they started breeding. Much, much later development on mine than for the standard bristlenose male. They may be naturally late developers.

Thanks for the photos. The JB's are really interesting looking little guys, I will definitely keep them in mind. Is the last one on the right the blond version?

Hmm, interesting about the magenta, might have to try that sometime. Yes, I had been hoping for a crossover onto the X, but that could easily take some years, if it happens for me at all. I know there have been occasions where it has happened overseas, but not often. I do have a line of x-linked gold lace snakeskin that I used to create the Medusa, so I have a couple of the blonde females from that line in with the Pink Lady male, they should be not far off producing fry, so I'll see how those turn out. If I'm not impressed with what I see, I'd love to have a couple of your JB males to work with, thanks heaps for the offer.

Thanks JaSa. I thought about Magenta, but I know that affects fin development, so not sure what that might do to the lyretail (or ultimately double-sword) that I really want on this strain. I don't think I've ever seen a magenta with a sword or lyre tail, have you seen or experienced that? I have just acquired a 'Pink Lady' male, and working on transferring the Jap Blue gene from him into the strain, which I think could look rather nice. It will take a fair few generations unfortunately but I've never seen Jap Blue on any other strain of fish down here (a sword-tailed or in conjunction with snakesking would have been ideal, but in NZ we have to work with what we get, I guess).

I have been working on developing my own strain of Lyretail/ Double-Sword Medusa guppy for the past year or so, and have now achieved some success with a few males showing the colours and patterns I want. To create what I want I have had to combine 3 strains of Guppy - Vienna Emerald Green Double Sword (original stock of 2 males from a pet shop), Golden Lace Snakeskin (TM purchases), and Schim Platinum (thanks to caserole for these) So I crossed the Platinum males over females from the D.sword & snakeskin lines over several generations, selecting heavily as they started to look more like what I wanted. The females seemed to be the key as they carried the swordtailed genes, and eventually the snakeskin (x-linked) genes as well. The platinum comes from males only, so those were easier to see. The 2 photos are of the selected males for the next generation - photos were taken a few months ago and now I have the next generation of fry and eagerly waiting to see how well this gene complex passes on through the generations.

Bump Still available

Try getting in touch with caserole on this forum, he is in the Hutt, and has some fantastic pure-bred strains of guppies.

Well my, that was interesting! Just walking towards my rack of tanks out in the shed to do some feeding and cleaning and a 5.7 quake hit. I got to watch the tanks shake like some giant compartmentalised washing machine, water swirling and sloshing everywhere! So glad I solidly bracketed the big wooden rack to the wall - almost no loss of water from there and the tanks didn't move. The smaller metal rack was a bit more lively with quite a few litres of water now sloshing around on the (concrete) floor and I don't feel quite brave enough yet to go and mop it up. Might look at a better fixing method for that one next week!! Fortunately no fish lost out of tanks, be interesting to see how they behave for the next few days, if there are any signs of stress. The Inside tank, on one of those tall, skinny, black stands (and who the heck designed those I wonder) has rahter a lot of water out of it, all over the nice wooden floor. Mop-up in progress. Hope all other fish keepers in Christchurch have been as fortunate. Think I need a good coffee now (or something!)

I have the following for sale to clear some space in my tanks. Pick up preferred, Shirley, near Palms Mall - may consider shipping if you are buying in bulk. 1 x Hara jerdoni, Mini moth catfish. Small & slow moving, really needs a species tank or other non-competitive environment $10 ono. Several Bristlenose youngsters: 2-3 brown visual short-fin BN $5 ea (however, both parents were brown long-fins, and there were several calico fry in the same clutch); 2 brown longfin $10 ea (from same parents as previous); 4 - 6 Brown shortfin $2 ea (accidental breeding of sneaky male short-fin albino & female brown long-fin possibly carrying calico). Guppies, selectively line-bred males & females, males are well coloured with some fin growth still to come. Schim-Platinum and Snakeskin / Cobra lines. $2 each. Happy to negotiate price for multiple purchases. Please send me a PM, or reply here if interested

The Bristlenose will ultimately get too big for your tank (They grow up to 12 - 15 cm, so that's half the width of your tank, which is way too big!) . Personally I'd say 40l for one bristlenose, and no less than 60l (preferably more) for a breeding pair. Corys of all types are happier / less stressed in a group of minimum 5, ideally more, so they are not the best choice either. I'd suggest just going with your neons and guppies and set the tank up with some real nice plants, so it looks really green and natural.

That is about 25 litres I think, so you will have to be really careful not to overstock. What type of filter do you have, and have you cycled the tank yet? Even if you have cycled it, try adding fish one or two at a time if you decide to have more than one fish. Your best bet would be either - a single display fish (a male, for colour) like a Betta / Siamese fighter, or maybe a Dwarf Gourami, Killifish, or similar. Or if you want more than one fish, a small group (no more than 6) of male Endlers or Guppies or a small species of Tetra or Barb or Rasbora, should look very nice. Unless you want to buy a second tank to house any babies, I'd suggest just sticking to male fish only - they are more colorful generally, and you won't have the extra stress on the fish from any breeding attempts.