Colour_genes

Honorable Ancestor ? :lol: Seriously, maybe a version of your name that is easy for a young child to pronounce? Ca-ry or Caca, or he or she might even invent a version of your name all by themself.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tablet, and use it a lot for e-books. However, most of those come via our public Library app, Overdrive. Works well with colour pics, table etc in non-fiction books. Have a few books via the Kindle app as well, which works OK but have not tried it in colour. It also came with a built-in app for Kobo books, Zinio magazines and Press Display which does newspapers, although haven't really worked with that much, downloaded a few free 'classic' (Darwin's Origin of Species!) books. Great little machine, and wasn't too expensive either. I was a bit hesitant about how much I would use it when I first bought it, but I would really, really miss it now. Had some sort of basic e-book before that & was disappointed with how little it could do.

I'm trying to pick out a new variety of fish to keep that a) I like, and b) I can partially feed on the huge numbers of snails I'm breeding, and c)preferably be able to breed as well. I've checked out the puffers and loaches, but don't think i have the tanks or space to work with those currently. I have seen several references to bettas eating "small crustaceans including snails", and just wondered if anyone here had tried feeding snails (alive or squished) to their bettas, and what happened. I know I could just squish the snails but it seems an awful waste of a potential resource. Thanks for any info.

Welcome, and good luck with a house. DIY is a major pastime in NZ

Welcome back to the forum.

I'm sure I have read on at least one website (The Skeptical Aquarist, I think it was called?) that the intermediate stage of Ich settles on any available surface (including plants) after the first infection on the fish, then 'reproduces/divides' before it releases again to re-infect the fish. So I guess, if the plants come from an aquarium with fish in it, they could potentially 'carry' ich to a new tank. I think 10 - 15 days was recommended for the quarantine of tank AND all it's 'non-fish' contents. Yes, just checked the website - see this link http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/ichthyophthirius .

Hah! Have wondered where those gaps in the memory came from :lar: . And the grey fur on the pillow some mornings :sml1:

Most Memorable - Bitten by my lab rat in Stage 1 Psychology class, first time we were introduced. Little beggar hung onto my index finger even when it was swinging around in mid-air as I snatched my hand away. I wasn't too worried, but the tutor was totally freaked out!!!!, running around screaming, threatening to have rat put down on the spot, wanted to call ambulance. Couldn't have that, so detached rat from finger, applied bandaid, carried on with class. Came to agreement with rat - I didn't touch him (just indicated direction to go with my hand in front or to side), and he would perform to spec for all tests and experiments. Produced perfect results thereafter, gooood little rattie! :lol: Still have the scar though, 30+ yrs later.

I had one of my guppies die yesterday from what would have been totally a mystery cause, if I had not been watching the tank earlier. Thought I might record it as a cautionary tale - I have a small outbreak of BBA in one tank at the moment, treating with Flourish Excel, which seems to be working. BUT - one of my adult male guppies grabbed a piece of food that had landed on a tuft of BBA, the tuft came adrift; he had it in his mouth, so he slowly munched that down as well (looked like someone slurping down spaghetti :lol: ). It was a bigggg clump, so he ended up with bits still sticking out of his mouth like a beard after 15 minutes, by this time I had decided to grab a net, caught him up and carefully pulled what I could out of his mouth. There was a lot still inside him, and he spent the next 2 days hanging in the water, mouth open and gills flared, then eventually died. If I had not seen the BBA going down him I would never have known the likely cause (choking? can fish choke?), but would be frantically wondering what I should treat the tank with, about now. So now I know that fish do die of causes other than infectious diseases! :dead%fish

Wow, that sounds really awful. Did you have a few leopards tucked away somewhere else to re-start with? Trying to think of something that would kill off just the leopards and leave the WCMM, but very difficult to imagine. Maybe some sort of filtration issue, and you got there just in time before the WCMM succumbed as well? Disease seems unlikely, and any 'chemical' would presumably have taken out everything in the tank. Good luck with finding and fixing the problem.

Welcome to the forum. Nice looking tank.

Welcome. Your tank looks like a good start. Yes, you can have a tank with plants and no fish, you just have to supply the nutrients that the plants would normally get from the fish wastes, which it sounds like you are doing anyway. I slowed down the inflow in a similar type of tank by firstly putting as much media as I could make fit into the filter box ( a combination of ceramic noodles, and flat sheets of filter foam and compressed filter wool) so the water takes longer to trickle through, and then I suspended a strip of compressed filter wool horizontally across the tank just below the filter outlet (I sewed some thick cotton into each end of the strip and taped the cotton to the tank on the outside at each side, so it looks a bit like a hammock) That breaks up the water flow really well. The filter wool does look a bit too bright and white for a start, but soon grows some algae, and probably filter bacteria as well, on it and goes greenish-brown so you hardly notice it. Also my fish use it as a breakfast bar, they are always nibbling bits of the algae off it. :lol: Hope that helps a bit.

Hi, if you are new to this, and just want a colourful community tank without anything exotic in it, and want it set up in the house somewhere that it needs to look 'pretty', I personally would think your best option is to try to get an all-in-one system (like one of the Aqua one or Blue Planet systems) of about 90l to start off with. Haunt TradeMe, the 'for sale' board on this forum, and similar sites, they do go for reasonable prices and sellers often throw in some extra stuff like heaters or ornaments. Give it a good clean and you are ready to go. That leaves you more cash for fish, plants, and all the other bits and pieces you will suddenly find you 'need' :lol: . One thing I would highly recommend is to set up a quarantine tank as well, maybe out in a garage or similar, as you will have to add your fish gradually over time. Nothing worse than inadvertently adding a couple of sick fish to the tank and seeing everything else die too. You do not need a glass tank for this. The cheapest option for a quarantine tank I have found is a translucent plastic 'hobby box' which is stocked by Bunnings (and maybe other places) for under $10, which holds just on 20l. Get a mini set-temperature heater for it (about $25), and a c. $10 foam filter or corner box filter run with an air pump. A bit of perspex or thick plastic or large lid off a plastic storage box works as a lid. No gravel or plants etc needed, though a couple of cheap plastic plants can give fish somewhere to hide. Quarantine all your new fish (after the first 2 or 3 that go in the main tank), in there for at least a fortnight, preferably longer. Add some salt if they are species that can live with that (it can kill some diseases and reduce stress if done correctly). Hope that helps. Good luck with your tank.

Hi there. Hope your reef goes well.

Hi, Even if the goldfish cannot eat the guppies it will likely nip/grab their fins and chase them. It would be best to separate the Goldfish into a bucket or bowl with perhaps a bubbler in it, and do not feed the goldfish or only very lightly, until it goes to it's new home. Just be careful to change the temperature slowly. Better for both species to separate them. Or put the goldfish in a breeder net in the tank. good luck

Welcome and happy fish-keeping!

Yes, we do keep getting shaky reminders, hope no-one lost any tanks / fish in Wellington area. The bolts to the floor, and side bars on the racks are really good ideas. I'd also try for some sort of attachment or strapping from the tops of the racks to either the roof beams or walls. You have enough weight at the tops of the racks, that if those puppies start swaying they will just rip anything out of the floor and topple. No sense in taking that sort of risk, when just 1 hour now could save you from one heck of a clean-up later. Your fish will thank you for it!

One of my guppy girls finally gave birth last night, and as of this morning I have somewhere between 35 -40 baby guppies swimming round in their own little 'plastic box' tank, hovering up decap brine shrimp eggs as fast as they can. :happy1: Very exciting to finally have some babies there to watch their growth and development. I have managed to locate some blond gold lace snakeskin males locally (and 2 albino red moscows), so mama fish is now in another nano-tank with two of them for the next few days, and there are 2 more girls due to drop babies in the next week or so. :thup: I'm so glad I have got the tanks sorted out now, with boys in one, girls in another and several smaller plastic bins for fry etc. Even my partner is getting interested, well sort of, he thinks the guppies might make good lures for trout fishing :facepalm: :roll: !!!

Looks fantastic - very envious. But... speaking as someone from rock'n'roll Christchurch - erm, I would love to see some bracing / anchoring on those racks. Sure, it might never happen, but then again, we never thought anything would happen here either. Just a thought!

Many (I'm talking 20+ here) years ago there was an old guy in Wellington breeding some seriously nice goldfish in a whole bunch of concrete tanks in a ?converted plant nursery. Got taken there a couple of times by a friend, can't remember the suburb even, bought a bunch of Orandas and Shubs. He did have what looked a lot like Bristol Shubs, not sure if he had created the line or where they were from, but they really were beautiful fish. Pretty sure he will have passed away some time ago, but maybe some of his stock was bred on from, somewhere in the area. But how you would locate it now, I have no idea.

Thanks for the replies. I've googled the Stellar & Eheims, currently trending towards the Eheims due to the adjustable flow rate, but will go have a look at them as well before deciding. Silence will be bliss!

Hi, I am running one of my very old Masterpet Airpumps (17+ yrs old) with 3 foam filters in 3 x 20l 'tanks' (well, actually they are translucent plastic 'Hobby Cubes' from Bunnings :lol: cheap, practical and great for fry). Anyway, crikey is that pump noisy!! :-? . Fortunately it is out in our converted (to a bird-room with a few tanks) garage, so not intrusive at night. But I would like a nice, new, really quiet one - but as I don't want to go through the whole trial and error thing, could I get some recommendations on current models available as to quietness and ease of use, reliability etc. Thanks

Hi, I have been getting this white sludge on the suction cups of one of my new heaters (an Aqua One 55w) too, but not on the other brand I have (can't remember brand name right now). Not sure if it is coincidence or not but 4 teenage guppies that were in that tank (with the Aqua One heater) died within a couple of days of installing it (was a fully cycled tank with good water parameters). I took the heater out, cleaned everything, and swapped the 2 heaters around. Have since lost 2 previously healthy adult male guppies in a different tank with the suspect heater installed, just about the time the white sludge showed up again. : :dunno: What brand is the heater you have? I'm planning on getting some replacement suction cups ( white/translucent silicone ones) in the next couple of days as I just don't trust these ones any longer.

Hi, I'm in Christchurch (just figured out where to add that to my profile ). Your blonde strain sounds interesting. Guess that could be my first challenge, to transfer the red onto something like that. I have been awed by the red albino snakeskins (and all the others) on this site - http://www.dogsandhorses.net/fish.html , and fancy trying for something similar (how I wish!! ) on a blonde base. If you have any boys for sale, I would definitely be interested.

Hi, Just new to this forum, have posted an introduction on the new members board. I am just setting up to breed guppies, in particular I am interested in the snakeskins, and the sword and crown-tails. I am fascinated by colour and type genetics in all sorts of animals, having studied genetics to University level. I'm looking forward to seeing where I can take a line of guppies, although I will have to do this with a minimal number of tanks for the meantime. Currently have a 34 l planted tank, and 40l and 25l bare-bottom tanks. Have been searching as much info on guppy genetics on-line as I can find (must buy the Guppy Designer book asap), and have a small nucleus of breeding stock ( one rather handsome snakeskin boy and 5 un-hit girls). I am looking for at least one more, maybe 2, good boys, red-tailed snakeskin, ideally blonde or carrying blonde; if anyone can help?? Happy to pay for shipping if needed. I see there used to be some sort of Live-bearer Club set up, can anyone tell me if this still exists, or not? Cheers