livebearer_breeder

I used to run water through in a bucket over and over till it was clean then boil it. Never had any problems, was great for plant roots as well, but to be on the safe side I would have the tank setup for four or five days and check the parameters before putting my fish in.

Sand can be a pain. Why not try a small grained gravel and save yourself some hassles? There are some great beaches here in wellington that have grey sand that varies between 1mm-2mm that ive used in tanks without to many problems.

Breeding them is a synch. Buy six, pop them into a heavily planted tank with some dither fish and WHAM they do the rest. Or at least that’s what I did, they do have a tendency of eating there own eggs the first few times around but eventually they get the hang of it. Sometimes you can even be lucky enough to get a primo pair of parents that give you no hassles. Also I am sure they live a bit longer than two years, I never had a problem keeping them alive or healthy. Biggest problem I had was if there were too many males in a tank and not enough space. Never kept the balloon rams (mutants), only referring to the blue’s.

I agree. My Severums don’t get along with many other fish at all accept tetras and catfish. But Rams aren’t the most peaceful fish in the world. They can be a bit temperamental.

Animates Lower hutt sells them. $4.95

Its really cool to find out what people do. Im a builder, work for a small company down here in wellington. jumped straight out of school into it and really enjoy it.

Couldn't have put it better myself!

All i can say is WOW Wish i had, had bettas like that when i had been breeding them. HM were so hard to come by! you truly have some stunning fish there.

Worked at animates years ago and know exactly what your talking about! The regulars who came in for a good chat used to brighten my day.

I agree with the above. Think some of these people have been glamoured by the job and not really thought about the business end of things. You've got to wonder just how much things get twisted through the press. The Media is a business, and anything they can use to sell (White lies or not) they will use. I dont personally know these people and im sure alot of you dont either, so it all comes down to chinese wispers huh. Im on the fence

I think those who knew him, knew how much of a champion he was, very sad to find out he’s gone, but id like to think a lot of his wisdom stays in this place, fish based or not. He knew how to have a laugh, great guy all round, had the privilege of staying with him a few nights, amazing generous man, will miss him incredibly, will miss reading his posts. At the end of the day, livings the hard part, but I know he brought joy and passion into a lot of people’s lives, and ill thank him for that, forever. Cheers Alan, See you soon mate. Shae

Nope, The one i've got is pretty darn happy in Freshwater. Have read that they can only be kept brackish, but have also read that they live happily in Fresh. Seems both would be right. I had thought, that in order to breed them i would perhaps have to move them to there own, brackish tank, that wouldn't be a problem. Shae

Im just curious to know, if anyone on the forums has successfully bred them before? I managed to get one, and think there great lil things, so have 10 on order and hopefully another 10 on there way. Have read that they like being in groups. Anything else i need to know? Cheers Shae

Buy a fire eel, or tire track, they rock!

Boil it and strain it with a big fish net, one of the white sleeved fine ones preferably. And do it a few times to get all the tannins out. I prefer my tanks clearer than yellowy. Shae

correction, next weekend

I'll be in Palmy this weekend i think, well more marton way, but i might be able to shoot out. Shae

yup, just that one

never got mine

use one of those shower sponge ball thingys, take it apart and use the netting. $2 max. Easy Pesy Shae

And thus, the above makes more sence then.

LOL your kidding right? a mature apple snail will demolish a fully planted tank in hours. The kind of damage shown on your plant is minimal! Shae

There is no "normal" number as such, the longer you have the fish, the more you come to expect a certain number from them. Livebearer females do not always drop all at once, sometimes they can release more fry daily, there is a huge amount of factors that can attribute to this e.g. stress, water conditions, food availability, quality of food, wether or not shes a first time mother etc Cheers Shae

haha i have this mental image of all these geeky fish enthusiasts fighting over positions lined up outside the building. not saying that any of you are geeky Shae

Infact, more probably, you'll find that a snail spawned on the underside of the leaves, and though it might appear you have no snails in your tank, the baby snails are eating away the leaves. Shae