AMAZONIAN

Welcome aboard Simon May your time be enjoyable and informative as well as great fun. cheers Errol

Hi Alan It should be made a condition of joining the forum that your actual and REAL AREA be shown. I dont want to try re inventing the wheel but a change in the joining "signup" page shouldn't be that hard.

Better fed Betta's prefer Daphnia. Frozen Bloodworms are ok but I feed Daphnia most of the time. Mosquito larvae are good too, but make sure they are all eaten or you will have house full of uninvited, unwanted guests. :lol: I breed a lot of Betta's and thats what works for me. Try it.

Hi Spidersweb Ive just PM'ed you.

This is a piccy of my Breeding Pair of Black (Female) and Black Lace (Male) Angels. The male is old, (5 years) but a character and he still does the business. You will note his eye is white (Sorry the pix isnt that clear) and that is a Tumour. He has been "Vetted" :lol: by a vet and he is medicated so he is in no danger or pain. But this is what you can get with "ANY" fish with a lot of black colouration. That includes "Swordtails" and "Molly's".

Hi TAKE NOTE OF THIS; it is sometning I'm aware of but has not been posted by anyone either. ANY FISH WHICH CARRIES THE BLACK GENE (LET ALONE THE DOUBLE BLACK GENE) IS DOOMED FROM THE START. REASON::::: The Black colouration of a fish is caused by a substance "MELANIN" ( like humans when in the sun...You can get Melanoma) and is extremely prone to producing cancerous tumours. :evil: The weakest part of a Black Angel Fish is it's eyes and that is where most tumours will start. I will try and get a piccy of my Breeding "Black Veiltail Angel" who has a tumour on his eye, but I keep him well medicated as he is six years old and a part of my family, (so to speak) and I'll be sorry to lose him. If you are going to breed "any fish' with lots of black colouration do it with the utmost care. Good Luck.

I find the digital is more reliable. It doesnt lose or gain time like the cheaper mechanical ones.

Hi Seth Yep, I'll walk the gene road with you but you had better bring a "Pup tent and a large cut lunch" cause we'll be on the road a fair while. :lol: The gene pool of fish is a science in itself so the more that join the discussion the better. Email me direct to start off. cheers Errol

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy; :lol: It's supposed to be the "THRILL of the HUNT" isnt it? :roll: Win, draw or lose, does it matter in the end BOi? I think that we all enter to try and win, that's what is in our nature, but you have to enter to have a chance. :lol: You say one of your tanks is crap; "Tough, all of mine are as far as competition goes", but I think I could find one that is a bit photogenic. Mightn't win a prize but it's there to be judged and MAKE UP THE NUMBERS. Get in behind the competition and show us your Tank/s.

Thanks Alanmin.......

Nice one Alan But hey you would also have to agree that we oldies are the ones that have the information to pass on to the newbies; Correct? And yep the ceiling did get a bit black from Kero. Funny thing to, as an aside Alan,, The best Cichlid breeding tanks have a "SLATE" Base.

Hi The RED twin capacitor thing in your post is NOT THE ONE IN THE DIAGRAM ON THE BALLAST. That is a suppression only Capacitor. You need a SPECIFIC FLOURESCENT Capacitor ( FROM MASTERTRADE) the rating of the capacitor should be ideally 4,0ufd for a single 20w tube and 6.0ufd for a single or twin tube intallation using a 36w Ballast. The flouro will work perfectly normally without the capacitor. Yes it is to do with PFC, but also has another job and that is aiding in discharging the tube at turnoff, which prevents what is known as ghosting. This occurs when the light is turned off and has a residual eerie glow for a while after. This is also from a Registered / Liscensed Electronics Engineer..... Me

Hi Have you ever tried to sleep with the light on 24/7. Dont be so cruel to your fish either.

Hi sirkus welcome to the forum and good luck with your impending move. the South Island is the far more senic and laid back area of the country and we have a fantastic lifestyle. Work is what will govern your residence. But good luck.

Thanks for the support Alanmin. I hope by now the matter of filtration when raising fry has run it's course and ended up in the appropriate filing bin. :roll: Some of our enthusiastic younger members aren't aware of what it was like in days when there was "NO SUCH THING AS A "HANGON" ON FILTER", AND can't get used to not using all the trick Sh.t modern gadgets. I am pleased that I still do it the old way, as by reading a lot of the posts on here there are very few; as I read, that have the "REARING SUCCESS" that I do by using the old methods. :oops: Get real hobbyists.....Go back to the basics and forget the high priced modern toys. :roll: An old saying that is appropriate... IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT. NOW I reckon I got something started!!!!!. We'll see :roll:

The simplest of all so as not to confuse the issue :oops: is to turn the damned filter off. Let the fish have their young and then think about cleaning the tank. :roll:

Hi IOU Your Hang On filter is perfectly OK for a "Live Bearer" Breeding tank. If I can suggest what I do then you will not have a problem. Take the Pick Up End off the long Pick Up Tube. That's the bit with the slits in. Get a small piece of Filter Wool and place that in the "Pick Up End" and then place it back on the Pick Up tube, and turn the filter back on. The flow rate will be very slow and you will have to clean the filter wool occasionally but you wont have to worry about sucking up the fry. Good Luck with your efforts.

:oops: :oops: Sorry that was supposed to be a PM.

Hi Alan Go to the "WAREHOUSE" they have a cheapie portable flourescent which I am sure you can adapt as easily as I did. :roll: Suits a 24 x 12 x 12 just purrrrrfect. :lol: Cheers Errol

I suggest you read SKIPPYS "QUOTE" and then READ what you replied. If you READ it even you will see the funny side of it. :roll:

One should "Proof Read" their posts and edit. :lol: That makes it easy to correct "GRAMMAR and SPELLING" so as we fools dont "MISUNDERSTAND" :roll:

Hi Seth Good luck with breeding them. Without going down the "GENE" road, I'll just say that you'll get a "HOTCH POTCH" of colour. Neither Black, Silver, or any specific colour. I'm picking that you will get a "HALF BAKED MARBLED EFFECT" which has no symmetry or colour stability as far as shading goes. Try the breeding thing and sell the offspring for community tanks, they will be good in those but as far as line or Strain Breeding goes ...Forget it. Good luck.

I agree with alanmin4304, there are several "Protocols" to follow if you want to breed "PURE STRAIN COLOURS". It doesnt really matter what you cross to get "KOI" as they have been adulterated over time to get that colour result. Keep "Black's" mated to "Black's"....."Blushing" to "Blushing" and so on. If you see a fish with a nice "VEIL TAIL" and want to introduce the gene, be prepared for a long journey and a lot of culling of rubbish fish. In reality all the offspring of the cross should carry the Veil Tail gene, but in practise you may only get 5% that show it. Those are the fish you keep to carry on the line with. Never, ever cross any fish that you know for certain are "Pure Strain" as you will start to adulterate them as well and over successive breedings you will have created a nightmare of aborted colours, not to mention fish. Go for it and good luck, "BUT BEWARE THE DEFORMITIES AND ABNORMALITIES THAT LURK IN BAD CROSSES"

Personally I would use GREEN WATER. Plenty of it as well. It costs nothing and is natural. :lol: Forget all the other stuff until you know what to do thoroughly. Good Luck.

I hope I get this right. :oops: Picture of my fry hatched on 2nd Sept. 2006. They are Marble.... Blushing.... Koi.