AMAZONIAN

Hi All. I'm willing to bet my life on the fact that tanks with rounded corners are rubbish. :evil: If they were annealed correctly then they would not have any stress points that are suseptable to fracture, so this problem wouldn't arise. :roll: It doesn't matter what type of stand they are on, so long as they have some High Density Foam Rubber sheeting (like I use) or sufficient polystyrene sheet underneath to act as a levelling medium then "AQUA ONE" in this case should be fronting up and replacing the tank. Under the Trade Practises Act it is no defense to opt out of a gaurantee by saying you have to use their stand. Was the buyer told this at the point of sale?:.............I bet not. :evil: That makes the shop negligent and responsible for replacement. The tank did not do what it was designed to do. That is house fish in a water medium. The GOODS WERE "FLAWED BY DESIGN" and as such are not suitable for the purpose that it was intended. Go back to the shop you brought it from and tell them to get it sorted, Post Haste. Good luck.

Hi All. Yes alanmin you are correct. :lol: However, I think that our guy has to get the fry hatched and reared before we start giving lessons on the genetics. :oops: As you know it is a lengthy subject and fraught with many misunderstandings and other trivia that crops up. Just keep trying: Watch the pair closely for the next few days as they may spawn again in a day or two. I can get mine to spawn every 9 - 10 days when I remove the eggs. The same applies if they are eaten. :roll: Good luck.

Hi All Yes, bloodworms are excellent. I use them to condition my breeding angels, but:.....They are NO SUBSTITUTE for "LIVE FOOD" LIVE FOOD has more value and is worth ten times the cost of medications and "DRIED" packet food. Frozen Daphnia and Tubifex, as well as Blood worms are good as well. Good Luck

Hi George Just make sure that your boy is not suffering from a medical condition. Swollen bellies can mean many different things. Try feeding him a goodly amount of daphnia for a few days as it's laxative properties may work, or the "Live Food" may just be the tonic he needs. Mossie wrigglers are not laxative, so go with the daphnia. You could also try adding some "Sea Salt" to his tank as well, that's another "Old Time Remedy" for a lot of ills. Good luck.

Hi All When I breed "Dwarf's" I have them in a tank with very low light levels. Stop and think about their native habitat:....In dark caves, and on the ceiling as well. Good luck

Congratulations on the spawning. The hardest task for you now is to rear the little beasties. :roll: Dont be over enthusiastic with them: try to acheive about 60% survival rate and you will be doing well for a first attempt. Good luck

Hi All I think I can honestly say without any fear of contradiction, that I breed more angels than anyone else in NZ. :roll: I continually breed, Pterophyllum Altum's; "Silver" scalare, "Black" scalare, "Marble" scalare, "Koi" scalare, "Gold" scalare, "Blushing" scalare, "Pearl Scale" scalare, and now that I have them: the latest "Zebra" Leopoldi. They are very funny creatures who have minds of their own; and also a great personality. You can breed them every ten to twelve days for ages without any hesitation, but for some silly reason only known to them, they stop dead for a while. They will start again when they are ready so dont try forcing them; it only leads to arguments in the tank. Good luck. By they way I am taking orders for the first offspring of the "leopoldi" and some "Altum's" now. :lol: Some of these will possibly be available to members attending conference in Nelson.

Hi All I can confirm that a very enjoyable time was had by the "TASMAN" Club members, and would like to thank the "MARLBOROUGH" Club members for making us welcome. Thanks also to Sally for her hospitality and showing us the progress with her marine tanks. Errol President "Tasman Aquarium Club"

Hi All. The question was!!!! "WHAT CAN I PUT WITH MY SILVER DOLLARS"? My advise would be to them in a bank vault for safety from the Tax Man. :lol: But seriously:....................... PLENTY of Plant material. Good luck

Hi All. Dropsy is a terminal disease with no known cure. It is very very prevalent in Colisa lalia, the Dwarf gourami. :roll: It is also a "CONGENITAL" affliction caused by breeding a lot of species of fish in soft, acid water. It has something to due with the lack of hardness and is sometimes cured by adding water from the "Keeping"tank of the parents to the water the fry are in. The addition of ordinary tap water also seems to help the affliction. The malady is very well documented.

Hi All. The main ingredient in "MELAFIX" is the esential oil from the shrub Melaleuca leucadendron, a member of the Mrytle family. hence the name of the "Medication: Mela, from the oil, Fix, as a remedy. The other product from API not used very often but non the less worthy of note is called "PIMAFIX". The main ingredient of that Medication is from the Pimenta racemosa, a member of the Bay family. Once again, the name; Pima, from the oil. Fix, as a remedy. A bit of useful/useless information.

Hi From the list you have given, I will answer as to what size tanks "I" use to breed. Blue Gourami's 60 x 30 x 30 Whiptail cats 60 x 30 x 30 Kribs 45 x 30 x 30 Tetra's 60 x 25 x 15 Platy's 60 x 25 x 17.5 Guppy's 60 x 25 x 17.5 Bristlenose 45 x 25 x 25 I dont personally know about the Silver dollars but I assume a 3 foot tank would be appropriate. Good luck.

Hi All Sorry if you think I was referring to YOU having "Crap Fish", I wasn't. :oops: It was a generalisation of breeding and it does happen, even though we all wish it wouldn't. The only thing tank size has to do with breeding is at the point of growing on. A good thing to remember is " DON'T EXPECT A BALLERINA TO GIVE HER BEST PERFORMANCE ON THE SMALLEST STAGE IN TOWN". :roll: If the fish dont have enough space they get "STUNTED" but that does not mean "BENT BACKBONES", WHICH IS CAUSED BY TOO MUCH INBREEDING AND NOT INTRODUCING NEW BLOODLINES. But I DONT MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD USE a three foot tank to breed a pair of fighters when a one foot tank is sufficient.

Hi All Good for those that have forty or so years to enjoy their hobby. Pity about those who are nearing the "accredited" three score and ten though. But that said, it is no excuse whatever age you are to justify breeding "CRAP" Fish. :evil: I have seen so many Zebra Danios in the shops that are "BENT" through inbreeding that the thought of making "Zebra Danio Patties" flashes through my mind. :roll: I dont know what they would taste like but they sure as hell don't look any good in shop sales tanks. Every hobbyist has an eye for a fish and to breed and sell rubbish does the hobbyist no credit whatsoever. :evil: There are enough Joe Bloggs out there breeding and selling "CRAP" without genuine or serious hobbyists following suit.

Hi All. My breeding tanks for Danio's, and Barb,s and Tetra's are 60 x 20 x 15. The tanks for a breeding pair of Angels are 60 x 30 x 30. Tanks for fighters are 25 x 22 x 15. Molly tank is 45 x 22.5 x 22.5. Guppies, swordtails and Platy's 60 x 24 x 17.5

Hi all It's 3.5 x 2 metres, 7 Sq. mtrs. x 2.3m = 16.1 cubic mtrs. Chiller containers are good fish rooms. they are all "stainless steel" inside and it's not too much trouble to fit a door and a window if required. Wiring it will cost about $3000.00 to do the job properly the first time, and the container itself will cost about $6000.00. You may get a roughy for about $4000.00. :roll: I looked at this option when I bought my new house, and the sums just didnt stack up. I only wanted a "Fish Room", not another "Quarantine Facility". :evil: A power bill aint so bad after all.

Hi All. I breed Betta's regularly, and when the males get up to showing their sex they are straight into a jar and stay there being fed live food until they are sold. takes a lot of looking after and cleaning, but you get superb males.

Hi All. Consider this then. If you use 55 or 100 watt heaters in your tanks and the room is insulated sufficiently, you will find that the ambient temperature of the room will soon rise to the highest thermostat setting and stay reasonably stable. Thus you dont need high wattage heaters or a fan heater so the running cost (if you do the calculations) is very low even in comparison to a "HEAT PUMP". In my Fish Room I find the heaters have about a 12.5% duty cycle and they are 55 Watts, even in 3 foot tanks. To heat my fish room per month costs me $30 to $35.00 in the winter, That is with 44 tanks. Not a bad price eh? And you should be able to sell a few fish each month to cover the cost. INSULATION IS THE KEY

Hi All DON'T PUT IT IN DIRECT SUN. :evil: Forget all the additives and just use the tank water. Put it in a Glass jar and place it in a very light position, NOT IN THE SUN. If you put it in the sun, it heats to the point of cooking everything in the jar and even boiling the water. That defeats the purpose of the exercise.... All you are trying to do is to cultivate enough food for the microcellular algae to feed on and grow, thereby creating the green water. ASK ME, I KNOW; I DO IT ALL THE TIME AND IT WORKS.

Hi All Right on the money alanmin. The biggest thing about constructing a "Fish Room" is the insulation and also getting the excess heat away out of the room. TANGENTIAL vs RADIAL: A tangetial Fan has the FAN BLADES constructed as a long tube of blades as apposed to the normal type of fan. :roll: This makes them a lot more efficient. A very notable unit is the "ROLLS" wall heater complete with three heats up to 2KW plus cold and a built in adjustable thermostat. I think are now made by SKOPE. Good Luck.

Hi All To heat any size fish room you only need about 1Kilowatt, and a "Tangential Fan Heater" is all thats required. It is not the heat in the room that you are trying to achieve but the temperature of the tanks. The smaller they are, the quicker they heat up and also loose their heat, but 50 litre and bigger have a better retention ratio; so once they are up to temperature then the thermostat on the heater only affects the room temperature and not so much the tanks. my room is about the same size but I have 4inch Polystyrene in all the walls and nothing on the ceiling. In the last Nelson winter the temperature didn't drop below 18 degrees C, and in the summer has gone up to 31 and thats when the fans turn on. Good luck.

Hi All. The request is easy to address. Go and see an element manufacturer, there is one in Carr Road, Mt Roskill; HI - BAR if memory serves me right.. Explain what you want to do and follow their advise. It does work.

Hi All. One thing I was told by one "BILL SIEVEWRIGHT when I started in the hobby 49 years ago was; "Dont use any tank smaller the 12 gallons or you will have trouble, both in water stability and overcrowding". To this day I stick to that criteria and it works. :roll: ALL my breeding Angel Pairs are each in a tank of their own; 12 gallons and they are Full Size at 150 - 175mm body length. For the modern user the Starter tank we used was 24 x 12 x 12, coverted to 60 x 30 x 30 cm. and 50 litres approximately.

Hi All A very valid point. :roll: Make sure you only breed quality fighters, don't just grab any old male and female. Too many people including hobbyists are keen to breed a species; trouble is that they just put a pair together without "REALLY" looking at the fishes quality.

I have known more female fighters to kill male fighters than any other fish. Females are vicious. :evil: