JJWooble

So glad to hear they liked it Also lol at the little guy with his shell. Yours look really happy, how many do you have? 

I bought a group of 6 bumblebee gobies last Sunday for my hardwater 30 litre tank (previously just had guppies in it). They were a bit nippier than expected, so I moved the guppies out and was originally unsure if I'd be able to keep them long term. Thankfully the guppies now have their own separate set up so I can keep them  They're currently in a 30 litre rectangular tank but will be upgraded a little bit to a 50 litre hexagonal once I reseal it. Substrate is aragonite, filtration is a sponge filter, plants are java fern. I will get a refractometer (better than a hydrometer I was told?) and start converting them to brackish over the next few months. 
Question is-- they seem content to munch down their frozen bloodworms but I'm aware this is unhealthy for them long term. Is it worth trying repashy products with them/has anybody tried this previously? If not, I'm planning on setting up a culture of whiteworms and trying them on that and some frozen BBS to see what works. 
Also-- from what I've read on them they form territories and these territories are largely based around caves. I've given them plenty of caves to choose from but so far the only thing that anyone has fixated on is the largest rock in the tank which (naturally) the largest bumblebee has taken up residence on. Does this territorial behaviour regarding caves only occur when breeding or will they form these territories over time as they settle in the tank? 
 

Just a small log on my Pygmy corydoras who recently decided to start breeding for me :f77:



Small post as an intro;

I've had them for a few months now, a group of 9 or so, originally as fish to be kept alongside one of my male Siamese Fighting fish, but loved them so much that I wanted to breed them. The male betta was moved to another tank, the corys had the 40 litre tank to themselves, and I started trying to get them to breed by feeding them on live foods such as microworms and BBS as well as novotab, flake and algae wafers. Water temperature was lowered to 24 degrees and I then would do 25% cold water changes 3x a week, with no results. They were in a set up that /had/ tannins in it, but was mostly rocks and heavy planting with reasonably high light. I eventually gave up on trying to breed them for a while, but pretty much continued on with the same water change/feeding schedule, just not feeding live foods as often.

Recently, however, I decided to change the tank to a blackwater tank-- in went a large piece of driftwood, the plants were mostly removed bar a small amount of christmas moss and a cyperus heferi, riparium plants were added, and the high lights were swapped for a cheap low light lamp. Instantly, I noticed that they had become more active, particularly in the mornings around 8-11 am. Excited that they were more active, and not at all suspecting they were breeding, I took a video and posted it on a fishkeeping group on Facebook-- someone suggested that they were breeding as the video showed a larger female being flanked by 3-4 males and it possibly looked like they were doing the "T" position at times such as was described in breeding logs that I had read. That afternoon, I checked the tank with a torch, and was delighted to discover eggs all over the cyperus heferi, christmas moss, hanging roots from riparium vegetation and the driftwood. I gathered up the eggs and they have been spawning regularly ever since :nilly:

Today I had my first attempting at fragging my frogspawn coral due to its size - much to the horror of my Picasso clowns who host the coral    Here are a few pics for those interested in marine tanks.
More fragging is required over the next week or so as I want to add more zoa to this particular tank.
Whole tank shot

Where has the rest of my home gone to?

One of the frags





 

We could really do with some more attendees - Check it out here - https://www.facebook.com/events/1766240243515732/ - we'd be keen on running a small People's Choice competition with spot prizes but can only do so with more people attending!
 
Hey there Auckland Fishkeepers!
Saturday, September the 24th 
Yup, that’s right, September the 24th – book it in, we’re doing another tank crawl! It’s time to clean those tanks (and ahem, in my case, clean the house a bit) and visit other local fishkeepers for some conversation, fish/plant/equipment swaps and, of course, look at pretty tanks.
Our current plan is to spend the first half of the day visiting houses, and then the second half to visit Local Fish Stores (LFSs) – we expect this to take most of the day, starting around 10am (this may change depending on how many people we have to visit). Opening your house up to the weirdos is completely voluntary, but it’s definitely welcomed.
Want to offer your place to visit? Please email [email protected] (or let an AFA Executive know - on Facebook or via email) with your address and what time(s) you (and your fish) are available.
Want to participate? This is currently open to AFA Financial Members, however non-members are welcome to participate for $5 (or sign-up on the day if you wish ). Please either let us know via Email, or join our Facebook event here (https://www.facebook.com/events/1766240243515732/)
Want to suggest a store to visit? At the moment, where we visit may depend on where abouts we’re going, but feel free to suggest a favourite store that you’d like to introduce others to!
We’re also always looking out for event suggestions, special speakers, or other fun activities available in (or around) Auckland – whether they be fish related or otherwise.

Thanks heaps, we hope to see you soon!
Alex Fleming / Secretary of AFA

An update on the upgrade! The move went smoothly as it could for the 80L and I've gotten it settled in with sand and planting. The dwarf hairgrass keeps getting pulled up by the kuhlis but hopefully after a few weeks it may start setting down roots so this doesn't happen... I can always hope. All in all I've moved with only one suspected casualty - a honey gourami female who seemed to have been stressed by the move and developed bloating issues. Apart from that everyone has been fine and I'm even seeing more of my pygmy corys!

Thanks Wacky  
I've managed to get myself down to two tanks. Lost my siamese fighter  but otherwise everyone is going well  
200L
Current inhabitants:
30+ Sterbai corydoras
15x Threadfin Rainbow fish 
17x Harlequin Rasbora
10x Steel Blue Apistos
3x Banjo Catfish 
1x female Guppy 
2x Pearlspot Gourami
1x Indian Green Spiny Eel
1x Blue Phantom Pleco
3x Red Whiptail Catfish 
I've managed to breed my sterbai corydoras and have added 10-15 babies who have now increased my group  I've also added a male pearlspot, 3 red whips, 15 or so Threadfins and a Red Tiger Lotus  I also removed the swords and have extended the java fern clumps further along the tank. The apistos have gotten better colour too :3 


60L
25x Emerald Rasbora (and similar species fish)
9x pygmy corydoras
9x Banded Kuhli Loaches
4x Black Kuhli Loaches
6x Golden Honey Gourami (Trichogaster chuna)
In this tank I've added some more emeralds who have turned out to be a similar species who grows larger  They seem to bicker a bit but are getting along reasonably well for now. 
I've also had a massive BBA growth in this tank but hopefully since I've started dosing excel everything will at least slow down 

I haven't updated on what I've done with my tanks on FNZAS recently, so thought I'd better do something to keep track. I've also had to downgrade recently to just 3 aquariums, which is a huge change as I got up to 8 at one stage, but I'm happy with the tanks I have left.They're not the best aquariums in the world, but they're mine and as always are a work in progress, which is the fun of it after all  

200L Tropical Community

Current tank inhabitants:
21x Sterbai Corydora
17x Harlequin Rasbora
10x Steel Blue Apistos
3x Banjo Catfish 
2x female Guppy 
1x Pearlspot Gourami
1x Indian Green Spiny Eel
1x Blue Phantom Pleco
I recently had a shuffle around in stocking-- I used to have an angelfish pair in this tank who I am very fond of, but unfortunately the male had so much a go at the female that I was very worried about her chances for survival, and so have rehomed them both to a larger tank with Alexyay, where hopefully aggression is more spread with other angelfish in the tank. It has allowed me to add the apistos though, who I am enjoying watching already :3
The banjos, eel and pleco I don't often see, but they are nice 'surprise' fish to bump into a couple of days a week  The sterbai army is marching along really well, and I have a tank full of their babies who have made it through their first month so far  The pearlspot gourami is lovely but I feel like shes a bit lonely, so may get a male/another female down the track. I am also looking into getting some threadfin rainbowfish, and possibly swapping the harlequin rasbora for rocket pencilfish, but that would be a long while from now  Anyone had any experiences with these fish/possible combinations with fish I have in this tank?  
 


60L Almost-Biotype
Current tank inhabitants:
17x Emerald Rasbora
9x pygmy corydoras
9x Banded Kuhli Loaches
4x Black Kuhli Loaches
6x Golden Honey Gourami (Trichogaster chuna)

This is probably the tank I am happiest with at the moment  The rasbora are busy, simple yet beautiful wee fish, the honeys have intriguing wee territorial conflicts and breeding habits to watch, and the kuhlis snuffle along the bottom, hide in tubes and dance on the glass surface when they feel the need. I was going to move along the pygmy corydoras, but they have recently become more active and I've fallen in love with them again, so I'm happy with this being an almost-biotype tank for now  I got a fluval 106 recently and it has done wonders for the water quality and the fish are enjoying the increase in flow  I'll probably tinker with the hardscape and occasionally have wild dreams of upgrading it to a Rubix 80 with a proper shiny stand but am definitely in love with the tank overall  



20ish L Fighter Tank

Inhabitant: Fidget the HMPK male marble siamese fighting fish  

I love this tank for it's inhabitant  had this wee guy about 6 months now and he's still as hyperactive as on day 1, is so cute to watch hunting for live food like a 'real wild fish', ferocious against his mirror, jumps up to bump your finger out of the water, and sleeps in a floating tube. He recently had a downgrade because his bigger version of this tank (an aqua one trio with the dividers ripped out) developed a leak, so he now lives in an aqua one duo with the dividers ripped out . I'll be fiddling with the scape at some stage as am unhappy with it but have been distracted by other things recently. The tank is super stable with readings of under 10 nitrates every time I bother to test it, probably due to the low stocking and the large abundance of plants. All in all its a tank I go to to interact with the fish in it, rather than one that I sit in front of to watch for extended periods of time. 



 

Thanks gligor  I'm enjoying keeping a log again as shows what sorts of progress I'm making on my tanks. 
I've done a few things to the 80L. Yesterday I added some moss caves from Alexyay which will hopefully be covered by moss in the next few months. :3
And today I added a bunch of anubias from camtang - way more than I was expecting to receive, so thank you!!! The main objective was to get them all out under some lighting in the water to recover from spending several days squished in a bag, so hopefully over the next few months there will be some improvements :3
I have had a fish fall ill - a female pygmy cory has started acting awfully a lot like she has dropsy or something similar. Her scales have turned out a bit but apart from this she has been acting normally so I've given her a few epsom baths and am mainly just keeping an eye on her. If she starts acting worse I'll have to think about alternatives to trying to save her, but I've had her for over a year now and would prefer not to lose her. 
In other news, the tank stand that I was commissioning for my 200l didn't get built due to a bunch of technicalities that wasn't anybody's fault so I've started a campaign for my family to assist in building our own  It does mean that I don't have access to the 200 every day at the moment so it's getting a bunch of interesting algaes building up and the green tiger lotus is running riot and taking over. All fixable in the long run hopefully. 
Photos below of the 80L yesterday and today and the strange look that the cory has developed. 

I hate to double post, but thought I'd also start adding updates of my Southern Bell frog vivarium in here as well. There is two male 1.5 year old frogs in the tank. They have 1 UVB bulb running 8 hrs a day and 1 heat lamp running an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. They get fed with tinned crickets the majority of the time off tongs or a 'fishing rod' contraption which they've learnt to chase after, but also get any live insects I find outside. There is also a heater which keeps the water area from going below 23 degrees. 
They've had a rescape recently and I'm really happy with the 'land' area but am planning to change up the 'water' area in future to create more space and hiding places that are safer than having rocks, as well as reinstalling the water fountain which these two somehow managed to break. Any thoughts on how I could improve this tank is much appreciated. 
Plants are parlour palm, peace lily and spagnum moss. 

Looking very nice! 

An update on the upgrade! The move went smoothly as it could for the 80L and I've gotten it settled in with sand and planting. The dwarf hairgrass keeps getting pulled up by the kuhlis but hopefully after a few weeks it may start setting down roots so this doesn't happen... I can always hope. All in all I've moved with only one suspected casualty - a honey gourami female who seemed to have been stressed by the move and developed bloating issues. Apart from that everyone has been fine and I'm even seeing more of my pygmy corys!

An update on the upgrade! The move went smoothly as it could for the 80L and I've gotten it settled in with sand and planting. The dwarf hairgrass keeps getting pulled up by the kuhlis but hopefully after a few weeks it may start setting down roots so this doesn't happen... I can always hope. All in all I've moved with only one suspected casualty - a honey gourami female who seemed to have been stressed by the move and developed bloating issues. Apart from that everyone has been fine and I'm even seeing more of my pygmy corys!

I personally just made a batch (except the darn stuff floats, when it's mostly intended for the bottom dwellers lol) - I used:
 
- Prawn
- Broccoli
- Kumura
- Pumpkin
- Zucchini
- Cucumber (because I accidentally left it too long and it was soft, so I decided to give it to the fish instead of eating it myself lol)
- Carrot
- Garlic
 
 
I let everything simmer for a while (excluding the prawns), then slowly added it to a blender. Then I put it back on the stove and stirred in some gelatine (unfortunately I didn't put enough in this time), and set it in a bunch of ice cube trays.

Don't do that.  Would YOU want to be stuck in a 2'X4' box with a bunch of other people with garlic breath?  How cruel are you?

PS. Your dalmations should stay dalmations.

They more or less breed themselves  As I think I've mentioned somewhere on the forum, 4 of them are a breeding group which originally belonged to Alexyay and the rest of the adults are babies from that breeding group. Then theres another random female I picked up somewhere and she bred with the breeding group to produce the bubs that I've raised  Large cold water changes, the right time of year and frequent feedings of good food tend to trigger them to spawn and each female will breed pretty much once a week for a few months a year. Then you just remove the eggs from the nooks they put them into in the tank and raise the bubs in a fry tank

All done, no dramas, looks good but needs a heap of smaller rocks to finish the look.

I love to scape my fighter tanks. I find they naturally interact with the environments so much better, sitting on plants, pushing their way through if they're after something.
Below is a 20l Chi, a 30l Leo (was used and scaped for fighters up until recently, either a single male or a female sorority at one point ), and a 60l sorority with mollies and swordtails. All have lids even with plants sticking out the top.
I have had breeding tanks in the past, and tended to have them pretty bare, save somewhere for the girls to rest like a small terracotta pot etc.

It was my favourite of the lot I also had a stage where the trio and duo were pushed together and I had a lot of plants coming out of the back, which was pretty cool also. But always worth giving a fighter a bit of space to strut their stuff

I like your trio with the dividers removed. Looks lovely like that

I had various betta tanks at one stage - here are some photos, although some it woudn't let me upload. At various stages there was a duo, a trio, a fluval chi 21 litre, an aqua one 9 litre (would not recommend, I quickly upscaled this tank), and a 30 litre tank. I eventually ripped the dividers out of the trio which was where my last boy was happiest. Can also post up pictures of the fighters if you're interested.
Ended up scaling down a lot since finishing uni and my last little guy decided to go for a skydive so I no longer keep fighters.
Some variations on the 30 litre scape:


The fluval chi:

The Trio and duo at various stages:




 
 

I had various betta tanks at one stage - here are some photos, although some it woudn't let me upload. At various stages there was a duo, a trio, a fluval chi 21 litre, an aqua one 9 litre (would not recommend, I quickly upscaled this tank), and a 30 litre tank. I eventually ripped the dividers out of the trio which was where my last boy was happiest. Can also post up pictures of the fighters if you're interested.
Ended up scaling down a lot since finishing uni and my last little guy decided to go for a skydive so I no longer keep fighters.
Some variations on the 30 litre scape:


The fluval chi:

The Trio and duo at various stages: