SnakesSkin

I'll pay twice what Rob offers.

I bought several 1 litre water carriers (Payless Plastics) and found a small tupperware container that fits the 4 1litre containers in snuggly. I leave the caps on, chop the bottoms off and invert them in my tupperware water bath. Fill them with tap water at 26°C, fill the tupperware container, add a small heater at 28°C. Next I add air pump, four lines connected to 4 glass pipettes (glass tube) and dropped to the bottom of each water carrier. The flow is controlled to turn the water over gently. I add two tablespoons of sea salt, a cap full of BBS and my wifes bedside lamp (40watt). Approximately 24 hours later I check their progress with a turkey baster. Suck the little critters up and you can see them swimming in the light. If all is well, I turn off the air, let them settle, siphon off the shrimp into a large wine glass which contains clean water. They settle quickly and I suck a portion with the baster and dangle it in the tank. BBS swim from the saline solution into the waiting freys mouths and later I remove the baster and empty its contents down the drain. Most breeders suggest not to use air stones for raising BBS. I hope this helps. And finally the wife pokes her head around the corner and says something like, "Is that my salad container ... my lamp!!!!!"

Yes Kim I tried Australia. I went to Brisbane last month I could not find a filter in any LFS that I visited. What I did find was that a number of items on my shopping list were more expensive than back home. Apparently VorteX Diatom filters do not sell well in Australasia (high cost and reliability ???). In the US they are the number one water polisher. If I get to the states I will definitely be bringing some back.

E-mail link no longer valid. Sorry for any inconvenience :roll:

Welcome. Hope you have plenty of free time. Sponge filters are preferred over canister filters, so you have gone the right way. Now comes the water changes. Discus thrive on protein and in an environment that is prestine. Happy Discus will eventually breed. Good luck!

Thanks for the information Alan. I contacted Pet-Expo, applied for an account ... granted; filled out the appropriate credit card forms for multiple filter bags ... accepted; three days later their offer was declined on the grounds of a product/freight cost imbalance. :-? Currently there are no 1lb cans of BBS on Trade me. Thanks for your help and the warm welcome on NZ Fishroom. Richard

Hello Diatom filter parts are obtainable but there is a catch. You have to make a bulk order for the company to send them or you need a relative living in the USA that they are able to send the products too. Is there is someone out there who has relations that live in the USA that will be able to help us? We pay for the item and shipping. Thankyou.

Hi there, I want to start breeding & could do with help is bulk BBS cysts ... does anyone have any for sale or know a link in NZ where I might buy some? Cheers! Richard

Hi everyone, my name is Richard. And here's a little bit of my background. I have been in the tropical fish realm for the last 5yrs and kept and bred Discus. I decided to try Discus 3 years ago, as I was bored and thought that Discus would offer more of a challenge and of course I was hooked. My Discus experience consisted of buying lots of discus which finally resulted in a mated pair that spawned what seems like a gazillion times. I had eggs that would hatch but the fry would die or get eaten soon after. Later spawns resulted in the fry swimming all over the tank aimlessly with no attempt to find the parents. Not being a person that gives up easily, I sold all my Discus and built a small fish room in the basement ( my wife was sick of the water spills & the seemingly endless line of buckets ). Now I'm presently about to install four 200 litre tanks and as soon as I'm up and running I'll be looking for some discus to raise. That's about it! ... :roll: Oops ... I guess I had better mention what I am looking for. I originally had a Vortex Diatom Filter as a polisher for my tanks, unfortunately it developed a hole and I have been unable to find a replacement bag for it. Does anyone have any ideas or links? The second item that I could do with help is bulk BBS cysts ... I'm looking foreward to making new friends and meeting new people. Cheers!