Zimbaliza

Main tank is 750litre (but is 88 cm deep), using an fx6 filter, think it's too deep for younger corys... imo... I notice the albino's dominate the white sand area, with the sterbai hanging out in the weed, darker gravel area... (they come together at feeding time) tanks basically the dimension of a 6' coffin! curved both sides... bottom area, 25 corys, 2 whiptailcats, 3 chain loaches, 2 crazy fat kuhli loaches, and a bristlenose (rest are tetras 100+), 1 kissing gourami.. want to get 5-6 lace gourami's maybe another couple of kissers... going to have to think about a cory only tank... have 3 tanks at the moment, 750 main, 130 puffer, and 90 fry tank... (ooh and a 22l fighter tank at work)

I maybe able to hook you up with a bit of weed, mostly baby tears/rata and some other stuff.... my tank probably needs another trim... my plants do have SNAILS tho Pickup is in Manurewa flick me a PM, if you want -Chris

Little guys are 2 weeks old today (free swimming)... (first batch) second hasn't hatched yet Is the first time, I've done anything with the eggs... is kinda easyer, due to myself harvesting snails for the dwarf puffers every morning out of the big tank! not sure what to do with the corys, if they survive, have 20 sterbai, and 5 albino in the main tank, may have to setup a cory only tank? :-) anyway they need to survive first!! -Chris

Ok, I will put the eggs in a mini fry net, till they hatch, before putting the little guys in the fry tank.... till the Not sure what you mean by register???, should I log, the spawn dates (or hatch dates?), Qtys? Cory Types? Little guys should be sterbai or albino corys, I know the latest lot of eggs in albino... Thanks again for the help! -Chris

Hi, My Cory knock shop is running well, the little guys are getting plenty of action, the girls, keep on putting out, question, is can I have multi-able batches of fry/eggs in the same tank?? will the older ones, start to eat the younger fry/eggs etc?? (fry tank is 90 litre, about 3/4 fill) Current batch I saved, is about 2 weeks old, are pretty happy swimming around (20-30 of the little guys)... second lot are just eggs at the moment, I've ordered a ZET-E55 Ziss Fish Egg & Shrimp Tumbler Incubator should hopefully arrive in a couple of weeks... looks pretty cool... should help in the future... -Chris

woooah, give him another lot of white worms today...yep... think he's discovered they taste like candy floss!.... he's been hunting them out! pretty entertaining! New question, should I get him a tank mate?? Neon Tetras? or a couple of corys?? tank is only small, 22 litres Thanks -Chris

hmm, The wee guy, doesn't seem to like the taste of fresh whiteworms... he chewed up a couple (wriggling around) and spat 'em out again... really didn't think that was possible?, though the little white guys were like candy floss to fishies! -Chris

Finally got a fighter! (Taken me ages to get around to it...) is in a 22litre nano tank...at work, maybe a little too overplanted at the moment... pretty surprised at how active he is... seems to do alot of people watching! chilling out of a leaf, only problems... I have... he doesn't seem to be interested in, daphnia/mossys (so if they start to hatch! I could be in trouble at work!) also, whiteworms he's not interested at all? -Chris

I've enjoyed reading your posts! My little guys, laid some more eggs all over the tank last night 12-13th April, (actually managed to rescue some eggs, (was collecting morning snails for the dwarf puffers))....probably a 200+ eggs, not as many as previous spawnings (where the damn tank has been covered with eggs), think it's about the 3rd of so spawning since, your guys started, (have ignored the eggs... due to lack of tanks!!) & normally the chain loaches clean them up by the time I get home from work.... Spawning happened after I overdosed the whole tank with crazy amounts of whiteworms....(huge clumps of worms got down to the corys!!) (not sure if that helps) Not sure if it was the sterbai's (20+) or albinos(5) ugh! anyway, means I've gotta setup another tank!! by the weekend!! FUN! Question, where did you get the Indian almond leafs? or will any old leaves be ok? what depth of water should be in the baby tank? guessing pretty shallow... -Chris

my puffers would call it LUNCH!

Maybe able to get away with the increasing the temp method for whitespot (being discus) they should be able to handle the heat? some of the below stuff I found on the net, whitespot, normally only hits stressed or weaker fish... some unless info below, save putting any into the tank. Hope it helps, Increase temperature to 30°C/86°F. With tropical fish, an increase in temperature to 30°C/86°F is usually very well-tolerated. Since this temperature prevents reproduction of Ich, it can theoretically cure the problem by itself. So the first step would be to increase the temperature slowly, 1°C/2°F per hour until the correct temperature is reached. This temperature should be maintained for 10 days, and then slowly returned to normal. Some fish can tolerate higher temperatures. If your fish are more heat tolerant, try increasing the temperature to 32°C/89.5°F for the first 3-4 days to kill the Ich. Then reduce temperature slowly to 30°C/86°F, and hold it there for an additional 6-7 days, or until a total of 10 days have passed. Gauge the heat tolerance of your fish by observing their reaction. Increase aeration. Increased temperature leads to increased metabolism, which enhances the fish’s immune response but also increases oxygen demand. Oxygen is lower in warmer water, so it is very important to increase surface agitation during the treatment to increase oxygenation. In planted tanks with CO2 injection, the CO2 should be turned off and extra aeration should be provided. Carefully observe your fish, watching for signs that they are not getting enough oxygen. If fish are gasping at the surface, you need to provide more aeration. Aeration can be increased by reducing the water level so the filter return makes more of a waterfall and splash, and/or use an airstone placed close to the surface of the water. Do daily partial water changes. 25% daily partial water changes will provide several benefits: It will keep the water very clean, which will help fish cope with the stress of the disease. It will remove some of the trophonts and tomites. It will add oxygen. This author also recommends the use of NovAqua+ to condition the change water. This product is a dechlorinator and has several additional benefits that help fish under stress, including sealing of the wounds caused by the Ich. If the water changes seem to stress the fish, reduce the size and/or frequency of the water changes.

managed to get a "white worm farm", small old fridge/ whiteworm setup from trademe, should be able to run 6-8 cultures... pretty sure the little guys will love them, upgrading the puffer tank from a 90litre to 130litre this weekend.... 640 to 640T (found a really cheap one on trademe & couldn't help myself), getting too many tanks... ugh! Thanks again for the help!! -Chris

Hi, my little dwarf puffers are hungry! (ok they are always hungry) and only seem to eat anything that's alive, Anyway I'm after a blackworm & whiteworm starter cultures... prefer somewhere around Auckland to pickup, or if anyone knows where I can get them? Thanks Chris

Snail harvesting, was pretty low... and they are a pain to get in the big tank.... have found... they go crazy over mozzy's and daphnia, which is probably pissing off my tetras in the other tank!! am surprised, damn, they can move fast if they want to chase down something! heres a couple of pic's... don't think they had come across daphnia before...they were a bit slow, after they got a taste... damn... they are on a full hunt....

got 5 puffers, damn these guys are tiny!!... were in a tank with bumbebees/corys... poor corys were getting nipped... while I was looking at them Attempted to feed them some frozen bloodworms... yeah they didnt want any of it... snails however... that is a different story!! just gotta hope the big tank, can provide them with enough snails!! I did read somewhere where a guy, doesn't feed his puffers anymore, uses MTS, (which he feeds a shrimp pellet a day) they are ment to out breed the puffers predation Thanks again for the advise...

Looked him up Medusa Pleco, L34 If you’re keeping more than one, ensure each has its own refuge to call home and expect some territorial bickering. L34 can be pretty aggressive to other plecos. Yep, that sounds like him..... lol Thanks again, -Chris

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a "Dwarf Puffer | Carinotetraodon travancoricus" from hollywoods for my old 90l tank old Aquaone, I was thinking about harvesting snails out of the big tank for the little guy Questions: How many Puffers? could I have in a little tank 90litre?, (ment to grow to 2 1/2 cm)How many snails? would you feed them per day?Even tho they are stated as Freshwater, would they be Brackish??I currently have a 1400l/h canister filter + trickle filter on the Aquaone, (not sure if that would be overkill for the little guy)should I just unleash the little monster into the big tank? (full of tetras/corys), and he can probably live of snails for the rest of his life!Thanks Chris

heres the pics of him, was sold on trademe for $2.50 last night, his stripes would come out when he was pissed.... hehe I was tempted to get him... but I think he would have ripped out all my plants... that and he only comes out at night, and would never see him...

looks like the highlighted bits are broken/damaged.... maybe able to superglue/fix few other minor cracks to the plastic bits... joy! -Chris

Thanks Ira, I was thinking about taking it to bits, looks like Hollywoods have the EHEIM AIR PUMP MEMBRANE DIAPHRAGM FITS 100 200 400 for $25 Eheim 400, airpump's currently running, a standard Eheim diffusor (one end of the tank), and a 60cm bubble curtain, down the other end, Thanks again, -Chris

Hi Just checking, what would be the best bet, for an airpump for a tank (88cm deep), I currently have Eheim 400 air pump, that isn't really handling the load. (Maybe just OLD??) I'm looking at maybe getting one of those air compressor type pump's off Aliexpress/Ebay i.e. 40l/min, and just have it on remote control (so it's not going 24/7)... I believe they are a little loud? I've never had one... Anyone have any ideas/advice? Thanks -Chris

did read up, that bigger fish may calming them down a little, they are getting better, (just beating up on each other), did have one damaged on arrival, they don't seem to pick on him at all, he continues, to school.... Silver Tip Tetras, seem territorial, staking claim to areas of the tank, and chasing the girls... (most of the aggression is to there own or to the Cochu Blues) little guys are as quick, if not quicker than zebra danios... Only noticed one of the albino cory's getting chased last night, they don't seem to worrie about the sterbai corys... Hopefully I will get another 30 Emperor tetras in the weekend.... and a few blue rams.... and the big tank should almost be set... will just need to increase the amount of live food I harvest for them! ugh! Thanks again for the help, -Chris

Brought some new tetras in the weekend, they have turned into aggressive little sh1ts... should I just wait for them to settle down? brought 20 Blue Kings, and 10 Silver tips, even had them chasing around my Corys! WTF!... Are they just trying to dominate the new tank?? haven't seen this kind of behaviour before with tetras, they are fighting amongst themselves, as well as my existing tetras, all the guys are fast enough to get out of each others way, so no damage... but all seem pretty hostile... hoping it's just because they are stressed... Tank is 750l, 22 Cory, 2 Whiptail cats, 3 Chain loaches, 15 Emperor Tetras, 15 Sissor tail, 8 Rasboras, 5 Random tetras, and the new bunch are 20 Blue Kings, 10 Silver tip tetras Hoping to add another 20-30 emperors, and some Blue rams next weekend, hopefully that will tip the balance of the tank... (give me Emperors numerical superiority), otherwise I may have to evict them to another tank! -Chris

Hi, I'm thinking about getting a Black Ghost Knife for my Tetra tank, I'm not sure if this would be a good or bad idea?? aka the BGK will snack on them all once he's big enough?? or will he be ok with them, if he "grows up with them" Tanks, 750l, Planted, with Emperor Tetras, Scissor Tail Tetras, Rasbora's, Corys, Chain Loaches, Kissing Gourami, Whiptail Cats Anyway, is this a good or bad idea?? or will he just get too big and snack on them all.... Cheers -Chris

Guy I brought my Corys off in the weekend, had an "unknown pleco"... altho it was aggressive/territorial, killed couple of his albino feather plec's/dragged them into his hidey hole & ate 'em, (he said hollywoods couldn't identify) pretty sure he's selling it.. probably no good, if it's going into a tank with other plec's, Anyway, he spend all his time hiding in his cave, so would never see him... It should come up on trademe soon I guess.. I can ask him tomorrow if you maybe interested? (picking up some more fish tomorrow)