Midas

have you got a bigger pic? its hard to tell with such a small photo.

They are commonly available here, plenty of people have them. Last time I saw them for sale was at wet pets in palmy.

couldn't agree more. RD's are the best.

the top right hand photo is probably more like what they would actually look like - no flouro.

You could use one of the carbon filters (like the bench top ones). They would do 20l every 1-2 min's as they can hook up to garden hose fittings and provide flow slightly less than what comes out of the hose without the filter. These will take out chlorine and a few other bad things and give you water that is fine for your fish. They sell them at WetPets and Central Water filters in Palmy sells them (thats where I got mine). I find it much easier than using dechlor products as it takes out the need for buckets (you can go straight from the tap through the filter and into the tank), and it is easier than leaving the water sit around for a day or so waiting for it to dechlorinate naturally. I think they cost around $120, with replacement cartrides (needed every year) around $70 ea.

Bummer, must have been something pretty major to knock out the red devils.

It should grow back no worries. Fins seem to be able to take quite a bit of damage before they won't grow back. Generally its only when the fin is missing right back to the flesh that they don't grow back (assuming appropriate TLC is given).

were the red devils ok?

Ok, I bought some Nutrifin Max stuff that was a combination of flake and tubiflex the other day, no bloodworms in it though - is that the same stuff?

$120 was retail, but I have seen them for up to $240 as well. You just have to shop around.

who makes it, i.e. what brand?

yep, I'd be worried about the running cost of using that spa pump if I was you. At a rough estimation, a 700W running 24/7 is going to cost about $110 dollars a month to run (assuming 21.5c per kWh). At that rate its not going to take too long to pay off a new pump that uses less juice. My 90W pump (Resun King-4) does around 3000L/H at 2m of head, it only cost NZ$121, and I am using it on my 1.6m*0.6m*0.6m tank to run my DIY trickle filter which provides plenty of filtration.

has it got any metal parts that may corrode? also what is the wattage? it may get expensive to run 24/7.

Where do you get your pleated cartridges from?

The same here Caryl. We have all four types too.

kylefish02, I am aware that it is probably more common in its foreign indonesian home, but stating that the fish is only from Indonesia when it is native to Madagascar is still misleading and potentially confusing for beginners. To be completely correct they should say something along the lines of: native to Madagascar but also established in Indonesia etc (I know I'm pedantic, but you'll get over it I'm sure :lol: ). Would you say that brush tail possums are from NZ without also saying that they came from Australia in the first place? It's the same kind of situation as the species of possum we have here in NZ is one of the more endangered species in Australia.

Better? this links says the fish is from "Western Central Pacific: Makassar Straits slope between Borneo and Sulawesi (Indonesia).". This is not correct. Should be Madagascar or Eastern Madagascar.

Apparently not any more. The only fish recognised as still in the Colisa genus is Colisa lalia. The others have been moved: C. fasciata - valid name is Polyacanthus fasciatus C. labiosa - valid name is Trichogaster labiosus C. sota - an old name for Trichogaster chuna (which has also been known as Colisa chuna) reference below: Colisa valid names

Honey gouramis are a different species to the blue dwarf gourami. Honey gouramis Trichogaster chuna and the blue one is Colisa lalia. I am not sure which species some of the variants fall into, eg sunset gourami. I think they have been selectivly bred and possibly crossed??

Cynotilapia are not the Tilapia you are thinking of Caryl. Cynotilapia is just a genus of Mbuna. The group of cichlid species generally referred to as 'Tilapia', many of which are farmed for food and which are a noxious pest in many conutries, are quite different. I do not know if Cynotilapia afra is available in NZ. It's much more likely that what you have are blue zebras or lombardoi (like kylefish02 said) as these are commonly available and look very similar.

Ok sorry that would explain it.

I don't think that many Flowerhorns made it into NZ. They had some at Hollywoods in Auckland at one stage. Anyone know anyone that bought any? It seems strange that these fish could get imported to NZ, yet Trimac cichlids (which are one of the fish crossed to make the Flowerhorn hybrids) are not imported. Quite sad really, I would love to get a Trimac. By the way the fish on your avatar are Discus.

I haven't done this before but have you thought of trying someone like Firth? There is one close to us and they have big piles of different sized dark gravel ranging from sand to large pebbles. Don't know if they would be interested in selling small amounts to people, but you could try. Has anyone else?

How about: Blue guppys? Cochus blue tetras? Blue rainbowfish?

What about silver dollars? They are smaller and still have that Pacu/Pirana shape, if thats what you are after. They could even coincide with medium sized cichlids too (ie 15-30cm) in a big tank. Probably not a Jag though. Male Jags normally seem to get about 40cm in length, with females smaller. A Jag would probably need at least 400-500 L tank. Tank mates? not many - they would have to be able to look after themselves and preferably be big too. Although then you'll need and even bigger tank.