Midas

Potting mix can work ok too instead of compost. Also I have found that feeding bread crumbs is quite good. You can put the crumbs on dry and the moisture from the soil wets the crumbs enough for the worms to eat (you just have to keep an eye on the soil moisture more closely than if you were using a pre-wetted food). I always found with pieces of bread that if I put too much on the worms didn't eat it and I ended up with a smelly and sometimes moudly mess. Breadcrumbs can be added at a more controlled rate and I find it much easier to match the food addition rate to the worms eating rate. Plus if you put the crumbs in a pile, the crumbs at the top of the plie remain fairly dry until they reach the soil. This is useful if you don't want to feed the worms for several days, as a large pile can be added without the worry of creating a big uneaten mess because the dry breadcrumbs at the top of the pile don't start to deteriorate until they get wet.

What about some kind of dither fish such as silver dollars or tinfoil barbs?

Good to see you here again Benny, its been a while. My 5" JD doesn't seem to be really all that agressive when compared to some of my other central american cichlids like my Jag and my Midas. Even some of my big convict males (~4-5") worry him. When both my JD and my Jag were smaller (both about 3") my JD used to chase the Jag. However the Jag is much bigger than him now and the roles are reversed. How do you tell that you have a male? I still can't tell for sure whether mine is M of F, male I think.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=26765&genusname=Archocentrus&speciesname=centrarchus That label makes sense as (after some investigation) the fish appears to be Archocentrus centrarchus. A relative to the convict cichlid. See the above link and click on "Google images" for some pics.

Defintely not salvini's, good luck finding some though, if you have any luck I'd be interested too. I've been looking for some for a couple of years now. Pegasus, have you got any more pics of them? Almost looks like some kind of hybrid. How big are the fish in the picture?

have you tried any medications e.g. Melafix ?

Unfortunately some of the central Am's are either rare or not available at all over here. Salvinis are rare (I've only ever seen 3 in NZ, but apparently some LFS's do have them on rare occassions) and I haven't heard of anyone having a Festae in NZ before. Others that don't seem to be around are Trimac's and Wolf cichlids . Anyone else seen any of these in NZ before?

AJ, if you are going to buy a python consider just buying the replacement venturi part, not the whole system. This part only costs ~$15 as opposed to ~$100 for the whole python system. I pretty sure you can still get the replacement part from wet pets. This is what I did and works quite well, plus was alot cheaper. The threaded fittings on the venturi part are not standard and I have had to use a couple of rubber washers to ensure that the standard garden hose fittings that you buy here in NZ form a seal onto the venturi part. Also make sure that the tubing you use is strong enough not to collaspe under the vacuum generated by the venturi when in use (most tubing seems fine).

I have this kit, I don't rate it. I have never picked up any levels of ammonia with it, even when cycling tanks which developed high nitrite readings (ie when ammonia should have been present). As far as the colours go, as with most test kits like this, you are supposed to put the test tube against a white background and then compare to the colour chart. Therefore when the solution is clear the corresponding colour match from the chart is white. Likewise with more ammonia present the solution is supposed to develop a deeper yellow colouring, which appears cream or peach etc against a white background. Just take the water sample from the top, circulation in the tank will be adequate to stop concentration gradients.

Has anyone else found that they were able to hand feed their black ghost knife fish? Last week I was going to put a pellet in his home but he came and took it out of my fingers, quite cool I thought.

They aren't that common, there are a couple lfs here that have had them. Cost could be anywhere between $10 and $25, depending on the shop. We got ours for $10 at about 6-7cm, which I thought was quite a good buy (the lfs were selling it as a 'goby', don't think they knew much about it). They do seem quite aggressive. We put ours in with some electric yellows and blue lumpheads and he was much more aggressive than them. He is now living with some convict cichlids and seems to be holding his own quite well.

I agree, oversizing the heater for the tank is defintely a bad idea in terms of heater life (lots of swicthing on and off). The first few heaters I brought when I first started fish keeping (from lfs recomendation) were oversized for the tank ie 150W for a 60L tank and 300W for a 200L tank, but not as bad as they could have been. I am now using 300W in a 500L tank and that seems fine (as long as the room temp stays above about 10-15 deg). I have also brought a Tronic and after about 3 years it is still running at the temperature I set it at back then. I'll start by haveing a go at dismantling the really bad heater and see if I am sucessful.

What is the easiest way to pull a heater apart without breaking it? Any tips?

Does anyone else have problems with the temperature calibration of tank heaters drifting over time? After a few years of fish keeping I am gathering an ever increasing pile of heaters that no longer are capable of controlling at 25 deg or below. Some of them are still able to control at a temperature of about 25-26 deg when set at their lowest temperature setting (often 18-20 deg), however the worst one I have controls at about 32 deg when set at 18 deg! Most of these heaters I have had since new and back then they worked fine. With nearly every heater I buy I seem to have to gradually keep turning them down so that they maintain a temperature of about 25 deg. That is until they can't be turned down any further, which is when I either put up with the higher temp (and hope it doesn't get too much higher) or add them to the pile of clapped out heaters. This problem is not just limited to one brand, I have tried a selection of heaters and they all seem to do this to some degree or another.

I have always been told that it is not a good idea to turn off undergravel filtration as there is always some muck left under the plate. This is ok when the filter is running as it breaks down aerobically, but turn off the flow and it has the potential to turn into a big anaerobic dead spot, polluting the tank. I am actually planning on removing the UG filter from one of my tanks but I am not looking forward to it as it will involve moving the fish temporarily, stripping the tank contents, cleaning out all the muck and then putting the tank back together minus the UG filter plate. FUN! :-?

my 403 doesn't look like that, the previous owner has defintely done some DIY and brought two plastic ball valves from somewhere to replace all that stuff abouve the filter.

I've got a 403 and it doesn't have any connector in the hose. All it has are two ball valves on each pipe. I got this filter second hand though so I'd say the previous owner has modified it and replaced the connector you mehntion with these valves.

Out of curiosity, how were you planning on attaching the Eheim hose connectors to the 403?

ok, mine only leaks very slowly. The rate of evaporation from the bucket is greater than the speed at which it leaks. When I enquired about a new aquastop the shop said about that they had got one in a while ago and thought it cost about $20-30, which I thought was ok. Let me know how much it ends up costing, I think at $70 I'll just repair it myself!

My aquastop is broken also. I've got a temporary fix up job in place at the moment. How much did it cost for a new one? I broke off one of the two pieces that the tubing connects to. The other unbroken piece is cracked and is leaking slowly. The filter lives in a bucket at the moment.

If you want cheap then concrete blocks are an option. I've just made a stand for a 4ft by 2ft tank from these. The blocks are placed in the corners and in the middle with a double layer of particle board over the top. A fabric curtain can be used around the outside to hide the bricks. My stand cost about $40. Back to the heater question, I agree with the 300W being a bit borderline. My five footer has a 300W only and if the room temp gets too low (ie <10 deg C) over night the tank temperature drops a couple of degrees until mid morning when the room warms up again. The room is insulated now though, and the room temp stays above 15 deg with the tank temperature stable at 25 deg.

oops, better get rid of it then. Didn't realise. Weed killer should work.

Anyone recognise this plant? I have no idea. Leaves range from 5-15 mm across. http://groups.msn.com/MidasNZ/aquaria.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2 http://groups.msn.com/MidasNZ/aquaria.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3

Thanks Rob, Yep, gave in about 7 months ago. They were about 2 inches long when we got them and their about 3 inches long now. I had a look at their fins and both fish seem the same, with quite short dorsal and anal fins. Going by that it looks like I might have two females. Oh well, I'll have to keep a look out for a male.

Has anyone had experience breeding these fish before? I have two and they seem to be going through the motions of breeding at the moment. They were acting strangely a few weeks back and one of them ended up holding some eggs in its mouth for a couple of days, but after that the eggs disapeared. Things seem to be getting interesting again over the last few days. I suspect that I may have two females, but I'm not sure as they are still less than half size. One of the two could be a male as it is bigger and has a more pronounced hump on its head. However, it was that fish last time that ended up holding the eggs in its mouth and from what I have read the female is supposed to do that, not the male. Any ideas? I might just have to wait and see what happens this time around to know if I have a pair or not.