zombieworm

The repashy I ordered arrived today. I got the Bug Pie for the gobies, and man do they love it! They went wild over it, no encouragement necessary. I'll have to be more careful where I drop it though. The piece landed right next to one of the empty apple snail shells, and the "owner" of that shell wasn't too impressed about all the others so close to his cave. He kept popping into the shell to make sure no one else had taken over.

Having finally figured out how to do video on the tablet, upload to YouTube, and link it here, here is a video of the elephantnose at feeding time. I couldn't get one of the handfeeding - there is only me here, but this is just after the hand feeding, and they are all snuffling around looking for the food that dropped.
Gligor, you asked where the elephantnose were in the African Butterfly fish video - they go to sleep mid morning, and wake up just before dinnertime, so here they are now 
 

The other day I saw Elephant nose fish advertised at a different place than I have bought all my others from, and they were substantially cheaper than my others cost, so I thought I would go ahead and get a couple - out of curiosity over the low price as much as anything, and because with all but one of the discus now gone, there would be room in the tank for another two EN. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I waited with anticipation for them to arrive.
And arrive they did - healthy, active... and teeny tiny itsy bitsy, coming in at just 1" (2.5cm) I didnt know they came that small! The congo tetra youngsters I got the same time were the same size, maybe even a little bit bigger.  All my others are between 5" and 7", with Jack - the baby of the group - at a "tiny" 3 1/2".
Like Africa, the African tank is WAY to dangerous for them (OK, so it's only African above the ground level, the plecos and bottom-hugging catfish are all South American). They like hanging around the surface floating plants, but in the tank the African Butterfly fish would quickly make a meal of them. If they decided to hang around the bottom instead, there are 2 spotted dorydids, and 2 chocolate striped dorydids that would find them a delectable snack. And if they managed to avoid the top and bottom of the tank, once the lights go out there is 7 inches (18cm) of Featherfin Sydontis that cruises back and forth through the middle like a hungry shark. I currently have them in a breeding net in the African tank until I decide what to do with them. 
They are just sooo adorable though! The brine shrimp and bloodworms are to big for them, so I am feeding them frozen daphne (luckily I had some on hand). They also seem really keen on the Hikuri Gold Discus pellets, so I might see if I can get some even smaller pellets for them, as those are a little big for them at the moment.
 
 

Having finally figured out how to do video on the tablet, upload to YouTube, and link it here, here is a video of the elephantnose at feeding time. I couldn't get one of the handfeeding - there is only me here, but this is just after the hand feeding, and they are all snuffling around looking for the food that dropped.
Gligor, you asked where the elephantnose were in the African Butterfly fish video - they go to sleep mid morning, and wake up just before dinnertime, so here they are now 
 

How much were you wanting? If you don't find anything local, let me know (I'm in Hastings). Cheers.

The other day I saw Elephant nose fish advertised at a different place than I have bought all my others from, and they were substantially cheaper than my others cost, so I thought I would go ahead and get a couple - out of curiosity over the low price as much as anything, and because with all but one of the discus now gone, there would be room in the tank for another two EN. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I waited with anticipation for them to arrive.
And arrive they did - healthy, active... and teeny tiny itsy bitsy, coming in at just 1" (2.5cm) I didnt know they came that small! The congo tetra youngsters I got the same time were the same size, maybe even a little bit bigger.  All my others are between 5" and 7", with Jack - the baby of the group - at a "tiny" 3 1/2".
Like Africa, the African tank is WAY to dangerous for them (OK, so it's only African above the ground level, the plecos and bottom-hugging catfish are all South American). They like hanging around the surface floating plants, but in the tank the African Butterfly fish would quickly make a meal of them. If they decided to hang around the bottom instead, there are 2 spotted dorydids, and 2 chocolate striped dorydids that would find them a delectable snack. And if they managed to avoid the top and bottom of the tank, once the lights go out there is 7 inches (18cm) of Featherfin Sydontis that cruises back and forth through the middle like a hungry shark. I currently have them in a breeding net in the African tank until I decide what to do with them. 
They are just sooo adorable though! The brine shrimp and bloodworms are to big for them, so I am feeding them frozen daphne (luckily I had some on hand). They also seem really keen on the Hikuri Gold Discus pellets, so I might see if I can get some even smaller pellets for them, as those are a little big for them at the moment.
 
 

The other day I saw Elephant nose fish advertised at a different place than I have bought all my others from, and they were substantially cheaper than my others cost, so I thought I would go ahead and get a couple - out of curiosity over the low price as much as anything, and because with all but one of the discus now gone, there would be room in the tank for another two EN. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I waited with anticipation for them to arrive.
And arrive they did - healthy, active... and teeny tiny itsy bitsy, coming in at just 1" (2.5cm) I didnt know they came that small! The congo tetra youngsters I got the same time were the same size, maybe even a little bit bigger.  All my others are between 5" and 7", with Jack - the baby of the group - at a "tiny" 3 1/2".
Like Africa, the African tank is WAY to dangerous for them (OK, so it's only African above the ground level, the plecos and bottom-hugging catfish are all South American). They like hanging around the surface floating plants, but in the tank the African Butterfly fish would quickly make a meal of them. If they decided to hang around the bottom instead, there are 2 spotted dorydids, and 2 chocolate striped dorydids that would find them a delectable snack. And if they managed to avoid the top and bottom of the tank, once the lights go out there is 7 inches (18cm) of Featherfin Sydontis that cruises back and forth through the middle like a hungry shark. I currently have them in a breeding net in the African tank until I decide what to do with them. 
They are just sooo adorable though! The brine shrimp and bloodworms are to big for them, so I am feeding them frozen daphne (luckily I had some on hand). They also seem really keen on the Hikuri Gold Discus pellets, so I might see if I can get some even smaller pellets for them, as those are a little big for them at the moment.
 
 

Having finally figured out how to do video on the tablet, upload to YouTube, and link it here, here is a video of the elephantnose at feeding time. I couldn't get one of the handfeeding - there is only me here, but this is just after the hand feeding, and they are all snuffling around looking for the food that dropped.
Gligor, you asked where the elephantnose were in the African Butterfly fish video - they go to sleep mid morning, and wake up just before dinnertime, so here they are now 
 

Ok, so no-one seems terribly interested in elephantnose fish, but they are my all time fav, so I'm going to keep posting anyway - lol.
I had been waiting for more to come into the country, as I wanted to add to the two I had, and they finally came. I bought another 4, which came a couple of days ago, so now have a nice little group of six. They have settled in really well, and are very lively. 
It took almost a month to train Petey to eat out of my hand, and now every time I stick my hand in the tank to clean etc., he gets all excited looking for food. But the new ones saw Petey eating out of my hand, and within 3 days they were all doing it, and even the discus and featherfin sydontis are joining in! It is so cool!
So here is a pic of my new ENF.
 

They are really cool looking fish. Thanks for sharing. 

Ok, so no-one seems terribly interested in elephantnose fish, but they are my all time fav, so I'm going to keep posting anyway - lol.
I had been waiting for more to come into the country, as I wanted to add to the two I had, and they finally came. I bought another 4, which came a couple of days ago, so now have a nice little group of six. They have settled in really well, and are very lively. 
It took almost a month to train Petey to eat out of my hand, and now every time I stick my hand in the tank to clean etc., he gets all excited looking for food. But the new ones saw Petey eating out of my hand, and within 3 days they were all doing it, and even the discus and featherfin sydontis are joining in! It is so cool!
So here is a pic of my new ENF.
 

This Eli before he commited hari kari. He liked sleeping in the dragon's arm.
 

Thanks so much! I love scaping, it's like mini gardens.
I don't really like stem plants, I find you end up spending way too much time trimming and replanting. Short plants I use are anubias, Java fern (both of those attached to rocks or wood), different types of crypts, and mini chain swords.

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.

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 thought about having a larger tank of females, but I've only ever seen females for sale once here. I bought a gorgeous blue crowntail female to breed with by beautiful blue crowntail male Reggie. She wouldn't have a bar of it though. She didn't just nip his tail, she pulled great honking strips off and ate them! Cannibalistic little snot. Needless to say Reggie wasn't too interested in her after that. Would love to see the pics if you find them 
When I first started keeping bettas, I didn't really aquascape - just sand, one live plant, and one small ornament. That was the most I had ever seen in a betta tank (no internet to Google back in those days!). I thought the tanks were too small to put much else in, and really, you can see the bettas better without much in the tank. Then when I started back up keeping bettas, and Googled bettas, I was really surprised to see what people were doing in the tanks. So I thought I would give it it go. I think it appealed to me because I am an avid gardener (or was, before the cancer diagnosis - not quite the same energy for it these days), and aquascaping is just underwater gardening really. I think what surprised me the most was that after the aquascaping - putting all that stuff in the tank - it actually looked roomier than when it was bare. Seems counterintuitive, but there you go. 
I also thought I wouldn't see the bettas as much, and for some of them that is true. Reggie will only come out at feeding time, but most of the others eagerly come out of hiding to greet me whenever I walk into the room. They love hiding in the plants, and Sasha (the blue and white one in one of the pics) likes the little hollow he has created for himself under the piece of wood at the back. 
I have Khuli loaches in the betta tanks as well. When the tanks were bare-ish the khuli loaches hated it - no place to hide - and would go frantic and get really stressed, and jump out of the tank, so I stopped keeping them in there. Now, with all the places to hide, they do great. Reggie likes searching his area to see if he can find them, then he sits there and stares at them until they move somewhere else - lol.

I only use live plant too, but I do like my ornaments - a bit of an ornament junkie
I really like the colours of your middle betta. At first glance I thought it was ornament. - that blue is stunning.

Yeah, I liked the red columns when I saw them. They are a very earthy red, and give a nice Asian zen sort of theme, which doesn't clash with the natural themes at all - not like my mushroom house and the octapus dude from the new Nemo/Dory movie - lol.

This is my betta trio tank. I like to stick with a "natural" theme in my tanks by using live plants, driftwood and rocks.

I contacted them yesterday evening thru their FB page, they said they would get back to me on Monday, so here's hoping 
I had tried somewhere locally (Hawkes Bay) recently, I told them I was after a green in any tail type EXCEPT veiltail, so they ordered me a green veiltail. *Sigh* 

I thought about having a larger tank of females, but I've only ever seen females for sale once here. I bought a gorgeous blue crowntail female to breed with by beautiful blue crowntail male Reggie. She wouldn't have a bar of it though. She didn't just nip his tail, she pulled great honking strips off and ate them! Cannibalistic little snot. Needless to say Reggie wasn't too interested in her after that. Would love to see the pics if you find them 
When I first started keeping bettas, I didn't really aquascape - just sand, one live plant, and one small ornament. That was the most I had ever seen in a betta tank (no internet to Google back in those days!). I thought the tanks were too small to put much else in, and really, you can see the bettas better without much in the tank. Then when I started back up keeping bettas, and Googled bettas, I was really surprised to see what people were doing in the tanks. So I thought I would give it it go. I think it appealed to me because I am an avid gardener (or was, before the cancer diagnosis - not quite the same energy for it these days), and aquascaping is just underwater gardening really. I think what surprised me the most was that after the aquascaping - putting all that stuff in the tank - it actually looked roomier than when it was bare. Seems counterintuitive, but there you go. 
I also thought I wouldn't see the bettas as much, and for some of them that is true. Reggie will only come out at feeding time, but most of the others eagerly come out of hiding to greet me whenever I walk into the room. They love hiding in the plants, and Sasha (the blue and white one in one of the pics) likes the little hollow he has created for himself under the piece of wood at the back. 
I have Khuli loaches in the betta tanks as well. When the tanks were bare-ish the khuli loaches hated it - no place to hide - and would go frantic and get really stressed, and jump out of the tank, so I stopped keeping them in there. Now, with all the places to hide, they do great. Reggie likes searching his area to see if he can find them, then he sits there and stares at them until they move somewhere else - lol.

Over the years I have seen a lot bettas kept in their little tanks, and most have been very bare - maybe some gravel, and if they are really lucky even a plastic plant, although some haven't even had the luxury of gravel. On the other hand, I have seen some beautiful mini aquascapes in betta tanks on Google.
So for those of you who keep bettas (not including breeding tanks and such here), do you aquascape or not. I would be interested to see what other people do.
I'll start the ball rolling. I have two 21 ltr duos, and two 32 ltr trios, and below are pics.
 

Having finally figured out how to do video on the tablet, upload to YouTube, and link it here, here is a video of the elephantnose at feeding time. I couldn't get one of the handfeeding - there is only me here, but this is just after the hand feeding, and they are all snuffling around looking for the food that dropped.
Gligor, you asked where the elephantnose were in the African Butterfly fish video - they go to sleep mid morning, and wake up just before dinnertime, so here they are now 
 

Unlike freshwater aquariums which contain a high percentage of captive-bred and raised animals, nearly all the fish kept in saltwater aquariums are captured from coral reefs, with fewer than 5% bred in captivity. A lot of fish simply won't breed in captivity, which means the reality is either wild caught, or a different hobby. Sorry.
I am starting my first marine tank too, but have opted for a reef tank - mostly corals. As far as I am aware most of the corals and anemones available in NZ are tank bred (remember corals are animals not plants). I do want some clownfish, and maybe some Bangai cardinals, and will try to get captive bred if possible, but the mandarin fish I am interested in is only wild caught.
Good luck with your new tank 

Over the years I have seen a lot bettas kept in their little tanks, and most have been very bare - maybe some gravel, and if they are really lucky even a plastic plant, although some haven't even had the luxury of gravel. On the other hand, I have seen some beautiful mini aquascapes in betta tanks on Google.
So for those of you who keep bettas (not including breeding tanks and such here), do you aquascape or not. I would be interested to see what other people do.
I'll start the ball rolling. I have two 21 ltr duos, and two 32 ltr trios, and below are pics.