[Indoor heated pond stocking]

a brackish pond with archers would be very cool.

[Chromides]

They're cheap, $10-20 from memory. remember they're brackish fish.

[stubborn green algae dot clustors]

I'm not familiar with that type of algae, but I had a serious problem with black 'tuft', I guess you could call it, algae. It's like little bushes of black algae that grow on everything in the tank, need a knife to cut off pretty much, my plec doesn't touch it, and it's pretty immune to common chemicals used for alge control. I went in and saw graham from the hutt pet centre, and he recommended changing the pH of the tank. He gave me a pond algae block that you just drop into the tank. Over the course of a couple of weeks the block cleared up the black algae, and has visually eliminated green algae. There has been a change in the ph of the tank, but not a huge change. It's pretty much gone from slightly acidic to neutral.

[A better way to change water]

thanks

[A better way to change water]

I've been using the siphon/bucket method for a while. It's a pain in the ass, and I end up spilling a lot of the water on the floor when trying to carry the bucket. I've done a little research, does anyone have experience with using a product like the 'python' automatic water change thing?

[Missing shop?]

It's a shame it closed down. Firstly because it was way more accesible for me, as opposed to going out to animates (which I would prefer not to go to anyway), and secondly because I recieved a gift voucher teh weekend before it disappeared.

[what will go in with oscars]

yeah, I'd say 6ftx2ft really. Have you seen a fully grown one andyman98? They're massive fish. Pretty ugly too.

[what will go in with oscars]

//would a giant gourami and or an arowana fit in a 4ft?

not for an extended period.

[Hand feeding black ghost knife fish]

I've been hand feeding my black ghost at night for about 2 years. He/she is only about 20cm long at the moment, the yellow stripe on teh head is looking in good colour. There's no way I'd call them a peaceful fish, I've observed him/her at night chasing other fish.

[The mighty jack dempsey]

Hi midas, hopefully I'll start posting again, I haven't had the net for a good part of a year. It's damn hard to sex at a small size, I looked for pointed dorsal and anal fins. I mean, I could be totally wrong and it turns out to be a female.

Have you got any pics of your JD, midas? It's a beautiful fish.

[The mighty jack dempsey]

I got what I think is a smallish (about 4") male last weeked. I sort of read stuff about them beingreally aggressive without actually believing it. It's true though, even at a small size he seems to be fearless against the much larger fish. My siamese tiger is still definitely the boss of the tank though. Does anyone else have experience keeping the jack dempsey?

[I guess it had to happen sometime...]

Yeah that's true, they've got a giant kokopu in the eel tank.

[Geophagus jurupari]

Really peaceful, I've found them to be really hardy, They love filtering gravel through their gills for food and they pretty much eat anything I give them. A really nice fish overall

[Mixing with a Giant Gourami]

You could try some large red devils

[Mixing with a Giant Gourami]

you mean pacus? they get damn big

[Mixing with a Giant Gourami]

Get yourself a big spiny or fire eel

[Finally the photos i promised]

Indeed you don't macka. I see that Jansens still has a juvenile red and gold asian, a bit out of my price range though

[Living Waters in Tauranga]

yep that's the fish, the one I saw must have been only a juvenile. Thanks

I had a look at Hollywood fish farm aswell. I was up in the Bay of Plenty and Auckland region for a week, so I decided to have a look at some shops that I read about alot.

[A minor breakthrough?]

You're probably right. Wet Pets isn't in a great shape now

[Living Waters in Tauranga]

I liked this shop, it had a good range of tropical, marine and even a few brackish. They had a darn nice 'six bar something' I can't actually remember the name :oops: Dennis maybe you can help- it is quite large, is a plant eater and has bars similar to a borneo tiger and is in the large tank next to the counter with the larger oscars.

[A minor breakthrough?]

I was in Wet Pets today and finally they've given what all brackish water fish deserve- a brackish tank. I don't know if this is due to Midas mentioning the bad health if the green chromides a while back, but it was pleasing to see.

[Finally the photos i promised]

Is the silver outgrowing the pearl by much? Pearls are alot more sort of 'muscular' than silvers aren't they

[I guess it had to happen sometime...]

I was in Jansens mt eden and they're now selling inanga commercially

Speaking of Jansens, they had an african lungfish that they claim is one of only 4 in the country. Pretty interesting fish, and I know they get beyond huge.

[Finally the photos i promised]

Nice pics, is there any fighting between the silver and pearl arowana?

[Finally the photos i promised]

sounds good to me