Snowman

I would go for a male and female b/nose which will probably result in eggs at some stage, pity you wern't in Auckland as i have heaps of fry to give away.

For my GBA's i have to drop the temp to 24 to induce spawning but the normal b/nose just wont stop.

LOL, teach you for buying a Fluval ay :lol: Try an Eheim classic next time and you'll never look at any other brand. Not the nicest way to start the weekend though

Thats what i said LOL :lol:

Hollywood is a good shop, i would try the Pimafix and definetly the water changes, Hollywood are one of the sponsors for Auckland Fishkeepers Association and are one of the ones that will give 10% off to members.

If you search on this site about cycling you will see what i mean about Ammonia etc, i would do a 25% water change daily for the next 2-3 days as i suspect there is a build up of either Ammonia or Nitrite which is stressing the fish resulting in the fungus. Weekly or fortnightly water changes are essential to keep water parameters down to tolerable levels. Basically the fish waste turns into Ammonia (highly poisonous to fish even at low concentrations), your filter will slowly grow bacteria that will convert the Ammonia into Nitrite (quite poisonous to fish at low concentrations) and another form of bacteria in your filter will then convert the Nitrite into Nitrate (only dangerous at higher concentrations). The water changes are to dilute the Nitrates in the tank but it can take quite a while for the filter completly cycle. I would do a 25% water change twice a week for a couple more weeks after the initial daily changes to keep the water conditions good. A good fish shop will be able to sell you some Melafix or similar to help fix the fungus. A good idea is to join one of the clubs in Auckland, they are full of knowledgable people that are willing to help and membership gets you a 10% discount at some LFS (Local Fish Shops).

You could always try adding another colour gravel on top of your existing gravel, it would have to be a reasonable layer so it doesn't get mixed up when you gravel vac. Places like Stone & Water world in Ellerslie have a good range of different colours. If you do use wild caught gravel LOL it would pay to give it a very good rinse in a bucket and possibly even boil it to make sure any nastys are dead.

Sounds like it may be a fungus, how big is the tank & how long has it been setup? How often do you do water changes and what sort of filtration are you using? Do you have Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate test kits? You could try using some melafix but i'm picking it's water conditions that have caused the fungus to start in the first place.

Good to hear

I think they would need to be around 7-8cm to have succesful spawnings, max size i have seen is about 15-16cm.

Hows your temperature been, i've noticed a few days where the temp has got up to 28 so i've had to crank up the air pump and move my internal filter up higher for more surface disruption as the GBA have been surfacing for air. They seem ok at the higher temp with the extra air and water movement so hoping thats all thats wrong with yours. You could always turn or move your spray bar up for more surface movement.

I've tried pots and chiclid cone's with my normal's and GBA's and they won't lay in them, seem to prefer being well hidden and away from light sources in their ornaments, i have wondered with there being a lot less room than the pots if the males fanning creates more of a current over the eggs...(keeps wondering LOL)

I wouldn't recommend a beginner start with no filter and agree with DiverJohn a big filter makes for less maintenance, better flow and generally less stress on you and your fish, a lot of fish like to have some current to swim against. A magnetic algae cleaner (floating type) can also be handy. You will also need a gravel vac, i'd suggest a medium size. Air pumps and stones can look great as a bubble wall or flowing out from underneath decorations, rockery etc but be aware that they provide extra oxygen in the water by creating surface disruption which also dissapates vital CO2 which the plants need so it can be a bit of a trade off.

If Niloc made it it will definetly handle the weight as he over engineers stands to be on the safe side. An awful lot of tigging to get that stand together but from the pics well worth it, looks very cool. Cant wait to see pics with the filled tank on it ; -)>

Pity your not in Auckland as a couple of shops have the Eheim classics on special a 2217 for $283 (Below taken from the eheim website) for tank size up to 600l Pump output 1000l/h Filter circulation 790l/h Delivery head 2,10 m Ws Filter volume 6l Power consumption 20 W Dimensions approx. mm 205 x 400 I've been tempted to grab a couple but got to pay for Xmas first LOL I know tankgirl3 on Trade Me can do very good prices on Eheim external and other filters, and PetPlanet is the cheapest on-line store around for Eheim internal filters, just depends on cost getting them down to you. I haven't heard good things about the wet/dry Eheims thats why i stick to the tried and trusted classic range (and they are heaps cheaper than the professional range)

By any chance did Niloc make that for you, if it's the one i'm thinking of it's come up awesome :lol:

Depends on how much money you have to outlay, also if there is 1 filter per tank if you get any diseases it is easily isolated, if they are all filtered by 1 large filter or sump you may need a means of isolating each tank if any health problems crop up. With one central filter you couldn't have individual conditions to suit different species, you could of course say run the top 2 rows on one system and the bottom row on individual systems to give you the best of both worlds. I had a JBL CO2 setup tip over and contaminate one of my tanks, not linked with the other tanks luckily, but if it was goodbye GBA breeding tank. There are good and bad points to both setups so hopefully others can post some of them for you to decide but i would do a bit of both.

The external 2213 has been on Trade Me new for $150 and the 2008 has been on for $47.75 Yep $200 but no water quality problems so well worth it.

You will find opinions vary as to what make of filter is better, personally i like the idea of an external and internal filter, good for water movement and better when you do a filter clean as you only do one at a time which means less disruption to bacteria levels, i clean my internal every week to maintain water flow and my cannister about every 2 months, when i clean the external i skip cleaning the internal so there is still plenty of bacteria to keep water parameters in check. Personally i would use an Eheim 2213 external and a 2008 internal filter. I use 6 Eheim filters and have never had a problem with any of them, not the cheapest but the best in my opinion.

I just leave the lid on my AR850 open during the day, there is very little ventilation and with the 3 lights on it does create a lot of heat. If you worried about fish jumping out you could drape some net curtain over the opening. Make sure the filter is pushed right to the back and the light is sitting right forward which should leave a small gap in between for some airflow. Is it filled to the bottom line of the black surround ? (so you can't see a water line from the outside.) I have only left the lid up for about 4 days so far this year but will have to when the real summer arrives.

The noodles (biological filtration) should go at the bottom, on top of those should be the filter wool (fine mechanical filtration) then the scourer (coarse mechanical filtratrion to catch the big bits so the wool doesn't clog up to fast).

I used fastway couriers to ship some GBA overnight to Wellington then Wellington to Invercargill overnight with no troubles. Goldfish are cold water so the only worry would be oxygen.

No adults but heaps of 2 & 3 cm ones, your welcome to some if you want (free) or anyone else can have some all you need is a bag. Hoping to have some sexable GBA soon just wish they would grow faster.

LOL Wok, thats why around 200, or between 100 and 300 anyway LOL The male will fan the eggs for about 5 days and then they hatch, he tries to keep them in his hidey hole for 5-7 days i've found depending on what else is in the tank. Occasionally 1 may escape him and they look funny, an egg with a tail trying to swim (usually unsucessfully). :lol:

It might pay to pick up some test kits as well, there is a master test kit with all the tests you need ( 5 ) usually on Trade Me for around $50 (good value), if your able to test the water for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate etc it can give you and us an idea of what stage the tank is at and is a good insight towards what may be the problem if your fish aren't happy. When i have an un cycled tank with fish in it i do a 10% water change daily to avoid any excessive build ups, less of a change to the fish so less stress.