henward

thanks i really want more colour for the wide bar but it aint easy to find suchg huge wide bar in nz but its a monster definately they curious too when i stick my hand in to clean and do stuff they just come up to you and sniff your hand lol curious things there is a royal clown in there its the only thing they wont attack tinfoils and flagtials and silver dolalrs all are attacked

yeah it was alot darker than the other one even at the place i picked it up from they seem darker than the indos and ats but this one is just recovering

the tank is not actually that big its just shy 4 inches under 6 foot. so its not that big these beasts are going to my 1200 litre the wide bar has improved in colour but still dark ish but eating

Funny, indo was adctive, wide bar wasnt. though wide bar is now eating fine. i added rocks and plants. Instantly, the dats are active!!! must feel more secure! heres the vids

driftwood will actualy keep your ph down but you can get this pwerder stuff from lfs that is really good that keeps your ph at 6 or so. driftwood can make the water brown - but some breeders swear by it as it is a natural thing that helps with the bioloy of the tank or something, natural antiseptic perhaps?

cool! perfect size howp to see pics soon

cool well worth it 5 foot it could house it for up to 2 years, depending on feeding and types of food mine gtes srimp and beef heart. less than 2 months its grown 2 inches

you getting a silver aro too? well, it hink even a silver aro should be ok if introdced togetheri suppose.

your setup and tank mates look ideal the parrt is the only MINOR concern see, parrots are bloody annoying fish:D cool though what it will do, as it gets bigger, it will chase and nudge other fish i had somewith my SDs, no problems though, all it does is nujdge fish, sometimes chase them but due to its mouth being completely and utterly useles it does no damage at times i find other fish feeding while it nudges them it seems to be harmless they get big, once they get at, it might have more weight to push othe rfish keep tha tin mine other fish in your list seems to be fine with each other. i would do it

for awhile had plants with SDs the problem is, unless you keep them so well fed wiith food they love better than plants. then no such luck. mine love bloodworms most but that shouldnt be their staple so hence my plants are gone:D you can get hard plants, like java ferm, or sowrds, sometimes they dont eat it but apart from that, silver dollars and that whole family of fish, will eat plants

mmm live food shouldnt make your lconw knife lethargic, unless the gold fish is starved and malnourished to start off with. water quality is one, but i hav heard of clown knives living in pretty crappy streams and being fine though some say that their skin is very fine and scale less.. supopsedly they can tolerate very wide ranges of water parameters and even spikes of all sorts. these fish are found in streams so dirty at times its surprisng but perhaps harassment, or did it jump and break its back or soemthing? pics? is it bent?

perhaps perhaps ill do that for now ill set up the 8 foot first i really want that 2500 litre

finally the wide bar eats!!! the string idea finally worked tied a worm shaped 15 cm long thin pieces of beef. roughly 7 mm think tied it to a clear nylon fishing line and moved it around the tank. ate it!

alligator im sure of it the auck zoo anyways

one more thing, sorry for multiple replies on my own posts lol just had a thought i go to two other forums for experience, just like buying a car or a house, you check all of them out. why is it tha the tone is so much different in nz.... i dont understand. perhaps its the price and rarity of the fish in which people are reserved in attempting tankmating monsters. example: 1) i have been told by numerous parties that giant gouramis are definaltey ok to houes together.. a little fighting will occur but they wont last. 2) 8 out of 10 people said, they have tried housing royals and clowns together, with success and no problems, some have only 2, some have 6 in a tank, all 10 inch plus! 3) africans are 50/50 thats a tricky one, they are supposedly very fiesty but there has been success in predator tanks. this is both forums i go to online, over seas, UK, AUS, US, Asia, Arabia all of them sound much different. i find that weird. i really do. but like i said, your opinions count, as part of tally in which i make my decision, which is important to hear all sides. but it must be the price of fish here. i just spoke to a guy, who has 3 giant gouramis in a tank wiht cichlids and an aro and a dat. the GGs are 12 inch approx just curious why its so different in terms of tone of the people

the reason why i ask is so i know what to look for when observing thats not possible with out key points

Xenomystus nigri - this is the fish yes i agree i have not ever had to destroy a fish. I too have been keeping monster fish for awhile... though not to this degree cs when i was younger, well, little really - i had no money lol but i do always have an alternative. and if required for a large fish, a tank can come cheaply from trademe lol 400 you can get a 6 footer and stand with lights:D sometimes even filter! lol the african knife if very aggresive, then i will put in his own tank, by himself. I have noticed that at night the knives are most active. i have 5 months to consider this and do more research worse come ot worse ill do trial and error i believe that knvies and gouramis are not as picky with tankmates as jardiniis:D in fact i know so and believe me, i do take in all the advise, but .... as trial and error says, i have tank mates with a jardinii when most said its impossible just had to choose 7 species in the trials - found 3 suitable lol someof ou might think im a little reckless....... well... you are probably correct... but controlled recklessness is the key:D one of my dat isnt eating cos it was accustomed to other foods, i think live. but will eat eventually. just takes awhile to adjust. the key to having a predator MF tank or just an MF tank in general. As most monster fish are predators in nature. i have dealt with alot of experiences over seas - discussed matters and i take all into account. the key is trial and error red tail cats can be aggressive but they are housed with certain types of fish that in nature, would kill each other. but its all trials thats wha ti do i guess im not scared to try some say it might be mean to the fish... well. i dont believe that - the nz government puts violent people and not the most desired types in nice areas by making them state housing. its the same issue sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt i think im cynical

yes nothing the other one now eats bloody anything i chuck in there the other bit the shrimp, but didnt swallow and spat out instantly

giant gourami? your spelling is a little confusing thats all but i assume its that well, i have read that a 5 foot or 6 foot should be sufficient to see one through its adulthood but some here say that thats too small its best to google this or other forums with experience with a full grown giant gourami

onthat note everyone from MFK have told me so far that clown kni ves when introduced together at less than 10 inches or so, will SOMETIMES initially fight but gbenerally be able to live together in a tank that size, i ha ve seen photos and videos, i guess there are cases and theory it wont work but ill take that risk if i see bad fighting ill separate them wortha go, would look impressive together. i want a predator monster tank. the bichirs will go in once larger and not EDIBLE by the dats:D yeah heard bout flagtails sucking on other fish.....kinda funny lol the african is my head ache, right now its docile but i hear that from everyone too that it does get aggressivbe but mfk has told me on a unanymous concensus that same with the CK, it can be ok with other knives as long as ther are plenty of aggressive fish, but! it has a lot more chanc eof not working out that anything else

mmmm yeah, if i see knives fight, i can instantly remove them the african is aggressive apprently when its larger, if its too aggresive, then ill get rid of them the giant gourami wont grow to a foot long wiht in a year , well certainly not 2 foot with in 2 yeras, i used to hvae one, wiht a pacu, and it was fast growing but once it reached just udner 12" it grew alot slower to get it to the size at HFF mt roskill that takes years!!!!! but i do appreciate your opinions and experiences, hence why i ask, so i can re consider african knives will most likely go with the jardinii if its too aggresive. if that doedsnt work out it will go to a good home:D pacus do get huge! its ridiculous but, you can keep a 60cm pacu in a 1200 litre they are fine for awhile just that they do grow rapidly, even at that size, they will grow another 15 cms in a year

?d

re arranged: 8 foot: 1x silver aro 3 x large dats 2x cigar sharks 1x royal 1x clown knife 1x giant gourami 1x pleco 1x pink tail chalceus if i can get one 4foot 2x smaller dats 2 or 3x bichirs (growing out to 8 foot) 1x flagtail 1x red parrot 1x african knife so agbove looks beter? whsat the concensus?

i was thinking a jag, but other cichlids are not my cup of tea, pacu perhaps but they get toooo big. though they could live there for awhile. more dats?? mroe aros? maybe jsut one giant gourami, and put 2 silver aros in there? or 3?

mmmm crocs ok anyways i like giant gouramis! i love them, they look strange and weird i know one would be ok two o fthem, othre forums tell me that when little they will fight, you may get deaths, but once they get bigger they settle down and leave each other alone, so if they are strong, they will live to be together, if not , one will die. 6'x55cm x 55xm tank will have the jardinii with its old tank mates, 2x tinfoils, 2x silver dollars and 1x spotted metynis so that will stay the same. yeah, the flagtail and bichirs will eventually outgrow 4 foot tank, but that dats will take awhile, the flagtails growth is slow too, so would be awhile when the bichirs get too big , ill move them to the 8 footer , they generally dont bother any other fish. the 8 foot combination, does that look ok though? those fish should get along though right? except maybe the 2 GG. also the giant gourami can be taught to eat other fish, and have big mouths. no really, i thin they are cool, id like to have the gold and a grey one apart from davids great distain for GGs is there any problems with it? david: what do you suggest? other monster fish, i want big fish, i mean big monster fish