henward

honestly one of the main things i like about keeping fish is not just the monstrous sizes.... sure 99% of my fish eventually get large to monstrous. but its the way they hunt and eat. i jsutposted a topic of a vid i saw, silver aro eating duck, i didnt know it would strike such a chord. but.... i am fascinated that instinctively, arowanas know how to drown their food. clown loaches, how they eat.... looks like they are not eating but really their bellies are getting fatter and fatter dats... how they swallow food far away from their mouth by sucking in water. ornates and bichirs, deathrolling to rip pieces of meat. oscar and cichlids, how it hordes food in its mouth and hides before swallowing. etc. really fascinates me. this clown swallowed 5 panadol sized pellets, with no p roblems... i can only imagine when its 40 to 50 cms long plus. ..... disturbing lol i guess i could be seen as that

crazy! their mouth looks so darn small!

I never realised the eating capabilities of a knife fish. My old one was the one wit a broken jaw, it ate small pellets and struggled to swallow bigger food. My high spot one, introd into the tank, getting along - has not over taken its growth and still growing the last few days has demonstrated its capabilities of eating. It would swallow multiple large pellets in one gulp. and today, a record 5 massivores IN ONE GULP!! and didnt spit it out or chew, just straight swallow! dropped the massivores in a neat pile of 5, then it sucks the water underneath it, lightning speed, all inside its belly 8) oh yes..... :bounce:

helping each other out is great! i too will offer a hand, i have a 3 foot by 30 by 30 you can indifinitely use. fully water tight.

i think the large number of other fish in eh tank triggers a feeding frenzy type mechanism. i found i had a clown knife, docile, ate but not too much, slow to eat too. when in intro'd it to the rtg tank, with much uch more competition, it ate faster, more and was more voracious when feeding

officially, all plecos are feeding during day light hours, the niveatus is the most prolific - even compared to the royal. niveatus reacts almost with in 60 secondes... and grazes on the ground for food. cactus is dumber, it tends to smell the food and gets excited, but cant seem to find the food just over the dune of sand - while the niveatus is adventurious. the gold nuggest is more of a wood dweller. it will eat pellets that land on the wood, occasionally going onto the floor

My royal is alawys out now, comes out immediately when i feed. its ok, been less than a month they are actually starting to come out

MASSIVORES!!! OH YES I SWEAR, that food is awesome! :bounce:

yeah, i heard that too. the niveatus is active, gold nugget is coming out too the bottom too. cactus is starting too just not as much yet. thats ok, as long as it gets bigger:D

that is a monstrous beast.................. i like 8)

i keep telling you. massivores. fastest and best way to beef fish up. something about hikari food, and i have tried a few brands. but hikari does something to really make growth faster. i find fins are longer - visibly more bulky and longer. fish get beefier and bigger, not to mention hungrier. NLS is all good, i use THERA A for my clonw loaches. they love it. BUt when it comes to beefing up fish, MaSSIVORE AND sinking carnivore. probably cos its got almost double the protein content. i was thinking of using sinking carnivore or massivs for a month or two to get some bulk on my clown loaches - then back to thera a. switch it around. i find that when you do a blend, some fish tend to pick and choose what they eat. as opposed to leaving them no choice but to eat what you want them to eat

yes, for plants but how about aquariums?

yeah just got a call from yates they said its mined and bagged on site, no additives at all i wonder, brooklands sell those little bags. i onder if this is the same product repacked? i know the tonic salt they sell is just grade 22 course salt, sea salt.

haha fair enough seems natural - will trial a tank first, small one, then see how i go.

http://www.yates.co.nz/products/pots-an ... peat-moss/ this is the product i have i guess its organic and pure form right? some said they use the yellow pack, i assume its this here?

i know, but somethings tend to have additives in it. its YATES HAIRAKI GOLD: sphagum peat is that normal peat? or a different type as there is shpagum at the start of the name? says organic on it, that means i assume is natural - pure form?

how bout the yellow ags of peat, kinda quare in shape when you buy them, who else has used them? they have no fertil,isers on them?

so those big yellow sacks - you buy in your average garden stores you use for aquariums? i so thought there was fertiliser in it. Am i mistaken? Do you just put it in a stocking back to prevent it from going everywhere? im scared lol scared to use the yellow bags! so cheap though.

Ok, we talked about oak leaves but peat moss seems fine to use. jsut wondering though, someone mentioned these tablet things made out of peat, are they usefull? OR in bunnings or mitre 10 mega stores, there are yellow sacks of peat is that aquarium friendly? anyone tried it? i guess im looking for cheaper ways to blacken the tanks.

yay, all plecos are eating:D saw the niveatus eat nls pellets on the ground today gold nugget also and cactus ate in its hidey hole. some food got blown into there and ate some. i put massivore into the cactus cave, and it was sucking on it:D

i know what it is clown loach food:)

nice markings!

could be festae roughing up the flagtail flagtail rocks! love flagtails so tempted to get a school of them, 5 to 7 in a tank but apparently you need big tanks as they get agro to each other or anythign with a red tail. my flagtail thinkgs the tilfoils are flagtails and chases them lol

I took some out today one cucumber totally has no seeds left in it! all bits of cucumber has distinct round rasp marks on the skin side. lots of it. dont know if its the BN, niveatus, gold nugget or cactus or royal. I suspect its either the bn, gold nugger and niveatus. Cactus i dont believe will go for it as much.

a person could probvably lift 50 to 60 kilos if the weight is compressed to small dimensions a tank is awkeward, cos you have to balance it and it has different dynamics. i have moved lots of tanks b efore, including 2x 1200litre 8footers. and its nto easy. 15mm 6 foot tank is gonna be heafy. The more people the better, 6 min to 8. do it slowly, carefully but just lift fromt he knees. your stand is key, how high is it? if its low, thats easy, you can straighten arms and let the fingers anchor themselves in, if you have to lift it high tot he stand, thats where the difficulty starts. good luck!