ajbroome

Ira said... > That's what I've always heard, they look better as tropicals. I've always felt that they look better as coldwater fish. I've kept them outdoors and indoors in unheated tanks (actually, I'm doing both at the moment). My longfinned minnows are indoors (unheated) in my lounge and are doing very well. I have normal minnows in my garage and outdoors and fry of both kinds in my garage, all seem happy and healthy. These are a good hardy fish that will breed relatively easily. The fry look like baby neons. Andrew.

Interfecus said... > I was under the impression that all bees stung and died after doing so. There are many types of non-stinging bees, including at least one native to NZ. See: http://hortnet.co.nz/key/keys/bugkey2a/ ... ordad1.htm Bumblebees can sting repeatedly, see: http://www.honey.co.nz/infoBumbleBee.asp I wouldn't feed any type of bee or wasp to my fish. Andrew.

People. I've become convinced that the only way to culture daphnia is to *actively* not try to. This means setting up a couple of cultures at various places around the yard, ignoring them, and then accidentily looking in at some stage while *deliberatley* doing something else... You'll find buckets of daphnia in at least one container, which will immediately disappear if you try and feed it. Mosquito larvae will appear in another container, but they'll hatch out and bite your neighbours before you get around to collecting them. This is a given. Your fish will develop a taste for them and refuse to eat anything else. Basically, it's a trap issued by the likes of Wardleys and Hikari to make you use their commercial food and give up in disgust in any other airy-fairy options books (and internet forums) may suggest. This is, of course, a joke... Andrew.

Folks, I'm going to be in the Wellington area (ranging from Upper Hutt to Porirua and the City) on tuesday and wednesday. Anybody feel the need for a visit and/or perhaps a free pair of killies? Nothing much else to offer right now except perhaps some spawning moss... Best to mail me at home ([email protected]) before 9:00am tuesday or call 025 6868773 if you want to get in touch. Andrew.

Caryl said... > What are opinions on mixing Malawi and Tanganyikans? > The general rule seems to be no but there also seems to > be a number of people who have both in the same tank > with no problems. Why should they not be mixed? I don't think they should be mixed. One reason is that they don't recognise each others threat displays and this can lead to 'mis-understandings' at breeding time which result (usually) in the Tanganyikans getting badly beat up. For effect, I'd go with a tank of good Malawis (probably Mbuna types such as Melanochromis auratus, Psuedotropheus zebra, Labidochromis and so forth). They're generally of the 'cheap and cheerful' mindset and are fairly widely available. If there were a wider range of types available, I'd like to set up a Tanganyikan tank one day. BTW: Caryl, I'm sending private mail regarding a breeder in Chch. Andrew.

Macka said... > .... depends what your after, Tangs or malawians. What Tanganyikans do they have? You pretty much only ever see Julidochromis marlieri, Neolamprologus brichardi (in a couple of varieties), sometime Lamp. lelupi and the occasional other Lamp. Andrew.

Caryl, > Can anyone give me a rough idea of what African cichlids are > easily obtainable here? Daniel Giles, here in PN, breeds a few varieties including the yellow Labidochromis. If you want to obtain a bunch of juveniles and grow them up, that might be a good way to go. Gimme a yell if you need contact details... Andrew.

Warren, Your glass thickness calculator was referred to on the American Killifish Assoc mailing list (KILLITALK) the other day. Andrew.

Shilo said... > Any ideas of what its worth? I would expect to pay around the $40 or $50 mark for such a tank if I was looking for one. I recently sold a 60 x 24 x 12 inch tank made from 10mm glass for $50 but it was in my way and I was happy to see it go. Andrew.

Terry said... > I feel that rain water can change drasticley (sp) in quality and > chemistry due to polution in the atmosphere ... Woodville is a fairly rural area and so if the water was collected off an established roof, after it'd been raining for an hour or so, I'd expect it to be pretty clean. I'd still not use it for a community tank though. Potable (ie tap) water is generally good enough for fish to live in. I use it almost exclusively. Rain water is too precious and my carnivorous plants use it too fast Andrew.

Andi said... > The water depth was at a point where the endcaps were > only partially submerged. Turns out they should have been > completely immersed (duh!). So we've now cut the uplifter > down to keep it at the correct level. As long as there was water coming out of the top then it should've been OK. Still, efficiency may be increased if there is more water being moved about by the (now) shorter uplifts. > I'm now tending to think it is some sort of chemical reaction > between the rainwater and oxygen in the tank? Water and gaseous oxygen cannot react. Andrew.

Andi said... > I lost several fish in short order last week, apparently to fungus > and whitespot, but then when my clown loach died ... In my experience, clown loaches are very sensitive to whitespot so they pick it up easily and tend to keel over > ... changed the water source from tap water to rainwater. I don't beleive it's ever a good idea to have rainwater in your community tank. It's just too prone to huge swings in pH and it's too soft for most commonly kept fish. Other people here may disagree. > The water went a milky-white colour, and I have no idea why. This is peculiar. It *may* be a bacterial or protozoan bloom... If your tank had only been set up for 3 weeks and already had several fish in it, it's not unlikely, IMHO, that the biological filter just hadn't kicked in yet. Then something died from the accumulation of waste in the water, or whatever, and seriously polluted the tank. > I thought the filtration might have been at fault, as I have > a new system with an airstone inside the uplifter... These have been around for a long time and I've found them to be useful. The wider uplift with the airstone inside seems to shift more water. This is a good thing. > So I consulted Tracey at Wet Pets in Palmerston North, and > have added a power filter to the tank... A power filter may clear up any particulate matter but I'd not expect it to quickly fix any water chemistry issues you may be having. You really need to get your biological filtration sorted out ASAP. Definitely do not buy any more fish over the next few weeks. > ... and adjusted the pH... To what? Has it changed since? > I also added a bacterial agent, as Tracey suggested the > water was low in helpful bacteria. Presumably some sort of starter culture? > Everything looked mostly ok until I turned on the power filter. > The water went steadily milkier over the next few hours, and > has stayed that way! This suggests to me that something is being stirred up by the water flow. What kind of substrate do you have? > I dare not put my remaining fish into this water, so they are > still living in a covered bucket with a heater and airstone... If it's only a few fish in a big bucket, you should be OK. I wouldn't feed them. If you need to a tank temporarily, let me know. > Any advice would be gratefully received. It's hard to be more specific without seeing your tank and set-up. There is at least one other fishkeeper in Woodville, he may be able to help you. Look for Michael Killick in the phone book, tell him I (Andrew Broome in Palmerston North) sent you. It'd be easier for him to come and have a look. Of course, being Xmas he may be away, or busy... Feel free to contact me at home, [email protected] Andrew.

Pete said... > Does anyone have any practical experience of breeding these fish? As far as I know, they've never been imported into NZ. G. incisus has and is not generally considered hard to breed, I did it myself several times several years ago. I'd use a long shallow tank (say 3ft or bigger with 10 or 12 inches of water). Put in a *lot* of spawning moss and use plenty of airation. Leave the fish (2 males, 3 or more females perhaps) in the tank for a week, remove them and wait. Fry should appear in another week or 10 days... Fry will (I expect) be small and slow growing. Andrew.

Kellz said... > A good shop I have found in WGTN well not wgtn is one > is in lower hutt.. by the famous red burger shop, kinda > in a street behind it... it is WELL stocked and competive > prices... Sounds like The Hutt Pet Center (I think) in Pretoria Street which is kinda behind the McDs... I haven't been there recently, it used to be very good (15 years or so ago) but the last few times I went there I thought the fish side of things had slipped in favour of the 'cute furries'. The trick with shops is to find one you like and *support* it. That means telling people that you shop there and why, buying all your stuff there even if they're a few cents more expensive than the chain shop down the road and even perhaps selling them your excess stock in preference to using TRADEME or the classifieds in your local newspaper. JMHO, of course. Andrew (not @ndrew)

Hi, I wouldn't be suprised if it was a large frog or, more likely IMHO, a snakeneck turtle (tortoise). Both are relatively common and prone to appearing in ponds etc. Both will hide very effectively in any mud at the bottom of a drained pond... Andrew.

Richard said... > ... why they act funny like that? Bear in mind that 'silver sharks' are really just big barbs. Kind of like an oversized tiger barb in behaviour. As such, they like to be in groups. Generally this is impractical in the home aquarium (except for the biggest tanks) since they're quite a big fish. If only two are kept, there tends to be dominance behaviour shown, especially if one is bigger than the other... I always find it odd that everyone knows tinfoil barbs get big and as such avoid them unless they can provide the space but a lot of people try and keep silver sharks in their community tanks. Having said that, they're gorgeous fish and I've been guilty of keeping one in a 4 ft community in the past too Andrew.

Pegasus, Your breeding trap looks to be more like 4L in volume rather than 2... Andrew.

Caryl said... > On sunny days they are thickly huddled together in the sunny bits... It's called 'positive phototropism' (which translates as 'moving towards the light'). Since daphnia swim towards a light source, they tend to concentrate in parts of the culture container that are better lit. John1 said... > ... go out to the supermarket and spend a fortune on moquito > repellants. I don't. If the mozzies can sneak a feed off me then they're welcome to it. Of course, we don't really have much in the way of disease carrying mosquitoes here. Which is just as well since one of the local hobbyists had (has?) Malaria a few years back. Andrew.

Warren said... > I'll still have all the Killies! Cool. Can give you some different species if you want to try something new...? Andrew.

Ira said... > Why can't they be used on freshwater tanks? They are sometimes used as a way of adding ozone to tank but in general, as has been said, PSs are generally much more efficient on saltwater tanks. If you've got enough crud in your freshwater tank that the PS is doing much, then you'd be much better off doing lots of water changes. I have seen a PS used to remove brown staining from a tank that had too much badly prepared driftwood in it. It kind of worked, eventually, but pre-soaking the wood would've been a much better way... Andrew.

Interfecus said... > In about 6 months or so I might well start breeding killies though. Well, get in touch with me when you're ready to start and I'm sure we can work something out. Andrew.

Folks, Just a data point. I *never* find mosquito larvae in green water. Always in clear(ish) old water with some organic content (dead leaves etc). Usually I get the best results from partially shaded (ie under trees) containers. Andrew, with plenty of mossie larvae at the moment.

Interfecus said... > Please tell me if you believe these to be wasted on a > beginner in fish breeding. No, not wasted. It's just that, as I said, these are very rare in NZ and I was hoping to send them to someone with a little more experience. Someone in Chch who is a member of the NZKA has agreed to take them. I think it's more practical, for the good of the fish, that he get them. However, mine are always breeding and I'd be happy to start saving some eggs for you, probably ready after Xmas. Or alternatively, if you ever come to Palmerston North (we have the best fish shop in this part of the country) then I'd be happy to give you some young fish to have a go with. Another option is that I want to go to Wellington at some stage soon (got to bother a bunch of people, fishy and otherwise) so maybe I could drop some off? Or, you could contact Stuart Lord in Silverstream, I'm sure he'd be happy to sell you a couple of good easy fish to start off with. He doesn't have e-mail but you can look him up in the phone book and tell him I sent you. Sorry that I couldn't help you out right now, but if you're still keen to have a go with killies then I'm sure we can get you some fish or eggs pretty easily over the next few weeks. Thanks, Andrew.

Warren, > If the place thats looking at buying it at the moment > comes thru, it will be going to a very good home. If it doesn't work out, try talking to Daniel Giles of the PNAS club. Since his 10 footer broke he's been in the market for another big tank and *really* liked yours I suspect he wouldn't be as keen to pay big dollars as your first option though Keep me in mind for any killies (or other fish for that matter) you may want to get rid of, if you cut down your fishroom. Mine still isn't built but I hope to attack it Real Soon Now. Andrew.

Interfecus said... > The eggs of the albinos. Sorry, I thought you'd only been keeping fish a couple of months. You have: a) a spare tank, filters etc? b) brineshrimp hatching? c) experience raising good quality fry? and plan on breeding these in the long term with all that entails? These are *not* guppies that can be replaced at the local shop, you'd only be the 2nd person in NZ to have them currently (I'm the other one) and there is next to no chance of them being imported again (the species has been in NZ for 12 years with no new imports). If something was to happen to mine, I'd want to be fairly sure I could get some back from you in the future... Andrew.