ajbroome

Ira said... > ... Shoulda stayed in the US doing desktop support...That was a > great job... I'm sure someone would hire you as a table leg here, can't imagine it paying very well though... ;-) Andrew.

Mitch said... > ... but could influence how many dollars I bring. That's easy. "All of them" You bringing anything for the auction? What about other Taranaki members (this could be done on a club level, for those who don't use the Fishroom)... Andrew.

Folks, I was thinking, why not start a thread listing the sorts of things we plan on taking to the Labour Weekend auction in Napier? This may generate some interest from those undecided about going as well as provide some incentive for people to bring other stuff along (as well as avoiding have 37 bags of convicts etc)... Sadly, I haven't got that much to bring at the moment: A couple of young pairs of Epiplatys dageti and maybe a pair of Chromaphyosemion bitaeniatum. My other killies are starting to breed but wont be ready for the end of the month. Anyway, just a thought... Andrew.

Joey said... > With it being Spring, I am about to start preparing 2 or 3 > largish tubs for outdoor use with my livebearers. This is my > first attempt at it, and am hoping it works. I did a bit of this in the past and it can work well. Many of the common livebearers do well (guppies, platys (especially variatus types), leopardfish and swordtails - NOT mollys). There are a bunch of other fish that can be kept outside during the warmer weather too. Have a look at: http://www.aquaria.net/art/finart/cool.html for some suggestions from someone in Napier. The trick, I reckon, is to use big containers with plants. Remember to feed them and water changes are still appreciated. In general, outdoor kept fish have excellent colours. Andrew.

Ira said... > I'm pretty sure I was told it was a madagascar rainbow. Well, the link you included is of one of the Australian rainbows so it's likely to be a Melanotaenia species of some sort, there are various ones around some of which also occur in New Guinea. Most of the Australian types like even harder water than the Madagascar ones... Have a look at: http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/ Specifically: http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Hardness.htm Andrew.

Goldie said... > What do you do for the fish and your fishy set ups at this > time of year??? I don't do anything special, just because it's spring. Those who keep goldfish and/or other coldwater species may find spawning activity taking place but generally tropical fishkeepers shouldn't notice too much difference as the heating and lighting are generally controlled by the aquarist. Andrew.

Ira said... > I've got 3 Madagascar Rainbows(At least I think that's what > they are) that I got with my latest tank. Does it look anything like this (bad) photo? http://www.aquarioland2000.hpg.ig.com.b ... edotia.jpg or this? http://www.atlantafishfarm.nl/fotos/vis ... _geayi.jpg The second one is more yellow than the ones we typically see, which have more red. >.... it's maybe due to conditions being wrong for the fish? > The water is pretty soft, PH a little bit below 6... Madagascar rainbows (Bedotia geayi is the only one you'll see in the hobby in NZ although there are other Bedotia species, a couple I saw in the fishroom of Rosario LaCorte in New Jersey...) is not considered a fish for soft acid water. They also appreciate a bit of salt in their water apparently although I never did this when I was keeping them 10 or so years ago. There are good articles at: http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/bre ... inbow.html and http://nonprofits.accesscomm.ca/ras/ari ... fish01.htm They're not often imported and are well worth keeping and breeding, IMHO. I'd have them again... Andrew.

Hi, People interested in controlling algae may find the following site of interest. http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... onlin.html Andrew.

Rob said... > ... Often ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) is recommended as a > source of ammonium for fishless cycling. I could probably dig some up if anyone wanted to try it. I'm not responsible for what happens to your fish after you put them in a tank cycled this way though... Andrew.

Kellz said... > ... the water has gone almost cloudy now.. This may mean the algae is dying back. Watch it carefully, that amount of dead material may cause problems with your filtration. Be prepared to do some water changes... Andrew.

Kellz said... > In one of my tanks I have a case of subborn pea soup water.. > other 2 are crystal clear...... I had the same problem once, out of a bank of 6 tanks, one was always bright green. All were under the same light and had similar bio-loads. Very annoying. While it doesn't look all that attractive, it does no harm to the fish usually so it's important to remember not to do anything drastic that may cause more good than harm... > Suspended free floating alage ACK Makes good daphnia food though... > I have tried to address main causes... That's the best approach. All things being equal, algae requires light and nutrients in order to thrive. Work out which one is the limiting factor in your case and the algae will generally go away... > There is no direct light.... light is on a timer for 8 > hours a day... How much light in what sized tank? How many fish? Your duration of light doesn't seem to be the problem, IMHO > Nitrites were a problem... last month This may be a hint. What sort of filtration are you using? How long has the tank been set up? > I have been doing 10-20% water changes every 2-3rd > day which I'm don't happy doing.... Not happy, why? The fish wont mind and it'll dilute out any excess nutrient unless it's coming in via your water... > ... do I need to use more drastic measures? I wouldn't panic just yet. Tell us a bit more and we'll see what we can do. Andrew.

Kellz said... > It can get a rather expensive hobby ... It's true, it can. It doesn't have to be though, once the initial outlay is done. Try joining one of the local clubs (there are a couple in the Wellington area, FNZAS and otherwise). These can be a good source of cheap fish and equipment as well as excellent advice and the chance to talk fish without people looking at you too strangely. Welcome aboard, Andrew.

Pegasus said... > ... please explain ?? Note the smiley after the statement. It's just that every time anyone I've known has bought a pair of dwarf gouramis (especially the 'fancy' ones, has anyone seen the 'wild type' lately??) either the male or the female has keeled over a day or two later. This can be annoying when shops only sell them as pairs. I'm sure it's *technically* possible to keep a pair alive... ;-) Personally, I'd rather go with pearl gouramis anyway. A nice one (especially a male in breeding colours) is very impressive. Honey gouramis are cute too... Andrew.

Koiboy said... The following are just my comments, don't base your final decision on what I'm saying but it may be worth considering... > - Redtailed black shark or Siamese algae eater I'd go with the shark, they can be agressive but are worth the effort of providing hiding places. If I was getting SAEs I'd get several, they do make good fish for eating algae (duh) > - A pair of dwarf gouramis One will die about two days after you buy it. They always do :-) - A pair of thick lipped gouramis Nice peaceful fish, not as colourful as the dwarfs. - Group of Cardinal tetras or neons Cardinals are generally 2 or 3 times the price of neons but are bigger (less risk of being eaten) and more colourful. For a given amount of money you can get more neons though... - Glowlight tetras Nice little fish, may be considered food by a large angel... - Group of Zebra Danios I avoid the long finned ones. - Some sort of Barb - type unknown - Tiger Barbs Barbs can be a bit nippy, especially on fish with long trailing fins such as angels, guppies and gouramis... > - White cloud mountain fish These generally do better in cooler water, in my experience. > - Guppies (i have a soft spot for them) They *will* cause you to buy more tanks... be warned :-) > - Silver Mollies Seem to do better with a little salt in the water, or at least in harder water areas. > - 1 or 2 leopard Corydoras 4 - 6 would be a better number, IMHO. They like to be in groups. > - Some sort of swordtail Good red ones make nice display fish. > ... because I would like a small shoal of tetras to liven the > tank up a bit, but think that if i wanted to add an Angelfish > at a later Date (which I probably will), then he will eat the > smaller fish. It's likely that a big angel will at least attempt to eat small tetras and guppy fry. > Is it best to buy the plants at the same time as the fish or > before or after? I would say, 'before'. That'll give them some time to settle in before the fish arrive. I'd also start off with just a few of the hardier fish, say, the guppies. Give them a week or two to make sure everything is OK with the tank and the start adding more fish, a species at a time, over weekly (or more) intervals. This gives the filter time to cope... Just my thoughts, Andrew.

Caryl said... > Oh to be able to fit tanks in the garage. It's times like these that I'm glad I keep killies. I'll easily be able to fit 50 + tanks in my garage as well as a car (which I don't have, so don't have to worry about) and a couple of motorcycles (which I do have :-) ) I'll probably have a couple of 4ft tanks in there but the rest will be much smaller... Currently, with no actual fishroom, there are about 20 tanks scattered about the garage, from 12 x 8 x 8 inches up to 20 x 12 x 12 and one 4ft. There's also 20 or 30 empty tanks and another 25 stashed in the woodshed... Welcome aboard, Anita. Andrew.

Warren said... > ...What's wrong with Mac'ers its great junk food. The real question is, "What's *not* wrong with Mac'ers?" http://pleasekm.tripod.com/00210.htm > It would probably work really well as substrate fertiliser too. Nah... there's no bio-available nutrients. Better to use the packaging, it's got no dietary value either but at least the decor will reflect the actual natural habitat of many fish these days... Andrew, kidding, mostly...

Fee said... > ... as some of the fish can be relativly expensive (5 Barred > Lamprologus' for example) I would rather not take the chance... I thought pretty much all of the Lamprologines were mostly carnivorous though? My comments were directed at Malawi cichlids such as Psuedotropheus, Melanochromis, Labeotropheus and so forth. Those fish that were known as Mbuna. There are many defintely predatory fish in both lakes (both on invertebrates and other fish) such as Aulonocara in Malawi and various Lamprologus spp in Tanganyika and I would expect them to appreciate a diet much higher in animal protein. One day I'd like to get some Tanganyikan fish other than the (Neo)Lamprologus brichardi and Julidochromis marlieri that we seem to be limited to. I have seen the odd specimen of other species but they've been priced out of my league and only available in ones and twos at a time. Lamp. lelupi used to be relatively common but I haven't seen them for ages... What I'd really like is some shell dwellers and some Cyprichromis to have a go with... Anyway, once again, just my thoughts... Andrew.

Ira said... > How do you breed the dageti? There are several ways of reproducing Epiplatys dageti. > I don't have the room at the moment to seperate a pair out, > but couldn't hurt to try and set the tank up so they can get to > work in there. They're pretty much alone except for a bristlenose > and 2 cories. In a well planted tank with plenty of surface cover it's not unlikely that fry will appear over time. If you want to raise more than one or two fry then it'd be best to remove the adults (and ideally the other fish). To maxiimise fry production, a bare tank containing two females and a male and spawning mop from which eggs are picked is best. Eggs can be water incubated and take about 14 days. Fry are quite small and do best with small live food such as brine shrimp nauplii or perhaps microworms. > And how do you tell the sexes? The females are less colorful, > right? Males have much more colour, especially in the fins and under the chin. Let me know if you want more specifics. Andrew.

Pegasus said... > ... here is an easy clean cheap method of making spawning > mops that can be used for several species. I use the tried and true killifish method of using acrylic 'wool', wrapping it many (20 or 30 or more) times around a book and then slicing through the threads at one end of the book. The lengths of wool is then tied at the other end with a short piece of wool. If a sinking mop is required then it's just fired into the tank, if a floating mop is to be used then one of the ends of the short 'tie off' piece of wool can be clamped in a 35mm film canister. I use dark coloured wool, usually blue. There are some variations on the theme here: http://ark.killi.net/yarn.htm http://www.petfish.net/mop.htm http://www.djramsey.com/tropfish/spawning_mops.htm Andrew.

Pegasus said... > ... just have a think about the bottled water industry that was > once worth many millions, but is now worth thousands of > BILLIONS. The fast food industry is worth a dollar or two as well but I think I'll stick with stuff I cook myself, ingredients bought from the supermarket, rather than McDonalds... I've always said you can't help but make money if you can convince people to pay for water or air... :-) Andrew.

Ira said... > I'm using rainwater because my house is supplied by rainwater. > So, don't really have the option. That's fair enough then. > If I wasn't trying to grow plants then the rainwater would be fine. I tend to disagree, but that's OK. > Unfortunately the plants seem to need some kind of added > fertilizer to grow. Well, rainwater by definition is very low in nutrients which is why I use it for my carnivorous plants. Anyway, go with what works for you. As far as I can see, as long as you use un-modified rainwater you're going to have 'issues' with regard to pH swings regardless of if you're keeping fish or plants or combinations there-of. Andrew.

Ira said... > I was there the weekend before last. Didn't notice them there... > Easy to miss something though. I get the impression they hadn't been available for long and may've ony been in the shop for a couple of days. They were in with some small discus on the left hand (ie counter) side of the shop, in the top row about halfway down the rack. > I'd have bought a few though to go with my red chin panchax. Well, I plan to have a go at breeding them, once I get some more mops organised. I've got about 30 young Epiplatys dageti at the moment, at least a couple of pairs of which I hope to take up to Napier for the auction... Hatched out some Simpsonichthys constanciae last night too... Andrew.

Ira said... > What I've read is that it's more that they can't handle a > lot of high protein food. I guess it kinda constipates them > then they get bloat. I guess they need a lot more fiber, like > old people. My understanding of this is that it may be a myth, propagated because people thought Africans were algae eaters as they'd been seen grazing on algal mats in the wild. Subsequently it was found that they were actually eating small invertebrates that live in the algae, probably including bloodworms ;-) Anyway, I don't know what the current opinion is but I'm inclined to agree that the occasional feeding of good bloodworms as part of a varied diet is unlikely to cause major problems. Andrew.

Pegasus said... > ... but all the lakes and rivers are filled with the wet stuff > from the heavens Yes, even acid blackwater streams in the Amazon and alkaline rift lakes in east Africa, not to mention the sea. This has little bearing on what the water chemistry is where the fish actually live. > Treating rainwater is less problems than treating city water > which can have GK'sW in it. Obviously, I disagree. To over-generalise, for 99% of the fish that 99% of us keep, 99% of tap water is more than suitable. That which isn't is generally too hard and/or too alkaline in which case dilution with rain (or RO) water will often help. In the odd case where tap water is lacking in mineral content, filtration over shell grit or limestone can sort that out. Bear in mind that almost all the fish we get have never seen their native waters and as such are pre-adapted to life in captivity and the water chemistry this entails (a lot of the tap water is the same the world over due to health and reticulation requirements - although obviously there are exceptions). I firmly believe in not making life harder for myself than it needs to be. Andrew, as Pegagus says, JMHO. YMMV.

Rob said... > I've heard a couple of places that you shouldn't feed > bloodworms to Rift lake cichlids. > > True or false? I imagine it's true that you've heard it... ;-) > If it is true why? Supposedly bloodworms can cause intestinal bacterial infections. This may lead to the infamous 'Malawi Bloat'. While I've not kept Africans, I have heard of bad experiences with bloodworms and other fish but my suspicion is that most of the problems come from frozen bloodworms that have been defrosted and frozen again (perhaps repeatedly) before being fed to fish. Bloodworms (Chirinomid midge larvae) can come from some pretty dirty waters and so may carry quite a few nasties, the repeated freeze/thaw cycles may give these nasties time to reproduce and either build up to numbers where they can cause infection or else where their metabolites are toxic. Good quality bloodworms from a reputable source that have been kept frozen until used (possibly even sterilised before being frozen initially) are generally considered to be pretty safe for most fish. There is also the old theory that 'Mbuna' are vegetarian and a high animal protein diet is inherently bad for them. I'm not necessarily a subscriber to that story... Just my thoughts, Andrew.