ajbroome

Warren... > Thanks anyway Andrew, but I've already got another offer. While shifting stuff the other day, I re-found a book called "Artificial Light in Horticulture" by A. E Canham. It was published in 1966 but has some good info... Andrew.

Dennis said... > has any one bread neons Neons have been bred in NZ many times. People like Trevor Sartorelli in Wellington and Rodney Fletcher in Chch did it repeatedly years ago, and raised many fry. These days no-one seems to bother since they're so cheap in shops. Andrew.

Ira said... > Yeah, I do use tap water, but my house is on tank water. Ah, well, there you go then. All bets are off. You're using essentially rainwater. > I SHOULD get a hardness test kit. Yeah, you probably should. You might also want to think about concentrating on working with softwater fish... Andrew.

Ira said... > I found my electric blue dead yesterday. Bummer :-( > I THINK she might have been dead for a while because the > tank was smelling really nasty and was oily on top. Sounds like classic 'big dead fish kept warm for a couple of days' situation to me. > ...could a fish rotting in the tank drop the PH a lot Many of the products of decay are acidic and in an unbuffered environment that could drop the pH... > ... would it have been the low PH that killed her? Hard to say. Originally, fish like the 'electric blue' are from alkaline and hard conditions... > I know the low PH is bad It is for fish that require more alkaline conditions. For many other fish it would be fine. > I guess the extra change eliminated most of the buffering > capacity from the bit of crushed shells in the filter, gravel > or whatever. You're not changing it with RO or DI water are you? Regular tap water tends to be somewhat hard and alkaline out of the tap since this stops it dissolving the pipes in the reticulation system... Sorry I can't actually tell you what killed your fish :-( Andrew.

Probably should've moved this to a different forum, sorry Cees ;-) Dawn said... > From what I've read since then it seems there aren't that many > other fish you can put Barbs with without them constantly nipping > at them. > > What do the experts on here think? While not an expert, one tank I've always wanted to do is a relatively dark tank (perhaps a 3ft, back and sides painted black, dark gravel, some driftwood and Java Moss, maybe some common crypts - lit with only grolux) with standard tiger barbs (I'm not a fan of the modified' ones) and a red-tailed black shark. The shark is reported to be dangerous enough in appearance and active enough to encourage the barbs schooling behaviour and the red would *really* show up with the grolux lighting against a dark background. I did something similar once (maybe 15 years ago) with an old 2 ft metal-framed tank (frame painted white, ends and back glass painted black, dark gravel, driftwood, java moss, grolux) and housing only whitecloud mountain minnows. Once they'd been in there a while they started producing fry which, with their neon-like blue line, looked very impressive IMHO. I just rediscovered the tank above during my shift so may do something similar with it, once I've fixed the cracked glass... Andrew.

Caryl said... > Do you want to be removed from our club newsletter list > then since it is pdf? Actually, you may as well take me off the distribution list. I've been forwarding it to my work account where I at least have access to a PDF reader. Or else, you could send me a text version if one exists. Thanks, Andrew, in his new house...

Caryl said... > Does anyone know how to go about getting such papers? The US, like most countries (including NZ) is very concerned about introducing new diseases etc. It's possible some sort of 'phytosanitary' certificate was required. You can have a look at the USDA site at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ also http://www.aphis.usda.gov/travel/ for some ideas. It's a bit PDF heavy (I *hate* PDF, especially where plain text is suitable) but there is some info there. Andrew.

Warren said... > Sounds like a good book Derek. Wish I'd known about it earlier. > Is it still available? I've got a copy if you want to borrow it. Andrew.

Bruce said... > We have a ex-nurses home (Hinepare) here ... Will there be any ex-nurses? Or current ones for that matter...? ;-) Andrew.

Caryl said... > You plant cardamine but it grows roots at all the junctures of the stem. I grow this in my newt tank, both in and out of the water. It gets a bit rampant though and I have to clean it out every once and while. Eventually it climbs out of the tank and tries to make a break for it but with the judicious use of a machete and roundup I'm able to keep it mostly under control. Luckily there's a couple of doors between it and my bedroom ;-) It commonly flowers for me but they're un-inspiring little white fluffy balls. The newts like it though since they can wrap their eggs up in it. Andrew.

Cees said... > it's nice, esp chicken liver ... I don't eat liver (or kidneys) for essentially the same reason I don't eat most shellfish. Their job is to be a filter, retaining all the nasties that they can and excreting nice clean water. Then you eat them... Bleeech. ;-) Andrew.

Pegasus said... > ... the only benefits that I will gain (as far as I am aware) is the > Aquarium World, along with various newsletters that may be > available... And of course, FNZAS.ORG.NZ which while free to everyone is a FNZAS project. So you'd not actually be gaining, but the Federation would... The NZKA would be happy to take your money, as I've said before BTW: Thanks Cees for all your efforts with the site. I know it's appreciated by members and non-members alike. Andrew.

Michael said... > .... the air pump, which had siphoned water into itself through the > air line, was not happy. You can buy little 'non-return' valves to stop this or else just mount the pump higher than the water level of the tank... Not that anyone ever does... ;-) > How about circulating the water through a plant tank? Algal filter? People have done that sort of thing and it does seem to work to some degree at least. For best results I think you'd want high light levels on the plant/algae tank and fast growing species which you'd need to *remove* from the filter and chuck out (or feed to the fish) so that the dead plant material doesn't just decompose and return all the nutrients to the water. The trouble is, do you eckon you could have a big tank full of plants but with no fish... it'd be *too* tempting... ;-) Oh, and if the power goes off on something like that for an extended period you can be in even more trouble... Andrew.

Midas said... > Killifish and pitcher plants sounds cool. They are ;-) > Where would I be able to get Aphyosemion scheeli and/or > Epiplatys dageti ? I've got some very young E. dageti at the moment it you'd like to come get some. Mostly males but that's OK for a start I expect. It'll be less fish I have to deal with when I move in two weeks... Speaking of which, I'd moved some adults out of a 20 x 12 x 12 filled with Java moss a few weeks ago. As expected, a couple of fry popped up so I removed them to raise in a different tank. Then last night I looked into the tank and saw two fry, so I removed them, looked back and there were still two fry. Removed them, looked back and still two fry. So I have up. This could be some never ending fry factory. A. scheeli are like that too. I've given away my last fish on several occasions only to have enough fry pop up weeks later to start another generation... > I see on the NZKA site that they are common. That might not be the most current info. The 'status' of things in the hobby shifts rapidly here. I only know of one person at the moment who has A. scheeli and he's not even a NZKA member. There are probably others though. Andrew.

Midas said... > Any advice/tips/comments on whether this would be suitable > and good plants, fish etc? Aphyosemion scheeli and/or Epiplatys dageti in the water section and Nepenthes ventricosa as the plant... OK, so I'm biased ;-) Andrew.

Bruce said... > Just to let everyone know, Fish Display and Auction on the > Saturday of Labour Weekend is all go Woo hoo! We talked about it at last nights PNAS committee meeting and there seemed to be some enthusiasm to get behind it where we could. I'm sure a few of us will be attending at the very least. > Does anyone know where the container of tanks etc the FNZAS > had a while back is ... I've asked that question several times and never got a useful answer... > Somebody mentioned Jan Payne so will start looking there I don't expect she has it, but she *may* have an idea on where to start looking. I think the tanks PNAS used when we put on a show back in the mid 90s are stored at Virginea Steads, in Levin. As far as I've been able to find out, the 'container of tanks' is 'up north' somewhere... > A letter will go out to all clubs over the next couple of weeks > outlining the weekend Excellent. We look forward to seeing it. > Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions or > require more information While I'm not actually in a position to offer it, I suspect you could use the NZKA stand and tanks if required. We've lent it out to clubs (ie Waikato) in the past for a small fee and the guarantee that anything that gets broken is replaced. Currently it's in Hamilton I think. You'd need to talk to Stuart Lord in Upper Hutt. Waikato club also has some tanks and stands for show purposes I understand. Good luck, Andrew.

Ira wrote... > The active ingredient in dog and cat worming tablets is the same > as in medicines to treat fish with worms. This is true, in some cases at least. I know of at least one recent treatment of cammalanus worms using a commonly available pet drug, made up by a vet. You can read a POST made by Len Trigg of Hamilton to the BUZAQQ list (a list for the Maltese Aquarium Society --- don't ask ). See: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/message/37 For the record, a friend of mine who went fish collecting in West Africa, dosed himself with DRONTAL (a pet anti-parasite drug) when he'd be infected with some nasties in the middle of nowhere... However, I don't beleive Iras problem with his Ancistrus is worm related. Pleco type fish need a lot of fibre to keep things moving through their digestive tract. I suspect there has been some upset with the fish in question hanging in a net and/or in a container for a few days such that it's flushing it's system. I expect that once back in a healthy tank, with some driftwood to chew on that things will right themselves on that front at least. Normally I'm loathe to make diagnoses when I can't see the problem for myself but at least I don't feel the need to berate people who are making what seems to be an honest attempt to do well by their fish, and learning as they go... Andrew.

Caryl said... > The address is correct but he is not good at replying to emails. And his wife is probably still recovering from her accident so he's probably still rather busy. Having said that, those of us who use e-mail a lot know the importance of prompt replies, especially when people are volunteering to do stuff... Andrew.

Cees said... >... looks like we've got a Guppy society in the making. > Give me a few weeks and I'll have a website setup (Peter, > will contact you about that) with registration page. While I'm not overly interested in guppies, especially not line bred ones (they do make good turtle food though so I'm happy to take culls off anyones hands ), if I can be of any use based on my experience with the NZKA then feel free to ask. Andrew.

Cees said... > Kelly where are you, no internet access down South ?? Kelly is definitely still online, I've heard from him a couple of times since he shifted. He is, however, in the process of shifting into his new house at the moment and so may be too busy to check in here. I wasn't under the impression that he spent a lot of time here anyway but maybe that'll change once he gets settled in. Andrew.

Cees said... >... LC Large Breeder Box, coarse mesh 6" x 5 1/4" x 5" From the looks of the pic these might also be a good way of spawning small egg scattering fish such as danios or WCMMs... Just a thought. Andrew.

While we're talking about rainbows... Some of the Australian ones are quite tolerant of cooler temperatures. I used to have several M. splendida in an outside 4 x 2 x 2 foot tank back in the late 80s. They survived out there all summer and the top of the tank was often thick with fry. I'd be interested in trying that again at some stage. I expect the New Guinea species to be less keen on cooler water though. Andrew.

Benny said, that Eric said... > ... scientific name is cichlasoma fenistartium. I'm not saying they *are* V ©. synspilus(m), just that they were being called that when they first came in. At least I was right about WP making up the common name... Andrew.

Benny said... > so you have seen an electric sausage ay? Yes, yes I have... Are we still talking about fish here? ;-) Andrew.

Bruce said... > Any suggestions how how to get my Glossolepis incisis > (Red Rainbows) to spawn... I bred them back in the early '90s, when they were relatively new to the country. Mel. lacustris too. I had them in a 30 x 15 x 15 inch bare tank with numerous mops and some spawning moss. The eggs are small and the never seemed to lay many at any one time. I basically just left them in the tank for a few days, did a water change, left them a couple more days and then moved the adults to another tank. The fry appeared a week or so later. I never got that many (maybe 20 or 30) but it was enough to replace the adults and to have a few spares. I always had problems moving the adults (one or more would usually die whenever I shifted them, they'd just go rigid and fall to the bottom of the tank almost as if frightened to death..). The fry require small food and are slow growing. The ones I've seen lately are not as brightly coloured as the ones we used to see, IMHO. I reckon people haven't been breeding from the best coloured males... Andrew.