ajbroome

dan_from_nz wrote... > will try drop it off to leanne if she is working tomorrow Feel free to get in touch with me tomorrow after 5:00 (details are on the newsletter you received). You can come around here and drop off your subscription and I'll give you a bit of paper to say you're a member. If you get stuck when you hit the show, ask for Warren Stillwell and tell him you're a new PNAS member and I (Andrew Broome) said to ask for him. He should be expecting to hear from you. Let me know if you're staying for the dinner/auction... Andrew.

dan_from_nz said... > I am still waiting on a letter from the p north club secretary > to arrange joining a club and entering the show... Bear in mind, you only talked to Leanne on Saturday. She dropped your details off to me on Saturday afternoon, I posted you the guff on Sunday morning. It's now Thursday... Andrew, PNAS Secretary and general dogsbody.

Rob said... > ... Simpsonichthys constanciae (the one simpsonichthys I've > seen in NZ) ... S. bokermanni has been here, but otherwise you covered it pretty well. Lots of things, especially the previous Cynolebias have been split up into various other genera and that hasn't been reflected in the 'allowed' list. These names are always under review, which is one problem with a list of that nature. It happens with the genus earlier know as Cichlasoma too. Andrew.

Fins said... > Can some killifish expert tell me what all the abbreviations > killish have mean? eg ETB 96-27 (F1), (F0) ,DNA-01 ,GBN and > all the others are. > I want to get into killiefish more and would like to understand what > these mean. Most of the above are to do with the collection/location info. Killi-keepers tend to be rather concerned with when and where their fish specifically came from and (to some degree) how many generations away from wild caught they are. For example... > ETB 96-27 I could probably find the specific info (my books only go up 1995) but the general format is that the ETB is an abbreviation of the collectors names or in the case of the various TAN collections would be short for Tanzania. The 96 bit refers to 1996 and the 27 refers to the 27th spot the people on that trip went fishing. > (F1), (F0) F0 are wild caught fish, F1 are the next generation and so on... > DNA-01 The first site on the 'DNA' collection in (I beleive) West Africa. > GBN From the 1988 trip to (G)abon by Friedrich (B)itter & Roland (N)umrich. There is a book (in several versions) by Roger Langton that lists all the collections and what fish were found where. Andrew.

Mitch said... > ... last time I looked Taranaki is hosting conference 2005. Well, either way, if I'm in NZ I fully plan on being at the conference. Andrew.

Jamin said... > ... they have skin peeling off that is cloging up my filter. What > are your suggestions? This is pretty normal. You need to do lots of water changes when you're keeping turtles, IMHO. Filters media should be coarse and cleaned regularly (depending on the size of the tank and the number of animals). > How long will a reptile tubular light last before it needs replacing? I'd change it at least once a year, ideally once every 6 months. They're not cheap but turtles aren't cheap pets. > Would a more powerful hotter light help to dry them out? They have a place they can be warm and out of the water? It's good for turtles to be able to dry out, as long as they're not chilled. > Do they sleep underwater or do they have to breathe? They can survive underwater for some time when at a low metabolic rate. They do need to breathe eventually though and will drown if denied access to air. Andrew.

Bilbo said... > Has anyone done pH tests on newly collected rain water? pH tests on pure rainwater are pretty much meaningless. Due to the fact that pure water has no buffering capacity, it'll shift pH at the drop of a hat - either up or down. Soft water fish tanks tend to be acidic (and can get down to very low pH very quickly) but are not necessarily best for the fish. Discus and many dwarf cichlids appreciate slightly acid water that isn't too hard but I would not use pure rainwater. Maybe a 50:50 mix with typical town water would be a good place to start. A little peat in the filter will tend to keep the pH down and may also help reduce the hardness. In most cases, good water quality is often more important that specific chemical attributes to most of the fish we keep. Andrew.

Shar said... > Does anyone know if there is a club in Wanganui? If you're ever in Palmerston North, you're more than welcome to come visit me and you could even join/tag along to any PNAS events. Andrew.

Northland chic said... > ... how big do they get? I got mine with a body about the size of a 5 cent piece or a little bigger (ie, just hatched) about 10 years ago I guess. The biggest is a good seven inches now and has been laying eggs. They're a great pet turtle, I'd like to move mine into the house so I could keep a better eye on them. I've had (and bred) RETs and much prefer the snakenecks to have around. Andrew.

Folks, I haven't been visiting this site for a few months now (life got in the way) but I'm hoping to spend more time here again from now on. Good luck to all those people heading to Fiji, I look forward to seeing photos and hearing stories once it's all over. I plan on being at the next conference, where-ever it may be. Andrew.

Fins said... > have recently got a few of these fis but I will need some instructions > on how to breed these fish and how to raise the fry , Congratulations on getting what are a pretty rare fish in NZ these days. I used to breed decent quantities of both species but have neither now. I'd love to get them back into my fishroom again. > So if any of you could help it will be greatly appriciated. Contact me if you're interested in how I used to breed them, reasonably successfully. I'd say there's a good chance these fish originated (several generations ago) in my tanks... > Another thing does anyone know where I can get aquarium > quality peat bulk around the tauranga area? Hauraki peat works and is usually available from garden shops. I actually prefer a South Island brand of sphagnum peat (as opposed to the sedge peat from the Waikato) available from some garden shops as "Kiwi peat'. Andrew.

Alan said... > ... you will see that I was not telling him his spelling was wrong. In the first message... > ... goramy is the correct way to spell this name. Looks like a spelling correction to me. > If you think that is ranting... I was more referring to the implied tone of... > Do some research and you might learn something and > Start reading. Seemed pretty rude and un-called for to me. > I'd love to see you in a flame session. No, you wouldn't ;-) Andrew.

Alan said... > Do some research and you might learn something ... OK, everyone get out their 'Exotic Tropical Fishes' (I've only got the 4th Revised and Expanded Edition (1986) handy right now). Check the index. You *do* have a copy right? You'll see TWO fish with the common name 'Giant Gourami' and none known as a 'Giant Gouramy' (on page 1271). All the other books I've got quick access to, and I do have one or two books, use 'gourami'. Admittedly, most of my books are of US origin. I've only seen the 'gourami' spelling in LFSs in NZ (can't say I've paid attention while in overseas shops). GOOGLE lists 300 odd pages for 'giant gouramy' and 10 times that for 'giant gourami'. I might consider using 'gouramy' for Os. gouramy but why have 'giant' since there is no other fish with that name? This group of anabantids are know as various kinds of 'gourami' of which Os. gouramy is the largest and therefore more deserving of the term 'giant' than any Colisa species. To make things interesting, the 'dwarf gourami' is not the smallest either but that's a whole different discussion... I agree that LoGaN used some creative spelling but ranting at someone about what was probably a simple typo is hardly helpful. Especially when not actually answering the initial question in any useful way. Doubly especially when very few of use are above making the odd spelling and/or grammatical error. So as not to fall into the same category, I would suggest that, IMHO, there is no practical humane minimum tank size for this fish available to the average hobbyist. I don't think they should be considered aquarium fish. And they're ugly ;-) Andrew.

Alan said... > ... goramy is the correct way to spell this name. Says who? The real name is Osphronemus goramy but the common name is generally 'Giant gourami'. Not one of my favourite fish but they've been in the hobby since the late 1890s... Andrew.

Interfecus, I *try* and do a 25% change on all my tanks weekly. I used to be very good at this but have slackened off lately so it's more like 25% per fortnight (half the tanks each week). I *need* to get back to the weekly thing. Andrew.

andyman98 said... > ... i'm heading up about the 9th of april If you organise paying Rob for them and can pick them up from me then I'm sure my friends won't mind acting as couriers. > ... if i came up.... I don't like the sound of the 'if'... > ... would i be able to look at your fish ... Of course. People are welcome anytime, given a bit of advance warning so I can be sure I'm home and not frantically busy with something else. > ... do you have any fish that you would sell. Might be able to find you some Fundulopanchax gardneri, Aphyosemion scheeli, Angels or perhaps some WCMMs and/or Leopard fish depending on how things are going at the time. Andrew.

Rob said... > ... putting some aside for you shouldn't be a problem Excellent. If you can hang onto 6, I'll get Len or Richard to pick them up at a time that is convenient to all (closer the end of the month, they're supposed to be heading down here on the 2nd I think). You want money now or upon collection? > ... there are probably other things that you'd be interested in I'm sure you're right. > ... but nothing that I'm prepared to part with. Which is, of course, what I meant. Andrew.

Rob said... > Yes I'm prepared to sell some whiptails ... Probably look at > $10 each or 2 for $15 ... I'd be keen for 6 at that price. Dr. Lenny and family (and Richard et al) are supposed to be coming to see me in 4 weeks or so (you should come too!) could you put some aside and send them down? Happy to send you a cheque beforehand. Anything else I might want? We could probably work something out for Andyman98 too if he only needed to get them as far as here. Andrew.

andyman98 said... > ... what i could have in a tank that will have bristle noses > breeding in it ... Many of the non-annual killies would probably be OK as would some of the smaller rainbows (Popondetta, Psuedomugil and Iratherina for example). No guarantees of course but at least with the killies I wouldn't be suprised to see baby ancistrus and killie fry in a well planted tank... Andrew.

hevalump, Just about everyone I know who bought a pair of Dwarf Gouramis has lost one or the other within a day or two of purchase. Once they've settled in they seem pretty hardy. Andrew.

andyman98 said... > ... could some one post a picture of their hoplo catfish ... Go to the 'critters' page at http://www.oxalis.50megs.com and look at the 'Hoplo Catfish' link for mine. Andrew.

Matthew said... > ... at that time the temp was such that the fish could be > kept in the outdoor pond... Cold air above a pond at night could do a gourami some serious mischief... Andrew.

Pies said... > ... Does anyone have or know of a contact in MAF I could talk > to on the subject? You could try [email protected] but I've never had much luck... Someone at ERMA (http://www.ermanz.govt.nz/) may be worth talking to as well. I'd probably set up an HOTMAIL or equivalent e-mail address or ring them... Who, me paranoid? Andrew.

Caryl said... > ... might not get it in here until Tuesday... TUESDAY!!!??? You can do better. Who needs sleep? Sorry we couldn't make it. Caryl, your Oxalis will be in the mail next week (sending a bunch of stuff off around the world). We're committed to going to the Wairarapa thing in March. Andrew. Andrew.

Chris.L said... > Andrew, how easy are they? I found them about as difficult as any other bubblenest breeder (Bettas, Gouramis etc). Probably easier. The trick is to put a bit of polystyrene into the tank. The males seems to think this is a pre-made bubble nest and will just add a few bubbles around the edge and convince the female to spawn onto it. The polystyrene can then be yoicked from the tank and floated in another tank with an airstone. The fry are not too difficult to raise. You can get 100-200 from a spawning if you're not careful... Andrew.