DutchKiwiCowboy2

The energy saver light bulbs don't get that hot. Anyone with a little callus on their hands could easily hold onto them. :-?

When I put a piece of bamboo into my tank straight it grew some kind of gunk and made a big mess, I ended up stripping the tank. I would boil it to be sure, and maybe sand or scrub out any of that spongy stuff on the inside. Good luck.

Just to add a bit more to think about..... Some things that might influence stocking levels are: 1. how well planted your tank is, 2. what kind of filtration system you have, 3. surface movement for oxygenation. Ivé never really been a fan of the taller tank types, but thats just a personal thing, something about them just bugs me for no real reason.

If I were to compare them to other fish from the same region (i.e. Amazon) I would put them in fairly acidic water. About pH 6.0-6.5 . Temperatures fluctuate in the natural environment but a good range would probably be about +/-26 degrees C. Fish will addapt to most conditions within a reasonable range of that but it is when you want them to breed that conditions have to be more favourable for them. Think about it. Amazon fish generally rely on the monsoon period for the young to survive. If they spawn too late the fry would have to survive during the dry season with less food in turn making them an easier meal for others because there is less water to hide in. The monsoon would lower the temperature of the water by a few degrees, hence the reason why some fish will spawn after a water change. There are many more of these types of situations that can affect the way you keep your fish, it just depends to what lengths you want to go to.

Unfortunately it is something that a lot of impulse breeders do not consider. My wife is a cat breeder, and another breeder in her club has bred munchkins, long bodied cats with short legs. The reason there is nothing like them in the wild is because they wouldn't have been strong enough to suvive. :oops: (Sorry to go on about the whiskered ones but I learned a lot about breeding through my wife and her club)

My BNs were surviving for a number of weeks and then turning belly up. They all seemed to get a fat belly and I ended up suspecting constapation. When I was given a fully grown male I also got a piece of drift wood, he's still with me. Have you tried a different type of wood? maybe they don't like the type you have at the moment. They use it for fibre so maybe yours isn't very tasty? Also try zuchiny and cucumber.

I have my airstone on the bottem right of my tank, this forces the water from my hang on filter to the left and the water goes in an anti-clockwise direction. I wanted to see if this changed if the airstone was at the opposite end, and guess what? it went clockwise. I ended up putting it back though because it allowed the intake to work better.

How are your water peramiters? Fish that have bright colourings are usually sensitive to the water they are in. They are brightest when they are happy, so it is a good indicator for your water. I have my Gold Rams in with Marbled Hatchets and Harlequins. They all prefer acidic water in the region of pH 5.5-6.5 . Have you got them in a community tank? Check what the others like before you start to change anything if you do. My other tank has Tiger Barbs and I seperated them because they prefer pH 6.5-7.0 .

I cant say that my Tiger Barbs change their behaviour when light levels are different, however they do seem to wait untill midday(ish) when I have a couple in the breeding tank. I only feed mine in the evenings though just before lights out.

I try to be a purist when it comes to breeding. Mixing breeds, or even breeding with ones that have an abnormality can lead to creating problems with the breed. Look at persian cats, they have problems with their tear ducts because people wanted a snub nose. Now the breed gets all sorts of synus and eye infections. The first few generations might actually look good and be healthy but who knows what it will lead to in the future.

I've got Gold Rams and was wondering how old your bleus were? I hope mine will spawn soon but think they are still on the young side.

I have my breeding tanks set up in an east facing room since a lot of fish are triggered by early morning sunlight. and the ones that prefer a midday party still get plenty of light. :bounce:

Depends on the types of fish you have. However most community tanks would be kept around 24-26 degrees C. Most fish will addapt reasonably well to temperatures between 20- 28 degrees but it might affect things like breeding. In the wild river temps are never constant but the main thing is to prevent sudden changes which can cause stress leading to outbreaks of disease. It sounds like your heater has decided to go out with a bang and it's a good thing you noticed. Heaters can last from anywhere between the day you buy it up to years before they decide to quit. Do you turn it off when you are doing water changes? That could cause it to burn out if you don't.

Hi again, Just want to warn everybody that the translated German is not correct. The part about blood alcohol actually should refer to daily requirements of vitamins, like what it says on the back of orange juice RDI %age vitamin C. that sort of thing. Do not pay too much attention to this unless you speak fluent German!!!!!!

What about using some water from a cycled tank? would that help? I am still fairly new at this and this was one of the things I was wondering about in case I ever end up in this situation

I have just read in one of my books that things like liver and ox heart should be fed sparingly as "fish can quickly become overweight on such a rich diet". This would support the previous arguments by the looks.

I had switched off my breeding tank when I thought I had failed with my tiger barb eggs. 4 weeks later when cleaning it I found 10 mm fry. Anything is possible.

As a painter I would recommend that you put on 4 coats of oil based paint. The first should be a very thinned down primer. This allows it to really soak into the MDF, then recoat it with normal primer. Next you can put on two coats of your chosen colour. Remember to leave at least 16 hours drying time between each coat. Once the paint is thouroughly dry rinse it off because paint releases a stabiliser during drying. This could end up in your water through condensation drips affecting your fish's health. Check your hood for wear and tear regularly as any moisture in the MDF WILL cause it to swell. I am buidling a hood out of Australian Silky Oak and am planning to paint it with marine varnish, although mdf might not look as good in a clear coat.

I recently got 5 gold rams also with the intention of breeding them. It took them a little while to settle and they stayed fairly pale during that time. The florboards the tank was on were high traffic planks and the vibrations kept them skittish. I haven't had any spawning yet but they have paired off. Have you got any flat stones for them to lay on?

Animal Shack in Pukekohe has some fairly big pieces, you could ring them to ask exactly how big.

I would pour it into a bucket and leave (excuse the pun) it sitting to soak for a day or two. Why would you dry them out? they would float again.

Thanks for the tip, that was one thing that I hadn't thought of to look at. She seems to be using her left pec fin a bit less than her right, Like I said she has adapted very well over the past couple of months.

The first fish I bred were tigers and they seemed to have taken a lot longer to hatch than other barbs types. I had already given up and when I went to clean the tank three weeks after that I discovered fry.

I recently tried to breed Neons and tiger barbs at the same time, Unfortunately I killed the Neon fry accidently when I removed the cover too early and the Barb fry never hatched. See my piece on Simultanious Breeding for more.

Just an update on Flounder. She has recovered fairly well and is doing fine. She still swims by swishing her body rather that using her tail but she has adapted so well that you wouldn't pick it if you didn't know about it. She seems to be blind in her right eye because food floating by on that side doesn't get noticed whereas food going to her left gets pounced on. She has rejoined the group and gets chased by the males when they're in the mood. We think she had another small stroke a couple of weeks ago, but that didn't seem to affect her very long. As long as she looks to be coping I'm happy.