DutchKiwiCowboy2

When I thought I had an algae problem I came across this site http://mikes-machine.mine.nu/algae_gallery.htm . Turns out my problem was overfeeding but the site may be able to help you.

Have to agree with that one. Just goes to show that you have to always do your homework and get information from as many sources as possible. In the end you will learn where the better info comes from and save some time, but untill then ......

Have you tried looking up anchor worms on the net? From the descrition it sound like that could be a possibility. See if you can find a picture and compare it to what is in your tank. Good luck

What about the term "Ready to spawn"? Does that get around the problem of being specific? :-?

I saw some Gold Baloons at my fish supplier today. Unfortunately I have to strip my tank which means I don't have the space to buy them at the moment. When I told this to the girl in the shop she said she could keep some on hold for me. :bounce: :lol: . She has said she would reserve 1 male and 4 females, Guess my next breeding project.

Ivé found the marbles to be a great way of protecting the eggs so far. When the fry are big enough I take them out anyway. Before that you can't really siphon the bottem in the first couple of weeks anyway because you would suck up any eggs that are late in hatching and any fry that aren't strong swimmers yet. I did try a spawning with mesh once but was fortunate enough to see one of my Tiger Barbs getting caught under it. They tend to be very determined to get into places that they aren't supposed to.

as far as I know there is not much in the way of living things that can survive 100 degrees + temps. However if it is chemical I am not sure.

Actually, we discovered the first lot of barb fry when we were cleaning the tank four weeks after I had turned everything off. It could hardly have been more polluted.

I have seperated what I could and over the next few days I will see what I can do, but I am afraid to do too much while there is a chance of more neon fry emerging. If any more hatch during the next, say, two days, they should be able to handle light by saturday. I checked carefully earlier tonight and MAY have spotted a wriggler but it was too dark too be sure. That's the conundrum I am faced with at the moment. Turn on too many lights and I might kill what is there.

Could you possibly have reached the limit that a 62 litre tank can support? How many fish were there when they started dieing? Too many may have overloaded your system, especially since it is a fairly new setup. Good Luck

I believe Animal Shack in pukekohe may have one but I have no idea how much or for certain

After two weeks (day 13) I hadn't seen anything in the breeding tank. The water was pretty smelly so I thought something must have gone wrong. I left the tank uncovered and decided to wait a few days in case the barb's decide to survive and emerge. The next morning we found at least 100 fry bodies floating on top of the water. Looks like the neon fry were there but not ready for light yet. All the information I had read said they should have been well ready by week2 but apparently they had delayed hatching for some reason. I immediately recovered the tank and am now waiting to see if any eggs have survived being cooked. Still haven't seen anything that looks like barb fry, but last time it was 4 weeks before we saw the fry. I have now removed the marbles so that they might be seen a little easier, keeping in mind that I had the curtains closed and the room as dark as possible while doing this.

Unfortunately I also have a problem with some sort of algae that is a beigy colour and takes over like mad. At this point I am thinking about stripping the tank and starting over because I believe the algae has an impact on the ammonia as well. Its almost like it increases the ammonia so that it can multiply itself. It also gets into the gravel and I just can't seem to get rid of it.

This morning I found my female Bristlenose entangled in the roots of one of my plants. I have been having some problems with re-cycling of my tank. I guess I did something a couple of weeks ago that killed off too many of the bacteria and paid the price for it. To combat this I have been doing daily water changes and thoroughly cleaning the gravel while I'm at it. However I got a bit tired of replanting everything everyday and decided to wait with that untill the cycling process was stable again. (It will only be a couple more days) I had therefore left a rooty sword plant sitting on top of the gravel with the grave(toilet) :-? results mentioned above. SO.... Please learn a lesson from my mistake and ALWAYS replant the plants and leave the tank as it should be.

An aquarium like that might give you an opportunity to create more of a river type environment (something with a little more current). I have only been doing this for 6 months so I don't have a clue as to what kind of fish would be available for something like that but that is what I would research. Just an idea, You don't really come across those sorts of dimentions very often so I would suggest you do some homework in that direction.

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera at the mo but I will see what I can do. Might take a while though.

Last weekend I made a Bubble Up Air filter for my breeding tank. I saw a picture of one in my breeding book and when I couldn't find one at the pet store I decided to make one. I geuss it works in a simmilar way to a Bio Wheel. I used 4mm garden sprinkler equipment to make this. You will need *4 elbow joints *1 T joint *A piece of ridged sprinkler tubing *Aquarium sponge *Air hose and pump Start with a length of tubing from your substrate to the water surface, put the T joint approx. 1/4 of the way up. Elbow at the top to direct water along water surface Elbow at the bottem. Another piece of tubing leading to another elbow. Put a piece of tubing pointing up onto this. At this point the whole thing should have the shape of a "J". The small end gets a few holes drilled through it and then gets covered with a sponge. Start with one hole and add more if necessary. Connect a piece of air hose to the T joint. add the last elbow and carry on with air hose. (this last elbow is to prevent the air hose pushing the whole thing over. I hope this all makes sense. If not I will do my best to clarify any queries.

My dad has an old bath as a pond. He has a couple of goldfish in it but has trouble with algae. I was wondering if there is a coldwater version of pleco's or bristlenoses. Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

A former neighbor bought me my tank 1 week before we went to europe for 5 weeks. Thought we could trust her cos no1 better was around, Got home and all the booby traps were tripped and cheque book gone. NEVER AGAIN

My first lot of babies were Tiger Barbs, I have just mated another couple and will hopefully have some more soon. I also tried to mate a pair of Neons, but that is typically me, I have to try the hardest ones first. Still waiting to see if that has been succesful.

DAY 6 I built a bubble up filter for the breeding tank today. (will post in DIY section tomorrow) I believe I see things moving in my perifiral vision but every time I look straight at the spot there is nothing there. Then again there is a double layer of marbles that they can hide in. I haven't taken the towel off the tank yet because I am not 100% sure that it is safe yet. I released the two little Barbs from my first clutch into the main communal tank today. They are trying to keep up with the big barbs and are doing great. No hassles from any of the other fish either.

Barbus Tetrazona tetrazona (Tiger Barbs) Paracheirodon innesi ( Neon Tetra's)

I have recently started breeding. My first batch of Tiger barbs were sold last week. I hopefully have the next lot brewing already. I put the parents in the breeding tank after my little ones were gone. After I came home the next day I took them out. The female was skinnier so they probably have been busy. Later that night I put a pair of Neons in the tank. I have marbles in the bottem so that the parents can't eat the eggs. I wanted to see if this was possible since I had both types ready to mate at the same time. This was 3 days ago and believe I saw some squirming in the bottem of the tank today. I wil keep you all updated on how it goes.

I have recently started breeding, my first batch have just been sold. I found a book on breeding at Borders book store. It is called "A Practical Guide To BREEDING Your Freshwater Fish" from the Tankmaster series. It covers a lot of the basics. For Infusoria it gives the folowing recipe: Place a piece of lightly boiled potato in a jar of old aquarium water and leave it open to the air. Keep it in a warm, moderately lit spot. After about a week the water will be cloudy with infusoria. Pour some in the tank and top up with aquarium water again.

I must admit that you are right in your assesment jn but since things seem to be improving I will take that risk for now. At this point I am leaning towards the stroke theory (or something similar)again.