caserole

So who is going to get the mag personally nibbled by the Budge?? And will there be a prize for the luck holder :lol:

I don't have Notho's at present but plan to get some soon, hopefully some of the 1000's of eggs I sent round the country over the past 2 years will come back to me :lol: AS TO YOUR QUESTION NO The best and most reliable way to breed Notho's is to give them a "diapause ( spelling )" = dry period, 6 to 8 week for the specie mentioned - longer for some of the others.

I did a similer thing but used a container of 2mm round gravel. If you cover the whole tank this canbe the result... Notho korthausae yellow

:lol:

It's very common for this species Alan due to the high water table on the island of Mafi where the red/yellows form comes from and the yellow form which is suspected to come from main land Tansania is found in coastal mashes. When I kept them in a tank with an under gravel filter after a gravel syphon I always checked the bucket and often found 100's and 100's of eggs and plenty of fry - with a shake up some of the eggs would hatch in front of me.

The water conditions in your tank are just fine for keeping dwarfs, even the PH is fine. Unless you wish to breed them and then some will be quit happy with what you have. By the way a 2' tank is only just big enough to keep a pair, if they should breed it may be to small for both male and female depending on the species. The reason is they require good sized territory's, the females when with spawn or fry insist apon it with tragic results in some cases for the male. I think it must be your carbonated harness that is increaseing because if it was your general hardness the water would not be so soft. It may be from your drift wood but salt would not cause that much if any change in the PH and if it were other minerals comming out then that would affect your GH - calcium carbonate and magnesium.

I saw a doco on japanse rice paddys. It included the newts and they were eating daphnia as well as other foods like live blood worms. I only repeated for others to keep in mind, if your main food is daphnia and you start lossing a lot of baby newts this is something to think about but so is fungus infections particularly as they start to change.

I don't know a lot about newts. But I was told by the person reasonable for breeding them at the Napier Aquarium that they had large losses of the young until the stopped feeding them water fleas and only feed micro worms and chopped white worms.

http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/Thumbnai ... hp?ID=4797

Fundulopanchax Mirabilis Moensis, WOW thats a really nice killi and yup it was super cheep. We do not have that species here your lucky.

Yes it does. you remove the eggs or the fish if you can find them, they should be in plants. They will breed again so you could put a heap of spawning mops in a shallow part of the pond and keep an eye on them. remove the mops if used by the fish. Place in a tank with a bubbler and wait. You should be able to see the eggs clearly, they are clear and jelly like there will be lots of them. You should also take this time to get ready to feed the fry. What to feed them, WELL I do have some ideas. But I am no expert either :lol: in fact I have never breed gold fish. I did tell my sister how to do it and it worked for her.

Having a dirty fry tank is not a good idea IMHO. It depends on individuals interpretations of cause - what is clean or dirty. If you have bacteria/fungus build up in your tank you can start to loose fry very very quickly. All my fry tanks are very clean and water is clear but not spotless by my standards (( but maybe by others )). I have learnt some hard lessons over the years that I really don't want to repeat. Even just last year and I'm still quitly p....d about it. This does not include algae as it will not harm my fry ( as long as it does not get out of control and catch dirt ), indeed they eat it, I mean dirt = uneaten food, bad water and excrement. I also have workers in my fry tanks baby B/N and baby bronze corys they help me to keep the tanks clean. The down size is I have alot of bronze corys, The up side is when they breed and I don't collect the eggs theres plenty of excitment in the tanks, fish love live food.

They are good and they are bad. We had a discussion on it. do a search to find. I think this comment is good and very pertinent in your case

This is a true C. julii, I had both species at the time. The pic is the 1 I used on the maf sheets last year. He was an old fish so sadly I no longer have him. Here's a link to larger pic.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y187/s ... dium-2.jpg You may also notice that C. julli are not as dark as the C. trilineatus, but there is conjecture that different populations can be dark or light in both species.

That pritty much what must have happend. There is not other explanation that I can think other then what Alan said -- names of his red devils**

Funny you should say that Alan I hadn't thought of that. Your correct :lol: NOT. There is a current BUT it goes from female to male and then behind the breeding pot to the over flow :o

Ok hows this for weird. A few weeks ago I removed a small batch of fry from A. Eunotus. As it is my only female I left the male behind the mesh I use to stop the fish killing each other. 1 week after removing the fry she spawned but of cause the eggs were infertile. Well she spawned again 3 days a go ( the male is still behind mesh as I want to use a differnt male but have not got round to moving them) and today I found around 16 wriglers her cave. Now for thou's that have breed Red devils and alike cichlid, spawnings behind mesh is a common method. But heres the kicker, the females cave is at an angle to the mesh AND 8" away. There is no way the milt could have been sprayed or floated all that way and hit 16 eggs - no way. The only explanation is she took it to the eggs

Caryl your a crafty Woman, but thats why we think so much of you.

Oh by the way antwan, althou your statement about me is a nice compliment, it is no way true. Just follow your research and things work. And feed carnivores live food is a good tip :lol: .

Hi, Bananalobster you have a PM. There are a few things I would add to what has been said. Starters Cockatoo's are not as fussy as other apisto's like you have read 7 ph is just fine with soft water - very soft water is not need. I would not use medium to large tetras - tetras are carnivores, rummy nose or carinals are better with this suggestion ... The temp you said ( 24C ) is a little cool, they will breed at that but you will find they breed easyer at 26C. In your 800+ length tank with lots of pots/caves, wood and plants to block the line of site I would only use 2 females if you really want fry to servive and 1 male. You could fit more BUT AND THIS IS THE CATCH THAT PEOPLE FORGET and that is, WHAT if both females breed at the same time ( this is likely ). Where will the males go - they will be pushed together by the females and 1 or both will die. The male will need a space to be where he is not pushed around (to much ) by the girls if they have babys. The female does start the courtship for spawning, however if the female is not feed properly ( and there for not ready to breed ) the male will harrasse her and may even kill her ( this applys to all apisto's ) This is why live food including bbs are best( but not a must so don't get worryed ). You could start making live food cultures now - micro worms, white worms, water fleas (live blood worms in the bottom of water flee culture) and get brine shrimp cyts( yes for the adults ) - and anything else you can find or buy. Actually what has been said applys to all apisto's with the exception if number of females (deduce to 1 )and water conditions (softer and acidic 5.5 - 6 ).

The other thing to think about is this... Fish will be ok if they get cold, it's all about how quickly they get cold. A heat pack streches this out reducing the chance of white spot.

Come on Caryl, The weather is changable at this time of year all you need is a cold night and the fish die, I had this just recently.Another shipment only just made it. The other thing is you as I are more aware on how to corretly pack fish others are not so sure. I always use them, I call it insurance. I don't like it when people say YOUR FISH DIED :oops: all for the cost of a heat pack. You know i'm not having a bite or anything, it's just smarter IMHO to use them especially if the fish carry a price tag over $100.00 or on request.

I don't think it is white spot then, spots look to large, neons should show ICH pritty quick guppys last. Try small daily water changes see if this helps (5% per day), but keep an eye on the other fish. Guppys I have found are very tender these days and really like very good conditions.

are there any other fish in tank with spots as guppys are some of the last fish to show white spot.

have you tested for nitrate, if your rain water is picking it up, you will be feeding the single celled algae that makes your water green. may have to clean roof and gutters - or water tank may have to much muck in the bottom and need cleaning.