Alan

Discus Guru on the 'Shore has them for sale too. Nice fish too, should be back from Ozz by now. Alan 104

A piece of lettuce on a string, a lead weight, and patience. Your snail problem will disappear (almost) over week. Leave overnight, remove snail covered lettuce carefully next morning, dip into a cupful of salt water. Replace the bait into the tank, when the lettuce needs replacing, do the obvious. Works for me, environmentally friendly, no more extra fish that could endanger the inhabitants. Kewl. Alan 104

Give them plenty of hiding places and nooks and crannys to hide in. Layers of rocks spring to mind. You may have probs with the parents defending theit babies tho. Alan 104

Sounds like the rotor's spindle may be broken. You've checked for kinks, but have you checked the full length, plus the inlet and outlet of the pump, for blockages, ie, a stone?? Alan 104

Joeandwilly, where are you going to get a big drum of water from. Also, what is your understanding of "ageing the water". Alan 104

In Australia when they attempted something similar, a breeder in Q'land threatened to release thousands of oscars into the wild. The idea got shelved. Alan 104

He Wok, I understood that the female was the care-giver and gave the ol' man a bit of a hardtime, ya know what I mean?? I'd personally leave the others in with them, it will create an atmosphere where the parents will want to defend their babies instead of stupid fishie spats, resulting in one or other eating the new family. Then they WILL scrap. It's your fault No it wasn't, it was yours So it goes on. Alan 104

That would be Jim now. Is'nt he the minister for the environment?? Alan 104

They came in long ago Bill when you and I were just out of shorts. Don't think there are any around now though. Haven't seen any, anyway. Alan 104

KK, GT is in NSW Australia. I haven't seen it here either. Alan 104

Terrestrial Plants Sold as Aquatics Just as I thought. Did a search, and came up with this. "If it looks like a house plant, it probably is" Therefore I would say it fits that category. It will prolly slowly rot away. Alan 104

May be petrol fumes. But not this crap, it burns ya lungs out. Petrol only addles ya brains and you don't notice it happening. Alan 104

Price is relative. Let your fingers do the walking, and remember that cheap need not be good. May be false economy. Alan 104

Who me Wasp?? If that was addressed to me, I do. I've made dozens of tanks, I've also been to clubs and given demos on cutting glass, right down to constructing a tank in front of them. They appeared amazed how easy it was. Just watch out for those fumes from the silicon tho. They are dangerous, and you should do the assembly in a well vetilated area. The silicon MUST be "acetic cure". Smells like stong vinegar fumes. Alan 104

I have done tanks for myself and also others in the same situation. DON'T get a shop or other, where you are paying, to do the re-siliconing, unless you strip it down yourself. The cost of removing the glue would equate close to a new tank cost. This job, to do properly, is slow, and does have a few risks. I use a "bik" shaver that has been pulled to pieces. The blades are so small, they fit in all but the best joints. I break the blade-holder sides from off the handle of the shaver, and use the handle and the stub, to push the blade thru the silicon, if you don't do this, expect cut fingers, or wrecked finger-nails. The job of disassembling is not so time-cinsuming, it's the removal of the old silicon from all joints. The final part of the way I do it is to roll off the fine amount left with the palm of my hand. If I'm not happy, I use my spit-stone that I aris the edges with to get to the glass. I'll also use it to buff the glass for better glue bonding (fine scratching). Now you have it this far, the easy part it there, It should take an expert less than quarter of an hour to do the gluing. Now about the octo in the tank, I am sure I have read that if they "ink". they can make the tank so toxic, that they can kill them self. Don't know if this is true, but it's worth looking into. I went to Portobella Aquarium, and they told the story of a self-help-octo that climbed from it's tank at night and went food hunting in another tank, and to return home before the staff arrived to work. It was only discovered after cameras were set up. To octo safe the tank, I'd make tops that would slide into a gap created by a couple of pieces of glass, glued on each end brace, to form a Z. Get what I mean?? Alan 104

How is your baby tank set up PR?? Size, depth, temperature, etc. Alan 104

No sweat at all. My ones stay out over winter as well. Alan 104

And then there was TWO. Alan M told me on Sunday, that they had lost all but two. Chrissy has them, and they are a pair, and the main thing is. They are spawning. Alan 104

Have you considered that you may have two females??

Not only would I allow it, I'd encourage it. I'm hoping Auckland does the same. The Napier area is also gettig a reasonable number of members too. Maybe they'd like to consider it too. When all is said and done, it is just a gathering of like minded ppl gathering together, sharing experiences. ideas, views, problems, and possibly fish, eggs, and anything else. Sounds all good to me. Auckland use to do it years ago. Alan 104

ever thouht of joining the NZKA Nick?? They aren't a bad group of ppl Alan 104

I'd like to think so but the way MAFia is at the moment, not much point asking them Then they still have to grow on to identifiable fish I would think that to do that, it would have to be an enthusist doing ot privately Alan 104

Welcome aboard MM. Good to see that you are taking things slowly They say you get good cheese if ya take it slowly. Alan 104 ps. don't know what that has to do with fish

Other clubs around NZ, why not back up the NZKA order of Brineshrimp flakes and order a couple of buckets each. I'm thinking of clubs like Waikato, Nth Shore, Marlborough, Hawke Bay, all of these clubs have a good keen membership, and have auctions. This is a way to raise money for the club, and supply a good nutritious food to your fishy friends. By the way, I'm not saying the other clubs don't have those ideals, but we in the NZKA have ordered 4 buckets, and we think that it is a very viable proposition. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/amazon ... t9330.html Have a look here and get in touch with Phil, he's a good guy and won't rip you off, I've known him for over 20 years now and dealt with him over this time. Support him supporting your club. To the mods on this Forum, I have put this here to get at the clubs. I realise it could also go into other forums, but I consider this the best place for this request. Thanks. Alan 104

Those fish that you mentioned JM are allowable. But the eggs, because they can't be identified, are not allowed. Even tho they can be transported in a sterile condition that would be safer than an adult fish having to go thru quarantine etc. Alan 104