Alan

Excellent pics once again Caryl. Ideal for use as an ID tool. Well done. Alan 104

Nope, as usual you are correct Caryl. Alan 104

Turn the tank upside down. Remove the base with the aid of a thin blade. (I use a blade from a used "bic" razor.) Clean off all old silicone and wipe down with cleaner. Use 10mm glass. Place the base onto the assembled tank that has a good ribbon of silicone on it. Leave to set and when set. Turn tank over and cut out the bead off silicone and re-run a new bead and wet-finger finish it. If you have help, you can do it with the glass base on the table, and then place tank onto the base. This way you won't have to cut off the bead or do a re-run. Make sure you use "Acetic-cure" glue. DON'T breathe the fumes. Alan 104

What is a "keyhole gourami'?? Are you refering to a Three Spot gourami?? Alan 104

It's a bit hard to weigh gravel because of the variation in the amount of water in it and it's composition. A 10litre bucket should do the job tho. Alan 104

If you don't have a quarantine tank then I'm glad you can afford to buy replacement fish. I have found through experience that a quarantine tank is a cheap insurance indeed. TRY and get one before you carry on, ok, it may led to MTS, but isn't that all good news. More tanks. More fish. BUT MAKE SURE OF THE Q. TANK !!! Alan 104

Hi peanuts, and welcome. I take from your discription of your tank that it is a rather deep tank. 1000mm deep? Does that make it look like a brick standing on end as I visualise it from your discription?? If I am correct, your tank IMO would have been overstocked, having only a surface area of 450mm square. If my assumption is wrong, please ignore most of the above. Alan 104

a scat and a bunch of mollies???? This is an older gentlman that has insisted on going for a marine setup set up similarly to a freshwater one. He does have a good skimmer tho. The fish is a Chrysiptera parasema, better known as a Yellow tailed Damsel. Can he have one on it's own in there? Or would he have to have a minimum of three as the books suggest? Are those the ones we see in the shops? What price is he looking at? Will the above mentioned fish above be safe with it/them? If not, any suggestions? Thanks guys and gals Look forward to the replies. Alan 104

Put a sponge filter into your community tank leave for two weeks, rinse in tank water and put that sponge filter into your breeding tank with your baby swords. DON'T overfeed. If you don't want to use the fish, you can use ammonia, but do some research on how that is done. Alan 104

We get in there about 9ish B&K, and what do you mean"some nights"? Not many nights you won't find someone in there. C U there Alan 104

Have you still got the first spawn in with the parents and their eggs? If so, they are running a huge risk of being consumed by mum and dad. alan 104

Welcome aboard, we don't bite too hard here. We even have a friendly chat most nights from 9.00pm onwards. Sometimes we even discuss fish. Alan 104

Not razor burn is it?? :lol: Alan 104

I have seen them grown out to a breeding population in an old plastic bath outside. just using seawater too. Maybe the evaporation kept the SG at the denser level for them. The only reason they finished doing it was that they wanted the bath for scalding a pig. DUH!!! :roll: They burnt the bottom out heating the water. Makes ya woner at some people sometime. That bath was on loan from me too, brassed me off. :evil: By the way, Lake Grassmere where your table-salt comes from, has a thriving breeding population. That lake must almost freeze in the winter, we did when we visited it at a FNZAS Conference at Blenheim a few years back. Alan 104

Caryl, what happened to the palties. Chacuna, Four plastic plants don't qualify for four plants. Just four bits of debateable decorations that make a ollection point for algae. In MHO reeds are not submersibles either, more like bog plants. Could "perk" it up a bit more with a little imagination. Alan 104

In one word. YES Just lots more. Don't feed them until they are all up, swimming in a cloud. That's what they look like Parents will be super agro, so watch your hands, and don't tease them either. If one or the other eats the babies or spawm, you can be in for a helluva fight. They tend to blame the other and give it a real hiding, even going as far as killing it. Have a big grow out tank available too. Alan 104

Had a look at that pic of yours too. Doesn't look like a pair IMHO. Might have two boys there. Alan 104

Ask ! And thou shalt receive. Send me a PM with your email addy and I'll return mail with a rego form with instructions Matt. Alan 104

Eon, I think the reason more people don't enjoy the hobby as we do, is the availability of the little critters. When you can find them in the shops, the prices are up to $72 for a trio, one male and two females. BUT If you just happen to know an NZKA member, and join their group, the fish are sold for $5 each, or even less. Some times they are gifted. Also for the more adventurious amongst us, eggs are avaiable, the last I heard at $10 for 20 plus eggs. But I have heard of eggs going on T/M for $2.00 each, believe it or not. How easy can it be? Add water, start feeding fish, way-ta-go. Alan 104 ps. how do I know? V V V V

Got this, just on a minute. http://www.cargillsalt.com/sfbay/EV_brine.html Read it all, only take two shakes of a lambs tail. But note the last few lines. Alan 104

What was the origin of them Matt?? and what was the cost? I see they are still in their travel bag. How many did you get? Alan 104

Hey Eon, and people wonder what is the attraction of keeping killies. Yahoo, not bad for a brand new member to the NZKA. Good one mate. Alan 104

Welcome K and B. Thought of kribensis? They are a nice African cichlid, colourful, easy to breed, and reasonably non-abusive. Alan 104

Here again DJ is another unneccessary cost/chemical being added to the aquarium. If the water change is an emergency one, ok. But if it is planned, you will know he amount of water required. Squirt it hard into a holding recepticle a couple of days before use. Use an airstone in it, and it will have the chlorine "gassed" off and be ready for use without any additives. Just have to bring it up to the required temperature. Alan 104

dee_jay_01, what an absolute load of bollocks from that site. With you repeating it, it becomes gospel for the unsuspecting reader. Get out of that "c monkey" box, and do some real research of your own and learn the facts. Next thing you may find on that site might be when the "S-M's" have their coronation and get their crowns. It is only a sale gimmick to sell to the unsuspecting public, an overpriced product, that we as breeders, feed by the millions, to the enjoyment of our hungry fry, for an absolute fraction of the cost. Alan 104