Aquatopia

that was a steel so finished by lunchtime tomorrow ? :lol:

Thats looking great livingart - you're a fast worker ! What about considering perspex instead of glass ? Safer ?

Is there any reason you would not consider a smaller tank but with an external still, or what size do u want to reduce to ?

As do less desirable genetic mutations and problems. (not withstanding the fact sometimes we have to deal with those where the gene pool is small and assuming people do not continue to breed with problematic offspring)

Its a good point that if it means keeping them one way or another that it might be acceptable to cross breed (if as you say they are that anyway), though I was under the impression that there was still sufficient availability of the L018 to be able to consider maintaining pure strains ? I reckon the best bet (as was said before) is to keep both and find mates for them both who look the same types hehe - then you can breed both strains

So why not just do that if thats what you want ? Then you could get a suitable internal filter, lol. But seriously for anything larger than a 3 footer (and in most cases even for a 3 footer) an external is better than an internal and the choice of externals available for the same price as a decent internal makes it practically a no brainer. Why are you adamant about an internal out of interest ?

It is important for me as I believe for these lovely fish to survive the aquarium hobby in restricted old new zealand we need to make every effort to keep things true. Otherwise there is no value - everything is a mongrel. If all houses were square boxes that looked the same and all cars were blue fords and everyone wore grey suits would that matter ? Crap analogy i know, but you get my drift. We need our fish to remain true to what they are.

You can always PM him - he is very approachable and he would probably get email notification of the private message

I want the orange one, lol - swap for a pair of balloon mollies ?

Absolutely Actually i like Dixon's suggestion (for once, lol) If they are not the same, find the other side of the pair for them both hehe...

smileys always help

LOL, well at least you are honest :-? Now go do a water change to alleviate that boredom, hehe.

Because in the wild it makes no difference - the true strains will continue as well as the cross-bred ones. In an artificial environment such as the aquarium hobby, "true strains" end up being lost because of cross breeding - especially with fish that are rare and difficult to import. This is further exacerbated by people (and again Im not saying you will) not saying what things are. They end up as mixed strains but still described in the name of the true one. Eventually you lose the original and end up with something else. There are purists who dont want that to happen. Having said that, as a hobbyist, if you are happy with having paid for a pair of L018's and not actually got what you paid for, and you are happy to breed them for people who could care less if they are true L018s or not, then all well and good. Just as long as you dont sell any offspring as L018s I am sure you will get some pretty fish either way.

Thanks Dixon, but I see no need for your input thanks - Im perfectly chilled, I just happen to disagree with something livingart said to me. Quite why you felt the need to comment is beyond me. :roll:

There was no conjecture on my part livingart - I simply asked an honest question about breeding leopard geckos. The question was not even in reference to any specific geckos :-?

Fair enough Any examples ?

Who made you the thread police ? Im simply asking a question based on this thread ! :evil: :roll:

Well in cats and dogs there is a thing called co-efficient of in-breeding which determines how much line breeding has been done. Certain matings are acceptable at certain stages of a breeding program, others are not. But as a rule, brother to sister is definitely not the way to go - it drastically increases the chances of genetic problems; hence the desire for genetic diversity as much as possible with the 'odd occasion' where specific line-breeding choices are made. Gene pool does determine what can be done though, and I recognise there are not many LGs in NZ. I dream of the day that MAF will wake up and agree to more LGs being allowed in. (naiive i know !)

Is there any point in them breeding like rats if they are different species ? If I paid a fair chunk for a pair of one species I would be pretty hacked off if they did turn out to be different. Apart from not being what they were described as, if they do breed, then we will be seeing lots of cross breeds that doubtless would be described as the wrong thing (not by Kiwiplymouth I'm sure, but by whoever buys them further down the line). That may not bother Kiwiplymouth and if so then theres no issue, but if it was me I wouldnt be too pleased. Sorry, Im a bit of a stickler when it comes to pure strains.

Does it matter breeding a male and female from the same "litter" with reptiles ? I know with cats and dogs etc that is a no-no.

take a gander or ask at a decent local aqaurium shop - im sure they will know

TM = TradeME in that post at least. I cant remember the brand name im afraid though i think JBL make one

Thanks. Are any of them african cichlid proof ?

something that makes them mature faster, colour up faster but not screw them up with hormones lol.

You are in luck as you are in wellington - go to placemakers and ask for their silica sand - its lovely, soft, a whitish colour and someone else on here has used it before so knows its good - its inert too. You might find this link useful too;- http://www.cichlid-forum.com/videos/cleaning_sand.php