Aquatopia

Oh I thought when u said you wanted to "build your collection up" that you already had some. No worries.

How many do you already have and how old are they ?

Hi - a lot of it depends how / where you place your heater and what kind of water circulation you have in the tank (which will depend on what kind of filter you have and how it is set up). Also, the size and shape of the tank has an effect and the wattage of the heater. Describe your setup in a bit more detail and I am sure we can all make more educated rather than generalised suggestions :-) * what dimensions is the tank? * does it have lids? * what filter do you use and where is it located - if canister, where are the inlet and outlets located? * what size heater do you use, where is it located compared to the filter, and how is it orientated? * where is the tank situated in relation to a draughty door or hallway or window etc? * what are you using to measure the temperature and where is it situated compared to the heater? With a picture from the above info, it will be a lot easier to give specific advice.

Really ? Is it that bleak ?

Congrats - a lovely looking fish. Good luck with raising them. Im sure you'll do great.

its a good call should make a difference, esp for those with MTS (assuming the poly doesnt cost much to get hold of )

And its worth remembering that during the cold winter months, you can reduce cost by putting insulation around the tank - or if that is not aesthetically pleasing you can at least put a cover over it at night when the ambient temperature is at its lowest.

cant wait to see the pics of all those fish phoenix. :bounce:

lookin great phoenix44 - cant wait to see it with the fish

Congrats on your success with the fish and commiserations with the bad luck with the boss. If you can, keep the fish and ditch the job and find one where you are happy.

Yeah but they bumped up the price on clown loach down here to $49.99 each so not a great deal IMO - mind you I didnt look at how big they were, but half the pleasure is watching them grow. Now a tank full of clown loach is very impressive too (Not in a 2 foot one though, lol)

So when ordering adult locusts normally - is it likely to get a mix of male and female ? Same with adult crickets ?

I prefer cardinals in large amounts but neons are still cool - looking forward to seeing the pics

So what does everyone thing would need to be bred to a yellower dragonsblood to bring it up to this bright colouration?

do they mate that soon ? you did say 2-4 day old locusts didnt you ?

It all depends on the quality of your tank maintenance and filtration. In a 2foot tank Im not sure that huge numbers look good but in a standard 3 foot lots of fish look a lot better comparatively.

Well if u needed to get something quick I can understand the decision but as i see it, the way that hose connects to the filter, as long as whatever tube you use fits snuggly over the solid connector and the screw up nut attaches tightly over the hose, it matters not what hose you use. The advantage of the proper stuff is that it bends without kinking. I actually contemplated hard-plumbing my fluval into my tank (not an FX5).

Could you not have bought the equivalent clear hose at Bunnings for $2/metre ? (dunno if thats the price but I bet its cheaper than $15/m

Dougstark - I sure did - and GREEN with envy lol

They sure are Sometimes. There were some on TradeME recently I recall. I love em too but they do get big

Im not so sure - think i disagree, now I see the image above (which is obviously photoshopped to prove a point), if you look at the clarity of the image , the actions taken to photoshop it have shown in the rest of the photo too whereas the image I found does not display that. Also, the enhancements on the one above have created bleed out of colour and the contrast and saturation are not clean. Could be wrong, or they may have tweaked it a little but Im beginning to think its probably reasonable accurate. Thanks for the example though - it helped make up my mind

Ryan of all the dragonsbloods ive seen yours are the strongest colour so far and if your babies grow up that colour then I think a group of them would look awesome. Do they generally come out as bold as your boy ? It would be interesting to work out what to cross them with to get that enhanced orange/red depth and as you say, if they breed true and are accurately described then probably no harm done - esp if they look that good. Anyone else have these in NZ with colours closer to the pic ?

Saw this pic on a site in the UK and wondered what it was - looks like a borleyi in shape but not seen such vibrant colours - do u reckon its real or photoshopped ? Lovely all the same.

The only think i didnt like was the way he kept them - seemed like a breeding factory and no enjoyment from seeing them much - not dissing having a breeding setup (i'd sell my right u know what to have that lot) but if it was me id want to be able to get pleasure from seeing them too.

Lol - what a memory HaNs !!! I guess great minds think alike So was it conclusively agreed that its a L400 ? Or would anyone care to speculate further now we are 18 months down the line ?