Tanked

my bristlenose spawn in one of the clay fake logs in a tank with only sponge filters running and I've had hundreds of fry so it's not a water flow issue. Are there any other fish in that tank? I noticed on my last spawn that a cichlid that I had put in the tank was able to get into the log and obviously ate the eggs. Rick

the waste should not be blowing out of the sponge, the idea is to pull it into the sponge. If you are using an airstone then try removing the stone however you then get larger bubbles. If the power is too much then hook it up to a gang valve and reduce the flow to where you find it wroks best for you. Rick

A member of the Aquarium Society of Winnipeg is a Vet. and did some research for me on the ingredients of lavimsole at a time when I wanted to treat some rainbows. He recommended trying Safe Guard which is readily available and inexpensive. It did work for me however others purchased it and felt it did nothing for them. Turns your aquarium water milkly white but does clear up in a couple of days. Worth a shot for sure. Rick

cvallamanus is not an external parasite. Treating with levamisole will kill the worm however losses may still occur as the worm attaches itself to the intestine, dies and decays. If not passed through the intestinal tract of the fish it will cause an internal infection killing the fish. This is a nasty worm that is becoming much more prevelant in the hobby. Farm raised fish, such as livebearers, rainbows etc are coming in with this worm. You can't blame the stores as the worm may not show itself for months after purchase. Levamisole used to be readily available through feed lots etc however the pure form is no longer avaialbe without prescription amd what you really need is a friend who is Vet who might help you out. I treat all my wild caught fish and store bought fish with levamisole. The dose is 5 grams per 100 gallons or 1/2 gram in 10. Rick

I don't believe you can get the pure form of Levamisole anymore unless you might be able to get it through a VEt. . It is availalbe in the U.S and you can order it from thewormer.com as pig deweormer. Rick just read Diane's post on the same issue and her link to VetMed is a good one and the price for the product is cheaper then through the wormer.com Rick

quite so. Usually those shipping or wanting to ship Fed Ex ship the product as something other than "live fish". Sometimes it gets through undetected however if checked by customs the shipment will be seized and you will find your name on a Customs red flag list. Not worth it at all. The only way to ship live fish is airport to airport. If ordering from a U.S based company make sure that they have the proper paper work , ie: they need a permit issued by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Dept. which costs them $100.00 (not for each shipment). Many do not have this and ship the fish as someithg other than live fish. Rick

tring to access U.S websites is becoming a more common problem as retailers do not want you to see the major price differences. If you have a Canadian IP address in many cases you will automatically be redirected to the Canadian site.. Big Al's recently announced that to respond to many customer complaints about the pricing difference they have dropped the Canadian price on many items. I need an 18Watt U.V lamp for my coral life unit. It is $46.00 from Big Als.com and $94.00 from the Canadian side. Rick

here is a link to a thread on the Winnipeg Fish Forum from a member who just bred them and there is a link with some good information. Rick http://www.winnipegfishforum.info/forum/in...p?topic=15379.0

I use a lot of NLS for my fish but must admit I have never crushed it up for killie fry. If you do then make sure it is crushed to a fine powder. I would recommend rotifers, spray krill initially and then vinegar eels. I also use Nutrafin powder fry food (46% protein 9% fat) and it works well. If you hatched the fry out in a separate container like I do then make sure you carefully clean uneaten food out and add fesh water. I do this at least once daily and more if I have the time. Rick

A. striatums are pretty hearty. If you have another small tank that you can set up with java moss it will provide some infusoria for the fry. Fresh hatched shrimp is good for them. I don't have much faith in frozen BBS as most of the protein is lost as the baby shrimp basically busrt when frozen, better than nothing though. Someone is your area must have white worms or grindal worms so you can get a culture going otherwise continue feeding the adults good quality flake, mine like NLS growth formula, frozen shrimp and bloodworms. I have quite a few A. marginatums and Fundulopanchax gardreri mamfensis right now and they were all raised on spray krill, vinegar eels, micro worms and live BBS. There is no substitute for conditioning and growth then live foods. Rick

I bred a lot of A. striatums and they did not require any special care. I removed the eggs from the mops and hatched them out in a tupperware type container. I fed the fry micro foods and then live BBS. The adults would eat anything however I did give them live BBS and some white worms. The use of live foods will increase your egg yield dramatically. Rick

48 running and a couple ready for quarantine and or hospital tank. Rick

we have had Rusty come up several times and he usually brings fish with him so one never knows what might show up. Rick

hey all, thought I would post this info. in case anyone was interested in making a road trip our way. Many of the speakers we bring in are the very best the hobby has to offer and certainly worth the trip if you had the time. Check out the list here http://www.asw.ca/meetings.html for info. on dates etc for the likes of Dr. Ron Coleman, Vinny Kutty, Jason Caumartin, Russel Wessel, Chuck Rambo and discus god, Dick Au. Thx. Rick Engstrom V/P Aquarum Society of Winnipeg www.asw.ca

and Neil is sitting back with a big grin on his face The stuff I find amazing is the fry pellet. My rainbow juveniles gobble it up and their colour and growth is much better than when they were on flake. Great stuff. Rick

well someone has assigned me to the Manatoba group. Who ever is responsible for that could you please correct the spelling error. I mean the a and the i are not ever close to one another on the key board Rick

are you sure there are only 200 eggs :-). A member of the Winnipeg Fish Forum had his spawn on Sept23 and he had over a 1000 eggs. In any event after 2 days the eggs disappeared and he assumed they had been eaten however the parents had moved the eggs to pits they dug in the substrate and after 6 days there were clouds of free swimming fry. Parents were very protective. Watch for aggression between the spawning pair. Rick

product shipped in from the U.S via UPS and similar carriers automatically charge a brokerage fee unless you have it shipped to a company. Does not matter whether you have an actual company or not just order the product and have the shipper send it to your name Company Ltd. UPS automatically calls all commerical companies to see if they want the product brokered or have them do it and deliver it to your door. I don't use UPS anymore simply because I had 4 shipments sent to me in which I specifically stated and had marked on the shipping bills that I would broker the package myself. I even had UPS add it to their computer but it didn't matter , they tried to deliver it and charge me the $50.00 brokerage fee. Even though I never paid it there was a lot of hassle involved. Now good old USPS and then Canada Post, delivered right to your door for $5.00. Rick

no need to use a razor blade to remove the eggs as they are quite adhesive, especially if you get them newly laid. Just gently roll your finger over the egg and they should attach themselves to your finger. I use small food grade, ie: tupperware type containers to hacth out the eggs which take about 5 days. I do not use an airstone prior to the eggs hatching. If using small containers , be sure to remove the hatched egg shell as they will quickly foul the water. I use two methods to raise up the fry, one is hatch them remotely, start feeding micro worms and or newly hatched brine shrimp after about 3 days or I remove the adults from the spawning tank and allow the fry to hatch . The latter works best for me especcially if the tank has live plants which will provide infusoria for the fry. Bronze Corydoras fry are quite hardy. Rick

I have about 2o variities or Corydoras and hatch the fry out in a couple of ways. If the tank is not too big and you have another handy you can remove the adults and allow the eggs to hatch in the spawning tank. Once the yok sac is used up in usually 3 to 5 days you need to start feeding with micro worms or newly hyatched BBS. The usual method I prefer is to remove the eggs to a hatch out container. Any food grade container such as tupperware does just fine. I float this container is another tank which keeps the temp where I want it. Newly laid eggs are easy to remove as they are quite adhesive and will stick to your fingers so they can be rolled out of the spanwing tank onto your finger and then into the hatch out tank. Add a couple of drops of meth. blue or similar anti fungal mediation to the container. Once the eggs start hatching out it is important to remove the empty shells or they will quickly foul the water. I add a small airstone with a gentle flow and once the fry start feeding I then move them to a small 3-5 gallon tank with a couple of inches of water and a heater, either submersible or hob which can be put in a jar of water and set into the aquarium. I springle a small amount of play sand in the tank as I feel this helps prevent belly fungus on small Corydoras fry. Bronze Corydoras fry are a nice size and normally do well. I presently have fry from C. sterbai, C. gossei, C. duplicares, C. barbatus, C. orange lasers, C. green lasers, C. hastatus, C. habrosus and I can tell you that some of them are tiny tiny and difficult to keep alive. BTW, in regards to the water level in the tank you move them to. Too much water from my experience creates an osmotic pressure change and can quickly kill the small fry. A couple of inches and then add a cup or so of water each day until the tank is full and you should be o.k. Good luck Rick

I'm in Winnipeg and got them from Petland. We are quite fortunate here with two of our Petlands. Both are operated by very knowledgeable fish people who are always willing to order in wild caught fish if there is enough interest in a particular species. I have 8 of them and they are beaut's . From what I understand they will become very aggressive around 6", (mine are around 5) , I was told when I bought them they I am going to lose some to aggression. I know they are difficult to spawn but I have them in a 180 with lots of structure so hopefully I can get a pair bond from two of them Rick

anyone have these fish or more specifically have luck spawning them. I would be interested in the details. Thx. Rick

I would think that if it could be done it would be done. Much cheaper than importing the fish. Clown Loaches have been bred in captivity and although very difficult I may one day give it a shot. From what I understand one would need to set up a shallow tank with lots of rock and a lot of strong current but for people like me who enjoy the challange of getting difficult fish to spawn or rasing up those tiny tiny fry of Barbs, Tetras and Rainbows it would be a welcome challange. Rick

to the best of my knowledge Bala sharks have never been bred in captivity. I had 5 of them for several years and witnessed what I would normall associate with pre spawning activity however nothing ever became of it. Rick

yeah I would agree with the night light as my experience has been a bit different that apparently some others. I had a pair of black angels with an extrememly aggressive and protective male however at lights out the pleco ruled and entire spawns of eggs were eaten. Rick