hamishh34

Have you though about racking that you find at bunnings? Maybe not as easy on the eye but is a cheap alternative. I have not setup a racking system with plumbing before so I wouldnt be the best to ask. But I imagine a pump would get the water to the top tier tanks. There are some knowledgeable people who should be able to help you out with that side of things. I attached a screenshot of the section DIY is to help you navigate. Also, there is a search bar up the top right hand side. If your search key words like specific fish species or plumbing it should bring up some helpful content from previous posts to help you on your quest.

After searching around for a while for a few mates of mine, I had all but given up. I knew of a few lone females in QLD and two older pairs in NSW where the male refused to play nicely. Some of you would already know but some fellow hobbyists finally cracked it and there was a spawn of pure trimacs spawned and distributed to dedicated breeders and a few shops. Hopefully a few others have success and they may become more readily available once again. Now we just need the few people with the Red Tiger Motas to link their fish up and they last few pairs of Mayans (old fish) to give it one last shot and Australia could finally have a few more readily available mean Americans. Black Nastys were a handy little addition to our 2020 cichlid availability as well. Haitientis are different stock to that 2014 group that never had successful fry raised from my understanding. So hopefully others have better luck with the recent fry release. Just thought I would make a post as for nearly a decade I have seen people on the forum either looking for trimacs or complaining how they were all hybridized etc. Well hopefully in the next 6-12 months some of you can have the shot at picking some more up and get some pairs established so we don't risk losing them again.

Yeah I flicked them a message and he said to move over to the FB page as that will usually tell me when they come in next before the website. As I imagine its a little more difficult to update a website than post on FB. Sounds like hes good to deal with. I do like stores that will show you the fish before they're shipped, its always makes me nervous wondering what quality I will be receiving. The red backs stood out to me as well, cant blame you for picking them out. I dont usually like the look of Agassizzi but those ones were nice. They should thrive with all that live food you have ready for them. I was hoping to feed macmasteri a decent supply of cherry shrimp to see if that acts as a more natural colour enhancer. Like feeding carrots to a canary the red lizards are cool, their reds really help brighten any tank. Propbably helps the apistos explore the tank more as well if you have some other fish. Are your other apistos quite shy? Its not just Aus that theyre the same. The states and Europe also have this problem. Veijita is quite rare in all countries with very few pairs collected from discussions with some apisto guys. They said no veijita have ever been here. As they look quite similar its just a way for stores/breeders to sell the same fish as two species. Macmasteri 'gold' is often sold as veijita 'gold' in America as well which triggers a few of the die hards haha. So for the veijita is just a lack of imports as they are quite rare all over the world and hard to capture in the wild so therefore theres extremely limited stock in the global hobby. But agree with you on hybrids/breeding poor quality animals thus creating schools of poor quality fry to be distributed into the trade. I used to keep ps flavus and had to move on my colony, a few years later I have looked for them and not seen any nice yellow and dark barred animals since. Same with Afra Hara, was offered a decent group 10 years ago and have kicked myself ever since for saying no. Americans like you mentioned are a whole other story. I know of a few red tiger motas in Aus and for some reason someone was breeding red tiger mota x dovii and those hybrids have been popping up and people are thinking they own motas now. Same with multifasciatus x dovii and a recent hobbyist breeding jags x dovii. These animals are being distributed by petshops regularly and it wont be long until it becomes quite difficult to locate the pure higher quality animals. Now not every hobbyist should be experted to be a guru or try saving a species. But it does disappoint me when i see a few of the so called big breeders breeding poor quality animals and selling their fry. One pair of festae being bred currently is potentially one of the worst examples of the fish and now their babies will be everywhere haha. To leave it all on a good note, trimacs are back! Wow that was a good way to easily be sidetracked. I have a feeling we could rant on this topic for a while over some beers

I totaally understand being busy mate so no stress. Ahh the old not enough space dilemma haha. Its amazing how create we can be with tank placement when needed.. Sounds like a nice idea with the pond. I am in Rockhampton so thought it would be great outdoor conditions, which it is for the most part. But we have random nights where it goes a little lower than normal so I would imagine a heater is needed for winter just to be safe. Although I have cherry shrimp in plague proportions living in an outside pond. The frogbit took over the surface and has acted like an insulation I believe. I must have missed out on the golds mate! They dont appear on the website for me. Might flick em a message. Shame they are labelling them as Viejita (Macmasteri) like they're the same species -.- Thanks for keeping an eye out for me @BigPete86! Looked at their agassizzi as well, pretty big selection! Hadnt heard of some of them before. The Pebes and neon blue heads look pretty cool as well.

Haha a problem we all face mate! Indoor space issues are a killer. Particularly when you have a few different animal keeping hobbies :/ Will be interesting to see how your experiment goes. Keen to see how the sun brings out their colours.. In my experience, pond kept fish tend to be a lot nicer looking than those kept indoors.

Thanks for that. I will inquire about them and see if I can be a pain and ask for pics. Nice red ones excite me as much as the golds do. . New life in Melbourne has some golds but they arent shipping at the moment. baenchi havent really tickled my fancy in the past but had a quick google and the elongated dorsal spines are unreal. Would actually be an impressive looking fish!

They are only illegal to own if declared noxious. Gar for example in QLD or more recently Jaguar Cichlids. Theres many exotics that are not on the allowable import list but can still be kept and bred in Australia if already here. Its a bit of a loophole. Red tail/giraffe/moonlight catfish, pea puffers and black nastys etc are illegally brought here but once bred can be distributed as they are not declared noxious pests.

Do we have two generations of the mbunamad clan on the site?

My fighter used to always jump with his whole body out of water to take food from my finger (bit of water on fingertip and a pellet would stick) but this takes it to another level! I wonder if they think top level pools dry up and they move to lower puddles where water no longer runs..

I remember seeing someone in Aus with some rabbit snails he was breeding maybe 6-12 months back. Dont have any other info on the topic though. I will let you know if I stumbled upon his profile again.

Yes that petshop does look pretty mint. Do you know if they ship interstate? Yeah borellii have very nice dorsals. Are you happy with the colours now that they have begun to settle in? Looks like your male has some nice red already.

Looks nice mate. Second hand tanks are always a win.. Did the new Apistos arrive?

For my tank that is that size i use sponge filters. ill put wool in the tube that sits in the sponge just for some extra medium. With tanks that size its usually under stocked. Mainly grow-outs or smaller species so bio-load isnt high and water changes and sponge filter works for me. To use a sponge filter just buy an airpump (the more you pay the less noise they make and also make sure it comes with air tube) and then a sponge filter. Both can be easily obtained as all aquariums/pet stores I have gone to. Goldfish are high waste producing fish so can be a bit of a pain to deal with maintenance wise. I know most may not recommend it but when I was fresh on the scene I used instant tank cycle products such as API Quick Start. Ive never really had issues with fish when I used that method. With your hardier species of fish I would imagine you having success with it also. Will make it easier than cycling on the go with fish and you can read up on tank cycling for your next tank. As we all know, one tank is never enough.

Welcome to the forum, mate! If you have any questions about how to find certain features or content dont hesitate to ask. I believe your tanks measurements are in millimetres? If so, your tank should be 54 litres. Common catfish may either be a bristlenose catfish or maybe a golden chinese algae eater? My guess is maybe a bristlenose. How long ago was the tank setup? Did a water change help clear murkiness up?

Hahah glad to hear it mate. Was the same for a few years, just glad a few familiar faces remain. Glad to see you and your outrageous profile photos