hamishh34

Glad to hear it. Good luck with them. Festae need some help with breeding for quality. Too many rubbish ones out there.

If you are willing to wait a while, a guy I know in Syndey should have some fry from the offspring the best pair of festae ive seen in Aus in a long time.

Best to get animals you want to keep rather than if they breed and sell well. That way you're not disappointed when you dont make money or you cant sell fry as quickly as you thought.

Should post photos of the actual fish.

Unless outcrossed, albino lines are generally quite weak. Also, most linebred varieties regardless of albinism have a lack of genetic diversity so are a fair bit more delicate. Correct me if I am wrong. But when breeding lyretails, dont you need a male that doesnt express the lyretail gene and bred to female lyretails? I was under the impression the males lose any function with their gonopodium?

What size tank were the valentulus kept in? Were you ever able to breed them and what size did they get to with you in captivity? Sorry for all the questions! A cool species to keep. Much cheaper when legally catching them as well. As a guess I wouldnt have expected all of them to visit land. Particularly those that live in more permanent deep bodies of water. Rather than more stream type settings you see in Mt Lamington. Where I to saw sulcatus only half submerged feeding while in a shallow stream heading towards the waterfall. The first crayfish species other than blue/red claw I had seen in person and I was blown away. It would be interesting to talk to the commercial breeder regarding the leaving of water with the species they work with. Surely if its integral to their keeping they would have noticed it. That PDF was a cracking find. Thanks for sharing that!

Damn that cod. Dont know if I ever have seen a mutation in those big boys! I spoke to a wholesaler who breeds multiple Euastacus. He said that they do quite poorly in an aquarium. Either very large aquariums/ponds would be needed for success etc. I havent been able to find many people keeping them to ask first hand how they are on a non commercial scale. But $600 for an animal that may not do well in my care is far too much to ask. Slow growing doesnt phase me. I just spent a whole lot of money on a critically endangered turtle species that will take up to 20 years to reach sexual maturity haha. So 8 isnt so bad! Doesnt seem like the most ideal pet to bring to the market. Although some sort of setup with land with some spiny crays could be cool once they have reached an impressive size. Some of the colouration they get is insane.

Jardini International seem to have a few of these so hopefully a few more appear in the future.. Someone up Cairns way was given one for free from a lady that didnt know what it was. Lucky fella!

Aquagreen has a extensive plant list. A huge variety of native and exotic plants and they come in very large bunches. I ended up with so much it ended in an outside pond. Very cheap in comparison to other online suppliers and pet stores (although for obvious reasons with the pet store).

In fairness, I only looked at the date of the previous post But you win, @billfish I am going away so my ego can recover. My back also hurts so I must not be too young anymore.

Just want to make a post thanking Dave publicly. Purchased a variety of aquatic plants to put in my critically endangered Manning River turtle tank. Not only were the 'bunches' the biggest I have ever seen, but they were very healthy also. Some I had too much of and are now residing in outdoor tubs to grow. Will be interesting comparing the differences in growth. He also chucked in some freebies which I cannot be more thankful of. Cheapest and best selection of native and non-native plants I have seen. Cheapest rainbow prices as well Look forward to shopping at Aquagreen soon, Dave! Cheers

There is nothing I enjoy more than a boomer showing off the fact that they don't have facebook

I will pm you the place I know of. Assume you have already made contact with this person though.

I nearly killed mine when i first got it. From under shade cloth to direct Rockhampton sun had it shell shocked. Didnt think about that once I got it home. But I have found mine has done well in half shade. Hasnt grown much height wise but has become very dense with shoots towards the base. Probably for the best since the fruit set on branches and trunk. Been checking out a few of your youtube vids and your property is looking mint. Nice collection you have. You'll never have to buy fruit again in a few years. How many acres do you have if you dont mind me asking?

Haha I am sure it will generate a few laughs! I for one am looking forward to the footage 6 weeks has never felt so close yet so far away I imagine.