You've Got Goos! Babies in da House!

[Brody]

My next tank (should be about 3 weeks from now) is another 75g, but I managed to buy two lots of pagwi from Tanner. The pagwi is the fish that Kent brought back from Irian Jaya with the Goos. They live in the exact same spot, Goo obo Falls. So, the last tank will have nothing but pagwi, Goos and some red-nosed shrimp from Irian Jaya. Trying to make it as "biotope" as I possibly can. Hoping to get some better pics of the area and (crosses fingers) an idea of the plants in the water there.

Roan

That's my plan with the 40g. Then upgrade eventually to something bigger like the 135. I always wanted a big planted tank.

Let me know what plants you discover, I've been looking around, but there's not much info yet. The only thing I have to go by is the picture at the new guinea fish website. Do you know where we could get some rock like that? I was going to look at the local rock stores. I'll let you know if I find anything.

http://www.australianrainbowfish.com/fish_ng/new_guinea_fishes_menu.htm

 

[Roan Art]

Actually I have several PNG plant lists. One is from Dave Wilson on the RML (Rainbow Mailing List). Unfortunately a LOT of the plants are hard or impossible to get and those you can get are very pricey.

If you are thinking of buying some for the new tank and don't want to waste your money or invite a huge problem with algae, then the best thing to do is set the tank up and sock it full of "throw away" plants like hornwort (which is actually a PNG plant, so not really a throw-away), anacharis and the like. Then replace the plants with the ones you want, as you get them. Unless you REALLY luck out, it will take you 3-4 weeks to source the plants and get them in. I'm still battling aglae problems in my first tank which I set up and let run before I had all the plants in. Doh. Learn from your mistakes.`

Here's the list. Comments in brackets are Dave's, anything else are mine:

Acrostichum speciosum ( a very large fern but juveniles are ok in an aquarium) Unable to source
Ammania baccifera ( Needs really bright light) Unable to source
Aponogeton loriae Unable to source
Aponogeton womersleyi Unable to source
Blyxa aubertii ( a very nice aquarium plant ) aquabotanic.com
Blyxa japonica aquabotanic.com
Blyxa novoguineensis Unable to source
Blyxa octandra Unable to source
Ceratophyllum demersum (say no more) hornwort
Ceratopteris thalictroides (broad leaf variety similar to the one in North Aust.) Unable to source, substituting with thin leaf
Cryptiocorne dewitii Unable to source
Cryptocoryne ciliata ( A large crypt that likes to grow emergent) aquabotanic.com, Lowcoaster on AquaBid.com (Lowcoaster's are nicest)
Cryptocoryne versteegii ( I would like to get this one) Unable to source
Elatine triandra WANT BADLY, but unable to source
Hydrilla verticillata ( a bit weedy, chokes waterways) Unable to source
Hydrostemma motleyi (related to Barclaya) Unable to source
Lemna triscula (Duckweed) Anywhere
Limnophila aromatica (Useable) Several places carry this
Limnophila brownii (A very nice aquarium plant)
Microsorium brassii Narrow leaf java fern. VERY expensive. Lowcoaster has the best prices at 8$ per plant
Microsorium pteropus Java fern
Myriophyllum dicoccum ( a very nice aquarium plant, goes very red in sunlight) Unable to source, substitute with myriophyllum terenum
Myriophyllum pygmaeum Unable to source
Numphoides indica ( Like a banana lily) Haven't sourced
Nymphaea nouchali ( Very nice as a juvenile plant) Haven't sourced
Nymphaea pubescens (Very nice when young, related to tiger lotus) Haven't sourced
Nymphaea violaceae (nice as a juvenile plant, needs bright light) Haven't sourced
Ottelia alismoides (Beautiful plant that needs to be grown from seed each year, considered a weed outside Aust and New Guinea) Sourced, but wary. No mention of seeds. Did not buy.
Pogostemon stellatus (A very nice aquarium plant) Available from several places
Potamegeton javanicus (useable but not very attractive) Unable to source
Potameogeton malaianus Unable to source
Potameogeton pursillus Unable to source
Rotala mexicana, ( a very nice plant) Sourced, but source is out. May substitued with another red rotala
Scirpus litoralis ( has nice foliage on immature plant, once mature send up rigid spikes out of water) Unablet to source
Spirodela polyrhiza (Giant duck weed) Don't want
Vallisneria natans ( A very broad leaf vallisneria) Desperately looking for this one. I've seen it. I know it's out there.
Wolffia HAHAH, can't find that anywhere. Don't even know what it is

I have another list as well from Adrian's rainbowfish site and there are a lot of plants on there that Dave doesn't have on his list. It's for the Sepik River region. I'll post that one later today.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

Rock -- I'm using Black Pearl Soapstone. It's actually a steatite and safe. The rocks, from the pictures I've seen, are large, dark and blackish-gray for the most part (probably granite) and the black pearl is that color. IMO slate just doesn't cut it. It's just not the right size. You need mini-boulders for the most part

Black pearl is easily carved (I'm an artist and was using it for carving. I had some left over and used it for my first tank. I've been buying it for my tanks ever since) so you can "round" it where need be.

The only problem is is that it is rather expensive. I buy it in the small lots of 65# for 89$ and with shipping in VA it comes to about 105$. You can tell them how many rocks you want the 65# split into. I usually ask them for 3-4 rocks. Some of the ones in my tank are 30#.

www.BlackPearlSoapStone.com

HTH
Roan

 

[Emg]

LOL....yeah, I figure that the younguns are too small to snap a pic of....I was wondering about those beautiful blue eyed parents that you were talking about ! Are you able to get some nice pics of the adults ? I saw the few that you posted in another thread....and was wondering if you had some more...

 

[Roan Art]

LOL....yeah, I figure that the younguns are too small to snap a pic of....I was wondering about those beautiful blue eyed parents that you were talking about ! Are you able to get some nice pics of the adults ? I saw the few that you posted in another thread....and was wondering if you had some more...

Not yet
On my list of "things to do". I've got a wack of water changes to do today -- behind a bit -- new fish coming for the second 75g (two lots of pagwi and am keeping them in there until I get the third set up), another school of gertrudae, plants to transfer, and so on. Then there's my other real life stuff to do

Roan

 

[earwick]

Congratzzz!!! :thm: :thm: :thm: I've never had much luck with fry*compcomp*...

 

[Roan Art]

Got my fish today.

The pagwi did NOT ship well at all. I lost one almost immediately. All of them have threads and are severely stressed. Difficulty breathing. I suspect the high ammonia in the shipping bags (2.0) didn't help and the fact that they are F1 may have something to do with it as well.

None of this is Tanner's fault. The fish were packaged as usual: very professionally. The temperature inside the bags was 72*, so they were not exposed to undue temperatures.

I've had to turn off my CO2 in the tank and am running bubble wands to help keep the gas exchange going. This is helping the pagwi a *lot*. I've been babying them as well. At this time only one of them seems tired of it all. Some of the rest are still questionable, but more than a few have eaten so it's promising for them.

I'm going to back off the boards for a day or two while I concentrate on my new babies. I didn't have them shipped all the way from CA to have them die in my tanks. I'm going to do what I can to help them get over this.

I've a couple of pictures I'll post a little later -- they're very pretty and rather delicate looking for a large fish.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

These aren't very good pics at all, but I wasn't really in the mood to sit there waiting for the ideal shot:

They're pink and blue, with light blue eyes. The male in the face shot has a thread at the corner of his mouth. He's one of the better ones.

Here's a shot of one of my duboulayi males and two of the girls:

Just remember that these guys are all babies and haven't come into their colors yet. Rainbows grow very slowly for the most part.

Roan

 

[Lobo.]

Rock -- I'm using Black Pearl Soapstone. It's actually a steatite and safe.
The only problem is is that it is rather expensive. I buy it in the small lots of 65# for 89$ and with shipping in VA it comes to about 105$. You can tell them how many rocks you want the 65# split into. I usually ask them for 3-4 rocks. Some of the ones in my tank are 30#.
HTH
Roan

ive got the same rock in my 10 gallon, except i got my rock for free!, this rock is abundant east of the appalation mountains in the rivers there. i got mine in westcarolina (from the river that runs through west carolina university) in these rivers there are BOLDERS of rocks that are pure quartz, which is very cool looking when split, and BOLDERS of these black and white rocks... so if your in the area, you could save some $$

or i could go collect it sometime and sell it for about half the price and still make a bundle! :joke:

rocks are very fun to add to aquariums, i get mine from places that i visit all over, instead of buying souveneirs, i collect a rock or two to bring back home to wash and possible set up. in this way, my aquarium doubles as a rock garden... full of memories or whatnot...

 

[Emg]

LOL Lobo, have you ever seen that old movie....."The Long Long Trailer" with Lucielle Ball and Desi Arnaz..... ?



Roan, thanks for the pictures ! Those are VERY nice fish ! I also love that nice green moss/algae ?? you have growing on your rocks ! NICE !

I do hope all goes well with your pagwi Roan.....be looking for you to come back and tell us all is well !