Reel McKoi wrote:


Cardinals seem to be much hardier. I had a few that lasted for a long time
but I don't always see them in the stores here.


Everyone here told me Neons were hardier than Cardinals when I was out
shopping - my experience has been the other way round so I guess it is
really a YMMV......and they were 3 times the price of Neons in the only
place I found them.....ended up with 24 Neons and 10 Cardinals....so
with the 6 tetras I already had this is a school of 40 and even still it
doesn't look quite large enough - may pick up another 10
tomorrow.....fortunatly for my plastic the place I went today didn't
have anything marine that I wanted - unfortunately for my wallet I'm
going to another place tomorrow to pick up some more tetras and some
more vals (also to sound out the Discus there) - and the other place is
really good for marine.....


I'm getting around pretty good now and can wear a normal shoe on the
injured foot, so hope to get to at least PetsMart and PetSupermarket
this coming week.

These things take a long time to get fixed - my Mum broke her wrist at
the beginning of July and has been told at least another 5 weeks before
she can drive again. Glad you are making a good recovery...



I also want to take a closer look at those Rainbows you've mentioned. How
large do they usually get and are they long lived?

If you mean the Boesmanis - they grow to around 4-5" allegedly - my
older ones are closer to 3" but these are females. The males are very
attractive - half blue and half orange/yellow....the females are OK but
drab when compared to the males. They are described as slightly
aggressive but I've not had too many issues with them (and I keep them
with Angels). Now, the Red Rainbow I have is a different story and does
like to rule the roost - I'm watching with interest to see how he copes
with the Angels (he's just moved to the 6 foot tank). Most rainbows are
suited to high pH/hard water but there are exceptions so it's a good
idea to research first. The following site used to be a good resource
(but I haven't been there recently):-

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/...n/Contents.htm



I love Angel fish, especially the marble and the gold ones. I only wish
there was some way to keep them from breeding and creating havoc in a tank.
I love to watch a small group of them swimming through the vals and around
the driftwood. But then the day always comes when they want to
breed.......


I guess the best solution is to get them all the same sex but I
understand that it is difficult to sex them when they are juveniles. My
two swim around together but show no inclination to breed.


If you can get nice female bettas and the tank is large enough go for
it.....but have a back up plan.....I rather suspect that the nicer
female bettas might be boys in disguise....


This is possible but I also found out that for awhile unscrupulous breeders
in Asia were treating female bettas with testosterone to grow enough
finnage
to pass as males. I don't know if that is still being done.

Possible I guess........all sorts of things happen on these fish farms.....

Gill