alanmin4304

I am interested in what is proposed that is more stringent than the present requirements but no one seems to want to tell me. Saying it will cost more is not the answer.

New IHS is another post. This post is about the industry behind the hobby. That includes importing, breeding, wholesaling and retailing. No one has yet pointed out to me what the proposed changes to the importing and quarantine regime are and what the added costs might be. Just because a proposed standard is put up does not mean that it is all new and added costs So is any one prepared to tell me what the propsed additional regime is and what the likely added costs might be? In the mean time I remain yours sincerely Igrant.

I did read it. Since fish can and are now tested and the costs recovered I am asking what are the proposed changes. I assume you know the difference between PROPOSED and EXISTING.

Since no one seems prepared to answer my perfectly reasonable question about "what are the proposed added costs" I will just have to remain igrant.

Since I am still in the past could you please explain what the proposed added costs are?

There is nothing preventing anyone from importing if they wish to meet the criteria and obey the rules.

I admit that I am thick and living in the past and that you guys are so clever so could you please point out to this retard how you propse to reduce Reef's compliance costs so he can make more money.

I may be a bit thick but my understanding is that the IHS are the same as they have been in terms of the criterier to be met. This post was about the industry behind the hobby, the other post is about adding other fish to the approved fish list.

As LA said industries ebb and flow. I used to breed 8 pairs of angels all the time but there is no way the NZ market would take them now. There are many tetras that could be bred and sold in large numbers at the moment and lots of other fish as well. You can speculate as to why Maf have these requirements but the reality is there and they are likely to stay or get worse. I am not knocking importing (I have done it) I am pointing out that it is likely that restrictions will get tighter, costs will rise and more fish will be bred locally. Things will change but the hobby will go on.

no

Hovmoller--great point and well said. Please accept my humble apologies for repeating myself (it is one of those things we do as we get older and you will have to look foreward to). I think people in NZ are impatient, not polite and often down right rude on our roads. How you make people like that show consideration is a challenge. The Government has the answer as always---they are talking about making another law that people can break. You look at people on roads in Asia and it looks like a complete shambles but you don't see a pile of dead bodies beside the road.

I was serious about breeding fish. Many years ago I used to breed and sell 50000 tropical fish a year. To the guy that owned and operated the facility above actually. There is a guy down here establishing a large breeding facility and he has for many yeers bred and sold many varieties of tropical fish at wholesale prices and in wholesale numbers. I had about 60 tanks and he has over 350. As quarantine costs go up (particularly on high risk fish) it will be more profitable to breed them. We have to make sure we can produce them at a good quality and cost. There will always be fish that need to be imported but I can see the prices of them going up as well particularly if importers no longer bring in the bread and butter lines because they are breeding them here.

I am trying to point out the realities of life as a fish keeper. Quarantine of imported fish is esential Testing of imported fish is esential We live in a user pays society so paying for testing is esential This is not new. Maf have been testing fish for a long time and charging for it almost as long. It may not suit some people to be told this but these things have been going on in the south Island for a very long time and importers here have been asking for a level playing field---perhaps it is coming. Maf found Piscene TB in one variety of goldfish I imported and they took them all away and destroyed them. They took one of each of nine varieties to test for disease and then came back and took another sample of each to confirm they were not koi. 7 inspections in 6 weeks and each costing nearly as much as the fish cost. That was many years ago. That is the reality of life in the import business--that is why there are not many importers. After I was asked to attend a meeting with Maf and fish importers(and ended up chairing the meeting as I was the only independent one there) We were escorted to a quarantine facility in Auckland that was held up as an example. There were at least 5 varieties of fish there that were prohibited including baby white clouds and orandas any of which a person in Christchurch would have lost their licence over. One of the senior Maf people stood in front of a tank of baby white clouds and said what a good thing for the country it was that the importer was breeding neons. In Christchurch at that time it was not permitted to breed in a quarantine facility let alone white clouds. We had agreed to remain quiet about anything before we went. Welcome to the real world.

I am with Barrie. Some people on bikes (and I ride a bike too) seem to think that being right is more important than being alive and uninjured. You have no protection on a bike so being right will not keep you alive. As a kid I rode a bike all over the place and often didn't worry about puting the lights on at night because I could see OK and in those days you had to push a dynamo for the lights to work. It was not untl I started to drive a car that I realised that it was almost impossible to see a cyclist without lights at night. It is better to be alive than dead right.

All the available frogs in NZ are ausies and Litoria (tree frogs) even the albinos. They are not true aquatics and only need a little water until they decide to breed. You can buy (and I use) fly traps off trademe. You can also breed flies but I get enough to feed twenty odd frogs from a trap. Others may have had more luck but I have lost a couple of frogs from impaction when feeding mealworms.

I just let mine germinate in the same tank so not sure. Some of the aquatic plants have seeds that can't be dried out like your garden peas so I would transplant them as soon as the seeds fall off. A rich media and good light would be a start.

The crypts might do a melt but yours are the hardier varieties mainly. If they do melt just remove the leaves and wait for the new growth. Chances are you will get away with planting them as is.

What petition and what do you want to stop? Quarantine of imported fish is a fact of life as is testing for disease and paying for it so get used to it. You cannot expect the taxpayer to pay for your hobby unless you are prepared to pay for their hobby. It will make breeding fish more profitable, particularly the high risk varieties, so go for it.

You can buy clear plastic tubing from plastic suppliers. I use it on my small tanks. Ring around.

Parviflorus tropica is an Echinodorus, will grow slowly and stay relatively small. The crypts I would just plant as is. There were some small pups on the balansae which should produce shortly.

They should germinate in the same tank if you don't suck them all up with the poo vac.

The smaller the entrance to the "suckie" end the faster the water will move

Live food can be expensive for keeping lizards but not so bad if you breed your own.

The bisexual flower should open tomorrow and you can assist it to make some seeds.

Fond memories of a great and generous person. He will be missed by all those whose path he crossed.