Warren

Yeah, come-on then, spill the beans...

Hay reef, all Corals and Fish seemed to arrive in good shape, cheers...

It is only partially to do with transferring species to NZ waterways, but mostly to do with the Bio hazard to humans. The requirements we've had set for us are already law (decided by politicians). Whether the law is actually a good one or not is unfortunately irrelavent. It's been passed and isn't likely to be changed as 'Egg-on-face' is pretty hard for some to wipe off... We've only got until the 15th of November to complete the list. Please snap them photo's and get them on the official form to Reef or me. Cheers!

Also known as Red Snakeheads. Has anyone heard of these and do they exist in NZ? They aren't on the permitted import list but don't appear to be on the unwanted organism list either. I beleive they are a type of Pike and as such probably aren't allowed into NZ...

That may be so but photographic evidence of each species is required before MAF and ERMA will accept the species as actually here. Go here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fish_study/ to read the requirements...

This maybe so but there are bound to be other species he can't cover...

I've added corals to the Fish Study page so submit away please (copied from NZ Reefs). I still need to add fish, please advise where I can find a list of species available/present in NZ.

Does anyone have a fish list they can send me or point me to?

Do a partial water change to lower the nitrite a bit. You want to leave some nitrite so the filter develops properly. If the reading is off-scale you could easily do a 50% water change. Make sure you treat the new water in an external bucket first to get rid of the chlorine. You can also get it to the right temperature by adding hot water...

I've just received 22 forms for the fish study. While I'm grateful people are doing it, please make sure you have submitted a valid form. These forms have no photo's attached to them. I don't know what I'm suposed to do with them now as they are useless as far as MAF and ERMA are concerned. It will take me well over an hour to format print and attach 22 photo's, not to mention that I'm not allowed to do it from MAF's and ERMA's standpoint... If you are going to submit forms, please make sure you fill them out correctly and fully before sending them. I do not have the resource to print everyone's pictures for them.

Great PDF file. Will you be submitting forms of these? I'll update the website with the species you've listed. Any more info you can send, please email it direct.

Taken today of the MAF Website: Unwanted Organisms Scientific Name - Common Name - Organism Type Govt Dept - CTO Category Any member of Esocidae family - pikes - Fish ERMA New Zealand - Prohibited new organism Any venomous fish - venomous fish - Fish - ERMA New Zealand - Prohibited new organism Cyprinus carpio - European carp - Fish - Department of Conservation Hicks, Geoff - Established Organism (DoC) Gambusia affinis - mosquitofish - Fish -Department of Conservation Hicks, Geoff - Established Organism (DoC) Gasterosteus spp. - stickleback -Fish - ERMA - New Zealand - Prohibited new organism Gobio gobio - gudgeon - Fish - Biosecurity New Zealand Thomson, Peter - Other Exotic Organism Ictalurus punctatus - channel catfish - Fish - MAF O'Neil, Barry - Notifiable Organism If it's one these then don't bother listing it. If it's not then we want it...

Yes, library books are fine. As long as you get the name of the book and the ISBN number as a reference they will be accepted. Thanks for the help. Going to pet shops is an ideal way to get bulk photo's. Any volunteers for the Auckland shops?

It is the 15th November. I'll get the pages concerned updated.

How about taking some photo's of your fish to send into the Fish Study? http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fish_study/

Here's the link: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fish_study/ We've only just received our first submission of 8 species, good on you Matt! Come on everyone else, go to the Fish Study pages and see what you can do to help. If the species name isn't marked as done then we need it. Get out your camera's and start snapping!! We've only got 2 months left to source 4200 photo's. So far after 4 weeks we have only 8. There's 4200+ required, 8 supplied, not a good look so far...

Yep, 14 hours is what I've found best too.

As Pies say's, metal polishing compound works great. If there are any realy deep pits they can be filled with clear resin (like the Novus guy's use). It usually pays to fill pits before polishing. I've had Novus over filling a couple of pits in my tank before... You can still see them if you know where to look but what was totally obvious isn't seen now unless you look really hard.

It is illegal to collect or keep hornwort. You can be fined up to $200,000 or get up to 7 years in prison for collecting any pest organism with the intent to move it to another location. Hornwort is one of New Zealands major problem plants. Be a responsible hobbyist and don't touch it. There are many other plants that grow just as well with a similar structure like Ambulia or Cabomba. As long as it's not too cold (below 18'C) it will be ok. Any pond plant you find at a plant shop will do as good a job for coldwater and there's a huge range of tropical plants available at pet shops and from other hobbyists too.

Or call me on 845 2512 after 5:30pm weekdays. You'd be welcome. I won't be at the meeting this month on the 21st as I'll be visiting the Wellington club in an official role...

No tanks, just the RO. No pumps either...

Seems pretty reasonable to me... My 4 stage RO cost about $250 10 years ago and it only does 100L a day.

The deadline is now 15th November...