Joe

What has this thread come to? :facepalm: .........

DE = Double Ended. SE = Single Ended/Mogul.

Oh my goodness you're joking right? You're supposed to be the expert here :slfg:

Sorry but I am not interested in massive tanks and second hand equipment. I want something that is going to be manageable and that I am actually going to be able to move, and I want it to be rimless with low iron glass and not drilled. And I want to buy everything brand new, because that way it will have the warranty and also my needs will differ from yours because my intentions are different. Also if I recall your halide was DE, and 250w Radiums only come in SE. And I just love Giesemann lights, and I don't mind paying extra for that world reknowed German quality :happy2:

Yeah. I was thinking 75x60x45cm with a Giesemann Spectra with a 250w Radium halide and KZ T5 bulbs. I'd also like a 45x45x30cm pico lit with a Kessil spotlight to go on my desk.

You summed it up nicely :thup: And yeah it is cool about things popping up unexpectedly. There are lots of cool invertebrates (such as Acropora crabs and pistol shrimp) that aren't on the import list but they come in on corals and make awesome additions to any reef setup I'd love a pistol shrimp with a goby. That would be so cool!

To be honest, I'm actually considering ditching freshwater aquaria altogether and getting a nano reef tank I like the idea of having a mini ecosystem with various invertebrates, small fish, corals and other critters all living together happily. I wouldn't be able to achieve this with a freshwater tank because there are only fish and plants in NZ, no tropical freshwater shrimp, fully aquatic tropical frogs, ornamental snails or anything cool like that. And reef tanks continue to evolve. With a freshwater tank, once I've got the plants growing nicely and have a group of fish all I'll need to do is waterchanges and trimming the plants which IMO is kinda boring. And I really don't fancy tearing down the scape every now and then and setting up something different. I have thought long and hard about what I want to get out of this hobby, and I really want relaxing medium-sized aquarium full of diversity and colour, which I will definitely be able to achieve with a reef aquarium :thup:

Completely cleaning out the 140L tank because it is such a mess and I have been neglecting it for weeks and I haven't done a waterchange for a couple of months either. The fish don't seem bothered though. After losing all those Green Neons and Axelrod's Rasboras I have completely lost enthusiasm for the hobby. I will still have a go at breeding the Apistogramma trifasciata and maybe the Licorice Gouramis since I have a couple of pairs (only lost one female), but otherwise I am don't know what I am going to do from here...

My fish have gone on holiday to Bucketville.

Gorgeous fish !drool: Thanks for sharing :thup:

That's pretty much what I meant And yeah custom made tanks are awesome. I'm really happy with the ones that I got from Petworld.

Just wondered what strains/varieties/species of wild discus are they, how much will they retail for and which stores will be stocking them? Thanks

Beautiful fish! !drool: Thanks so much for taking the time to share these photos with us

Yeah I do agree with you there. Animal Control should treat cats in a similar manner to dogs in those situations :thup:

Same with dogs too. We've had quite a few dogs wander into our property, chase our chooks and cats and defecate all over our lawn. At least cats are kind enough to bury their faeces and not leave it lying around for us to step on :slfg:

:gpo2:

Definitely agree with you on that one :thup:

I doubt it that every single domestic cat would kill a number of native species of conservation concern in its lifetime :roll: Especially when most cats are found in towns or cities where there are little or no natives of concern. The native most likely to be caught by cats is silvereyes. In rural areas of course there is a higher chance that things like parson birds and bellbirds etc might be caught, if the location is surrounded by native forest. But otherwise the main culprit is native cats. Also, it appears that you forgot to take this part into consideration;

What I still don't understand about this whole thing is that, so far, I have not seen any solid research to prove that domestic cats are having a significant effect on contributing to the decimation of native species. Trapping and killing feral cats makes sense, but if domestic cats were a huge threat to native wildlife, surely someone like DOC would have cottoned on to it by now? Also here's the results of the study the guy did on this cat over 17 years that was on Campbell Live the other day. http://www.3news.co.nz/Killer-cats-Does ... fault.aspx

Seems you are right - just watching Campbell Live right now and a guy who did a 17 year study on what his cat killed found that the majority of birds caught were silver eyes. It also stated on the show that they are of little conservation concern, probably due to the fact that they breed prolifically as you stated Maybe the reason my cat doesn't kill many is because they aren't very common in this area?

What makes a cat more likely to catch a silver eye instead of a blackbird or sparrow? :dunno: You you have a link to any studies/research that prove this?

"There is no doubt that cats do a massive amount of damage to our wildlife. In the interest of protecting native species would you consider not replacing your cat with a new one when it dies?" If cats are such dangerous predators why did more bird extinction happen in NZ before European settlers and their cats arrived? And no, I will replace my cat when she dies. It astounds me as to why Gareth Morgan is promoting the eradication of cats when there are species that do much more damage to native wildlife, such as possums, stoats, rats and even hedgehogs. And I'm sure 1080 has killed more wildlife than cats ever have. It makes sense killing feral cats, especially since they live in forests and prey on native animals. But wanting to eliminate everyone's domesticated pets? Honestly that is just ridiculous. My cat has never killed any native animals, and she has killed far more mice than she has birds. And the only birds she has caught are sparrows and finches that come to feed on the chicken's grain and the bread that mum throws on the lawn for the chooks. Also conservation land around urban and suburban areas, such as Karori Sanctuary in Wellington for example, are surrounded by pest-proof fencing so I doubt a cat would be able to get in there and start killing things unless someone actually puts it in the sanctuary. And I doubt anyone's pet cat would travel hundreds of kilometers up into the what-nots where there are unfenced forests just to kill native birds when there are plenty of sparrows in the back yard. :gpo2:

Awesome :thup:

Yeah I know. Kinda sucks really