Cricketman

ust got off the phon with the SPCA: they are sending an inspector around today hopefully to have a look! +1 for the good guys, i also said that i know a heap of people that have witnessed other things, said and seen, so hopefully we can get something done! if they at least buck up thier ideas and start looking after fish knowing that a population of concerned fishkeepers in the region and in NZ are watching them, at least that would be a victory. they are going to give me a phone call about how its all going so lets wait and see.

i know for a fact that sea crayfish (red lobsters) and snapper, you HAVE to have a cert etc from MAF. as pointed out, it is illegal to take freshwater crays from taupo, rotorua lakes etc, unless you can get iwi consent for the area your fishing. which means talking to the tangata kaitiaki and filling out a form, pretty simple, and its not restricted just to Maori or people from the local iwi as to how you get them... traditionally a branch is placed in the water, leaves and all, left for a day or so, then you pull the branch in and apparently they holdon or summin but thats how i was told. or you buy me macdonalds and ill go for a dive lol

calling SPCA tommorow, will let you guys know whats happening also ill go down and take sum photos on my phone, looks less sus than a big macro camera

i just dont want them to get away with it thats all :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

anthony if you could would you be willing to write up a signed statement to that, as that attitude etc and a eye witness statement may be enuogh to get something serious done about it

also i ask that no-one go in there and say anything, i would love the SPCA inspectors to go in and see it as it is, a scrungepit... if someone sayts something they may move it or something to try dodge teh bullet, but i think that they should have thier fish-keeping licence or whatever they have revoked.

well lets say that it starts with a and ends in mates, and they use to have a large tank with 3 or so of them, and they were happish, now the big tank has gone and i think this one may be the last sole survivor. and at this rate i doubt that it shal survive for much longer. im going to give living a call and see if he wants it, then call SPCA and tell them about the various things that i have seen, not just today (dead and dying fish in a couple tanks, and one tank that looks like it hasnt been cleaned for a few weeks) and the pacu, and tell them i know a animal shelter that would take it. my main concern is that they may retrieve the fish but be forced to kull it without the facilities to keep it.

my understanding is that koura are protected species and are, like saltwater crayfish, only to be kept under licence from MAF. please correct me if im wrong someone, lol

for the sake of not wanting to get banned or anything, the following happened at a certain petshop that will remain un-named, unless it is asked for by a mod or admin etc or someone who can help with the problem. i went into a certain fish shop today with paul_r to have a look round, (something that i usually wouldnt do especially with this shop), and to my disgust i found a large pacu sitting in water so shallow that its dorsal fins were sticking out the top and was swimming on its side-ish around the tank. also in this tank were a couple red-ear turtles that were swimming around and scratching the fish!! how totally unfair on the fish is that! surely there must be something of "animal cruelty" about it?? this is not the only ting that i have seen/experienced in this store, but by fr this has to be the worst case of in your face blaitant cruelty Is there anyone here that could house a pacu if we were to get SPCA or similiar involved?? living art might be alright, cant remember if i asked him or not, but anyway... what does it take to get a fish or a facility investigated? im pretty serious bout this so anyone who can help... thanks

i saw apistogramma at animal antics, i think that is what i thought were kribs or rams etc, idk, i think i need to look at a ID book a couple times over lmao definately need to research more etc but at the moment ive got some time at teh moment cos i waiting for the landlord to finish wallpapering etc, but hey least i will end up with a great setup that ive thought heaps about

well ive got my wishlist: pictus catfish silvershark/s? dwarf/kuhli/gold zebra loaches (would i only get 1 species or will a mixed group go alright?) cardinal tetras (or neons or others) blue rams kribs and whatever comes free lol going to be quite expensive! lol but its sooo going to be worth it! i cant wait!!! gotta get my tank cycling asap!

been drinking since 2.... its 5 oclock somewhere in the world....

no idea, we took our own, but if you can find a place that would hire them out, it would be well worth it.

lake waikerimoana is GORGEOUS!!! if you hava kayak then go for a paddle round and look at teh petrified forest that is just below the surface, i would love to dive there one day, when i get my drysuit as it bloody cold lol, theres also a heap of cool jumps off teh rocks etc hehe, we kayaked/ camped round the whole lake for a week on my last course

you dive then rockerpeller? i got a compass to go onto my suunto SPG, hehe and a 8 day cruise to New Caledonia lol

i was SUPER naughty, i didnt even get coal, i got a peice of paper with the word "coal" written on it....

well im just setting up a new tank at the moment, its 1.2 metres by 0.4 by 0.4, the problem comes that at the moment i have a angel, one sailfin mollie that survived the bout of finrot i had, and one bristlenose. i want a nice community tank, but the problem is that im not wholly familiar with some of the fish that are found in New Zealand petshops, and i was wondering what sort of fish i could put in, i figure that the angel going to be the main decider of what fish i can keep, keeping anything too small or frilly off the litteral menu. paul_r was going to give me some blue rams, but i dont know anything bout them either... >.< so here you go, design a tank!! lol

sorry bout your mum bro, prayers and much love bo hava great new years

i thought that was a cheap guy line, lol SAVE WATER! shower witha friend...

hmmm, what if you ran an overflow into a sump, then put the inlet of your canister into teh sump and then the outlet into the tank! it would be double filtration with the best of both worlds! lol though double the cleaning, but hey! it could work...

lol, boiling rocks, something that i would have thought would be daft and pointless before i got into fish, lol, and yer i wouldnt boil em, i got some rocks and brushed em with a wire brush and rinsed a couple times for my old tank, lol

my dad works for teh hospital in whakatane, i could see what he says about getting some, and hed probably know the legal side of things too, im going over xmas day so ill try remember lol

thanks bro, remind me to smack you round the head next time i see you huh? lol

youd think that the petshops would actually check what sort of people they wqere hiring in the first place... ive been appaled at teh lack of knowledge of some petshop owners. the old living waters shop one day had a endangered type of saltwater tetra that i had just finished doing a study into as part of lookig at the cyanide and dynamite fishing inthe phillapines, apparently the wild stocks are near extinct due to the aquarium trade. i meantioned this to teh LFS owner. the next week i went in and the fish was still for sale but now had RARE next to it and the price had doubled... not the reaction i was looking for... >.<

my understanding of genetics is that they can only crossbreed if they have the same number of chromasomes and are a similiar genetically. definition of a species is when a population can only breed within itself to form viable offspring. are the platty/ swordtail offspring viable or sterile like jackasses? (cross tween horse and donkey)