David R

Will flourish help if you don't have any other plants??

Don't worry, its the same here (Auckland), if I drive 10 minutes down the road there's gangs, tagging, and liquor store owners getting shot for no reason. I'm sure there's plenty of places in florida that are just as attractive as NZ, every country has its beautiful spots...

Because MAF make it too difficult!! You don't need permits to keep exotic reptiles vs native ones, native fish aren't very widely available (or half as diverse and colourful as tropicals), not too sure about hte legality of keeping native birds, but I know you're not allowed to breed them to release. And as for tuatara... Thats a pretty stink attitude really, how many exotic pets are out of control? I haven't heard of beardies roaming free and eating native insects, or oscars taking over native streams and eating the native fish. Yes the rainbow lori's are a problem (and rosellas) but the fact is that many animals (cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, goldfish etc) are all perfectly legal to keep and breed, yet they pose a much higher threat to the native flora and fauna than a lot of "exotics"...

They will probably eat them, but why are you so keen to feed them? If you want to vary/improve the fishes diet then get some crickets and gutload them with vitamins. If you're more into bloodsports more to the philippines and take up cock fighting. :lol:

Is it still a "new organism" if its actually been here for years without causing a problem? :roll:

I'm not sure how much nutritional value they'll have, plus they have some pretty sharp bits. Maybe order some crickets if you want to feed your oscars insects and leave the native (endangered?) ones alone...

How do you figure that? There are a whole bunch of central american cichlids commonly available overseas that aren't on "the list" and pose no bigger thread than the species on the list, the only reason they aren't on there is because of MAF's ignorance. Would it really pose a greater risk if we were allowed to import them? And as for birds, if macaws, budgies, african greys etc are already established and breeding here then why shouldn't they be imported? Disease? Isn't that what quarantine is for?

How is it for the "greater ecological good" when many of the species are already here and being bred?

Here's a couple from two of my favourite parts of the country; Northland and Hawkes Bay. Whangarei Harbour from Mt Mania The view from my parents place Looking over the bay from Te Mata peak Random photo just out of Napier

Speaking in a broad sense regarding the whole importing of fish/plants thing; Their system is flawed and was obviously designed by a bureaucrat with little knowledge on what they're supposed to be protecting or what they're trying to protect it from. From the unthorough survey and incomplete list of what is already here, to the ignorant/uneducated inspectors who can't identify organisms in quarantine. Trying to ban certain reptiles that pose little if any threat while allowing vermin like cats to be bred and roam free unrestricted. Not allowing generic dispensations for genera that pose no threat at all.... The sad thing is that I can't see any reason why they would bother to change it... :evil:

Thats the most important thing to remember when breeding. People are often not fussy enough with the fish they select to breed, and try to keep [and sell] every last fry.If you want to breed something then get a bunch of juveniles and grow them out, picking the best pair to breed. Don't hesitate to cull any fry that are runty, deformed or just not as good as they could be.

Bingo, its a flawed system made by beaurocrats that are clueless about the subject they are dealing with. Why are we allowed to keep goldfish but not fresh water stingrays? I doubt there's a chance a ray would survive long in NZ's waters, let alone enough of them to breed and become established...

Stone and Water World in Marua road have a few different 'grits' as well as silica sand, or you could try a landscaping place like Stevensons, bound to be cheaper than a retail place like Mitre10.

Looks cool, post up a pic of it! I'm experimenting with training an Adenium over a rock.

Whats the bonsai??

Cool pics, I don't think I realise how much I miss it!! I don't know if I'll be able to afford to go this season as I might be going for a two week mountain biking tour of the south island in January, and I want a new bike before then!

Not big on plunger coffee, has a funny burnt taste to it. Usually drink instant of espresso, but my boss bought one of these things and it actually makes a half-decent cup of coffee! Much better than a plunger or instant IMO, but not quite as good as the real thing. Allpress do a blend called 'Rangitoto' which is quite nice, but I think the most important thing is to get it as freshly ground and roasted as possible.

Well the all live together in the same lake, so I guess it just depends how big your tank is.....

I used to board up until a few years ago. I always preferred wanaka to queenstown, less touristy and better atmosphere. A friend has just bought a house in ohakune so I might try to get back into it this season!

What I was really meaning is that its a thread about monday mornings and no one has piped up about how miserable their job [as in paid employment, not taking a dig at the house wives/husbands!] was....

I thought electric yellows only got to around 10cm? Surely 1m and 2f would be fine something less than a 3', maybe a 2'x15"x15", provided it was well filtered and had regular water changes?

Gosh do none of you people have jobs!!!! :lol: Monday morning, meh. Slightly worse than normal as I'm not supposed to drink coffee because I'm doing a fitness assessment tonight.

I'm not sure about this whole "golden" think. To me that one on trademe just looks like a pale [or badly photographed] normal senegal. The albino ones are a yellowish pink colour with pink eyes, the platinum ones are nearly white (and not pinkish) with black eyes, and the normal ones are dark to pale grey with yellowish bellies and black eyes. I've never seen anyone use the term "golden" outside of this site, so I'm guessing its just a term made up by a local importer/wholesaler trying to make his fish sound more interesting... :roll:

Its only not good for the hobby if you pass them on to other people and/or sell them. The knife fish is a definite no no with the fish you have. You can research species you like here.

It might have been an idea to mention that in your post so I didn't waste my time typing out my post on how to move a FISH tank. :lol: