David R

One more addition... This is the species that first got me interested in aquaria when as a kid of around six a friends parents got one for their tank at home. I haven't kept one for probably close to twenty years and I'm really not sure why. Too common? Not interesting enough? Don't fit the biotope? Bah who cares, they look awesome and I want one, so...

Holy ****!!!! That's a nice looking dat but $700?! Hope someone has the same enthusiasm for the large Royal I've got going on there at the moment!! I agree about the pacu, really a public aquarium only fish IMO. And HFF still have a few threadfins, one definite male and possible one female and a couple of not-sure.

Thirty clowns, a pair of threadfin (A. heckelii), and three tiny uaru. Not a bad haul for a mornings shopping!! No in-tank pics as they're in quarantine with a precautionary dose of meth blue just in case...

In pieces!! Don't think I could get it out of the house in one piece. Been thinking about a fire eel, I'm keeping watch on TradeMe for a good sized one...

Of course it won't solve the root cause of my disinterest in the tank, but hopefully the increased activity will encourage me to spend more time down there. Tank in the lounge is still the long term goal, with the emphasis on "long"... I love the pantadon, but I think it could be a hassle to try feed it in a tank this size. I've never been a big fan of elephant nose eh, not sure why, they're neat fish but they've just never tickled my fancy. I still have a good size school of Lemon Tetras, maybe 40-50, and they're big [by lemon tetra standard] and have coloured up really well. But I'm thinking of options for other mid-sized schooling fish now that the Amazon theme has gone out the window. I believe Red Line Torpedo barbs are no longer an option thanks to CITES, maybe Scissortails, or Madagascar Rainbows, or??

Yeah they would be, I'd be happy with just one even!

No they haven't, not even any signs of pairing up really. I have four now, One was always a little runty and passed on after a year, and the other slightly smaller one looked like it was picked on a bit too and slowly faded away about 3-4 months ago. Wouldn't mind a few more eh, I'm regretting not taking on @hovmollers group when he sold them. Clowns coming next Wednesday...

Yeah, getting a group of small ones to grow out. Not opposed to getting some big ones too if ya know of any up for grabs!

Nuggets sold. Royal still available. Bring on the clowns!!

Nice fish!! I'd love to keep some again if only they weren't so nippy!

Pics!! I'd really like to sell the nuggets as a group if possible. I'd like $600 for the six of them, which I think is a bloody bargain when you think of what a 4cm juvi in the LFS costs. I've included a pic from when I first bought them in September 2014 to show how much they've grown. If they don't sell as a group I'll look at splitting them up, so let me know if you're interested in individual fish. And this big L190 Royal is up for grabs too. The odontodes (whiskers) aren't quite as big as a couple of the others, but they are starting to grow slowly. The fish is [obviously] stressed in the pictures and looks darker than usual. This is one of the "thin stripe" patterned ones I have. Looking for $180 for this monster, which will include the plastic tub it will be delivered in. No shipping for obvious reasons, but I'm coming as far south as Rotorua on Friday 30th,

This one? Yeah I miss that big mob of them too!

Nice looking fish!!! That convict is a stunner, and the bichirs look great too. Love the aquascaping!

Awesome, I'm definitely keen, but if Hovmoller has plenty available too he's a lot closer to me than you are. Either or, I'm not too worried about paying for shipping if you're ok with that?

I've often thought about that, the idea of taking a fish from an 8x4' footprint and putting them in a smaller tank, and at the end of the day I think so long as they have sufficient food and space the fish isn't going to care. It's not like the royals constantly swim laps of the tank. And if it makes you feel better it will be moved to my old 400L tank in a week or so once the filter is cycled, so technically you won't be the one putting it in a smaller tank!

Looking good!! I've been AWOL while, did I miss the build of this?! Where can I see some pics?

That's as recent as it gets, only a couple of days ago! Probably between 25-30cm now.

Yes and no. I do like the plecs but I need to do something to make the tank more interesting to watch. I'm going to keep the massive royal still, and the little one I bought recently (who is growing like a weed). BTW that is "that really nice one" I got from you a few years ago. Not sure if it's my substrate, it's place in the pecking order, or just age but it's colours have been a lot more subdued in recent years.

One of the royals.

Two L190 Royals, around 25cm. Pic coming, relocating them to a smaller tank soon. 5 L85 Gold Nuggets, sizes vary, roughly one 7cm, two around 10-12cm, two around 15-16cm. $500 for the group. Would prefer to sell them together but may consider splitting (just don't expect them for $100 each!). Fish are located in Whangarei, can arrange delivery to Auckland at a time thats convenient for no cost. Not keen to ship the Royals because of their size, could possibly post the Nuggets though.

Absolutely. I'll never set up another aquarium that isn't part of the main living area of the house again. If I did shut it down it would have to be replaced with a smaller set-up upstairs, I couldn't give up on the hobby completely!

Sold!!! New cichlids and perhaps a few plants are a good idea, and I know what you're going to say but I'm on the verge of selling off most of the plecs and getting a group of clown loaches. I love the plecs but they're just so bloody boring! Unless I get in there with a flashlight after dark or pull the pile of wood apart I NEVER see more than a fleeting glimpse of the nuggets. I know it ruins the Amazon theme, but their water requirements are fairly similar and the tank really needs a bit of colour and activity to liven it up. I like the long-term aspect of watching them grow to their potential, which was part of the appeal of the plecos, and the clowns will no doubt be more entertaining on that journey. I'll probably never have a better opportunity to house a school of them comfortably and I think I'd regret it if I didn't give it a go. As for relocating the tank to the living room, I have investigated that and haven't ruled it out completely (most likely a smaller tank with around a 120-180x80cm footprint), but for now it's too much money and effort. Long story short; I'd need to put the tank where our fireplace currently is, which means relocating the fire or installing a heatpump, repainting the lounge (and probably all the living areas upstairs), recarpeting the lounge, and while I'm doing all that I might as well replace the old halogen lights with LEDs, etc etc. It's something to work towards, but definitely a long-term project.

Native marine would be a pretty ambitious sorta project in this sized tank!! Hopefully a little change around in the stock will reignite the spark...

Good score! Any idea of sex?

I've been pretty bred with my tank lately, to the point of contemplating shutting it down even, and it wasn't until Facebook reminded me that it's been four years since we built it that I realised why. In the twenty years I've been keeping fish this is the longest period I've ever had one tank continuously running for. And further more, it's nearly been three years since I sold my aro and went down the 'monster community' route with angels and tetras etc, which is the longest I've ever kept a single "theme" (for want of a better word) going in one tank. Part of the problem is that the tank is downstairs in it's own room, but I think a big part of the problem is that time has flown by far faster than I've realised and it has become stagnant. I pulled down the big pile of wood to give it a thorough clean and to do stock-take on my plecs (still got 6 of the 7 tiny gold nuggets that I put in there nearly three years ago) and contemplated where to from here. I think a change up of the livestock is in order, hopefully that might reignite a bit of interest in it. Anyway, here's some pics as it is this morning, is three years a long time to keep an aquarium basically unchanged, or do I just have a short attention span....