David R

:thup:

:thup:

No you're right, I decided the hassle of moving the tank was greater than selling it cheap. Really just want the tank gone, the rest of the gear I'll keep, or sell to the buyer if they want it.

Well you could buy just the tank now and set the rest up later, will be much cheaper than buying a tank that size new...

Not so much the cost, more the work and inconvenience of having to move a tank that takes 6-8 people to lift. The other reason I'd be happy to sell the tank and keep the rest (even though it will cost more when I need a new tank) is so I'm not restricted by the location of the drains when choosing where to set it up. W're hoping to build a place once we're settled in Whangarei, but whether it will have a location that suits having the drains at the back right is unknown. A new tank would allow me more options for where it goes.

I think you're right Smidey, no point in dropping the price any further, but once the current auction has finished I'll try selling just the tank by itself and if the buyer wants any of the other gear they can negotiate. Would make a great tank for your tangs.... :lol:

As most of you know, I am trying to sell my 1400L set up before I relocate back to Whangarei in a months time to save the hassle of shifting it, storing it for 6-12 months, then shifting it again. How ever given the size and the fairly specific nature of the set up (low stand, sump designed to be plumbed through the wall behind the tank instead of under it, etc) I think it is going to be a pretty hard sell. I'm not too keen to drop my pants on the price either as its all pretty new and quality gear, and I will be setting up another large tank in the future so if I can't get the right price I'll keep it and just have to get around the difficulties of moving it. So, in terms of strategy, I could either A; keep trying to flog the whole set up hoping the right person with either the right spot or the willingness to modify it to suit comes along or, B; try sell the individual parts. I'd be happy to keep the stand (although I was hoping to go wider with my next big tank, I'd be happy to stick with the same footprint if I still have the stand), the pump and heaters, the bio media, and even the sump if I can't sell that. Its really just the tank I don't want to have to move! To me it seems like selling off the parts separately is the way to go, but what are they worth? I don't know what the market for big used tank is like, but what would be a reasonable price for a 2400x977x620mm tank in 12mm glass with overflow and custom background?

No guinness for me today, but I did just buy a bottle of this; Not exactly Irish, but at least it is a stout...

I would have thought 1-2 feeds of larger quantities would have been a better way to get more food to the other fish than smaller more frequent feeds if they're struggling to compete with the oscars?

Its not that the new rules don't apply to round abouts, they do, but a round about is really just a series of T-intersections so when you're stopped at a give way, as usual, you give way to traffic coming from either direction. I can see why it would be a little confusing at a smaller round about that looks more like a + intersection with a little circle in the middle, but when you go around a large one it's easy to see how they work.

Wouldn't recommend it, ideally they'd have different water, and the gt could get a bit aggro. On the other hand it could work...

+1 for Laguna. Would probably use Eheim on a smaller set up like the one I'm planning, didn't go with them for the big tank as I wanted one large single pump (Laguna 7500) and Eheim didn't make one that grunty.

That blue thing looks like it should have been culled as a fry, is it meant to look like that? :-? Why anyone would want that over this is beyond me... That might be acceptable in some asian countries, but in reality they all still have the potential to get to over 2' long even in captivity and an anythingX2X2' tank isn't going to be big enough...

South Americans!!!!!

Many LFS will sharpen the price for large purchases of things, and for a start you'll get 10% off at places like Hollywood Fish Farm if you're a FNZAS member. I'm not sure who your local LFS is in NP, but if you look in the Commercial T&E forum you'll see who the regular stores are, I'd suggest you start by PMing them to see if they'll do you a deal. And for the record, the first C. sterbai I bought was over $20, so unlike most commodities they've actually gone down in price over the ~8 years since then!!

DIY LED.

^ what he said. 2p, have a look at different species available and the kind of set up you would be able to build for them in your 6' and decide which one you prefer. I'd be inclined to go for either a central american community of mid sized fish (dempsey, convict, salvini, firemouth) with lots of rocks and sandy substrate or a soft water South American set up with earth eaters, angels, severum etc, sandy substrate and plenty of driftwood. But I am slightly biased towards New World species... Reference please? Fishbase.org would suggest otherwise; http://fishbase.org/summary/Amatitlania-nigrofasciata.html "Environment: Freshwater; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.0 - 8.0; dH range: 9 - 20" There are three recently described species in the genus Amatitlania (A. coatepeque, A. kanna, A. siquia, Schmitter-Soto, 2007) as well as other undescribed species (like the Hunduran Red Points) which would have once probably all been considered 'Convict Cichlids', so their natural range may not actually be as great as once thought. They are, however, often found in volcanic crater lakes, which are the very opposite of soft water.

When you say "similar species" are you referring to other riverine African cichlids, not rift lake fish like electric yellows? Not all cichlids from Africa come from lakes with hard water... As for convicts coming from soft water, have a look at the table on Page 3 of this link showing the water parameters in several Nicaraguan lakes where Convicts and many other similar Central American cichlids are found; http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=ichthynicar Yes I know they do have a wide range (although how much of that is due to mans involvement I'm not sure) and they can adapt to live in just about any sort of conditions, but they certainly not naturally a soft water species.

Most convicts come from water that is quite hard and not too dissimilar to that of the rift lakes of Africa, I'd be more concerned about the difference in pH for the Jewel which (AFAIK) is more of a riverine fish from neutral or slightly acidic waters (although in reality all three have been captive bred for countless generations and are tough as old boots and will do fine together with pH a little above 7). If you've got a breeding pair of convicts then I'd suggest getting rid of the females and just keeping a few males. In a tank that size I'd recommend keeping them with other Central American cichlids, like texas, midas/red devil, jag, nicaraguense, vieja, jack dempsey, salvini, firemouth, green terror, festae etc etc. yeah those last two are technically South American, but more similar to the CA's in terms of attitude and requirements...

Gutted! Good timing tho; http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=57754 :lol: Just let me know if Henward can't hold the fish, I've got a couple of empty tanks at the moment. Any chance the tank could be repaired?

Close call alright, I think I expressed concern about the placement/stand design when you set it up, glad you caught it early enough! Take note those with the "no problems so far" attitude....

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?205645-Pipe-Sizing-Charts-and-Flow-Rates

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?29-Setup-and-Filtration http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?337-DIY-Filters There is an absolute wealth of information about building and designing filtration in those two forums. As to how big it needs to be, the most obvious consideration is the need to be able to hold the "skim" (the water above the pump that will drain into the sump when the power is switched off).

Hate to think how much the fish will cost then.... TBH I'll buy certain things in bulk from overseas, but will try support local retailers where I can because I believe they're the backbone of our hobby. Anything like a pump/heater/filter with the potential for failure I'll only buy from a local store [HFF usually] as I don't want to have to try deal with a warranty problem with an overseas vendor or some non-english-speaking fly-by-night garage trader from TradeMe. If you're going to shop smarter at least give the local stores a chance to match the price. Many times, and not just with this hobby, I've been able to work something out with a local supplier where the price is close to (or even better than) importing myself. And then there's the GST thing, before you moan about shops "ripping us off" remember they can't so easily avoid paying tax...