lmsmith

Honestly you don't use ammonia or nitrite once the tank is cycled, so I'd just worry about nitrate. Once you start seeing levels, you're probably ok to add fish. Take some water to your local petstore and they should happily test for ammonia and nitrite - if nothing shows, you're good to go - but slow!

That could cause stress, but it shouldn't be enough to kill all of them. How long has your tank been set up? Sorry, might have missed that in the thread. EDIT oh, I see it's only been up and running for a week. Personally, I wouldn't be adding fish at this point. Give it a couple of weeks and test for nitrate. When nitrate shows up, it's probably ok to start SLOWLY stocking.

Just the way he said it was like he floated it for 20min FIRST, then started actually acclimatizing. That's common. And pointless.

I'm not really sure why people are so keen on the float method. Fish can handle temperature changes relatively well, it's matching the other parameters that is the issue.

If I have to catch them waving and hope will be my tactic. I'm also interested if there's some more to it.

Eels for petfood? That's weird. It's not just human consumption, because collection is allowed to keep as pets. It seems there's a lot of different parts to the regulations and there are protected species and stuff which make it difficult!

The thing I hate about plastic plants is I can never seem to get them CLEAN - algae seems to leach into them. Can't deny that perfect look, especially from afar though!

I love eheims (have 9 of various sizes) because they're so quiet, but if I was to purchase a new filter, I would be going with the FX5 because they're pretty amazing for the price.

If it's only 12 fry in a 300l, I wouldn't even be bothering with a filter tbh. Water change every couple of days and you'll be fine. I guess the filter is great for water flow though.

Oh, if it's been on a tank and running, it'll be fine. Usually when I fill a tank I add a few buckets of hot water and then the heaters aren't doing all the work. Congrats on the new tank! It's always exciting!

If your filter hasn't been running, all the bacteria will be dead. The filter needs water flowing through it to keep the bacteria alive, or it turns into a massive cesspit. You'll have a massive ammonia problem. If you're moving a filter from an existing, running tank, it should be cycled almost straight away - sometimes it might need a bit to build bacteria levels up, but if you slowly add livestock, you'll be fine. I wouldn't use 'throwaway fish'. Putting fish under stress for nothing just because YOU consider them worthless is cruel and unnecessary. There are lots of ways to successfully cycle a tank without harming fish in the process, and I urge you to reconsider. When your tank is ready and cycled, slowly add fish.

I'm not sure that answers it. Well, actually, I'm quite sure it doesn't.

Whitebait are regulated a bit differently, from memory. I can do the research if you'd like.

Do you have a source? That's definitely contrary to the info I have.

Not me, GrahamC. It's reasonable to assume that a place selling something is doing so legally. I don't really have a serious moral problem with purchasing them instead of going to catch them myself.

Ok, so I can safely assume that if they're being sold in a store, the store has a licence, and if they don't, that's their problem. Nothing in any of the acts I've looked at makes it an offence to purchase, so I'm in the clear.

The import list: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/ih ... ic.all.pdf TBH I haven't had the time to go through it, but I believe you. So that's good - the question now is, can they be sold? My understanding is you only need a permit to sell species included in the Wildlife Act 1953. This might not be correct. I'll do some further digging.

You're right, it's a great resource.

Lots of people talk about what species are allowed to be imported into New Zealand. Not many people actually ever cite sources. So here it is - the list of what ornamental fish and marine inverts can be imported into New Zealand. mpi.govt.nz/document-vault/1782 Enjoy. [attachment=0]fisornic.all.pdf[/attachment]

Do we know for sure importing is illegal?

Maybe I should put my lawyering to good use and actually look up what the legislation says?

Have you been snooping in my bedroom again? That's an *actual* page out of my diary.

Not for me, thanks! Streams have eels and they're cold and dirty. I like carpet and heating and slippers!

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to sell, not buy. That's usually how the law works with sale of restricted things. $3 each. My time is more valuable than that - I'm simply not interested in spending an hour wading in a stream looking for shrimp.

Do they eat hair algae?