dreams

beautiful photos, my next big trip will definitely be to South America!

In my experience, I have seen Khuli loaches burrow into small sized pebbles around 2 -4mm, hence i believe most pebble type stones will work if that is what you want. If you don't want them to always be burrowing and hiding, then you can either have a bare tank - like they do in pet shops, or you can use fine sand, such as seachem's black sand - they wont burrow into that stuff :slfg: not because that stuff is sharp, rather i think it is just a bit too dense and heavy for them.

Spec list please! Tank looks fantastic I especially want to know what the grass looking plant is and how you got it to grow on the wood/rocks?

Hollywood fish farm mt roskill are at 36 Frost Road which is about 5-10 mins away from SH20 that comes from the airport, as well Animates mount eden which is about 5 mins away from HFF. They have a larger fish section than most animates, as well they have a planted tank that is doing well atm with CO2. Btw, note HFF's easter hours http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=58119 As for other attractions, Mount eden is great for views, as is One tree hill with its massive park :thup:

I've got a S2 and I would have to say that it is the most bug free phone I have used so far. (Previous Phs; HTC Nexus One, SE k810i, Nokia 7610) Its so lightweight and thin that I forget its in my pocket sometimes and the colours on the screen are gorgeous. As well, I use GPS and browse the net alot, so I much prefer the bigger screen to the Iphone 4s. I do like to tinker with my phones a bit, so Android was an easy choice for me. Cost was also important, with the S2 at almost half the price of a new 4s

Any of the Takashi Amano books are awesome! They're like 90% pictures and 10% words, and you can find them in Auckland Libraries. Hopefully they will give you inspiration to start a new planted tank in your spare time

I am so visiting that BMW museum one day! Cars + innovative architecture...I think I would be in heaven there !drool:

I reckon you can achieve that without Co2 in about 3 months...though you may need a little bit of ferts. Also it seems they are using low - med light, as alot of the glosso is growing upwards. Patience is the key, along with good layout design. :thup:

23..24 soonish

Will definitely put you first if I end up moving Oh, I'm open to all opinions, it's interesting how many people on this forum doesn't like auckland! But I'm thinking that maybe since we're all into fish and/or natural life, then alot of people would prefer a more relaxed life outside of Ak. Wow, definitely not easy to fly back every 2nd weekend! When I first initially started looking for jobs and found the Auckland market dry, my girlfriend and I talked about me coming back Ak or her flying to Oz every 1-2 months if I found a job there. We know we can do long distance relationships - she did an exchange in japan for a year. In a couple of weeks, we will have been together 5 years

Both firms are good, but the Christchurch firm is over twice as big and have a long history in nz, but I have heard from a friend that they're slave drivers... :dunno: While the other firm seems to have a better balance between work and life (This is what two friends in this firm have told me) Christchurch is an architects dream atm, though if I stayed up here, I'm pretty sure I'll end up doing work on Christchurch as well! Being able to go to Organisms does sound tempting...

Zomg! so much anti Aucklanders on this thread :nilly: Cool :sml2: interesting opinions! ok, If I rephrase the question a little bit; If you were my age (23-24), would you go work in Christchurch? ^ does that change anything? :slfg: Will wait and see what happens on wednesday, got both interviews on the same day, Christchurch company interview will be over skype :thup: I've also sent out masses of CVs and portfolios to Sydney today and will see if anything comes back next week as well. In the process, I also sent a message to a firm through their enquiry form with the name of another company in the text.... :digH: Gotta say though, Oz has some incredible architecture over there!

First of all, I don't mean to offend anyone with this post, but I have a question: Would you go work in Christchurch? I live in Auckland, I'm 23 going on 24 and have just finished my degree last year in Master of Architecture. There is a potential job for me in Christchurch with a large well known New Zealand architecture firm...If they offer me the job, should I take it? Pros: Big famous firm Lots of work? = good experience Cons: All my mates (including Girlfriend) and family are in AK (and I do like Ak life) Earthquake risk? Don't Know anyone in christchurch Other options: Potential job in Ak with another big firm but not as famous (again depends if they offer me a job) Going Sydney to look for work/travel (have a very good mate over there, but no job opportunities just yet) Any wise wisdoms and opinions appreciated! Thanks

where did you get them from? Was it from 'just angels'? I know they sell peruvian angels. Wish we could get Altums here though! They are stunning!

That is some amazing contrast of colours Do we have them here?

You could have the mesh higher than the water level coming out of the overflow, but not higher than the top of the filter? I've seen multiple plecos do that at animates mt eden's plant tanks, on their connected octagon shaped tanks that overflows to the next. There is a fair distance from one water level to the other and they seem to climb quite high, though i've never seen them go into the next tank :spop:

That is a beautiful tank! though I'd rearrange the driftwood and probably put in some peat to saturate the water brown...then you would have a low maintenance bio type (btw, are those real altum angels? wish we had those in nz!) I'm gonna agree that planted tanks utilising Co2 and bright lights are not low maintenance tanks. But a planted tank with low light levels and slow growing plants (java fern, moss, crypts etc.) can be low maintenance Otherwise, you can't really beat African tanks for their colour and fish that go around trying to beat each other up all day! :thup:

paradise fish are really friendly, they always eat from my hands and will even jump for food. My blue ram will also eat from my hand I also remember an oscar that liked to eat my hand... :an!gry :slfg:

I used to keep a trio of honey gourami's in a small fully planted tank, and had mixed results. I've found that there will usually always be 1 dominant gourami who will chase the other ones around. After a while, one died off because it kept being chased around by the other 2. With the 2 remaining, the male continued doing its aggression thing, however they eventually bred together, but it never got past that as there was too much surface movement in the tank and the eggs dispersed and disappeared. So, I'd say you'd be ok keeping a pair, but do be wary and have lots of hiding places etc.

Hmmm....that looks like a green tiger lotus to me...? Acurata is a lovely plant btw

Sand or gravel that is around 2mm is great for planting looks really good too

I think your log will eventually be completely covered by the java moss if thats your plan I recommend looking for those rare pieces of wood that are odd shaped, they add alot of interest to a tank by them selves, or become great bases to grow plants on! Star grass is quite hard to carpet, it needs alot of bright lights for it to happen, as well, I find that often it needs to be replanted when it's tips block light getting to the bottom stems. Replanting very healthy stems also seem to grow faster than leaving old snipped stems behind to regrow back. Love your stripped angel btw!

I think if you just keep up with the good quality water, and keep feeding good foods (flakes/tetra colourbits and bloodworms etc.) they will start breeding again soon. Mine used to do it every time they lost their batch of fry. Though I've never raised them past a few days due to other commitments at the time, I find the parents are usually very good at taking care of the frys. The male more so though...but I had neons and SAE's in the tank, and found that quite often the fry would get lost in the hairgrass and end up as food. Make sure that your CO2 doesnt fluctuate too much

Agree to all comments! Since I'm using flourite sand in my tank, I can't use any magnetic glass cleaners, as all the iron particles in the sand sticks to it and scratches the glass, thus I use a Subway card lol, plus it doesn't rust. :happy1:

Wow! looks awesome for its first setup