hovmoller

Would love to see them, cheers!

Try this out and find out how much you can save: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=48031&hilit=heatloss+calculator

Insulating is not a trick, it's science! :nilly: And yes of course it works.. It's by far the best way to save power on a tropical fish tank

Yeah direction of your floor board is less important. It's much more important to place the tank across the floor joists underneath the floor and as caryl mentioned if you can place it close to the support that these joist sit on. IMO if you can achieve the above you can easily keep a standard 4 foot tank (1200x600x600mm)

You should start by showing us yours

+1

Yes the thing that made me think of this was the recent avaliability of G. balzanii that Hollywoods both stores had. Of course I can only guess on this matter but these two stores together might have had a total of say 100 young fish and they sold in the shop for perhaps $20 or so (can't remember exactly) This is a species that have not (to my knowledge) been imported for a while and suddenly there are a relatively small amount avaliable at a low price. This means that it couldn't have cost very much to import them if all parties (importer, retailer) has made a profit along the way and they sell in shops for $20 So in the same manner could one not simply tag on 50 small pike cichlids to an order if I was able to pay money up front. Anyway this is where the thoughts came from.. I don't get the whole "it'll cost you $5000 for a few fish" concept.. It just doesnt make sense. Yeah perhaps if they were high risk or needed to be added to the allow list first or whatever.. I am just trying to understand really. It's not that I specifically want to cut out the retailer, they can have a share in the profit if they would facilitate such an order. Again I stress that it would be money up front and any risk could be shared. Would be interresting to hear from Mr. Hollywood on this issue.

Only the third time you have said that in this thread Alan. But that is not the point of this thread. And it is also not the point of this thread whether people are allowed to organise combined orders using this forum :smot: I simply wanted to explore the feasibility of ordering fish from overseas through an importer whether it be as a group or not. Questions like: Does it have to be extremely expensive? Could it simply be added as e.g. 50 extra fish of this kind with an importers next order? Or would one have to order (and pay for) a 1000 fish, just to make pr fish price sellable with maf fees and so on? As I said: A thought experiment From Wikipedia:

Good idea Warren, thanks!

:sml1: Am I that obvious?? :slfg: Yes indeed.. It could be a good thing.. I understand that this sort of venture has gone terribly wrong before and perhaps this is why it is not allowed here. I believe it could work but it would mean money up front and a firm agreement of what happens in case of loss of fish, etc.

Price obviously depending on species but why such a high cost.. it would simply be part of a bigger normal shipment.

OK so this is more of a thought experiment than an actual wish at this point.. Just want to hear some feedback from those who knows out there. Scenario: I want a group of fish of a certain species that I can't find in NZ. The species is on biosecurity allow list so no problem there. I contact a good and honest importer and he/she orders the fish from overseas and takes care of quarantine etc. We agree on a price beforehand and I pay up front and I take the risk should any or all fish not make it (or perhaps go halfs with the importer, depending on what can be agreed of course) After quarantine I recieve my fish (or whats left) and I am stoked cos I got the species I want. Is this scenario plausible? has anyone done this?

Yeah they are ok with other big fish but are pretty hard on each other.. very territorial around their hidding spot. I had a few when I was younger C. sp Xingu something. A yellowy kinda color.. used to feed them molly fry/young... Have very fond memories of keeping these.

Yeah would be so nice to get some of the smaller colourful species from Venezuela but of course as always not allowed for import. Very aggresive genus though but very interresting. Henward would have a blast feeding these fish :slfg:

I see Crenicichla lacustris is on the biosecurity "allowed" list. Anyone know when or if they have been alvaliable in NZ?

None

My guess is that less than 1% of fishkeeper has the capacity to do this

Does it show blood streaking at the bottom of fins? (not open sores but kind of blood visible under the skin)

Here we go.... You literally sound like a drug adict making up excuses to have "just that last fix"

Having seen in other threads the "style" of fishkeeping Jaxxnz is into I don't think he has the wellbeing of these guppies in mind but maybe more if they are tasty for big nasty mutant central american cichlids.

Will you insist on finding a house with concrete floors?

:sml1:

How big is your tank? Surinamensis (G. altifrons) will pretty much ignore anything but their own species.. I haven't kept Oscars so don't know what they would do to the altifrons

I'm not on rainwater (yet) but planning on using that nice sand I collected on the coromandel that contains around 20% shells.. It's so fine you can't tell its shells it just looks like sand. I think that will help keep the water stable but yeah as others have said why not just add some shells to your sump and have a bit more peace of mind. Have you bought a house or already built one?

Plenty to Discus? hint hint