fmueller

Yellow - I was pretty happy with my Tui shots, but what probably prevents them from being postcard status is that they show a native NZ bird in an Aussie bush. If the Tui was in a Kowhai, that would be a whole different story blueether - They want a really showy tank with natives. IMHO they are setting themselves up for disappointment, because natives are never going to be showy in the way marine fish or Malawi cichlids are. That's what I would recommend for a public show tank, because they are going to grab the attention of anybody just walking past the tank. For a home tank, I am more of a Tanganyikan guy, and natives might fall in a similar category. They can also be colorful, but you need to sit down in front of the tank and spend a bit of time to appreciate it - and maybe observe some of their interesting behaviors. aotealotl - I have my sources 8)

David R - Some problems go away if you throw money at them. I am not usually in the luxurious position to be able to do so, but in this case my wife's new employer footed the bill to pay a re-location company to find something for us. We had looked forever online without any luck - always 'no pets allowed'. They showed us 6 places in one day. 3 were dumps, 2 were decent options, 1 was head and shoulders above the rest, and we picked it. I asked them how they do it, and they ring up everybody with a decent property, present their client in the best possible light, and talk them into the dogs! Apparently if you make a gazillion phone calls, eventually you find some people who change their mind on the pets! Caryl - I have a brother in law in Blenheim. He works for one of the bottling plants and usually has a good drop at home or two. Next time I visit, I'll let you know, and maybe I can check out your tanks! SanityChelle - Thanks for the tip! aotealotl - Ich hoere da gibt's die besten Aprikosen blueether, #!CrunchBang - tell me more about that native option. My wife's work has been thinking about a native display tank. At this stage it is just an idea they have been entertaining, and they told my wife when she mentioned I am into fish. If I really wanted to pursue this, presumably they'd pay for the setup, and maybe a small fee for maintenance, but that would all have to be fleshed out. I have not really followed it up, because I don't know much about native NZ fish. Assuming that I would not sell my new tank, how large of a tank would they need to make this worthwhile? #!CrunchBang, are you a grad at AUT?

A few rocks in the bottom of a pot can make a big difference in a pot with a hole, because they greatly reduce the chance of the hole getting blocked by soil that might compact over time. In this way they make sure that the soil remains well drained. If rocks are supposed to play a role in a pot without a hole, for the life of me I can not think of what that may be.

If you want to venture beyond bog plants, any power drill with a masonry bit will fix the problem in no time. I have turned plenty of cheap, non-draining pots into draining ones this way. Just a thought! :smln:

:gpo2: :rotf:

My dad is a beekeeper back home in Germany and makes the world's best honey - I might be slightly biased When we lived in the US, he would always bring small buckets of honey over for me, and he'd come often enough to cover my honey needs. Of course you cannot bring honey to NZ, so my supply has dried up. Does anybody know a beekeeper in or around Auckland who sells local honey from their own production at a reasonable price? If it is good and the price is right, I am interested to buy in quantity. Tired of paying store prices for tiny jars, and I don't need Manuka honey. My dad with his bees.

Winter? What winter? Winter is when there is snow on the ground. Auckland might have a no-swimming season, but so far there have been only a couple of days when I found it a little chilly for shorts, and most folks in Ohio would probably consider me a wuss for that :bggrn: The dogs did good. It's only 10 days in quarantine now. They do lots of testing before, and the preparations begin a year before they leave. At any rate, we send them off before the movers picked up our stuff in Ohio. When we arrived in NZ, it was only a few days before we could pick them up, and we had to hureurry to get a rental house and a car - easier to do without them around. Right now Panda is sleeping on his new dog bed and Molly is woofing at the Tui outside. Furniture is a bit thin on the ground here. I am guessing easily another months before most of our worldly belongings will arrive in a container.

To all the folks who provided me with a warm welcome and good advice when I announced that I would move from Ohio to Auckland - I am here now! Probably not as interesting for you as for non-Kiwis, but I have added some photos from our first days to my web site: http://www.fmueller.com/home/photograph ... mber-2014/ Love the Tui!

That sounds like a super deal. As it happens, by the time I read this I had already upgraded my old TomTom One with a NZ map. It works like a treat in Auckland. Now living in Birkenhead if anybody is curious. I bought a Volvo V70 with built-in Japanese nav system. Would be cool to get this working. If anybody has experience with this, please let me know, but not an urgent project right now with a gazillion things still to organize related to the big move.

Thanks for all the feedback! Seems like a smart phone will be the way to go. I have to say that right now I have no cell phone at all, let alone a smart phone. Never seen the need. Looks like in Auckland that might change. I'll also bring my ancient TomTom One from the US for the initial period before we sort ourselves out with accommodation, phones and such. They want US$80 for NZ maps, which isn't cheap, but in the grand scheme of this move not worth worrying about. Any tips regarding a smart phone purchase in Auckland for somebody who knows nothing about cell phones? I am philosophically opposed to anything i-Apple - proprietary systems locking people in, and so on. My computers are all PCs running mostly freeware on top of windows. Once day I'll switch to Linux, but haven't done so yet.

As announced a couple on months ago, I am about to move from Ohio to Auckland. To find my way around, I figured a decent GPS for the car would be a nice thing to have. It's a non issue where I live - traffic jams are a foreign concept in small-town Ohio - but I know that some of the bigger cities in the US have systems in place that allow GPS devices to access current traffic conditions. Does Auckland have that? If yes, what GPS would I need to make use of that? Any advice from soon-to-be-fellow Aucklanders would be greatly appreciated!

Caryl - thanks for the clarification. That's powder coated aluminum. I am looking for iron/steel. You summed up the shortfalls of aluminum nicely - too light so it blows about in the wind. That wouldn't happen with iron. Also, the expanded metal seating area and table top dry off within minutes after a rain shower -unlike plastic fabric and glass. Maybe I should source a container load of that furniture in China and start selling it in NZ. It would seem ideal for the windy, rainy climate! BTW - I don't know what you are talking about. The bike in the photo looks exactly like the one in your avatar - yellow and racy :thup: David - I wish I could bring fish! You would not believe the prices breeders sell fish for around here. At any of the local club meetings you can pick up bags with 6 juveniles of anything under the sun. Prices rarely go over $10, and virtually never over $30 even for rare Tanganyikan cyps, featherfins, or sandsifters. Geophagus are a dime a dozen, but those sp. Pindare were a little less common in this area - much more popular in Germany! For some reason the suckers never spawned for me, and I'll never know why!

Thanks for all the input guys. Caryl - where? I have looked up web sites of The Warehouse and hardware stores like Mitre 10 and Bunnings, and I can find nothing like it. BTW - nice ride you are sporting in your avatar! My brother in law lives in Blenheim and he and his wife joined some type of motorbike club a couple of years ago. Mike and Lorraine Brasch - wonder if you know them.

I am moving to NZ shortly from Ohio, and am currently sorting out what to bring. One item on the maybe list is Patio/Garden furniture. I am a great fan of the iron furniture that is mostly made from a material called expanded metal in these parts - not sure if that is a term that's commonly used in NZ. The furniture is powder coated to look black and give it fairly good rust resistance. In my experience the furniture is sturdy, durable, very comfortable, and reasonably priced - chairs around $25 for a regular stack-able one, $50 for a 'rocking' model, about $100 for a big round table. In Ohio I have big back yard, and have accumulated enough of the stuff over the years to entertain a small crowd. However, most of the stuff is getting a little rusty, and needs to be replaced. Will I be able to buy this stuff easily in Auckland, and will the price be comparable to the US? If not, I am bringing a 20' container. As long as everything fits in there, I could bring 6 chairs and a table at virtually no cost - probably all I'll need in NZ. Regular chairs with round table and sun umbrella. Rocking chairs with round table.

Thanks everybody for the warm welcome and good advice. I am not into golf, but living next to a reserve sounds very appealing to me. Dog walking opportunities are super important, because my pups go out 2-3 times per day. My wife will be working for AUT (Auckland University of Technology), and she will be at their main campus, which is smack bang in the middle of CBD. For the last 13 years or so we have lived within 5min walking distance from her work, so she can say goodby to that. There are rumors that AUT will move the sciences (my wife is a chemist) to the North Shore within 3-4 years. If you talk to folks already living on the North Shore, it is a done deal. According to those living on the other end of the bridge, it is pie in the sky stuff that is unlikely ever to happen. With this uncertainty it might make sense to buy on the North Shore and join the crowd cheering for the move. Especially since we couldn't afford anything in the inner city suburbs anyhow, let alone with a property large enough that a single dog turd wouldn't obscure the entire lawn. On the other hand, even places like Birkdale and Glenfield are anything but cheap, and some of the nicest properties we have seen so far (we are looking online) are down near Titirangi - decent sized properties even though steep, bordering on native bush, reserves, and so on. Just yesterday my wife discovered our dream home, and totally affordable, but over in Piha. I am guessing th, e public transport system doesn't reach over there :lar: By the way, public transport in Ohio is atrocious to non-existent. Also, with my wife working the totally irregular hours of an academic, I doubt she'd be too happy with it. She used it with enthusiasm when she spend six months in NYC, but that's a different story. Regarding fish, I am not one who always buys the latest and greatest. Even in Ohio I have always preferred fish that were available locally in good quality over the latest fashion. What I have come to appreciate though is quality - no cross-breeds or fish that have poorly been line bred. For that reason I usually buy from private breeders rather than chain stores, and to my surprise I have found that I no longer had to deal with disease since I do that. The quality of fish you have in NZ can't be worse than what the big chain stores sell in the US, and what good is it that otocinclus cost only 69cent when all 20 you bought expire within the first week in the quarantine tank you put them into. I am confident I will find some responsible breeders in NZ. Why else would I hand around places like this :thup:

That is super impressive - especially the lawn look you have achieved in the foreground. All my tanks used to be T8 and no CO2. I have never been able to pull that off, and it hasn't been for the lack of trying! I eventually convinced myself that CO2 would be needed to achieve that look, but apparently not!

So I hear. I have a brother in law in ChCh. Bought a nice house - very nice actually - shortly before the big quake. Major damage! For the longest time he didn't even know if he would be allowed to rebuilt on his property. Tradesmen in ChCh seem to be booked out for years. So if you want it fixed, you better DIY!

That wouldn't work for me at all. I am kind of a home-handy kinda guy, and my house is always a bit of a work in progress. If I can't rip out floors and walls and replace them, I simply don't feel complete. Besides, one needs to drill through walls for automatic water change systems, install dog doors, and all that stuff. Most landlords don't really seem to appreciate that :dunno: Thankfully I have a house to sell here in Ohio, which has to make do for a down-payment. Also, my wife isn't paid too badly, and then we have to look for a fixer upper and/or continue looking further away from CBD, which means more of a commute for my wife, but so be it. At any rate, I expect to own a house within six months - a year by the very latest. I know plenty of folks who are happy renters - can't see my brother ever owning a house - and there is nothing wrong with that, but it's not for me. I'd rather nail a few boards together for a shack than live in a rented mansion.

Wow - am humbled I had no idea my usually non-existent fame would proceed me in this way! Now to the real question, does anybody know of a pet friendly flat in or around Auckland for rent starting July? I won't set up any 240Gs in their yet, but my two border collies will be with me once they get out of quarantine. I will be out as soon as I can find a house I can afford :dno:

Hi All, I have been keeping fish since the tender age of 10. Had to give it up when I left Germany to follow my wife (a Kiwi) first to Colorado and then Oz. Eventually we settled in Ohio where we bought a house, and I could re-enter the hobby with some decent sized tanks - a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRo3AfE7SPY, a and a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTI-adNbdiQ. I am mostly into Tanganyikans. Ohio is a hotbed for cichlid breeders, and the local fish club scene is a dream. I belong to three of at least a dozen clubs that meet in convenient driving distance from my home, and there is an auction or other fish related event nearly every weekend of the year, especially in winter. You can pick up a bag with six juveniles of all but the rarest species for under $10. All this makes the Ohio winters almost bearable, but the cold eventually got to us - especially my wife - and after 12 years in Ohio, we will be relocating to Auckland in mid 2014. I am looking forward to meeting all of you people in the coming months and years, as I am starting to rebuilt my aquarium setups. Some of my old setups are featured on my web site http://www.fmueller.com. Also, I moderate on cichlid-forum.com. I'll leave you with some shots of my 240G when it was about 4 years old and at it's best

They sell lead sinkers for aquarium plants. I have used them, and they have never caused me any problems. That said, for a large piece of wood you'd need a lot of lead, which could be costly and wouldn't look very attractive in a tank. I have had good success attaching rocks to the wood with standard drywall screws. They work best with sandstone, because it is easy to drill a hole through the rock using a standard masonry bit. This works even for very large pieces of wood, and by the time the screws are rusted away, the wood will be well and truly waterlogged. Big (12.6kg) piece of wood in a 125G held down by three pieces of sandstone (rock weight 15.4kg). Masonry drill bit, plastic anchors, and drywall screws.

With most fish, you buy them healthy, give them clean water and enough space, and they will do pretty well for you. In my experience there is very little difference between African cichlids and community fish in this regard. Then once in a while you come across a species that you just don't seem to be compatible with. Other folks you know could breed them in a bucket, and you give them the royal treatment, and they still whither away with no sign of breeding ever. In African cichlids for me Paracyprichromis nigripinnis is such a species from the African cichlid world, and Xiphophorus montezuma is one that could be called community fish. I've tried each countless times wasting oodles of money with no success. Luckily once I get to NZ, I no longer have to worry about either one of those

On the subject of snails, are assassin snails (Clea helena) available in the aquarium hobby in NZ?