fmueller

Caryl - Many thanks!

Robert - I see you are not only good at bird shots, but macro too! My garden is only one year old. We bought the place in 2014 with a weed patch out the back that was too steep to use. Took everything out and got a fortune worth of soil delivered to terrace the section. Planted last year around Christmas, and now I enjoy watching all kind of creatures moving in. I knew the lizards were back when the kingfishers sat on the power lines again!

I wish I was that lucky
 
From my garden
 
Helpis minitabunda - Bronze hopper


Black headed jumping spider - Trite planiceps


Leucauge dromedaria

http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/spiders/spider-two-spined-poecilopachys-australasia.html
Two spined spider (Poecilopachys australasia)

Great photo! Hard to fill a frame with one of these!

I am not of a birder myself, but this one landed on my grevillea recently.

After moving to NZ in 2014 from Ohio, I have finally got a tank up and running!
 
 

After moving to NZ in 2014 from Ohio, I have finally got a tank up and running!
 
 

Waxeye - Zosterops lateralis
 
 

 
 

For those buying or collecting Oxygen weed in N.Z. only one of the 3 species is not a banned plant.
Banned - https://aquariumworld.nz/databases/1-plants/103-Lagarosiphon-major
Banned - https://aquariumworld.nz/databases/1-plants/68-Egeria-densa
Good - https://aquariumworld.nz/databases/1-plants/77-Elodea-canadensis-(Anacharis)

I have Anubias nana and C affinis (tons of it). I will send you a PM 

I might be able to help you here. I will get back to you after doing some checking (see my PM. I sent it before I saw this thread) 

Thanks for the tip!  Bought it ;-)
Remind me in a couple of years when I have some to spare.  This stuff is super slow growing, but I've done it before.  Here is a big one - plus lots of Anubias - in a tank I had in the US.
 

Suppose you could always put a complaint via Trademe.  A lot of adverts there are not original photo's of the items - big tell tale is a new item with a plain white background with the same image used on Ebay etc listings.  Most people & even businesses don't realise that all images on the web are copyrighted to the original owner unless the creative commons licence has been applied to them.   
Even if they do come to an agreement with you to use your pics, for their own sake and those of purchasers HFF should state on trademe listings that the image represent the species but not the exact fish for sale.  Otherwise for an expensive fish like an Arowana (different grade of fish etc then advertised) they could be taken to the disputes tribunal.

On the topic of professional Trade me sellers using misleading photos (that they may or may not have permission to use). Aqua world and The fish room are two more that FNZAS members should be aware of. The fish room especially has a bad habitat of using amazing photos. Writing/cutting n pasting very long descriptions of the species in general. But leaving out basic information like approximate age/size of the fish you are bidding on is. Both The fish room and Aquaworld are reluctant to add photos of the actual fish to there auctions even when asked. In the past when I have asked to see what I'm bidding on, I have been asked for my email or referred to a Facebook page to see a real photo.
I hope this wasn't to far of topic. Reading about what HFF is doing reminded me of past dealings on Trade me and I felt the need to rant.

Nicely done!  I just subscribed to your YouTube channel. It certainly deserves more traffic!

HFF have a nasty habit of stealing photos from my web site, and use them on Trade Me to sell their fish.  More than the copyright infringement, I despise the fact that they use photos of super quality fish I had in the US, and make it look like that's the fish they sell in NZ.  When I look at the fish they actually have for sale, they are nowhere near that quality.  It's basically fraud, in my opinion.
They've done it before, and I told them to cease and desist. They take down the photo once told, but next time they need one, here we go again.  Right now they are trying the same old trick with the Tropheus they have for sale on TradeMe. They are asking $20 for one fry. Don't they have a cell phone so they can take pictures of the actual fish?   I think I am going to send them an invoice for using my photo and see how that goes. I don't mind people using pictures for their private use, but for commercial purposes, it's unreasonable to expect to get them for free!

Just got a copyright infringement settled this morning when another accommodation business was using one of the photo's from my website for her own.  First a nice polite email stating that what they are doing is wrong (their website was made by another company) and asking her to correct it, then after a month sent her a more professionally written email stating that she was infringing on my copyrighted material, it has to be taken down by the end of the month and legal avenues will be implemented if it isn't removed.  It was changed this morning.  
In your case I would:  Put a copyright notice on the bottom of the web pages like in my case "Copyright 2017 © Kawhia Camping Ground"  Then send HFF an email asking them to stop using your photos else further action will be taken.  
Have a look at this pdf for info: http://www.copyright.org.nz/html/blob.php/Infringement+of+copyright+-+What+should+I+do.pdf?attach=true&document=511&filetypecode=1&fileId=131
HFF's problem is most likely that it is not them updating the website but a web designer & the designer is just taking the easy way out by copying other peoples work.  The designer may not even be NZ based.  If they think you are serious then they will most likely stop doing it - I doubt it would ever have to go to court but the threat of that helps.

Hi Matt.  I have an Aqua One tank with the filter in the hood and I've never used the carbon cartridges that are sold for it.  Supposed to use biorings on the bottom, then the cartridge, then a coarse sponge - I'm using a finer sponge in place of the cartridge.  I would definitely swap the cartridge in yours for a sponge.  The carbon cartridges are unnecessary and a giant rip-off.

In a previous life I used to breed 50000 tropical fish a year which were mainly sold to one wholesaler who had 125 outlets to sell to. I also used to grow and sell aquarium plants to most of the pet shops in Christchurch as well as on selling plants from other growers. Hamilton may be too small of a market if you wish to get serious. You may need to extend your market. You do need to grow mainly bread and butter lines to pay the bills and then branch out in to some of the more risky but financially rewarding lines. If you are lucky you may cover your costs but you will not retire on the proceeds. Also made aquariums for a few years. It can be fun but best not to give up the day job.

When you turn off your pump (or there is a power cut) the water will siphon from the return pipe in your tank down into your sump.  If your outlet of the return pipe is on or just below the water surface it will only siphon down to this level.  But if your outlet is near the bottom of the tank all the water above it could siphon out.  Can be easily stopped by using a check valve (not recommended) or a small hole drilled through the return pipe just below the water surface as a siphon break (will suck in air and stop the siphoning action). This will mean the water will only siphon out to the level of the hole you drilled.
But what ever method you use you need to allow room in the sump for the extra water that will flow into it before the siphon action breaks and stops.  If you use an overflow on the sump instead then when the pump starts up again the tank will fill back up to its normal level but the sump will be drained.
An overflow is only needed on the sump if you plan on using an automatic drip water change system (water continuously dripping into the tank or sump with the excess going out of the overflow to avoid having to do manual water changes).

Fish bins tend to be a lot smaller than 100L.  You don't want to carry a 100L bin full of fish!  I forgot about the good ol Warehouse!  That's definitely worth trying.
 
I probably shouldn't sweat this too much.  It's a 1000L tank.  If the sump has 200L or 400L hardly makes any difference.  It's only that I never expected having a problem picking up a 200L tote from Bunnings or Mitre10, and now they don't seem available at all!  Should have brought some from Ohio.  I am sure I gave some away at our last garage sale, because it's not something I thought worth bringing.  I mean they come from China anyhow.  How come they get shipped to the US so Walmart can sell them for $10, and we don't get any?