Duncan7

There seems to be alot of good new stock availabe at the moment (moment being the last year or so) ie festae, ?black belt, cuban, good GT's etc well personally i have my hands full (jag pair, and possible festae pair) Just not that many people out there who have the space and tank to dedicate to an agro pair of american nasties. Its a shame, cause as someone who like big cichlids, you cant save them all, you have to choose. I hope someone gets a pair and attempts to maintain their presence in the counry, (my festae havnt paired up yet, they are in a big cichlid comm, but im reluctant to sell either of the possible pair now that davids pair has... well yeah you know the story. I feel i have a sense of duty to maintain the population in the country should anything happen to his fry)

Bichirs.

I offered him one of the two females he gave me as "backups" and he didnt want them... I dont really want the baton he is talking about, will see what happens to the fry, see if the baton needs to be passed then.

I got that one covered man 8)

You were never really on the wagon anyway... deluded thats what you were!! i give you till xmas till that big tank has a heap of bichirs, big nasty american cichlids and that arowana! All the pretty plecs will be in the 5 footer! You cant fight it, David its your destiny!

Update, what did you go with in the end?

Something like this is what i want to do. Big tank with a few big Americans

Grab the sump if its free, atleast then it is still an option. Surely it will fit inside the cabinet? There was no central leg in the cabinet and two big doors... which reminds me, i would probably add a central leg of some sort to the stand

IIRC from the auction it has 10mm bracing at each end on the top, i cant remember seeing any bracing down the front or back. I would set up the sump definately, tank had some plumbing with it, but not complete. Is he giving you the old sump he said he had under the house? He mentioned the buyer could take it if they wanted. Worth a look at the least if its free. You could always make one of the overflows a return?

What exactly do you want to reinforce? Are there places that you think are weak? If the silicon looks good its probably fine. If you want, without pulling the tank completely apart, you can cut the exterior silicon off lwith a blade and then using masking tape to mask off etc run a new bit of silicon down the seam. Its probably more an aesthetic thing rather than a structural. But you could go for black silicon or redo with clear. Im no expert, so may pay to wait for someone more in the know.

I think i was looking at the same tank, was it the 1650x700x700mm tank with dual overflows, pine base? Awesome size, im gutted, its going to be one of those "i wish i had bought" tanks, I already regret not getting it! If I bought it I was going to add a centre brace through the middle just for piece of mind, would be easier to add lids too then. As far as silicon goes, it is probably fine, but again since i was thinking of adding braces i would have thought of doing the seams too while the shop had it. Good luck setting it up, and ofcourse if you get sick of it, you know how to contact me 8)

He is in rotorua i believe.

Well yeah, if we can organise money etc i could grab any of the fish i guess. I dont have the space for much more than the jags tho, so addiyional livestock would need to be collected from me in hamilton when i return.

Dunno how many jags he has, but id possibly consider a drive down to collect them all if there were homes for them up in hamilton/auckland etc. assuming my petrol costs would be covered/subsidised and there was a couple of fish for me to keep. Edit: From the prev auctions he had there were 6 smaller jags in the 180 and the big female in with all the oscars, so 7 in total. Even if i could buy all of them for $100 (doubtful) more like $150, and you add on about $80 in gas for the 6hr drive round trip from hamilton, taking two for myself, the remaining 5 arent getting much cheaper if im looking to cover some costs.

Im keen for some too, share some petrol costs

Did you get a midas in the end? And who has jags? Take me to your dealer!

Salvinis are easy enough to get, festae you may have to look a bit harder. Watch the different temperments too, Uaru are not usually considered to be as agressive as the spp you have already and may be picked on, having said that i had a very feisty one once!

You probably will, but atleast you have tried. Id consider taking the texas and a few jags if he would sell separately. Shame i dont live closer to him.

The other tank you can see is also for sale (check his other listings) , has 6 pacus, few smaller jags and oscars, but still the same insufficient filtration.

Nice mate, looking good. What size is the tank?

+2 for sad looking dempsey. Ive watched the last few auctions and resisted the urge to try and tell him that he has a sick looking malnourished dempsey...

Is the big one at HFF mt roskill a red finned one? I like the look of the red finned GG's when they are smaller, guessing the colour doesnt remain that vivid?

Welcome! I keep south american cichlids too. Your going to need a bigger tank!

Nice! Salt and freshwater fish? Taking requests yet

Is that the old ex wet pets one? Was an amazing tank when setup.