KM

Hi Dawn If you are out that way and it isn't a problem for you....that would be great! I have passed the store myself a few times, and I once managed to get my partner to stop so I could have a look (he tolerates my hobby, but doesn't enourage it!) and the same note was in the door to say that they were all out! If worst comes to worst, I go through the T&E again and call up any number that is in South Auckland in search of the elusive Greg!!!!!

Hey Mystic.. any help at all is appreciated. I found Greg in the T&E last time, as he was selling some tanks he had made. I wanted a 120cm x 70cm x 60cm tank, and all of the petshops I went to quoted me over $400, and that didn't include delivery! He did it for less than half that and brought it to my home. I'm really annoyed at myself for losing his details!!! I also ended up having the stand made for me through a furniture shop and they made an awesome stand at about 60% of the quoted price from petshops, and it is far better quality, and exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately they are no longer in business so I can't get them to put a stand together for me.

Does anybody know of someone in the Auckland area that makes good fish tanks that I can buy direct from? I had a guy by the name of Greg put together my big fish tank for me, and I was very happy with the job he did, and the price was really good too. I believe he was located in the South Auckland area, but I have lost him contact details!!! :evil: I want 4 - 6 three foot tanks made up for me. I am also interested to know where you would get one of those commercial stands that you see in petshops - the ones made of metal. I'm useless at DIY, so that isn't a good option for me! It may be best to get the stand first and then have the tanks made to fit the dimensions of the stand. Any help would be appreciated!

I was maybe a bit hasty in my first reply about doing more water changes! You do have to be careful about the water you are putting into a tank as the last thing you want to do is make any changes to an established cycle. The problem with smaller tanks is that people think that they are easier to look after, and to some extent this is true. However small tanks are far more vulnerable to water problems. I find that the best approach for my small tanks is to take water out of a larger established tank with similar water conditions that was cleaned a day or two before. I do a 10% water change twice a week in my smaller tanks. Alan, I have recently read through Wattley's book myself, and he says that some of the South East Asia do a 90% water change daily in their discus tanks! It's quite amazing how everyone has a different approach to their fish and their ideas of fish keeping. It just goes to show how subjective the topic is!

Slightly off the topic, but a couple of years ago I was down in the winter/covered gardens in the Wellington Botanic Gardens, and I stopped to take a look at their pond. They had swarms almost of the most beautiful guppies I have ever seen! The females were at least 2 to 3 times the size of the males, and a solid gold/bronze colour. The males were all a metallic purple with flashes of green and orange. I had to exercise some serious restraint! Thankfully I live in Auckland, otherwise I just don't know! Has anyone else seen them? It was a few years ago, so I'm not sure if they are even there anymore!

Hey Funky Town. I have a a little 380 at work on my desk with some sunset platies. It is a really sweet little tank. Keep an eye on the water quality though. The smaller tanks can be a problem in a big way if you aren't careful. You may need to look at smaller water changes a bit more often than a larger 100l + tank would need. Otherwise you will find you have problems with dropsy!

The AR850 seems to be a very good tank. I have one as well as an AR620. The 850 is a good size. I have an older one that does not have a built in overhead filter, but instead it came with an external canister filter, which was very hard to prime. The only problem I have had with the 850 is trying to change the lights, which is a bit tricky and seems to be a design fault - but it isn't impossible to do - it just requires some patience. I would say that if you are thinking about keeping fish that are a bit fussy about their water conditions, such as discus, an external filter along with the overhead filter seems to be a good idea. I just didn't find that that the overhead was doing a good enough job, but the newer models may be a bit better than the older ones in this respect

Hi Caryl How would I go about joining?

Thanks for the response everyone! I tried to get in touch with the South Auckland club about a year ago, I emailed a few people on the list, but nobody replied, which was a bit unfortunate. As a result, I have ended up learning a lot through trial and error (a lot of error I'm sorry to say!). It will be great to be able to get info from people who have been obessessed with fish keeping for a few years. I figured out a good while back that the advise one gets from many pets shops (with the exception of some of the staff at Hollywood FF) is pretty awful! Anyway, hope to speak with some of you in the chatroom at some stage.

Hi everybody For a long time I have thought that I was one of only a few fish 'crazy' people! But now I see that I'm not alone...there are quite a few others by the looks of this site. I have been kepping tropical fish for about 4 or so years, and I now have 4 running tanks at home, and one small one at work. I have a large 600l tank with SAmerican Cichlids, and a 200l tank with 3 parrots, and a 240l & 160l litre tank with a number of discus. Discus are my thing really, but it took a number of years of learning and reading before I decided to give it a go. 2 years on and things are going well. I'm hoping that there will be lots of knowledgeable people in here who can give me advise when and where needed. I will be moving into a new home soon, and I will be expanding my tanks with time (and funds!) and going into discus almost exclusively. Look forward to talking with you all. (PS: If you have a chance to go to Butterfly Creek in Manukau, you should. The butterflies are cool, but there African Cichlids tanks are awesome...if a bit overstocked!)