reef

Some corys, all the barbs. I am not 100% sure as it is handled by the freshwater importers.

This is the new Maf list. Yes fish might be on the Maf list however you can only get what is available at a supplier. Some fish are hard to get due to many reasons. I have seen freshwater supplier list overseas and i think the current importers are doing a great job with all the variety they bring in presently. The bad news is that DOC want to remove some fish on the current list. That is another story I don’t want to bore you with as it is being handled by the importers and I wonder who pays for all that time that is spend working with DOC/erma/maf. Some hobbyist just need to forget about pricing and move on , appreciate what we have as it is not getting easier. .

I guess you could give us a summary of the big profit margins. It’s a bit of a fallacy that there is big profit in importing fish. If it was so profitable then you would have far more importers than the current hand full and so many have come and gone. I dont think that would be the case as you can only import what is available on day of shipment. If they dont have it you cant import it. also you can only import what is on this list http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz:80/impor ... ic.all.htm

yep, maf,erma,customs use it as a money making venture. most of the cost are not justified, Try bringing in some nitrobacter, erma claims it is not in new zealand. what a joke. As far as i am aware no one imports aquarium plants.

bicolour blenny : About 80 2 clown fish $140 for two l a bluetang: $120 maybe a yellow tang: $170 some blue chromis: $80 for 3 2 firefish: $140 for two and a bicolour psuedochromis: $90

You can however again at $100/hr plus gst it is not cheap so having multiple release dates is not always good option to have MAF come out just to release a few tanks. I think even though NZ does not bring in millions of fish and are on the smaller size we do get a very good selection and the only reason we do miss out on the more exotic fish sometimes is that we don’t ship weekly like all importers overseas as they don’t have quarantine. Shipping ever week gives you a far better chance of getting the stock you want as it is more likely to be available before it goes. There are a lots of computations and permutations when importing so it is not as easy as many think.

I can tell you the elite are very bad heaters, killed many fish a few weeks ago, the dials are way out, i would not touch them until they fix them as they might be a bad batch. i had the heaters on 26c and they went over 33c, killed many fish, the best advise is to get the best heaters, no matter the cost as why would you want to take a risk just to save a few dollars. got any links?? I am just trying them. are they that bad?

All these zoos are available most of the time. I have seen some red ones some time ago which are rare. Will see if i can get some pics of the ones that are around.

Definitely wont be a blackcap gramma fish for $20. Blackcap grammas are over $120. Could be a damsel for that price.

can the outflow of the skimmer go into a big container etc. this way the water should overflow over the container and hopfully less bubbles will go towards the mainpump.

It does, however only for a short period and found fish/coral did not mind it at all. hence only dosing 500mls at a time

Use a dosing pump or just pour it in at night. I don’t use kaltwasser anymore but in the past i would put in two litres a day. I would mix it and let it settle for 20 mins. Then pour in 500mls wait 5 mins and put in another 500 mls. There is no need to drip it.

Here is some info on what is happening around the world. United States (US): The US Coral Reef Task Force adopted a major new resolution addressing the collection of marine ornamentals using cyanide and other poisons. The US government is investigating how to better document the level of ornamental fish imports, with initial results suggesting the trade is two times larger than estimated. In 2005, the US House Bill 3469 sought to prohibit the importation of any coral reef species that were not collected in accordance with a qualified scientifically-based management plan. Europe: The European Union (EU) continues to suspend from trade the Indonesian supply of several coral species and is considering new monitoring and reporting requirements for many heavily traded fish species. In April 2006, the EU suspended the import of most species of giant clam from many Asia-Pacific export countries and suspended the import of many species of coral from Indonesia, as well as some species of coral Philippines: Many local governments, which have responsibility for aquarium fisheries, have banned harvesting of marine ornamentals or have banned the use of compressors. l Indonesia: The government decreased the CITES quota for coral export species in 2002 and again for some additional species in 2005. l Fiji: The government revised the CITES quota for coral exports in recent years.

yes, coral like the sun light however the good lighting by the sun will bring out the worst in your tank. it will be hard to keep it clean unless you have lots of experiance. Also you could have major problems in summer due to the heat.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/about-doc/role/international/coral-facts.pdf Ask them if they have a cites permit

no. it is cites listed. so you need a cites permit.

Noraml tap water contains many nutrients, so if you dont use ro/di then i would use far less fertilisers.

Sounds like your tank has too many nutrients? maybe you are adding to much co2 and fertilisers. When i set up my tank i did not add co2 or fertilisers for about a month so that it i could get the plants settled in and stop the algae from growing. I now add co2 and fertilisers and still dont have algae and have not cleaned the front glass yet. Also you dont have enough Otocinclus, i have about 20 in my tank. Instead of adding chemicals to your tank it is best to find the cause. Do big water changes weekly to remove nutrients. Do you use Di or RO? for water changes.

did you win lotto if it is fish only , normal t8 floros will be ok.

i like the background, the tank looks great, the pots are a bit unnatural.

i would say the readings are correct as the seachem test kits are quality test kits . You might find that if you use the test kits on a existing tank you will also get ammonia reading as they do read quite low and most tanks will have some ammonia. test fresh seawater and see what the reading is. I would do a 20% water change and then add a few fish.

it is best to take out your old sand and replace it with the new sand. will not be a problem , i have done this many times.

All in Prime locations as far as i can see. Some have been in the same location for over 10 years.

As you mentioned maybe they are getting out of business and leaving it to people that can do it. I know a few stores need to upgrade as they have not for many years ,however if you cant recover the cost then things dont get upgraded and stock seems to suffer at the end of the day.