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Greetings Y'all


DubbieBoy

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Hi everyone,

This seems like a friendly place, what a great forum; I thought I'd introduce myself and say hello... I've been in NZ for three years now (what a wonderful place...), I'm originally from Dublin, and after a break of a few years from fishkeeping, I'm delighted to be setting up a new tank at last. Hooray! I'm hoping users of this group will be able to help me out with questions about the aquarium hobby down here, what's available, where can I get it from etc... I'm based in Dunedin, so dedicated aquatic retailers are a little thin on the ground...

Anyway; the setup - I got bored with the routine rectangular boxes so I've gone for a cube-shaped tank, 600mm to a side (had it made up by Redwood Aquatics in Christchurch who did a great job), looks great (still empty though...). The challenge - my partner is 'not as yet' a convert to things fishy and the tank will be set up in the corner of the new lounge, so this (first) tank HAS to work well and look good, no algae problems, no leaks, no trouble (at least until I get her sufficiently hooked....). So I'm aiming for the middle (i.e. safe) ground - primarily a well planted tank and not a lot of fish, just a shoal of cardinal tetras and some Corydoras, perhaps a couple of specimen fish. Sounds safe enough? As I'm really keen to have healthy, actively growing plants, rather than straggly strands than linger for a while before dying off, I've given a bit of thought to lighting (if the plants are growing, the algae's not, right?). The square top of the tank doesn't really suit fluorescent tubes so I'm going to use an Osram Floraset Mercury Vapour pendant light - these used to be quite popular for aquaria a few years ago but seem to have gone out of fashion now. Kicks out a lot of light of an appropriate wavelength for plant growth and should be beefy enough to penetrate that extra depth. I think its a good 'medium cost' high intensity alternative to metal halides. It wasn't easy to get hold of either... I had considered leaving the tank open on top to let plants grow out but I suspect it would make the room too humid, plus I'd be forever fishing the cat out of it, so I'll just use a cover glass.

The substrate I have at the moment is a neutral, fine gravel. I'm also considering using a slow-release substrate fertiliser; would anyone care to recommend a product for this? When it comes to actually planting out the tank - where would you recommend getting plants from? The local petshops down here don't have much of a selection unfortunately, is there a good mail-order supplier within NZ someone could point me towards? Again, I'm not looking for anything particularly exotic, just the old reliables that will grow lush and well given a chance, lots of Vallis and an Amazon Sword right under the light. I would love to get hold of some Riccia though, that little plant does great work. Is it available here anywhere? Anybody care to donate a piece?

Anyway, I'll stop babbling now. Looking forward to some interactions from the group, all comments and/or suggestions for the above described setup warmly received; happy fishkeeping!

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Hi DubbieBoy and welcome. First off I suggest you join the Dunedin Aquarium and Pond Society. They will probably have lots of plants etc to offer along with help and advice re the local scene. Their secretary is Colin, in Mosgiel, phone 489 7270. For further contact details check out our Homepage under "Clubs". A full contact list is there.

http://paul.aaquaria.com is an excellent site and he also sells plants on TradeMe. Very knowledgeable and based in Feilding. Is also a member of this site.

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Mine of course! :lol:

Andrew is right, this is the official FNZAS site so we try to encourage people to join an affiliated club with the aim of helping promote good fish keeping. Our Homepage tells you all about us.

I myself have had a lot of help from the FNZAS. As Blenheim does not have any fish shops, we are limited to what we can get and have nowhere to go for good information. The FNZAS has been invaluable to our club over the years. Those fortunate to live in a larger area with a choice of lfs are very lucky indeed.

I think everyone should join a club. Not only can you help others but they may also help you.

Being able to attend the FNZAS conferences has been an added bonus :D . We have made a lot of new friends, gained a lot of knowledge and have helped many others.

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catfish_dude said...

> how kan u join a club u kant attend?

Well, there's always the NZKA which only holds one meeting

a year, the AGM. The rest of it is done by post or informally.

Even if you can't attend meetings for more traditional clubs,

you still get their newsletters, access to their resources and,

of course, the many and varied benefits (specifically the Aquarium

World) that come from belonging to (and supporting) the FNZAS.

Andrew, long time member of assorted clubs...

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Hi DubbieBoy welcome to the forum :)

Here's an idea, get some fish that spawn readily in a comm tank but then the fry/eggs get eaten. Then its a case of 'you don't want the poor wee buggers to get eaten do you'? ... Just one more tank will solve this problem, honest...

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another big welcome from mid canterbury :) I am a member of the Marlborough Aquarium Club and the benefits are many. One of the pleasures is assisting in my small way other fishy loving people and many a time they have been there for me in times of crisis. The magazines are wonderful and such good reading. I have not tapped anywhere near the resources.................however come the day that I retire.................

The best thing in joining a club and ultimately the FNZAS is in helping unite the fish keepers in NZ

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Welcome DubbieBoy

I'm sure you will enjoy the forum.

for plants, if you have an idea what you want or even if not, talk to Donna at Pet Planet, she will order in direct anything you want, at a reasonable price.

or talk to Marty here, he is a local. I am not anymore having moved to Timaru over christmas

Mark

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Thank you to one and all for the warm welcome; always good to be reassured that I share in the aquatic affliction, the piscine passion... Special thanks to Kriber for the emotional blackmail idea; might indeed be the way to go....

I had a go at putting the tank in its final position and hanging the overhead pendant light at the weekend. Nearly there. I shall share a pic of the tank with the group once its all assembled and I'm ready to 'just add water'.

There's a thing - water (an oft overlooked but vital component of this business). I'd imagine the H2O in NZ is pretty pristine - back home I would have been using rainwater mostly for water changes (and sadly, even the Dublin rainwater isn't so pure these days...). Are people mostly using their tapwater (after perhaps letting it stand for a day or so to let the chlorine dissipate) in their tanks? I don't buy into the idea of adding those 'safe-water' conditioners ad hoc to everything and then lashing tapwater straight into a tank (except in emergencies of course...). I believe the Dunedin water is relatively soft and I'm hoping it will require minimal interference.

One additive I will be throwing in though, at least at the start, would be a filter maturation agent to try and get some bugs growing. Anyone got suggestions as to the best way to 'break-in' a new tank? I might try and get hold of a small piece of used filter wool to seed the new filter; should start things movine pretty quickly.

I'm aiming to have the tank filled and ready to receive some plants by the end of the week - will keep ye posted...

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Water quality and additives differ depending on your location. We don't have chlorine added to our water here so I just put it straight in from the tap.

I have never used those maturation agents as I don't think they do a lot, but others may have another opinion on that :D

Try to find another fish keeper who will let you hang your filter on his established tank for 2 or 3 weeks to seed it.

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Well the Dunedin water can be pretty terrible so do check it out. There is a really nice bunch of fish keepers down that way with some awesome tanks. I suggest that you contact them and maybe get some seasoned water from them to start your tank off with. Otherwise it is the normal cycling sighhhhhhhhhhh. I used aqua plus with my tank and found it ok however I may have been ok without it too. I pour water into the buckets and let it sit. Justoverflowed one in the week end and the carpet is still drying out LOL.

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  • 2 weeks later...

http://groups.msn.com/AngieandAndrewsAq ... sics2.msnw

This is borrowed from AngieandAndrewsAquatics.

If you follow that link you'll find all you ever wanted to know about "cycling".

DON"T use the additives from the LFS, you may as well throw in a dead prawn and let that start your cycle, does the same thing and is cheaper.

Need a good test-kit too. Goodluck

Alam

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Forgot a bit of vital info.

When you refill the tank, make sure you have de-chlorinated the replacement water, otherwise the new bacteria will be wiped out.

I squirt the hose, HARD into a drum to realease most of the chlorine,

and then leave it to stand for about 2 plus days with an aerater in use.

G'luck

Alan

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