Quark_VI Posted January 1, 2002 Report Share Posted January 1, 2002 Hi, I have just arrived in NZ from South Africa where I had to leave my fish and equipment to a very grateful friend. I would dearly like to start keeping fish and breeding them again in NZ but I am unfortunately very short on information wrt where to get everything and where to get the best prices. To make matters worse my taste in fish was rather exotic for South Africa. I am looking for the best places to purchase the following : 1] Rams, kribs and other dwarf cichlids, preferably of breeding quality. 2] Mad about catfish e.g. ancistrus, synodontis, talking cats, farlowella's, platydoras, corydoras, pimelodus. I avoid the bigger ones and the rarer the better 3] loaches 4] breeding quality discus esp Alenquer Red 5] Will need new equipment, personally like 4 foot tanks for most and then assortment of breeding tanks. 6] Which is the most economical external filter on the kiwi market ? (don't wish to start a flame war. Eheims were not economical when compared to fluvals in ZA. And made homemade filters for breeding tanks anyway) By the way I stay in Marton, 30 mins from Palmerston Nth. Would appreciate any tips. thanks Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted January 5, 2002 Report Share Posted January 5, 2002 Hi Robin Welcome to NZ.. There are a couple of FNZAS affiliated societies around your area where people with those organisations should be able to help you out.. Levin Aquarium Society Contact: Don Dudley (06 368 6120) Palmerston North Aquarium Society Contact: Rowan Lee (06 326 9131) Taranaki Contact: Melissa Augustine (06 756 6610) Wanganui Contact: Sandra Cresswell (06 344 7990) Best of luck with your fishkeeping endeavours PS my opinion on filters Cant beat a Fluval Cheers /Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted January 13, 2002 Report Share Posted January 13, 2002 Welcome to NZ, I would guess your first port of call for fish and equipment would be Wet Pets in Palmy (Palmerston North), 729 Tremaine Ave, 0-6-357 8177. I've called in there a couple of times on my travels and they seemed to a have a good range of fish, can't really comment on the equipment side of things. I assume there is also some sort of Trade and Exchange magazine for the area if you're not adverse to second hand setups. I know here in Hamilton the weekly Loot magazine has aquariums for sale every week it's just a matter of waiting until something suitable comes along. If you are travelling further a field the best shop here in Hamilton (my opinion) is the Goldfish Bowl (966 Heaphy Terrace, 0-7-855 2176), for equipment you may also want to check out Pet City (787 Te Rapa Rd, 0-7-849 8434). Regarding the fish you're interested in, we seem to be having a bit of a drought as far as interesting (but reasonably priced)imports are concerned - again my opinion (I'm mainly interested in small to medium catfish, tiny fish and rainbowfish). Working through your list of fish (based on what I've observed here in Hamilton and my odd trip up to auckland): 1)Kribs are pretty common, Bolivian and German Blue rams are available on a semi regular basis (more so the Bolivians), other dwarf cichlids seem to be in short supply. Locally we have people breeding small amounts of blue rams and also the Golden Eye dwarf cichlid (Nannacara anomala). 2)One type of ancistrus commonly available (with perhaps? another type being breed out there somewhere - I also came across an expensive, $160, ancistrus up in auckland - beyond my budget and only the one of them). The synodontis' you are most likely to come across are the Upside Down (S. nigriventis) and also the Featherfin (S. eupterus), with the occasional solitary specimens of the more expensive ones. Talking cats/Platydoras, I wouldn't get my hopes up, there have been no recent imports (to my knowledge), Chocolate stripes (Platydoras costatus) were the last ones - about two years ago?, you may get lucky and find one that has been sold back to a fish shop. Even further back there were Spotted talking cats (Agamyxis pectinifrons), again I think you would only get them through private sale or if they have been sold back to a fish shop). Farlowella's, I think these are currently available, retailing for $60-70? At this price some retailers may not be stocking them and you would have to ask specifically. Corydoras, there is a range available (not necessarily a huge range): bronze (C.aenus), albino (C.aenus), peppered (C.paleatus), Tail spot/many spotted (C.caudimaculatus), Panda (C.panda), Emerald (Brochis splendens), bondi (C.bondi bondi), ?pygmy (C.pygmaeus - has been imported before and I think it may be available at the moment), ?julii (more likely to be C.trilineatus, haven't seen them for a little while). Then there are probably some types that are regionalised due to them being locally bred (were C.sterbai available in Wellington/Hutt Valley) Pimlids - the only one you commonly see is the Pictus cat. 3)Loaches You should be able to find Kuhli loaches, a range of Botia loaches, Horse faced loaches at the moment, perhaps a couple of types of Hillstream loaches, and golden eel loaches if you're really lucky (ie they haven't been sold because they're buried up to their eyes in the gravel). 4)Discus, I'm not heavily into discus and tend to favour the blues anyway but there has been a greater variety of reasonably priced ($70-120) ones imported recently. Hope this is of assistance (if you happen to have an hour to kill in Hamilton let me know, you'd be welcome to come peer into the tanks I have). Rob [ This Message was edited by: Rob on 2002-01-13 23:44 ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted January 14, 2002 Report Share Posted January 14, 2002 Went to the local fishshop, enquired about catfish availability and found that some of my previous comments are incorrect. Chocolate stripe catfish (Platydoras costatus) are currently available, should be retailing for about $50. I'm unsure if my comment about Farlowellas is correct, they may be a recent import, but currently available are Rhineloricaria filimentosa (spelling??). As both of these types are on the more pricey side you may have to request them specifically - also may depend on what wholesalers your local shop deals with. Corydoras julii (though it's almost certainly C.trilineatus) are definitely available at the moment though more expensive (and possibly a little smaller) than previously. Rob [ This Message was edited by: Rob on 2002-01-14 17:15 ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babkamath Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 Hey Rob Just donated my tank to the local aqua shop, I m interested in exotic koi Goldfish and Angels (Cichlids) along with Pearl Gouramis and Moonlight Gouramis. Any leads as to their prices and the plants gravel etc. Help. PS I am based in Aukland Bab :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 Hi Bab, What is a koi goldfish? Koi are banned here but I am guessing the name for the goldfish has something to do with their colouring? As I live in the South Island I can't help you re shops in Auckland. Welcome to NZ Robin and I hope you find the fish you want too. I was impressed with Wet Pets myself when our club visited a while ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajbroome Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 Robin said... > To make matters worse my taste in fish was rather > exotic for South Africa. The range of fish in ZA (from what I've heard from people I know there) is better than in NZ generally although we do get quite a few species but generally the rarer stuff only comes in sporadically and is expensive. Feel free to get in touch with me next time you're heading to Palmerston North - I live quite close to Wet Pets. Mostly, I do killies and can certainly help you if you want to get into those There's a club here, our next meeting is April 16th at my place and is the AGM. Andrew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minchton Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 Hi Robin If you are able to come Taranaki way we can probably help with common kribs and albinos, bristlenose and peppered,bronze and albino corys. Hope this helps Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted July 17, 2003 Report Share Posted July 17, 2003 There's a discus breeder in Auckland, and he had some Alenquer Red discus for sale. I was able to purchase one ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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