steveweast Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Hello all.....I'm new to this board and I'm interested in the reef scene down your way. My in-laws have a second home in Napier and I'll be visiting sometime this Fall (my Fall....your Spring ?). I see by a quick search that my tank has found its way to the land down under....my system has changed quite a bit since those pics were taken. I'm now sporting a dual canyon look.....and I've removed quite a bit of rock (and corals) to lower the reef to allow for more swim space. Some, I'm sure, will like it better the old way....but, in this hobby...things change. I plan on updating my website in the next month or so.....I'm venturing into a small cold water system and I want that on the website too. I just snapped a few pic a couple of minutes ago....and I didn't bother setting up the tripod or cleaning the glass....so, the pics are not the best. I use a Canon 10d with a variety of lenses....mostly an L-series 17 -40 mm wide angle though. All white balance is corrected with the camera in manual mode....photoshop is only used for sizing and cropping. Anyway, thanks for viewing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Welcome Steve. The tank is looking amazing as usual. It would be great to meet the man behind the tank if you're ever down around Christchurch. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelfish Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 your tank is an amazing example of what can be achieved. well done! love how you have so many blue tangs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeveus Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Welcome aboard Steve. Very impressive reef you have indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Welcome to the NZ scene. Many of us have followed your tank over the last few years and its obviously a real labour of love. Well done and keep the info comming. If you get down to Wellington you are welcome to visit me and I am sure many of the other reef keepers here in the NZ capital would love the opertunity to meet with you. Napier is a lovely place, as is much of New Zealand so I am sure you will enjoy your time here. Cheers Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 awesome as always, love the pic's on your site. i've cycled through many of them for my desktop background at work! visit often, im sure your advice will be most appreciated here btw, i think you need some more blue tangs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 oh my gosh....amazing...beautiful...wow...you folks never cease to amaze me...that is just an...oh my gosh tank! How big is your tank...how many fish...amazing...just amazing! Other pics of your tanks...where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 www.oregonreef.com It must be one of the most famous tanks in the world now. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 i saw this tank on the web site a few weeks ago awersom tank good job ant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 welcome aboard Steve. you have a great tank, very inpirational setup, and one of very few that i think is worthy of mimicing. p.s make sure you pack some frags when you comeover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 oh stop greasing!!!! everybody can have a great tank if one has enough cash and more importantlives in a country thats lets you import all sorts of coral and fish. 20 years ago in switzerland one could get blue ringed octopus, green mambas and all sorts of fish and corals. if you live in a country that allows everything in and you have some spare cash even you can achive and enjoy an awsome reeftank. sorry steve no harm intended, great tank by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Yeah, you can have a great reef tank for a reasonable price if you live outside of NZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Nice tank. How do you find the Deltec gear, as you have upgrade some of your equipment. I like the banner fish, Do they pick on any of your coral? When are you coming to Auckland to help landscape my tank? So many questions?, just comeover for half a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 oh stop greasing!!!! everybody can have a great tank if one has enough cash and more importantlives in a country thats lets you import all sorts of coral and fish. There is more to keeping a great tank than that. Sure those things help, but just as important is knowledge, patience, and extremely high standards. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Yeah, you can have a great reef tank for a reasonable price if you live outside of NZ. Have you seen the price of corals in the states? I wouldn't want to be paying as much as they do. Not to mention the price of Deltec equipment over there. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Have you seen the price of corals in the states? Yeah, cheap. Except for more exotic stuff which is expensive, but we can't even get those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveweast Posted May 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Thanks all for the kind words. I'm very interested in how the reef hobby works in NZ. Where do you get your livestock from ? Where do you get your drygoods from ? Are there any importers ? Are there any online outfits or do you have to go elsewhere, like Australia ? Most of our livestock comes in through Los Angeles....but, betwwen the local fish stores there ...plus cherry pickers...not much quality livestock makes it out of LA. The further East you go, the worst the selection gets. Some online outfits and local fish stores ( like mine) have solved this by transshipping directly and bypassing LA altogether. This works great; but, they have to take many boxes a week to get the transhipper's attention. My local fish store gets in about 25 boxes a week. But, even with this arrangement, the best stuff goes to the Asian markets where a higher price can be had.....just one look at some Japanese tanks shows this. As for prices here..... a quality fist sized coral goes for about $70 US....a yellow tang would go for about $20 US. There are a few online places here that deal with very unusual specimens that go for hundreds though. Now, back to NZ.... I would think that your close proximity to the South Pacific and to Cairns, Australia (a major export hob) would offer you some great opportunities.....after all, the major cost of livestock is shipping. Is this not the case ? or is the hobby so small in NZ that you get bypassed ? Someone asked about Deltec. I love my Deltec stuff...but, I'm not too fond of the price. The current Euro/dollar exchange rate is really making Deltec products out of reach for most hobbiests. I was fortunate to be an early adoptor....and, coupled with a few connections.... I was not taken too much advantage of. Thanks again, Steve Here's a link to one US online outfit that offers some high quality stuff. http://www.drmaccorals.com/sys-tmpl/door/ here's another http://www.reefermadness.us/RM-Hand-Picked.htm Of course, even if you can get some nice pieces....you still have to create a system that can keep them alive and growing....that's the fun part of the hobby to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Importers: "reef" on this board is an importer of coral and fish, the biggest in NZ, he is also the distributor for tunze, and deltec and a few other product. His website is www.aqua.net.nz "jetskisteve" is also another member on this board, and along with "nicks" has had a couple of shipments. Redwood Aquatics, is a LFS store down in Chch who is also and importer, probably the second biggest in NZ There are also a few other occasional importers too. I'm guessing there are probably around 30 boxes a month coming into the country at the moment. Dry goods is a tricky one sometimes. Many fish shops don't stock many of the products we want, marinedepot.com and other places like that are used for that stuff. Unlike the US, NZ has strict laws on what can come into the country, and how long it has to be held in quarantine. A government agency, MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries), is in charge of this process. Of course this is not free. All marine fish and inverts have to be held in a registered quarantine facility by a registered operator/importer for three weeks, before they can be sold. MAF has the power to destroy fish which are not on the allowed list, or are infected with an exotic disease. Even though we are closer to the pacific, because the market here is not big by any means, we sometimes don't get some of the really nice pieces you see in the states. Being on the opposite side of the world to the Red Sea, we also don't get as many fish like purple tangs, sohals, etc. When we do, they are transshipped through LA. Live stock prices vary here. Fish are generally more expensive than in the States, but corals are probably cheaper in general. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 or is the hobby so small in NZ that you get bypassed ? yep thats us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Yeah, cheap. Except for more exotic stuff which is expensive, but we can't even get those. Which items are you thinking of that we can’t even get? In terms of livestock I think we are pretty lucky as we do get a big variety of items. The problem is that due to the market being so small the number of livestock imported is limited.. As an importer I buy from the same places as any importer in the states does so the reality is that we do get the same stuff. I think hobbyist sees all the web sites overseas and think that all the nice pieces are a norm, but they are not, just plain marketing. Most shops in NZ can’t afford to spend money on display tanks as they don’t make enough money on marines if any to justify the costs of getting nice display tanks that hold a variety of livestock. Also we are limited as some items are not allowed in. IN terms of hard coral I would say we can get 90% of them and the aquaculture coral I get is the best I have seen. It is about 20% cheaper than the states and hobbyist still don’t want to pay the price. You can’t win. As they say the grass is always greener on the other side. Any terms of dry goods I would say the quality items are as cheap as overseas, Look at the Deltec items , about 30% more in cost in the states. However if the items are made in the states then it stands to reason that they are cheaper, but if you look at the price of a item that is exported from the states it is very expensive overseas due to shipping cost etc. I don’t think the marine hobby is cheap in any country. Steve you mentioned that you local shop gets 25 boxes a week.. Well in NZ if you combine all the importers it would be 20 boxes a week for the whole country. So that puts the whole thing in perspective. We just can’t sell any more. And is it good that so much goes to the states for example. I think not as it is too cheap and most hobbyist would kill 60% of it, Cant be good for the reefs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 A government agency, MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries), is in charge of this process. hi Layton, its actually Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry not Fisheries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveweast Posted May 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Wow....I can't beleive that the whole country gets 25 boxes a week.....the same as my local fish store....and we're a back water...and there are maybe another 8 other local fish stores within 10 miles of me. I was raised in LA, so, I go back to visit family and friends often. In a day, in the greater LA area, I can visit maybe 30 stores...... and one of the best (Tong's in Huntington Beach) gets 50 or so boxes three or four times in a week....of course, his store is as large as many of the wholesalers that I visit too. I guess a metro area population of 15 million can support that kind of volume. Layton....are NZ's fish held at wholesalers for three weeks for inspection.... or is there a government facility where they are held ? I guess this way you know you're getting healthy fish. Over here, it's definately a risk that the hobbiest takes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 they are held in the importers quarintine facility Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveweast Posted May 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Is frag trading big in NZ ? Over here, it is really how many folks build their stock. Not all have to buy $100 frags. I must have given away 30 frags of my Oregon Blue Tort (worth about $100/inch) to local folks. We have a small club here in Portland that has about 150 members....and we exchange frags quite often.... although the local stores wished we didn't. This August we're having a summer BBQ for the club at my house.... and they lined up Steve Tyree to guest speak. I don't know I'm going to fit 150 or more people in my house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 empty the tank and sit them all in there. might even have room for a few more. most people on this board are fairly generous with frags but because of distance many of us cant easily trade. 3 other reef keepers in my city that i know of, maybe we should have a bbq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.