General Aquarium Talk

[broccoli]

Goldfish and bristlenoses are big pooers and (Edit, IMO of course) your tank isn't big enough for that many poo-machines. You really need fewer fish and a bigger tank. At least you should be changing water weekly (probably even daily with those fish in that size tank).

[Optimus.]

Thanks for that advice. It's amazing how much bigger they've got - we don't notice until we see others in the stores or at people's houses. In any case, it looks like there won't be so much of an issue with overcrowding soon enough.


At least they had a good few years.

[japes]

Change your schedule to 50% weekly.

Originally Posted by Oblong Cheese

I guess this is the effect of online retailers - but surely those LFSs don't need to sell everything at RRP?

Keep in mind I work at a privately owned LFS, and this opinion does not reflect the views of its owner.

Online retailers have their place.

The market seems to be down, and the non-enthusiasts simply don't have the money to bomb on expensive luxury fish setups. The issue is a little bit more universal with how things have gone with chain stores and the internet over the last few years. The issue currently is that the biggest spenders in the hobby are enthusiasts, and most of them know how to use the internet and find good deals. This means that expensive dry goods, minus tanks, are mostly taken care of by your big online retailers - for example we sell Eheim filters (Pro Series) at about $20 above their online price, so that's probably cheaper than having them posted, but people will shop online anyway because they dont necessarily realise.

I shouldn't need to mention the extra overheads that stores face due to keeping livestock - lighting, heating, food, deaths.

With more and more chains opening their doors the bread and butter fish market has also been taken care of.

Now getting back to the enthusiasts, these people generally know how the hobby works. It doesn't take a genius to work out that dry goods are cheapest online if you don't need them urgently, and that if you want run of the mill Americans and Africans and aren't concerned about quality, there's plenty of people out there breeding them that will offload them for a couple of dollars a fish. It basically means that to succeed with livestock for enthusiasts you need to:

a) Sell things noone else bothers with or can get easily - Wild Bettas, Show grade imported Guppys, Coral Red/Purple Pencilfish for example.
b) Sell high quality fish. While it's an exception to the rule, some people do pay higher prices for nice fish. I know I'd pay the $1 extra per fish for our Neon Tetra for example.

We sell a lot of fish online around Australia, because people simply can't find what we can get anywhere.

The other issue is that the aquarium hobby in Australia is 5-10 years behind the rest of the world. Only recently have we started really catching up.

I think that concludes my stray rant.

[Oblong Cheese]

http://www.epidemicfun.com/2011/worl...ium-with-fish/

[n3wbi379]

Originally Posted by Vassili

Moved my 3' reef tank last night... had been losing lots of corals of late, so pulled all my rock out, and found this little turd:

image

Also got my new sump

image

Nice sump.....

What return pump u using????

[Vassili]

Laguna 9000. 9000lph @ 100w. Dead silent, cant go wrong

[Oblong Cheese]

Originally Posted by japes

Keep in mind I work at a privately owned LFS, and this opinion does not reflect the views of its owner.

Online retailers have their place.

The market seems to be down, and the non-enthusiasts simply don't have the money to bomb on expensive luxury fish setups. The issue is a little bit more universal with how things have gone with chain stores and the internet over the last few years. The issue currently is that the biggest spenders in the hobby are enthusiasts, and most of them know how to use the internet and find good deals. This means that expensive dry goods, minus tanks, are mostly taken care of by your big online retailers - for example we sell Eheim filters (Pro Series) at about $20 above their online price, so that's probably cheaper than having them posted, but people will shop online anyway because they dont necessarily realise.

I shouldn't need to mention the extra overheads that stores face due to keeping livestock - lighting, heating, food, deaths.

With more and more chains opening their doors the bread and butter fish market has also been taken care of.

Now getting back to the enthusiasts, these people generally know how the hobby works. It doesn't take a genius to work out that dry goods are cheapest online if you don't need them urgently, and that if you want run of the mill Americans and Africans and aren't concerned about quality, there's plenty of people out there breeding them that will offload them for a couple of dollars a fish. It basically means that to succeed with livestock for enthusiasts you need to:

a) Sell things noone else bothers with or can get easily - Wild Bettas, Show grade imported Guppys, Coral Red/Purple Pencilfish for example.
b) Sell high quality fish. While it's an exception to the rule, some people do pay higher prices for nice fish. I know I'd pay the $1 extra per fish for our Neon Tetra for example.

We sell a lot of fish online around Australia, because people simply can't find what we can get anywhere.

The other issue is that the aquarium hobby in Australia is 5-10 years behind the rest of the world. Only recently have we started really catching up.

I think that concludes my stray rant.

I didn't know you guys sold filters. The website is ... not very good. I will probably always buy livestock there though from now on, having dealt directly with the owner on my last spending spree.

[n3wbi379]

Originally Posted by Vassili

Laguna 9000. 9000lph @ 100w. Dead silent, cant go wrong

Very nice and expensive lol....

What size u rkn i should go for my set up???

[Vassili]

Yeah, I think it cost me about $230 in the end, but hey, buy quality, cry once

My pump is a large one because its tee'd off for the chiller, reactors, refugium etc etc. Im sure a 4-6000lph pump would be fine for your chiller and return

[Daft_Munt]

Originally Posted by Oblong Cheese

http://www.epidemicfun.com/2011/worl...ium-with-fish/

NSFW site.

japes has some good points, shame I cannot order fish and plants directly from interstate. the extra mark up down here is a joke. friend of mine got an Ehiem classic filter for about $100 off ebay and I spotted the same model down here for double the price. to make matters worse down here so few shops stock anything more than the bread and butter fish, but I know the owners of one that will order things in for me and have recently started there own fish farm after getting the red tape sorted.

[the_fuzz]

Originally Posted by Vassili

Yeah, I think it cost me about $230 in the end, but hey, buy quality, cry once

exactly - I've used 2 "ebay" pumps previously and although they didn't die, they got louder and louder over time.

On my current display tank I spent $220 on a high quality pump and would never go back - buy once, buy good

[japes]

I don't even trust what most people would consider mid-range pumps these days. Had an Aquamedic setup and was very unimpressed with it. Incredibly happy with my Eheim Compact+ though.

Originally Posted by Daft_Munt

japes has some good points, shame I cannot order fish and plants directly from interstate. the extra mark up down here is a joke. friend of mine got an Ehiem classic filter for about $100 off ebay and I spotted the same model down here for double the price. to make matters worse down here so few shops stock anything more than the bread and butter fish, but I know the owners of one that will order things in for me and have recently started there own fish farm after getting the red tape sorted.

The shipping laws to Tasmania are very unfortunate, and on the grand scale of being shat on with importation, Tasmania has managed to be even more shat on than the rest of us

Also, be very very careful with Eheim products from Ebay and some online retailers. Unless they're supplied by a registered Australian Eheim importer/distro company, you're likely to run into a few issues: Taps that aren't supplied on Classic series, no filter media, incorrect/adapted/non-complied changed power plugs.

[Vassili]

Cant really go past the Eheim 1262s etc for low flow + reliablity. For higher flow, the Laguna pumps are hands down the best I haved used for efficiency + silent running. All of the $700 Red Dragon pumps are based on the Laguna blocks.

I have had a few Aquamedic Oceanrunners.- silent, decent efficiency, but often wouldnt restart after a blackout/brownout, which = bad for a marine setup.

[Daft_Munt]

Originally Posted by japes

The shipping laws to Tasmania are very unfortunate, and on the grand scale of being shat on with importation, Tasmania has managed to be even more shat on than the rest of us

Also, be very very careful with Eheim products from Ebay and some online retailers. Unless they're supplied by a registered Australian Eheim importer/distro company, you're likely to run into a few issues: Taps that aren't supplied on Classic series, no filter media, incorrect/adapted/non-complied changed power plugs.

IFS down here are improving, the head scientist likes his plecos, it is no longer full of trout fishermen.

The Eheim filter my friend got was from an Australian seller and was brand new, no missing parts. Buying a new tank down here is a killer, the tank I will be setting up soon (euro style 3x2x2ft) was around $400 Bass Strait is a bitch...I wont start on the price of local beer costing more here than Victoria...clowns ship to Melbourne before being sent back, minimum $5 extra

[DE BLAQ 8.0]

I was just wondering, does anyone on here have a Co2 setup? If so, did you notice a big difference between using Co2 and without Co2? Cheers