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TaffyFish

Superstar Fish
#21
Jan 30, 2003
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#21
IME, The best online store by far is Aquatics Unlimited based in Bridgend, South Wales, www.aquatics-online.co.uk - they have consistently the lowest pricing and really take care to pack items carefully to survive the post. I have spent hundreds of pounds with them so far without a single complaint (usual cue for unmitigated disaster for the next person using them...)

For my particular interest, Rift Valley Cichlids based in Bournemouth (www.rift-valley-cichlids.co.uk) are worth the extra mileage for livestock. The website is not up to much but the service and customer commitment are pure gold. Otherwise I go to various branches of Maidenhead Aquatics - Guildford, Basingstoke, Woking, Weybridge, Chichester, Newbury,....wherever I'm travelling. Guildford branch is the best, Basingstoke is very new and getting there. If you take printed evidence they will usually match internet pricing for hardware/food etc.

We should all meet up for a swift half then, maybe over the Xmas period?
 

ScubaSteve

ScubaSteve

Large Fish
#24
May 11, 2003
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#24
I have the amazon one in a 55 gal. My Rams love it and I love it because it hides all of the tubes and equipement. It is about 3 inches thick, so there isn't a lot of dead space.
 

T

TaffyFish

Superstar Fish
#25
Jan 30, 2003
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#25
Red letter day today, got a 2nd hand Trigon 350 (only 7 month's old) which will replace my 4ft (55g) and went to Porton Pet and Garden Centre to check out the B-t-N backgrounds. Came away with a rocky background which will take some adapting to fit the corner tank but am hopeful of a decent result.

Staff at Porton were great, couldn't be more helpful. They have excellent displays of tanks with B-t-N backgrounds and the Juwel structured stuff - very impressive. It must help to shift a few tanks.......

One niggling worry is the amount of space these backgrounds take up within the tank - and the ability of fish to find a way to set up home in the sheltered space behind them! One of the Porton tanks had a 5" rtbs happily sucking on the filter behind one of their backgrounds.

Can't wait for the Xmas break so I can set about this new tank!!
 

Purple

Purple

Superstar Fish
#26
Oct 31, 2003
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#26
Sounds like you got a real bargain on the tank Taffy - nice one.
Glad Portons didn't disappoint, with the ammount of display tanks they have up and running, it's a good place for ideas and also to get the kit to do it with.

Their fish stock seems to change almost weekly, but they'll take orders.

Gonna dump a number in your email box now (sorry for the delay - it's been a hectic weekend)
 

T

TaffyFish

Superstar Fish
#28
Jan 30, 2003
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#28
Hi Red,

Happy New Year to you too.

It was a pleasure to meet you, thanks a lot to you and Purple for the hand moving the tanks - that would have been a struggle otherwise! Neighbours are great but you can't beat an experienced fishkeeper when handling tanks. It was also great to find out about your experiences too, you've been in the hobby a lot longer than me albeit interrupted.

The first fill will be either tonight (Friday 2nd) or tomorrow...it will be a relief to get the other tanks back down to normal stocking levels! There's an open door for another visit once the Trigon is fully operational.

have a great 2004
 

T

TaffyFish

Superstar Fish
#30
Jan 30, 2003
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#30
Damn - another mistake. I have used playsand for the substrate and the first fill is refusing to settle out. It's had 23 hours so far and I can see about 2" into the tank. Last time I used this stuff it cleared in a day. Oh well, we live and learn. Am out this afternoon (Saturday) so it looks like I'll be draining and refilling tomorrow....only time, energy and water additives wasted!! :-(
 

Purple

Purple

Superstar Fish
#31
Oct 31, 2003
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#31
You must have got a paticularily dusty batch - I've heard that playsand is normaly pretty good at clearing quickly. Might as well give it a good stir and get the syphon back out............

That Arcadia light unit is looking good on the 75 - nice one Taffy.

Happy new year - and I'm sure we'll meet again soon - if you're over this way then give us a call, once you've seen my 55 - a John Allen tank apparently - you'll feel better about your own stock levels - lol
 

T

TaffyFish

Superstar Fish
#32
Jan 30, 2003
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#32
I should have but I didn't stir it all up again until after the second fill - so that was 3 fills in 3 days! Put the Eheim canister on last night and some fish in after an hour or so.

Not surprised that you're pleased with the luminaire, I remember being really chuffed with that, it's a superb piece of kit. I found a couple of spare Arcadia starters in my odds and sods box yesterday. You can have them when we next meet up. If only they had made the feet out of metal, that plastic feels a little fragile even though it shouldn't come in for much load.
 

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