BooUrns!

Oops! I put these two starter cultures aside while acclimating fish last week and didn't remember them until tonight. Any chance they are still viable? They were sealed in ziplock containers with no openings. I just read over the instructions and checked online to see if they could be sealed in. Nothing definitive although it seems the microworms are really more at risk of suffocation than the eels. I'd like to get these cultures up and running as I have a cave full of pleco eggs and the last batch of fry didn't make it.

Got some nice plants and some blue rams. Thanks Gillian!

I don't think they climb the glass, more like the silicone in the corners but they can also get frightened when they're near the top of the water column and do the shrimp backwards scoot and out they can go.

I had two Amanos scale 4" of tank wall and jump into the tank that was beside theirs. They might have used the corners but I've seen them walking up sides of the tank that had scale on it as well, literally scaling the wall.

Very nice! I'd love to see some shots fo the air/HVAC system you're building. My fish room needs that kind of upgrade.

How do you get into the car? It looks kind of tight for space....

i got 2 king tiger pleco's for 20$ each which i couldnt believe everyone stopped bidding.... at least the third one went for over 50.....

Actually I got the last one for $45. Still an incredibly good deal! I arrived late to the auction so you would have paid a lot more (more likely would have been outbid) for the others if I was there. I really liked the mixed bag of plants I got (even though I likely overbid). It was a good idea. Nice job seller! :thumbs:

I had the unfortunate experience of three red shoulder severums expiring in the bag by the time I got home. It looks like they hadn't been fasting before they were bagged. The seller was kind enough to leave his number on the bag label so I'll contact him tomorrow. Hopefully he has some more in his tanks. It sure made the crayfish happy when I gave them to him.

I was once known as a plant guy... I have since forsaken all of my CO2 equip, ferts and abundant light for the joys of plecos! I am all for the move to to cats!!!

Amen brotha!

pH 7.8

TDS: 450-600

temp: 26C

my friend dropped the TDS to 170 and they are doing very well. So params aren't "that" important as long as its stable.

I'm surprised the TDS they require is that high but otherwise that sounds like regular Edmonton tap water. Please save me a few!

Those L066's are impressively large. They don't need to grow out at all. The four I got are settling in nicely, Thanks!

There is at least one international dealer here however it might be an insiders game. If a dealer here would give full explanations of their methods/experience they could be cutting off future profit. As with many other things, it is in their best interest not to tell you but offer you a product sheet on which to place an order using them as the importer.

I'm fairly sure there are quite a few members on here that have gone through the process. I don't think anyone importing fish is going to be too worried about the average person knowing their trade secrets. The risk is the same for a one time purchase as it is for a small business. Losses are to be expected. I wanted to do this write up to make it easier for individuals so they can have a better estimate of what level of success they can expect when using aquabid or online stores. Understanding the process will help hobbyists make an informed choice about importing.

Get in touch with Bob Wright, president of CAOAC(Canadian Association of Aquarium Clubs). He's working with the CFIA on this. His e-mail will be on the CAOAC website.

Will do, thanks for the lead.

Hi Frank, Do you have tank raised sulawesi cardinals available right now?

ROFL... well... I expected more of a response to this thead then it has received so far... at least some discussion...

Hi,

I've done some searches but I can't find a clear step by step set of instructions on how to bring fish or plants into Canada from the US or other countries. So, based on contributions from our membership here, I'd like to build such a set of instructions. I'll edit this first post as the process is described and perhaps post different sets of instructions depending on the region/type of import.

Canada Customs isn't exactly clear when it comes to determining if you need your exporter to have an import permit or not. Using the AIRS list, I can tell if the fishy I want is prohibited or not. The AIRS list gives me a printout... does this mean fishy is good to go? I can't tell what I need to do to get the fishy from USA sent to me without it dying in Customs because it didn't have the right paperwork. I've read that you can take them with you while travelling IF they aren't prohibited and you're carrying them with you (good luck getting an airline to let you take them on board). This doesn't help if you just want to send them via USPS. Remember not all aquarium animals need to be sent as airplane cargo (plants/inverts for example).

So, further contributions would be appreciated.

What's the secret?

So where does your waste water end up if you're not running the how water at the time? How does this affect your drinking water quality?

I'm curious as to what effect the Seachem product has on the water? I've experimented with it and have seen the ph drop but when I tried the treated water on a tank, the inhabitants didn't react very well (RCS). They seemed to be paralyzed. Only when I moved the shrimp to another tank did they return to normal behavior but it took a few hours.

This put me off trying treated water with any other tanks and I just went back to using RO water.

Any idea what went wrong?

I accidently left the basement window open an inch and found my fishroom swarmed by mosquitos. I went to check out my CRS tank and a massive diving beetle went skittering around the tank looking for cover. I'm hoping it didn't take out too many shrimp before I removed it.

I'd feed it to a fish if I had any tough enough to take it on. I live in the NW corner of Millwoods so I'm curious as to where this thing came from in the first place. There are no open bodies of water in the area.

Are you able to exchange your stealth heaters at Big Al's without a receipt as well? I'd rather deal with the store I purchased them from than Petsmart.

Not sure what BA's is selling them for but they go from that price to hundreds of dollars for a single CRS in SSSS+ grade. Not much of a market for the high end CRS here, very popular around the pacific rim.

Reverse Osmosis. RO water will be close to neutral pH with little hardness. You can use a seachem product called Discus buffer. I use it and I know syno321 also uses it as well.

What's the difference between Seachem's Acid buffer and Discus buffer?

I bought some of the acid buffer to try and alter water parameters down to around ph 6.0 aswell but wasn't sure if it worked of if my digital ph meter is unreliable. I got the initial readings down almost instantly but checking a few hours later I got higher readings.

I know it will be very unpopular with ACE members who were not at the last meeting and are unaware of the current policy so it' best to be clear on what Cat has said.

From my understanding of what was discussed at the last meeting, any lots that have not been pre-listed with Micheal will be considered donations to the club. Each member has the right to refuse to enter their lots into the auction if they don't want to give their items up as donations.You'll essentially be taking your fishies out for a Sunday drive.

It seems that the auction's popularity is coming in to conflict with the ability of members to casually enter lots at the last minute. I'm not a big fan of this policy but I can understand that it will ease the burden that the auction places on the club and its' volunteers as well as allow the auction to conclude in a reasonable period of time.

I had a group of five in a heavily planted 65G in the gf's elementary classroom. They did well for a few years and grew to over 18" each. They really enjoyed weaving themselves between heavily overgrown valliseneria and stargrass and ate floating pellets from the surface of the water. It took a few weeks to get them conditioned to surface feeding but after that they were always ready for dinner. I found them to be somewhat slow eaters, they tended to feel around for food rather than strike. I imagine they would do well hunting small fish at night.

They are escape artists and will exit the tank if given the opportunity. I'd had to replace a few adventuresome ones over the years as they exploit any opening. They also do best in small groups as opposed to being alone.

Unfortunately the tank crashed last fall and the entire group was lost.

I imagine I'll replace the group eventually, how much was BA's asking for them?

I've had a school of rope fish for a few years now and they eat from the surface. They're in a 45g long that is heavily planted with vals and star grass. They seem to like being able to work their way through the dense plants. For simplicity, we feed them small floating pellets which are usually given to goldfish/koi. They don't complain and aren't shy around feeding time. If I remember correctly, they didn't feed for the first few weeks when I first got them. I used cubes of tubifex to get them interested in surface feeding.

Ok, ever since all you fine people have told me I could use sand for my FW aquarium I have been on the look out for some nice cheap sand...I decided I really liked the white sand but didn't want to pay 25 bucks for 20 lbs that you see it for in local pet stores...

SO I started looking into pool filter sand..and yes the do sell white pool filter sand...but where to buy it in Edmonton remains a mystery as I visited a dozen places with no luck...then I called a bunch of landscaping companies and found some "Hawaii White Sand"...now it is not as sharp white as the stuff for 25 bucks but it is way more white then normal play sand and the best part is was 10 bucks for 100 lbs... I will see if I can get some pics of it when I put it into the tank.

I am not sure about the forum rules about posting a company name so if you want to know where I got it just PM me!

Care to name the landscaping company where you found this? Inquiring minds want to know. SIL Industries agregates are of good quality but are by no means that inexpensive.

Okay

Asian flights only land in those three locations, everything gets cleared in customs in that airport. If you ship fish in from say the US, there are direct flights from US to Edmonton, from there you can clear in customs. You can also get and clear items from Europe as well.

Vancouver as far as I understand, is not going to have signapore flights cleared there any more, starting in July.

Edmonton, as far as I know is trying to be a Port of Entry for all locations starting in 2012, thats why all the construction at the airport.

FEDEX does not get fish from Asia, you can get a transhipper from the states to ship using Fedex thats about it, but most US fish importers don't ship to Canada..

2012 eh? Oh the fish will be flying then! (And inverts.) :smokey:

Looking forward to Port Alberta.

I have seen Midnight Cories at stores, but at the last ACE auction there was a lot or 2 of these Black Cories - somewhat different than the Midnights.

They are one and the same

And you would know! :smokey:

One of the ones I got at the last auction died after a few days but the other three are doing ok. One seems to have a white eye, I'm assuming it was an injury as it is only the one eye and none of the others have that problem.