Howzit everybody...

Howzit, my name is Ryan, and recently emmigrated to Ireland from South Africa with a breif stint in the Netherlands.

I currently have a fairly small set-up of a 100ltr tank from Budgies pet store in Maynooth, It came as a set (exact details to follw shortly), I have a bonded pair of convict Cichlids and am hoping to get them breeding.

My aquarium history:

Started my aquarium with every-ones favorit litle terror, the convict cichlid at the tender age of 16, with a small set-up (can't remember what the specs are) it was aprox 80 ltr tank and had 3 small convicts, which very quickly multiplied, needless to say loved the little striped fish so much and there tendencies to show up rabbits, so much that my small set-up quickly grew into a Convict cichlid breeding industry, which earnt me a fair bit of pocket money.

My "business" consisted of 2x 1m(l)x1m(b)x60cm(h) tanks in which i was successfuly able to house 2 breeding pairs each, ontop of this i still had another tank 1,5m(l)x60cm(b)x60cm(h) in which i had 3 breeding pairs, the tank i started off with became my holding tank for young cichlids, I used to sell the young cichlids at R5 (5 South African Rand) a pop and i had at any given time any where between 200 and 400 young, which i sold quite easily up to 30 a day, I supplied up to 4 petstores and direct to the public, starting with my school mates and through word of mouth did very well... now that i think about it it was crazy, exciting times.

Any way that was back in the day in Sunny Durban, used real beach sand from the local beaches, and also genuine driftwood, these were both treated to stringent rinses and cleaning procedures, back in those days the UGF systems were all the rage and with me it was no different.

Today i am back to square one and using a starter kit again, all be it a bit more modern
Eventually i would like to get a MUCH bigger tank but i'm just happy to see the crazy little antics of these striped little fish again... I will be keeping my eye on the "for sale" section.

As previously said, Pictures and specs to follow shortly...

Welcome to the forum Can imagine you are gagging to get a bigger tank again after the ones you used to keep.
Budgies in Maynooth is not a bad little shop and they do get some quality fish in from time to time. There are a few more places in the area worth checking out too if you are living close to Maynooth.
Then of course, you have all the shops listed in the sponsors section here, all good shops and very experienced staff who will help out with any advice you need.
The "For sale section" as you mentioned is a great source of fish too, some quality fish appear regularly and lots of experienced breeders on here.

Feel free to drop me a pm if you want details of the pet shops / fish shops in the area.

Cheers,

Bill.

welcome and enjoy

Go away your not welcome (everyone else all friendly just thought i'd be different). Love the convict they are in my humble opinon one of if not the best fishy to watch and keep. Have some juvies if ya want some.

Cheers john

Thanks for all the warm welcomes...

@ Bill, will definately take you up on your offer, but first things first those illusive Decent size tanks being given away for a steal...

@ JWM, thanks grouchy, lol, yip the convict is a long time favorite of mine too, and will also take you up on your offer as well but like i told Bill need more H2O space so a bigger tank is #1 on the to do list.

Welkom Ryan.

Kev.

Welcome to the forum Ryan


Mark

Welcome Ryan


Pedro

Well as promised here are the pictures of my current setup, its a "Marina" kit consisting of a 100 ltr tank, external filter, light tube and heater, the cave is made up of rocks i collected from the river that runs past the appartment i stay in, I first scrubbed them in the bath to get rid of any obvious scum, then boiled the rocks on the stove for about an hour to properly sterilize them, the plants gravel and driftwood i got from budgies with the kit, the pair of convicts as well.
The setup:



The happy healthy couple:

Good to see another Leixlip resident on here !! Welcome along.

Hidy-ho, neighbour....

Hi Ryan Welcome along

Thank you kindly