Mail Order sites that I find good, even P&P tanks!

I suggest you email them all and ask them to become sponsors of the Forum...then you'll see how helpful they are !!!

We have sincere and genuine Irish companies who sponsor both our Forum and Fish Show, this is a real slap in the face for them!!!
As discussed previously Irish suppliers cannot compete price-wise with foreign suppliers - especially the continental ones.
No doubt there will be replies to this telling of how all Irish Aquarists buy their fish from this country - but as Serratus from Aquatic Village points out...they cannot exist by fish sales alone. Where will we all be if, as a result of not enough turnover the shops in this country close?
By all means go to these sites and do your buying but please don't rub the noses of our sponsors in the brown stuff by telling everyone else openly on a Forum which largely exists on sponsorship for its existence, it is morally very unfair in my opinion.

Just my opinion, of course.

...but also hope our LFS do bare in mind we can now check prices from elsewhere and dont have to accept being ripped off.

You will find that in most, if not all, cases you aren't being \"ripped off\" as you put it, for a start most of the German retailers get their stock at a much lower cost than it reaches shops over here at...and that doesn't take into account the higher shipping premium to Ireland either.
Now, the same item reaches shops here and has to be subject to a 'mark up' - this is, after all what the shops are in business for. Bear in mind though that this 'mark up' has to not merely become the shops' profit...there are wages and shop overheads to be taken into account too.
Believe me, if anyone's doing any \"ripping off\" it's the continental exporters and even the manufacturers who are perpetrating this, they decide what price they can get for their goods in any given country and then set that, having been in retail in England for many years I know this happens.
When the Single European Market was foisted onto us - both British and Irish alike - we were told this wouldn't be able to happen any longer...everything would be the same price in every European member state - great, we thought and voted it in. Did prices ever become equalised? Did they ****!!! You only have to look at car prices to see what a price differential there is throughout Europe! But it's not only cars, Aquatic Dry goods as well as Fishing Tackle are similarly inconsistent.

Actually, when I first read your words they were SO reminiscent of those from a former Forum member that I thought he had crept back in under a different pseudonym.
It was only upon reading your other contributions that I became aware that you were talking about Marine equipment - something he would never have had any interest in!!!

I hope this helps you to realise that most, if not all, of the Irish shops are not \"Rip-Off Merchants\".

John

Donal,
Fair play to you, but before you have to buy your co2 unit online try PMing all the sponsors, you might get lucky with one (or more...) of them.

It might also be worth your while asking members who have used this type of set up, look at postings by Platty 252, Zig, Denis (tanks-a-lot), and Darragh. One of those might be able to point you in the right direction, try PMing them as well.

Sorry, I can't help you, I have absolutely no experience of such things...

John

Actually I just spotted that this thread, after having progressed the way it has is now probably in the wrong section, perhaps Admin could change it?

John