not really new..

[joeman]

Hi All,
Well at the beginning of the year I found out that I was being moved back to Germany. Living space is more expensive over here and so my wife and I found a much smaller appartment to move to. This meant that we lost our basement and a whole heap of space. In addition to this it was not going to be possible to ship any livestock. Europe also has a different power supply (voltage and frequency) so without a transformer nothing I had would work, and replacement parts would be harder to get.. All this lead to the inevitable decision to sell up (my 150g, 90g, 29g & 4g saltwater tanks + all livestock).
Amazing how quickly stuff went and friends bought a lot of it so I am still able to hear how things are progressing...
I kept the two smaller tanks.
Along with everything else going on, I detatched myself from the hobby for a few months, but have finally started to set things up again, or be it on a much smaller scale.
I have set up the 29g Oceanic Biocube, but added an overflow and sump (just couldn't resist having something to play with :-)... it's just running now - can't even say it's cycling as I haven't been able to source live rock / sand yet, but at least I have the sound of running water again :-)
It's great to get back on Living Reefs and begin to re-engage...
I know, I know ... pictures... well I need to charge my camera for that and it needs a 110v input to the charger, but currently my tank has exlusive use of the transformer until I can relace a few things (pumps etc) with European versions.. so it'll just have to wait!
So hi everyone - it's good to be back :Cheers:

 

[Bifferwine]

Hey welcome back! I lived in Bonn for 3 years. Took monthly trips to Frankfurt to visit the orthodontist :cry:

It's good to hear you're still in the hobby. I'm interested to hear about the differences in the hobby over there -- Germans have always been considered "cutting edge" in aquaria.

 

[joeman]

Well initially it's proving quite hard to get into... moving from a city in the US where there were upwards of 5 stores either dedicated to Saltwater or at least carrying a lot, to...well... none! At least, none that I have found so far. Frankfurt is a major city.. yet... zero ?!??! (If any of you out there know different, please let me know)
The language is a little bit of a barrier, for instance, searching through German Yahoo for Saltwater takes you to a lot of US / UK sites, so you need to search for Meerwasser or Salzwasser (obvious I suppose given this is the German for sea / salt water... it's just that you need to be this specific for everything..)
I am in the process of reading through Julian Sprung's 'The Reef Aquarium' where he references (or at least acknowledges) a wealth of German literature - so I had expected to find a larger presence here... I have a feeling it will just take me some time to find my way around.
From previous exploration during a trip over here in the past to visit family (my wife is German) I found and visited the following places: http://www.salzwasser.de/
http://www.aquaristik-silbermann.de/
That are both in her home town...
At the time I visited (last year) much seemed similar - not surprising I suppose with the ease of shipping products around the globe - but I noticed things like T5 bulbs being pretty much the standard at the time you and others were just experimenting with them on Living Reefs...
So sure - as I encounter differences in approach I'll be sure to let you know.

 

[yote]

Glad to have you back.
Hows the weather on that side of the big pond?

 

[joeman]

Pretty good:happysun: temps in the mid to late 70's with only moderate humidity.. the thing to consider though is that any energy consuming device (such as air conditioning) is frowned upon - so when it warms up there is no escape... cold beer is the only acceptable solution :beerchug:

... but then I'm English, so grew up in a climate that would change by the hour - so a day where the sun shines continuously is great no matter what :-)

 

[bobby]

Frowned apon? That sucks! Does anyone around there use one? Man I have never lived with out central air, and think I would hate it. How do you keep your tanks cool?

 

[yote]

I never had air conditioning untill I got married.Funny how you dont notice it that much untill you've had it a while.
I could live without it,but if my tank started heating up.Dang skippy I'd put in a AC unit.

 

[bobby]

And Georgia gets warm to doesn't it? I just drove through Georgia 3 weeks ago and it was hotter then it was here in ILL.

Oh BTW remember the I.C.E. testing I was worried about. Well I just got my certificate in along with my EPA card. And fixed my first two problems.LOL One year to go and off to work.

 

[joeman]

Frowned apon? That sucks! Does anyone around there use one? Man I have never lived with out central air, and think I would hate it. How do you keep your tanks cool?

Ha - yes - understand, having lived with it for the last 3 years as well. I never really found that the air conditioned burned that much power either - for the benefit it brought. Think it would have been impossible to have survived an August in Cincinnati without one!! The combination of temperature and humidiity would have been a killer... I've lived here in Germany before, and the summers have hot days, but generally never hold at really high temps. I only had fresh water tanks back then, so not as critical, but never really noticed an issue. I'm pretty sure people here run chillers on their tanks, so in the end their fish and corals live a more comfortable life than they do:sfish:

We'll see how I get on this summer... or probably next as I'm going to take my time setting it up and will not want to stuff too many delicate creatures in for a few months anyway... but I'm more than prepared to buy a chiller if I need to.

Another thing I suppose is the houses tend to be really well insulated here with shutters coming down to cover the windows. This keeps places warmer in the winter (with less energy) and also cooler in the summer... we'll see.

 

[joeman]

Oh yes Yote - you'll love this: I'm heavily into fishing as well as keeping fish - if you're a hunter there's a strong possibility you've wet a line or two as well... so imagine moving from a place where all i needed to do was buy a fishing license and find a nice stream / pool to spend a lazy, sunny Sunday, to one where I am not allowed to fish until I pass an exam!! There's more..
Each region is different, but all fairly similar. Here's the way it goes in Hessen (the 'state' I live in):
1) There is an exam on the last Sunday of September (a second one some time in the Spring)
2) In order to qualify to even sit the exam I need to attend a series of lessons. These are held over every weekend in September - you must do these.
3) Assuming you pass the exam, you then get your license.
4) You now need to join a club (pay) and/or find a day-ticket water (pay) to fish!
I don't even want to think how hard it might be to hunt...
Nothing to do with Reef Tanks, I know, but find it incredible..:frustrat:
Will need to drive to France to go fishing where, once again, I can just buy a license...

 

[bobby]

WOW what a hassle to just fish. I guess I better appreciate how easy it is here. Before I used to complain that I had to drive somewere and wait 5 minutes to get mine. Remind me never to complain again. LOL

 

[yote]

Them folks wouldnt like me.When I want to fish,I'm going fishing if it hair lips the President.
And your right,I love to drown worms every chance I get.Hell,I've even went so far as to fish in my reef:mrgreen:Matter of fact,went to Woods Reservoir and fished from 6pm friday evening untill 9am Saturday morning last weekend.

 

[RyanG]

Ooooh hunting Stag in the Black Forrest sounds like it would be worth the hassle.

 

[yote]

Ooooh hunting Stag in the Black Forrest sounds like it would be worth the hassle.

Stag would be fun.And I saw something on the Outdoor Channel a month or so ago about wild hog hunting in the black forest.Germany is supposed to have some huge hogs.

 

[joeman]

no doubt - it's probably so hard to get a permit that there are only 3 hunters in the whole of the country who have been able to pass the exam - so the boars run free :trampolin

 

[Piggy]

Been in Augsburg for 6 years then Berlin for 3. Did have a freshwater tank while there. Got really spoiled from all the trucks that would come by the house to sell their stuff. We had this bakery truck that came by every few days and boy was the stuff good. Also we had our beer and Spezi delivered right to the front door. Not to mention all the great german food. Someday I would like to get back to Berlin to see how it looks today. We were there the day the wall came down. It was great.

 

[Bifferwine]

Ahh the Augsberg Otters and the Berlin Barracudas! I was on a German swim team for 3 years (the Bonn Blue Marlins) and I constantly identify all the German cities with their respective swim team names. I can't help it.

 

[yote]

The only other country I've ever been to was Mexico(considered a wetback while there) and Canada.But I'd like to see the more remote areas of other countries.
But not if I got to take classes and an exam just be able to fish.

 

[joeman]

Yeah!!! :bounce: Found myself a local store for all things reef :-)

http://www.koelle-zoo.de/ (then click Aquaristik > Meerwasser)

Spent some time on the internet, following every link I could in German forums until I arrived here :helm2:. Can't believe how hard it was to find.. oh well - at least I did!

Just 20 mins down the road. Pretty commercial, but big; all the display tanks are obviously well cared for and the fish + corals seem in good health. Full stock of equipment too. so I bought myself another chunk of liverock and a Tunze Nano stream to get better flow.

So the system is set up! Will just leave it for a few weeks now (at least that's the plan :shock:) to cycle and settle down before deciding what to put in it :question:...

Camera is charging so I'll post some pics of the setup (29g) later.

Just am extremely happy and wanted to shout about it :^:

cheers :Cheers:

 

[yote]

Awesome Joe.
Cant wait to see the pics.