Well I finally did it, waited for Boxing Day and it didn't disappoint; I went to three local fish retailers and ended up purchasing from Island Pets (Big Al's) and bought a 75 gallon tank with stand for $280, which is an amazing price in Canada - or at least locally in Vancouver. I also purchased an Eheim Pro 3 350 canister filter.
I still need to get a glass top, which I may pick up tomorrow and a coralife 4 tuber which I may pick up in the next week or so. Then onto substrate and I'll be on my way, after I have organized my bedroom to take the tank. So my new aquarium life adventure continues.
I saved hundreds by waiting for Boxing Day, glad I did. :blueyay:
We don't really have boxing day here the way its celebrated in the UK, Canada & Australia (and maybe other places I donno of); its pretty much the same as what we have after Thanksgiving with real awesome deals on all kinds merchandise. We were out today for some add stock for my 45g and I hadn't found any deals :|
That's indeed a good deal for a 75g with stand - Congratulations!!!
I can't wait for you to get it up and running and share the first pictures with us Soooo hurry up
Boxing Day was traditionally a day on which the servants had a day off from their duties. Because of this the gentry would eat cold cuts and have a buffet-style feast prepared by the servants in advance. In modern times many families will still follow this tradition by eating a family-style buffet lunch, with cold cuts rather than a full cooked meal. It is a time for family, parlour games and sports in the UK.
The traditional recorded celebration of Boxing Day has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early Christian era; metal boxes were placed outside churches used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen.[1]
In the United Kingdom it certainly became a custom of the nineteenth century Victorians for tradesmen to collect their "Christmas boxes" or gifts in return for good and reliable service throughout the year on the day after Christmas.[2] However, the exact etymology of the term "Boxing" is unclear, with several competing theories, none of which is definitively true.[3] Another possibility is that the name derives from an old English tradition: in exchange for ensuring that wealthy landowners' Christmases ran smoothly, their servants were allowed to take the 26th off to visit their families. The employers gave each servant a box containing gifts and bonuses (and sometimes leftover food). In addition, around the 1800s, churches opened their alms boxes (boxes where people place monetary donations) and distributed the contents to the poor.[4]
The establishment of Boxing Day as a defined public holiday under the legislation that created the UK's Bank Holidays started the separation of 'Boxing Day' from the 'Feast of St Stephen', and today it is almost entirely a secular holiday with a tradition of shopping and post-Christmas sales starting.
Thanks for the FYI on Boxing Day!
It does sound like you got a great deal, probably something like what we would expect on our Black Friday here. 75g is very nice, keeps your stocking options very open, never mind the landscaping you could accomplish!
Have you thought about planted vs non planted? Any stocking ideas yet?
I'm into my fourth incarnation of aquarium ownership so I've definitely gone through many phases of fish and plant combinations. My first "tank" was a gold fish bowl, then another, followed by my first tank which was 5 gallons. It and others I owned way back when were all the usual community tank, over stocked and I'm sure poor water quality. I think the only item I monitored back in the beginning was PH, a long way from the "kits" available now for water quality.
My next major phase in ownership were large tanks, over 100g with interesting but different fish, eels, elephant nose fish, black ghost knife fish, etc.
Then the next phase was into cichlids and ownership of Red Parrots which are interesting intelligent fish.
Now this tank will be a bedroom tank, designed to look good and relax the soul, my soul to be exact. So I'm definitely interested in a planted tank. I found the pics of the award winning aquariums in the last issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist quite interesting; some of the tanks struck me more design oriented rather than fish oriented. I began reading TFH in 1964. I also joined my first fish club in Ottawa Ontario back then.
I started out this phase thinking planted plus Tetras tank, then liked Red Line Torpedo Barbs, but they just grow too big. I don't want this tank to look "all fins" so to speak. I love fish that kind of hide and you see only occasionally, I like surprises.
Angel is getting me interested in Killifish so I'll check them out. This tank is going to "grow" slowly. As I've told others, I'm working at the Olympics here in Vancouver as a Venue Manager for curling and I am going to be a very busy puppy for the next couple of months. So the aquarium won't even get set up with just the basics, substrate (haven''t decided yet) and plants with a gold fish or two in the next couple of weeks (the gold fish will be donated to my friends pond in the early spring); these fish will be used to "seed" the tank and get it going. I may not even add a heater until I get my first torpicals.
IF you're able to find A. Australe up there, you better buy double and lean how to mail me some. I have been ALL over the place trying to find them. Even discussing options with a dear old Killi Breeder overseas to mail me some eggs now, cause I can not find them here They're sooooo beautiful
Angel, I will look; I'm planning on joining the Vancouver aquarium club and if I do find it, I'm guessing they will be privately bred. We do have some decent fish retailers here locally so I'll be on the look out for you, right now though, I have to goggle them first...lol!
If you can find some, I'd def set up another 15-20g for Killi only, they're too awesome fish not to have.
When we moved, I had a bad feeling this was gonna happen and even debated to smuggle them in a bottle somehow in my luggage LOL
Hey congrats on finding that deal. I was drooling over one myself last week and it cost waaaaaaaay more that that. Luckily, we don't have room for it until we get a bigger house and then i'll look on Craigslist.
Enjoy
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