Greetings from South Africa

Greetings everyone!

Bought our first tank almost a year ago - made every mistake in the book and then some... plenty to learn and hundreds of questions to ask! Look forward to becoming a member of your community!

Thanks for the welcome! I feel very much at home already with all the expert advice I've been given!

Mgamer20o0 said:

welcome to AC. really like to know how things are done there fish wise.

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Difficult to say since I don't have any experience of fish keeping in other countries.

What I have noticed just by browsing online sites like Big Als is that we have a very limited range of accessories and absolutely minimal help for newbies. The sales people just don't have a clue and most of them are kids fresh out of high school - cheap labor.

The majority of products available are made in China/Taiwan and the quality is awful. The name brands like Sera cost a blind fortune. There are some local brands that are quite well established but these are mainly food, medication and chemical products.

Fish wise - plenty of african cichlids and some of them very cheap by US standards. Prices range between $0.50 and $3 per fish.

Heres a link to a local online store
For reference sake: US $1 = ZAR 7.20 (South African Rands - ZAR)

It's all relative considering the average wage here is around $600.00 pm and the minimum wage is just a little bit more than $1. To us everything is expensive! lol

I have friends from the USA that love visiting SA because they have an awesome holiday for next to nothing.