volvodriver

What's your CO2 reading at? alot of people have trouble getting it high enough while using air curtains because it aggitates the water too much. Are you finding this? I've been looking at lights alot lately and found guppysaquariumproducts to be pretty competitive in pricing, and they have flat rate of $12 for shipping so unlike most it's not some crazy shipping cost to go with it.

I would also grab some liquid fertiliser, especially when it comes to Anubias, they don't get their nutrients from soil or substrate, the reason they're generally tied to driftwood or something is they get their nutrients from the water collumn. What kind of substrate are you using? There are some nutrients in fish waste that will keep some plants going for a while, but for healthier results ferts are usually needed. You'll also need to investigate some fertiliser tabs when you plant the hair grass, they need something for the roots to feed on.

I'm with Wayne. Personally I would go with the highest light you can afford, if you find you have issues with algae, remove a tube or reduce the time that your running them. I'm personally going for an 8 tube unit and only planning on running 4 or 5 because i don't know if i might want more in the future, it's only $20 difference between a 4 and 8 tube unit. You might find that you get the plant bug and I personally have been going through the frustration of trying to grow plants in not enough light because i started planting and got addicted, now completely ripping apart my tank, replacing the substrate and re-buying hundreds of $$ of gear that i bought 6 months ago.

I can report that myself and several other aquariumlife members have been in today tending to all the tanks, and it's a miracle that there were very few deaths to speak of. It's a true testament to the quality of someone's fish and the care she takes that they've survived 2 days with no heaters, filters or bubblers and they're still holding strong. Not completely out of trouble yet because the shop still doesn't have power, but we're running the generator periodically to keep things going so hopefully it's all ok and all the precious stock will be safe and sound. Still yet to find out about the quarantine rooms up north but hopefully that will be just as safe. Paul.

In some areas rain water is recommended (I believe Sydney is particularly bad for fluctuations in tap water) but Brisbane doesn't seem to have many problems. It was advised to me when I first started out to stick to one water source and the most reliable of which is tap water unless you have a tank. Also as far as I'm aware rainwater is very soft which means other perametres need to be monitored more heavily, where Brisbane water isn't particularly hard but it's just enough to help stop excessive fluctuations.

Welcome mate. Being from the southside, have you discovered fishchicks yet? Always good seeing new faces in the forum, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Paul.

lol, only about 10% are actually clear, most of them are red streaks. When i have patience i feed them a bit and they tend to settle down after they realise that they're not getting any more food. Also helps to monitor for a while and see where/when they tend to pause for a moment. The second one with one of them looking towards the camera was me putting my finger against the tank for a moment getting them interested and made them stop swimming so damn much for half a second. Cheers for the comments. Paul.

It's never as easy as you expect is it? I read somewhere that aquariums are great for pet owners that have limited time on their hands.... Whoever wrote that was abviously not running muliple tanks lol. I always keep an extra large sponge filter running in a tank and a few extra bits of wood to chuck in tanks to speed cycle, that and 50% water from other tanks seems to do the trick pretty well.

Busman, they go by the names scarlet badis or dario dario. They're so tiny but so gorgeous. someone only occasionally gets them and they seem to disappear very quickly so i had to snatch them up as quick as possible. Very timid little things but I really enjoy watching them explore the plants and weave their way through the HG. Lol, it's an apple snail, and unfortunately i have had one decide i was a plant while i was doing some work in the tank once and climb on, not the most enjoyable feeling. He tends to jump to attention if they ever fall from the top, i think that's what happened there. Here's him trying to look innocent after tormenting the fish.

Thanks Sarah, got a few more. Excuse the dirty filter, had been doing a bit of scaping The cat certainly enjoys watching, i let him get away with it sometimes My giant betta pair, they're still a bit torn from a spawning attempt My CT betta girl

Just got some pics of my community tank that i thought i'd share. Enjoy. My gorgeous bolivian boy, sadly had to put his partner down due to an internal parasite going too far My partner's rummy-nose, somehow she's got nearly 20 of the things in my tank lol. New addition, 3 scarlet badis Got a few more, but of course limited. Paul.

Ok, i got very frustrated with free versions of CAD programs and wasn't buying one so ended up sketching my thoughts out in paint, i hope this makes it a bit clearer. This is a front on view of the sides, demonstrating how i plan on sitting it on the tank This is a birds eye view of the base This is a front view of the rear support showing ventilation ect (the fans are lower than where they will actually be of course) and finally this is the fish eye view of the lid with the lighting panels. I am putting the lattice of pine or even just ply so that the MDF or other choice of lid is not holding the weight of the lighting fixtures. All edges will be sealed several times and then any edge visible to the outside will recieve brushed aluminium to finish it off. Inside edges will be painted black.

Thanks heaps mate. Yes i have seen your 2 footer, it was one of the main ones that inspired me to take on this project. I hadn't really thought about MDF, haven't have much to do with MDF because i was under the understanding that it wasn't very good around water, but after doing some reading i think you're right about simply sealing it and save some $$ and weight. Just one question, what did you use to seal the edges in your hood. Am going to pick up the first supplies this week some time and start on the base. Can't wait to have enough light to plant out my tank properly :-D

Hey guys, Thought i'd start a thread of a project i'm looking at starting to make a hood for my 3 foot community tank, still in planning faze and sourcing the parts needed but hitting a dead end with some of them or more so wanting to reduce the cost with some of them so was wondering if anyone has any ideas for me. Basically the concept is a basic hood, brushed aluminium/stainless finish on the outside with 2 LED hydroponics light units under the hood (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....=STRK:MEWAX:IT) these look pretty purple so i'm currently waiting to hear back from the seller to find out if i am able to replace the bulbs and if so i will replace a % with white bulbs to bring it to a more natural color. I'm planning on making the top one piece only due to the size of the light fittings being almost the width of the tank. Now first question is that i was considering sloping the entire lid, not to the same degree that you would normally if it was just half the lid but enough to make sure it doesn't look like a plain metal box on top of the tank, my only concern is if this will be too much weight for the hinges, i was going to use a piano hinge almost the whole 3 foot, so it's probably enough but i don't have much experience with this kind of thing. If it is too much weight i was thinking of just putting a clip or two at the front of it to mate with and relieve some of the pressure on the hinge. One area where i'm having trouble cutting down costs is the top sheet of timber for the lid, one consideration i had is that considering i am finishing it in the brushed aluminium i could simply do the outside rectangle, then a middle brace and 2 diagonal pieces of timber in both squares (does that make sense? Probably not so i'm currently trying to download a free cad program to draw it up, will add once done). I would then secure the lights to the cross members, this would also reduce weight of course and could solve the problem with the hinges too. Alternately, does someone know of somewhere i can find cheap larger sheets of wood to use, admittedly i haven't had the most amount of time so have only tried hardware stores so far, i know there's better places for alot of items but just trying to work out if this is even feasable at this stage. On the same subject, does anyone know anywhere other than a cabinet maker to get brushed aluminium, preferably cut to size. I was also looking into placing a couple of computer fans in to help control temperature, and was wondering if anyone knows if the regular computer fan controllers go down to the type of temperatures we're concerned about or does it not kick in till it reaches more like 40-50? I hope all this makes sence and if anyone has any feedback that would be greatly appreciated. Have a merry Christmas everyone and hope you have a happy and safe holiday period for both you and your scaley friends. Cheers, Paul.