Feelers

Sweet, well I put a bid on the drill bit. $40 isnt too bad I spose. Expensive for one hole though .

Im geussing that the reason the standpipe needs to be wider than the bulkhead is probably because of this peice. It shouldnt really be called 25mm plumbing. I might email the guy about it. Not that thats any good to me - I didnt realise that the plumbing after the bulkhead also had to be smaller. I'm gonna have to cover the overflow with mesh anyway - so I probably dont need a redundancy, I just thought it might be a good idea.

I dont see how it could make a difference where the narrowing is - in this case its next to the bulkhead instead of in it. This is the peice I am talking about There is definately a thinning in this peice- looks like to 20mm to me. Edit : just checked - this peice thins to exaclty 20mm - I used 20mm pipe for comparison and its the same. This would then widen into the hanson fitting.

Ok sorry I wasnt clear on what my plans were. Well, I have this plumbing currently sitting around. --- 1x 25mm hanson bulkhead, 25mm pipe, and 25mm durso peices. (I know you are supposed to have the durso thinner than the bulkhead BUT there is a narrowing of less than 25mm in the peice that plugs into the bulkhead - dont know whether this is enough though.) I also have 1x 40mm hanson bulkhead, and 40mm pipe with 40mm durso peices. From speaking with Tm, he said his system is like the picture, although I think he said he had an elbow on the bottom pipe. He also said it's quiet. The problem with the big durso is I will have to get a big hole - and therefore buy the drill bit. I dont think Tm has one big enough, although I could always dremmel it out. The problem with the little durso is it may not work (according to the website). The point of having the shorter tube - it cant take all the flow but it means the upper tube (with the air/water mix) takes less - meaning it's quieter. With the plumbing I currently have I can hopefully have a good safe system(appart from the ball valves) So here is my freshly formulated idea - 40mm durso, with a higher 25mm pipe for redundany. SOund good? I gotta sort out a drill though if I go for this

Ball valve on the shorter standpipe?

I had a chat to Tm about my durso plans - and he suggested another option. In his tank he has 2 standpipes. The first one is lower down and the bulkhead is only 25mm, so it cant take all the flow (Up7's! ). This means the excess water fills up till the top one. So you get one complete siphon, and one stand pipe that doesnt take much of a flow "load", which means it's quieter. (This will be in the overflow box) Like so.......... Any thoughts on this? I have everything I need for the 40mm durso - but I can take it back - and get that large refund. :lol: Also got a basic plan of the lighting plan for the tank. Two t5 4ft units, 2 blue blubs one white and one red. (apparantly these are available) With these ballasts are you able to turn on only one of the bulbs? I'd want the red on at night/on a switch (it might be going in my room and I like sleep)

Maybe a maroon clown?

Looking good rosco.

You could get some black mollies - I'm geussing they'd be indestructable. Dont know how long they take to aclimatise though. Might make for some good octo food hmmm............... edit: you can aclimatise them with saltwater - one drop per second and in 6 - 12 hours fully converted. - and they eat algae

This isnt actually a bow front tank, it's a straight edged "bow". Just pm greg and ask if he can custom build one. I have heard he's excellent. That way you can get the size you want - he might even be able to drill it for you.

I saw coral babded shrimp for $20aud. Definately waaay cheaper over there for all the stuff I saw - and that was only in one tiny shop. I talked to the guy running the sotre and he said it was all the import restrictions we have making it more expensive- which makes sense. Then I saw VB - 6 for $12oz. Haha, its way cheaper over here - and its been imported.

Well beer is expensive over there so we'll call it even.

If you're really keen you should just keep reading.... As helifax suggested to people starting try to get a book on it http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/189008 ... e&n=283155 Now if you're like me when I was 14 - I would definately not have wanted to buy a book, but remember this is pretty complicated stuff. I think you would probably be best off with seahorses to start with. Especially with a tight budget - and you're very young IMO to deal with very complicated invertebrates like anemones.(no offence ) I suggest a seahorse or fish only setup. That way it wont cost too much - you can get some really cool fish, and not need as much live rock ect. And also get some experience with the problems marine systems have. You can make your own base rock, which makes it very cheap. I have a thread on this somewhere, called "diy base rock" but the search thing isnt working.

When you say they have 4 holes drilled on the botom I think you might be talking about closed loops - not overflows to the sump. Closed loops are for circulation - a pump sucks in at one hole and pushes it out the other, getting water down to your sump is completely different/seperate. The simplest thing you can have is a hole in the bottom of the tank, with a pipe going up to where you want the water level to be, which sounds like what you want. Check out this for a good description. http://ozreef.org/content/view/101/29/

How good is distilled water?

Thats sweet even with gst, I'd just have them sent seperately, if you have to pay its no biggie.

Fantastic!!!

Yeah maybe second hand goods arent taxable. Although on the customs website I couldnt find written anywhere. Give them a ring - 0800 4 CUSTOMS , and ask. You can be as blatent as you want, "what would happen if say someone imported goods worth....and.." , although they probably wont like you. The easiest way for someone to pay less is to declare it a gift, or perhaps have the unit dissasembled and sent seperately, or perhaps listed as broken. Its the price of the goods - which you'd have to make sure what the sender put on the box. I have found with customs its more about whining,- once I rang up, and made a silly mistake and incriminated myself(about the value), so hung up and rang straight back to a different operator. :lol: With aquarium stuff they'll have no idea what its worth other than what's written on it. It's quite a flawed system.

UG filter might even be ok for this sort of tank if on the cheap?

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On one place I read it said rising temperature with excess food can help with breeding. Perhaps put them temp up a few degrees?

I wonder if eheims gonna follow suit?

Yeah they're crazy, when I got mine we chucked it in a bucket, plugged it in and an initial blob of water shot waaaay into the air. I also gave it a jam on my weipro :lol: , although the piping diameter was too restrictive - it still looked psycho. Haha my 280L tank's gonna need its seatbelt. :lol:

Did you guys pay to read those articles? It wants me to log on.