antwan

I no longer have the bio balls in the unit. The CO2 bubbles start at the bottom and try head towards the top of the reactor but the water flow from the canister is going downwards. This process smashes the CO2 into smaller and smaller bubbles until they diffuse/exit through the bottom hose and into the tank. I much prefer this method over having an airstone-like diffuser bubbling in my tank. And yep, if you have something like this you won't need a diffuser.

I have three of the sun catfish in my four footer, and I too am worried about the size they'll reach. Every time I think about selling them I watch them for a bit and think otherwise, they're so cool! If you want I'd consider swapping your three festivum for my sun catfish?

Maybe you could full-fill your wish and ask the guy for a ride on his river weed harvester :lol: shrimp galore

A couple of native shrimp would be cool with lots of plants. since it's a bowl maybe 5-7 goldfish?

With a tank that size, if you are wanting to use a diffuser that blows tiny bubbles I would recommend two; one at each end. I would ultimately recommend an inline (with your canister filter outflow) CO2 reactor. I got given the parts for mine so I was lucky. I don't think it would be too difficult to build your own out of plumbing bits, but if I was doing it from scratch I'd want one I could see in to.

Agreed

Yes that's what I do and it works well. I put a check valve in the CO2 line to stop water flowing back into the regulator when it's switched off. You should do this also. I've never used a bubble counter as I can see the bubbles going into my diffuser

If you're going to get rams, try to get a pair as they don't form harems like other dwarf cichlids (apisto's). If you had 3 and a pair formed the other would likely get bullied.

I have a 5kg bottle on a 250L tank. I have been running the bottle on this tank for only a month so not sure how long it lasts yet. When I was running it on a 650L it would last just over a month, but that was pumping a lot of CO2 into the tank. I know a few people that have used that same regulator and not had problems. I'd say it took 1-2 weeks to get here.

You will need a regulator, solenoid, needle valve, and some way to diffuse the CO2 into your tank. http://www.ebay.com/itm/UP-CO2-regulator-solenoid-magnetic-valve-control-/250881122073?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a69ae1f19#ht_3120wt_754 That includes everything but the diffuser. I've got one on my system and it works great, but it is a cheap brand and I have heard of others with the same one having problems. You get what you pay for. Those are universal voltage so are safe on our power supply. You will however need to buy an adaptor for an american plug. You can probably get diffusers from the same person on ebay, trademe, or make a reactor yourself.

That's a really cool looking tank. My only worry with doing something like that is there wouldn't be a lot of swimming room for the fish. Columbian's are quite a large tetra. I would estimate ram's to be a 5-10 year living fish, but not totally sure. Google will probably tell you. Are you able to afford/fit a larger tank?

That's a cool stocking list. Personally if I were doing it I would just stick to one larger group of tetra instead of a couple/few smaller ones. Those columbians are great at taking down flies and other insects from the water's surface too! They're very cool to watch. I've never had a butterfly fish before but I reckon they would be a real cool fish to own. How will you plant the terrestrial plants? A polystyrene background with grooves for the higher-mounted plants could be an option? A chance to do some cool diy-ing too

Give them to your local fish friends!

Not even at the front where you feed them from? It's only temporary after all. I don't think it would be a good idea running two different sized filters (let alone the same sized ones) in series. I think it would cause stress on the motors?

Organism has Eheim filters, if they don't have it they could possibly get it in for you?

:lol:

That's what he means. Run them both on the existing tank til you're ready to fill up the new one, then transfer the new filter to it. Simple

Cool idea, paludarium's are wicked. Columbian tetra's are also wicked, nice choice.

I have three of them. Organism got them in. As far as I'm aware there's three left in the shop. I was naughty and didn't do my research before buying them, when I inquired I was told they were actually a species of mystus (Mystus micracanthus) that only gets to 13cm? They're about 8cm now and haven't touched teenage platies.

I miss Living Waters with Franz, that was a brilliant shop

That's a kickass stand, but I'm with blueether, ditch the turtle and plant it out!

Woops! hahaha I should be more careful when taking photo's! :lol: Flat antics My flatty works for Lion Nathan so we get all sorts of freebies

amazon swords are cool, and yea they can get quite tall but you might be alright with the amount of lighting you have

woah now, don't be hating! that flag has been with us for a long time. Got more pics!

Will you be dosing any liquid ferts or adding any CO2? Also what kind of photo-period will you be using? I would recommend dumping some weed plants (you know what I mean) in there to out-compete any algae that tries to come along; it's not nice when algae appears right at the beginning of a new tank.