Shilo

Thats it!!!! Thanks guys. I'll get started in the weekend. Can always mold epoxy around the back of the "Bi Pins" and wire to protect from any water getting in. Just hope I still have an old bike tube layering around, (the old 10 speeds will be the right size) else will settle for the standard shrink tube which is the only sort I've seen sold here. A bit iffy about working with 240V but will know if I've done something wrong if the scales on the fish stand up on end Now wheres that NO. 8 wire? Cheers & thanks again Shilo

To all those who smoke (myself included) Don't Stop! Could you imagine a tank full of grumpy fish going through withdrawal symptoms, doesn't bare thinking about :roll: If you have a close fitting lid then the amount of pollutants that get in would be minimal. As mentioned if you use an air pump put it in a cabinet or container (with some sort of air filter over it). Even keeping the pump low will help since smoke rises. Still not sure if it will harm the fish but remember years ago being warned against it. Now where did my ciggie go - Oh that’s right the Pleco grabbed it Cheers Shilo

Sounds even better. Was confused when I found this pic since I had read somewhere they were made of rubber. The smaller the better in my case (or should that be hood ) It would be good to get the ballast away from the tank. Surprisingly the old 20w ballast throws out a lot more heat then the new 30w. Both are the same sort. Cheers Shilo

Thanks John1, Getting to a LFS is major undertaking for me with the ferry and buses etc I can right off most of a day just to visit the closest. If you could ask I would be grateful since I could then order by mail. Pegasus, I have looked at this site and the closest thing I could find was MP34 Bulb Holder. BC. Batten Ceiling Type $6.00 Not sure if this is right. I'm really after the sort which push onto the end instead of the twist type. They are also splash proof - an important consideration with a low profile hood. An example of what I'm thinking off: But are they available in NZ? Thanks Guys Shilo

John1 My woodwork teacher at school gave up on me completely because I thought I was so hopeless at practical applications. Thought this way and refused to even lift a hammer until 2 years ago when out of desperation I took on a 2 month DIY project. It turned out well. Now nothing DIY stands in my way. Everybody can nail 2 pieces of wood together or build a filter, IF they have enough enthusiasm for the project. Experiance will always produce a better product, but you only get this by doing it. Inferfecus The cheap ones should be alright. Most antibacterial cloths etc cost twice as much and splash their antibacterial properties all over their packaging. Cheers Shilo

I would love to get the push on sockets, but where? :-? I asked at the local Ideal (the only electronic supply here) and got blank looks. But they are definitely planned for. I have already brought the extra wire and connectors to mount the ballasts and starters separately just looking out for these sockets. If I can't find any I can still use the end caps off the brackets but this will not gain as much room as the sockets. Anybody know where I can get these sockets online? Or else does anybody know the trade name? Took the hood apart today and painted the inside high gloss white. Meant to have better reflective properties then the tin foil I was using. Seems to be a slight improvement but this is probably because more area is covered then previously. Cheers Shilo

:lol: :lol: Typical government departments - always get things the wrong way around!!!!! Good one Delta Cheers Shilo

Hi Pegasus, I love hashing out ideas like this Siphon was probably the wrong word to use. I was visualising a tube that goes from the lower depths of the tank, straight up the wall to a elbow bend through the cut glass. The water could either pour into the next tank from this bend or else (if somebody wanted a quiet system) another tube could be connected to take the water just below the water level of the next tank (to avoid siphoning back up). If the tube blocks then the same thing will happen if screen in the cut out area of the cascade system blocks. With a rise in the water level the level in the tube will also rise until the hight of the cutout. More water into the tank means the flow out of it would be faster. If it drops then siphoning will only occur until air is reached in the lower tank. If a larger tube dia was used then the one on the pump, no tanks will over full. Should enable more current down in the lower end (below the cascade cutout) of the tank. Of course all this is probably not necessary. Keep us up to date on that filter medium experiments, I'm on the look out myself. Currently using Pumice, Cut up straws and ceramic noodles (to expensive!) Sorry about spelling etc - must get back to work. Cheers Shilo

The turbulence should mix the water fairly well just like when you do a water change and tip it in from a bucket. You could adjust the amount of turbulence by adjusting the hight of the previous tank. Another way is to use a syphon system like in an overflow. The entry to to the tube for the syphon could be placed near the bottom of the higher tank and exit at top of the lower tank. To save building heaps of overflow containers, and trying to suck air out of all the tubes, the glass could still be cut as Pegasus outlined so the tube is lower then the top of the tank. This will give both hoizontal and vertical water movement in each tank. The intake could have a sponge filter attached (or behind a Hamburg Mattenfilter) for extra filtration & to stop fry from going on a hydroslide ride :lol: The whole idea could also be reversed but may produce a gurgling sound if the intake is at surface level. Good idea Pegasus. Have you thought of scarificing one tank in the lineup (lowest one?) as a sump for all the filtration, heating, pump and other equipment? A large Wet/Dry filter could be used. Cheers Shilo

They can get up to 17cm but normally adults are <10cm (BIG fritters ) Meant to only live a year but I had mine for at least 2 years. Probably because they never spawned in the tank. They spawn in river estuaries during spring tides amongst the flooded grass. Eggs survive for 2 weeks before the next tide reaches them. This is the reason why whitebait catches aren't as good as they used to be, cows and other livestock trample and munch up the eggs on the river margins. Fish and Game NZ is putting huge pressure on farmers to fence of river and estuary margins. This should help. Over fishing is only a small cause. Yeap, I still love the little fritters :oops: I mean critters Seriously eating one would be like grabbing your favorite fish from the tank and frying it up. Cheers Shilo

Inanga = Galaxias maculatus http://www.nzfreshwater.org/index_wildlife.html Select Galaxiids A native of NZ. One of the most common species that make up a "whitebait" catch. I also was taken by suprise when I saw them at Jansens. But I consider them much more interesting then the other coldwater species sold here. Why you would buy them though is beyond me since its a lot of fun catching them yourself. Any unpolluted drain or creek with sea access should hold some. The smaller drains make it easier to catch the adults. If you buy them direct from a whitebaiter on the rivers edge there is the possibilty of getting some other Galaxiidae species as well. Great fish to have in an aquarium. Mine used to follow my finger around the glass to the extent of jumping out of the water in a row one after the other when I went above the water level. Will take flake food but love mozzies. Hardy fish which aren't too particular about water chemistry. You need a lid on the tank otherwise you will start to wonder why the cat sleeps under the aquarium! Heard some splashing one night to discover the end of an Inagna's tail poking out of a Giant Bully's mouth. Pulled it out and it lived happily for another year despite loosing a pelvic fin. Another I over feed and gave it a hernia. Not the most pleasent sight in a see through fish :oops: If you have a coldwater tank give them a go. Along with the bullies, torrent fish, smelts etc a native tank can be just as interesting and colourfull as a tropical (check out the male Redfinned bully). Cheers Shilo (who can't stand the thought of eating whitebait now!)

Ah, but if buy the Silver? as well you can get a special discounted price of $6000. Stocking them is a good marketing technique, I didn't mind paying $60 for my 14 fish after seeing the arowana price! Cheers Shilo

No worrys for me there, don't use it for soldering. I brought the iron for cutting sail and other nylon type material. Already filed the point to a chisel shape. No coating to burn off. Started to drill but the type of plastic the container is made of cracked to easily. But thanks for the tip (pun? what pun? ) Cheers Shilo

:lol: Its not the spending that’s the definition of 'fuss' It's the earning!!! Cheers Shilo (Who definitely can't afford any 'fuss" but wishes he could!)

You get used to water saving techniques without really thinking about it. In fact the place I rent has a 10000 gal tank just for myself, and I still gringe at a running tap!! Large households are another matter but you are not limited in the amount of rain only in the amount of storage. Here on Waiheke all tanks overflow during the winter so it is a simple (but expensive) solution to hook up another tank or use a larger one. You can buy bore water at $150 a tanker load if you have run out. As above - its all in the amount of water storage you have. You can fill your aquarium the same way (hose or tap) as you do now. Out of interest does the PH from a town supply ever change? Cheers Shilo

Very puzzling. :-? Will keep taking PH readings. The only other things added to the system are plastic or epoxy coated wood. The epoxy was cured to the hard stage but I wonder if it still had some curing to go and thus affected the PH. Don't mind the PH level so much since it was 6.6 (same as the water used) and is now a nice 7. Its more the fluctuation that’s worrying. Thanks for the pumice comments, saved me wearing out a pair of scissors. Cheers Shilo

Your right, I do! It'll be at least another month before I get to develop my film. Keep looking at it and thinking "I should have done this or that better" But there was no way I could afford this set up retail so DIY was the only way to go. So far most things working ok. Things I did wrong where: Don't expect irrigation connections to be water tight. Had to clamp some of the hoses and seal where the CO2 is injected. Pumice was not a good idea. Although I boiled, rinsed and picked out any wood peices, the PH has increased and I can only attribute this to the pumice. Will chop up some plastic tonight to replace it. The hood was a bit tight. I made it to the exact dimesions of the tank, but my building ability let me down. Should have made it at least 5mm larger. Slots instead of holes in the internal overflow box would have been better. The scum buildup on the water surface is not being sucked in as much as I would like. Easily changed. The fish seem happy with it. Noticed my X-ray Tetras behaving funny this morning. Turns out a couple were spawning Don't expect any young though since the others where in a feeding frenzy and most of the eggs where layed up at the overflow box where I had stuck some Java Moss Still they are the 1st fish I've had spawn. Now wheres that cigar!

Janola, Bleach, Chlorine or mold remover from the supermarket kills any algae. But make sure you scrub and rinse well to remove any trace afterwards - you don't want your fish or plants turning albino :oops: (if they last that long! Another good equipment is potassium permagnate available from a pharmacy. Don't know if it will kill algae, but does kill everything else. Good luck Shilo

At last, I finished my aquarium setup. I wanted to do as much as possible DIY to keep the cost down. It consists of the following: Tank I cheated here and brought 2nd hand. 91x38x39 125ltr. I was all set to make a wooden tank but couldn't get the glass or Perspex. The cost to make would have been close to what I paid anyway $60. Stand 5x5cm frame with 9mm ply base, top and back. This wood came from old pallets. The sides and front are 4mm Gaboon ply. The doors - 6mm Redwood ply (both left over from a kayak I built). Components Gorilla glued and screwed or nailed with finishing nails. Varnished (also left over). 4x hinges & 2x magnetic catches. Total cost <$20. Hood Again Gaboon and Redwood ply. 2x hinges. Total cost $10. I had to buy 2 sets of hinges (4) since the 1st packet was one screw short and the same screws weren't available separately Lights Refer Light Suggestion thread. Total cost $63. (includes the 30w bulb I had brought last month). Filter Experimenting with a Wet/Dry trickle filter. It consists of a clear storage cont filled with ceramic noodles and pumice. Flow through holes are melted into the bottom with a soldering iron. A 1kg honey container jams upside down into the top nicely. The lid of this container is drilled with hundreds of small holes to give the sprinkle effect. There is filter wool inside to catch any large muck. An irrigation pipe elbow enters the honey pot 3/4 up the side and is connected to 19mm clear pipe which runs up to the overflow. I plan to redo this system in the future and make one out of epoxy coated ply with a glass front. Rectangular plastic containers will be used as a "draw" system to hold the various media. Total cost $50 approx not including the honey Overflow For those who don't know what one is: Its a method of syphoning water from the tank to the sump while preventing water overflowing or the tank running dry. It also automatically starts the syphon again after a power cut. The water level stays the same whether the pump in the sump is going or not. There are heaps of plans on the web. I decided to make one out of epoxy coated ply since I couldn't get any Perspex. It consists of a external and internal box. The internal box has 2x rows of holes drilled around the top. It sits with the top just above the water level so 1 1/2 rows of holes allow the water surface to enter. I have spot glued Java Moss on it to hopefully disguise the outline. It's connected to the external box by a wooden "bridge". This container has a hole drilled in the bottom with a 19mm irrigation pipe connector going through it (silicon sealed) a 6cm long pipe is shoved on so it pokes up the middle of the box. Now the tricky part. A 30cm upside down U shaped bend of 19mm tube goes from one box to the other. One end must be below the level of the pipe in the external box. By filling both boxes with water and inserting a thin tube inside the U pipe to its highest point, you can suck out any air and have a continuous flow of water from the internal box, up and over the tank wall down into the external box. A lot of people complain about the gurgling noise an overflow makes. I can barely hear this one. Total cost $20 (pipe and connectors). Sump Made out of a plastic 20ltr cont with the top cut out. It contains the pump (Heissner HI-1000 submersible $49), heater and until the Wet/Dry cycles - a hang on back filter. The pump is connected to some 13mm irrigation pipe with various elbows and connectors to get the water back up to the tank and along to a submersed spray bar (more 13mm with holes drilled in it). The pump is rated at 950ltr per hour so allowing for head and friction it should turn the tank over 5 times an hour. Total cost $70 (pump and pipe system) CO2 System Using the yeast system in a lemonade bottle. I have injected the CO2 into the pipe just above the pump. Hopefully it will dissolve as it travels to the tank. Summery Grand Total $290 (some costs are approximate). Now I can see where all my money went over the last few weeks!! This cost doesn't include fish, gravel or plants. I'm very happy with how it turned out. It's obviously homemade but looks good enough to grace a lounge. A similar store brought system would be over $1250 (stand, tank and filter). All I need now are some large display plants. Cheers Shilo

Been drinking rainwater for 8yrs and hasn't effected me so think it should be ok for the fish. Although its acidity measures out at 6.6ph maybe thats whats given me such a sour nature :roll: Roofs: You should be alright with painted galv roof. Roof paint has to be lead etc free because so many people have to use rain water. Remember everytime it rains its getting a good wash. Collection: Cut into your down pipe high up, and run it through whats known as a leaf catcher. This is simply a box with an angled top with both a coarse and fine mesh on it. Any leafs, mozzies etc will simply be washed away thus keeping the organics down in the tank. Also keep your gutters clean. Nothing worse then grabbing a glass of water and finding it a big fat earthworm in it! Storage: From the leaf catcher glue on an elbow and more downpipe. A great storage container for garden, aquarium etc use is a plastic 200ltr drum. They sell them at the local tank shop here but got no idea of where to pick one up in a city. Try Payless Plastics, Wrightsons, or you might have to travel to a rural town that is not connected to a water supply. Be careful if you get a 2nd hand one since they are also used to store chemicals including weed killer - not the best for your garden or aquarium :oops: Extraction Build a stand for the tank then simply attach a tap to the bottom of it (the 200ltr drums have a threaded hole for this purpose). You will also need an overflow so you can redirect the excess back to your drain system. Make sure its the same size as the downpipe and take it from the top edge of the storage tank. Acidity One problem with plastic tanks is that they are inert. We have a problem of a blue buildup on any white surface that gets wet. This is caused by the acidity of the water reacting with the copper in the hot water tank. To solve a block of limestone etc is dropped into the water tank. Shells should also work for a 200ltr. By experimenting you could obtain the correct PH for your aquarium in the storage tank. Hope this helps. Cheers Shilo

Hee hee, hows this for customer service. As stated above I had ordered a 30W ballast from the local Ideal Elect store. I was quoted $40, which is probably steep, but its Waiheke and you pay a premium for anything. Anyway I noticed the Thorn lighting ctns come through work yesterday (I work for a freight company) so went to pick up the ballast at lunchtime. When I asked about it the manager brought out a ctn containing the complete bracket. Not wanting to pay for the works I reminded him I just wanted the ballast. He apologised and offered me the bracket (including the ballast) for the same quoted $. Of course I happily accepted and since I no longer needed to sabotage the 20w fitting I had, I asked if he had a suitable tube (my 5 year old one was nearly dead). He then threw in a 20W Gro-lux tube as well for no charge. Its good to see such service is still around. I would have been happy with just the ballast from the bracket. Now I have 50W running in the tank and on the look out for miniature 8) for the tetras!! Since I mounted the brackets in the hood I have no more room for extra lights, but will mount all the electrics remotely in the stand some time in the future thus freeing up room for another 30W. Thanks for your suggestions guys. Cheers Shilo

I'm up to thinking about light systems for my 3' 125ltr tank. At the moment I'm using the old 18W tube from the small tank as a temporary measure. During a spending spree I got a 30W Aqua-Glo tube and have a suitable ballast on order from the local Ideal store. I plan to cannablise the fittings of the 18W and mount those and the new ballast into my home made hood. I know 30W in a 125 ltr planted tank won't be enough, but I want to do it on the cheap. What other types of lights are suitable. I was hoping those economy flouresent bulbs that fit in a normal light socket can be used. Will they help, hinder, or make no difference to plant growth? Do you have any other ideas of suitable lights? I'm very limited on the amount of hardware I can mount in the hood since I made it a bit to low profiled. :oops: Thanks in advance Cheers Shilo

Now lets see, Heater = $40 to $45, Thermometer = $5 to $6 (stick on glass type) and Filter = ?? but I'm currently fiddling with a DIY wet/dry filter total cost approx $30 + $49 for pump. Hang on back filters are cheap as if you shop around. You won't need a large or expensive one. Even an internal canister filter will get you going. Lets say $100 max all up. Not sure on temp limits of particular fish (I'm just getting into this buzz in a big way myself - others here will be able to help you out better) but at the moment no heater is needed. Once things start to cool down the fish will either be acclimatized or you would have the full tropical outfit and be looking at marine tanks! Now thats a temptation!!! Cheers Grant

If you get them this time of year they should acclimatize by themselves over the next few months. I have only seen my heater come on once this fortnight and that was because I did a too cold a water change. Just float them around in the bag for a while before releasing them into the tank. The Pakuranga Mall shop is Ok but small (even smaller since they moved). If you live in the area take a look at Jansens on Ti Rengi Dr (across from the Gull service station) Boutney Downs. Much bigger selection although the prices are similar. $40 for a heater and the tropical world will open up to you. Now I bet that temptation makes your head hurt! :evil: Cheers Shilo

Be very suspect of plastics since they can be tainted by chemicals for a long time. I once brought a 20ltr cont for a camping water supply from a liqour outlet. Washed it out with detergents numerous times, soaked it for a couple of weeks and after a year latter and 3 weeks of use it still tasted of Port. I hate Port! Next time I'll choose the Whiskey container. If stuck Payless Plastics etc have cheap containers and will save the hassle of all the washing out, but as Andrew said it wouldn't take much old water to seed your new tank. I just set up a new tank with 25% old water 75% new. The tank clouded slightly overnight but there was no change in the water chemistry. I wouldn't hesitate in using only 10% or less next time. Admittedly I used the same gravel and plants. Cheers Shilo