sharronpaul

Great photography, Rogan! You make me look young and thin again!

We bought one of the diamond holesaws a while ago and they work great provided you ensure there is heaps of water around for cooling. We found that the best way to do it was to make a circle with your thumb and forefinger and use this to locate the bit where you want the hole, wet the area down, and give it a burst on the drill, about 1/3 speed. When it has made a groove, remove your hand and direct a steady stream of water over the cut - you will see a white liquid running away from it. Keep the drill at right angles to the glass or it will grab and the glass will crack. If you do not use enough liquid, you will see white powder forming around the hole and your drill bit will last about three holes. Don't apply downward pressure to the drill bit. The weight of the bit is more than enough, let the bit cut through the hole instead of being forced through, and make sure the glass you're drilling is supported on both sides of the hole. A donor piece of wood under the entire piece of glass is good. It is possible to drill tanks that have been built - I think it's a little easier as you don't have to worry about the glass being evenly supported. Just remember, heaps of water, slow to medium speed, and each hole will take around 60 to 90 seconds to drill (thru 6mm glass). I guess the best thing to say is practice on some donor pieces first, so you can get it right before working on your pride and joy.

Thanks for your commets, guys. They are still fairly inseprable, but at this stage I can't see any eggs or fry - just seems really wrong, the choc is about twice the size of the sev (bloody cradle-snatching chocolate)

Sounds weird, but in our six footer we have two chocolate cichlids and two green sevs (along with a big plec and an aro) and one of the sevs have paired up with one of the chocs, and are heartily defending their territory from everyone else in the tank. Has anyone else seen this?

We've just put the choc's in and they're being stubbornly ignored by the aro ("Boris") but are doing this..... ... to each other. Have fed them, and you're right, boris took the lot. I hear loud and clear what you say about the extra canister, we've got a CF1200 on a 350L tank, and it's about right for Boris. We'll get another and put it on the other end, assuming the chocs calm down a bit.

Just been put in new tank, after having shared a 4' happily for the last six months or so. They've been wrestling for the last two hours or so

Yep, when we put him in the tank, we tipped him out of the chilli bin. Was much easier. He's in the tank with a footlong plec. Am thinking of adding a pair of chocolate cichlids (full-grown, around 20cm) as there is driftwood in the tank, which will hopefully constitute a bit of territory. (edit for spelling mistake :oops: )

Yep, he's okay but missing a few scales. Put the new driftwood in the tank last night and looks great, might put some twisted val behind it and it'll be finished.

Title says it all! :oops: We'd just finished a tank overhaul, and Boris the arowana (around 50cm or so long) was being transferred from the 45 ltr chilly bin back to his six footer with our very large net. Sadly, Boris didn't like the net and as we were about to lower him into the tank, he flicked himself out and down the back of the cabinet. I had topull him out by his tail (no time to think of anything else) and re-net him, then he flicked himself out again. Third time lucky I guess, and he won't be removed from his tank again in a very long time. At the moment, he's in his re-arranged tank, sulking.But at least he's swimming and I hope he learns his lesson. Needless to say, we're both very happy he's back in the tank and looking not much the worse for wear (a few scales missing) and our heart rates have now returned to normal! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: Lesson learnt - when netting arowana, once arowana is in net, cover net.

.... BBQ at Jane McCarthy's place, in Te Puke, for all fishy people. Today, saturday 20th, 3pm onwards. PM me or evilkinevil69 for address if req'd - Jane's moved since the yearbook, or call/text me on 027 406 1284 Bring meat and salad. Cheers, Paul Pres. Western Bay Aquarium and Pond Society

LOL thats good. Happy new year to you both.

They don't do anything much for algae on plants - they kill waterborne stuff only, and you will still get algae buildup on things if you let it. Get some BNs or SAEs for those. I'm using a pondmaster 11w on a 340L tank, bigger is better though, and the cost difference isn't major for the next size up. Theres an interesting thread in the marine section about uv units, something about the distance between the quartz sleeve and the outer of the unit influences what bacteria the UV can kill. My take on this is a bigger unit with slower flow rate will kill the bacteria just as well as a more expensive unit with the "correct" spacing and a fast flow rate, because of the longer exposure times. Works for me. But I could be wrong.

Pic speaks for itself really. (Sorry about the quality of the photo) He's been in the tank for six months, and isn't the largest one. Had to break the barrel into three pieces to set him free. This all happened a couple of days ago, and he's fine now. But still probably just as stupid.

I'm sold on them. Our six-foot tank gets maybe 1/2 hour direct sunlight every day, and used to green up in two or three days. With an 11w UV unit, no green, no whitespot, and happy fish.

Sharron and I met Peter and his lovely wife Sheila when they were kind enough to join us for our club meeting in October. Shiela struck us as an awesome lady, a true gem and she will be missed. Deepest condolances to you Peter.

No worries guys, we had a full house and would rather have you here another time in one piece so to speak. Almost rung you last night, wanted to know if you needed some shrimp for your fighters - they must be a reasonable size now?

I know it's short notice, but we have a BBQ this weekend, Saturday 16th December at 4.30ish pm. This is a BBQ for all fishkeepers in the western bay and beyond, not just for club members. BYO meat and stuff, we'll provide salads and cooking facilities and the like. Our house is child-friendly, we've got kids from four to twelve and any others won't be a problem. There is plenty of room out the back with all manner of stuff for them to do and a park down the road. Please PM or email to let us know you're coming. For those of you who have yet to visit us in Brookfield, Tauranga, PM us and we'll let you know our address.

Would you say thay you could set it up for under a grand?

PLC = Programmable Logic Controller. Basically a programmable computer with a program that senses the inputs and turns on/off outputs as required.

Just curious, who here uses a PLC to run their reef setup, and how have you found it?

Thanks, Paul. It's just that I've never seen another like him/her/it. Does anyone have some more, and if so would they like this one to breed from? or vice versa?

As the title says, just curious if anyone can help identify this critter..... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/can-an ... 17133.html

Maybe someone can help identify this beastie, which is in y tank at work. A while ago it was donated from someone closing down their because they were moving, and she couldn't remember where she got it from. The heater that it's sitting on is about an inch thick or so, as a guide. It's about 40mm or so long, about two thirds the size of my bronze cories that I have in another tank.

Who told you that? The clown's obviously under some delusion.....theres pills for people like them..... (Bet the angels are happy and full tho)

lol We've got one or two we could part with - am reorganising the room and it's gonna be lots of small tanks, so there'll be some three footers and two footers to go.