SpidersWeb

I dont like them. Some owners manage to balance them in their aquarium with certain arrangements, but I just found them to be a pain in the butt, everything is theirs, and they're aimlessly territorial about it at times. They do eventaully get quite large too. Different people have different experiences, but the only tank I'd put a red tail shark (or rainbow) in is one of my cichlids tanks, because if they try anything they'll get a quick reminder of whos who. Would be fine with danios neons etc because they're quick fish, but gouramis, angels etc are a bit slow and once its settled in its likely to cause a problem, I've never had them with bristlenose or SAE etc.

Oh, if I have a mature filter, its 100% tap water, get to temp with hot water/heater, hook up filter and viola new tank pweety. No problems doing that so far. But my water is pH 7.2 from tap, and tanks sit at 7-7.2 so there isn't any real shock factor. I only do tank water from one tank to another when transporting fry, otherwise its a pain in the buttocks.

Sounds painfully long to me. It's certainly a good way to do things, but I dont have the patience to wait a month to setup a tank, my head would explode, I'm captain antsy pants here. What I do is either run the filter on an established tank for a week first, or just put a handful of media from another filter (or even gravel out of another tank) in the new filter, then setup my tank how I want, and add a low fish load (e.g. 10 danios). I wouldnt add a heavy fish load until about a month in. I personally did find that StressZyme sped up the cycling process too (as you've mentioned) although others deem it unnessecary. In the event of an ammonia or nitrite problem you can always do a quick partial water change, this might slightly elongate the cycling time but will save your fish if something has gone horribly wrong. Beeing able to seed your tank seems to have a huge impact on cycling times as well. My first tank I must have killed sooooo many poor fish, but since then I haven't had a single problem using my impatient ways.

Please note what I said above about colour spectrum. Your light is either: 2700K Warm White (most likely, good for people who like yellow) or 6500K Bright Daylight or Cool Daylight (unlikely, perfect for plants). Warm White will probably be ok but its not ideal and will make the tank look yellowish, a 23 watt 6500K energy saver will set you back about $3.50 at the warehouse and it will look a lot better and brighter. I never worried about glass between my lighting and tank, but I do make sure nothing bubbles up (dont want the light getting wet).

I ended up completely stripping the tank down, and laying Daltons underneath. This has made my plants grow so quickly and with strong green growth the thread algae has no chance. I would never do a planted tank again without a fertilised substrate. I also intend to add PhosZorb to the filter because my algae problem was mostly red algae, which I'm told loves phosphates. The Sulphate of Potash made a strong effect on my marble sword, which is now 7 marble swords! I noticed it has sent out yet another runner, so if anybody wants a marble sword I have them coming out my behind.

I really should write up a guide to hatching cichlid eggs since it gets asked quite often. I prefer moving the eggs because then the fry hatch safely in to a small tank, which makes feeding easier. This is the basic process: Acquire small tank ~10-20 litres. Syphon some tank water from the parent tank in to a bucket and transfer it to the new small tank. Install a heater and make sure you get the temps the same, use a single thermometer (I use an AquaOne digital, cost me 12 bucks, but anything you can move will be fine like those glass ones) Move eggs, put them in a position you can see them because watching them hatch is half the fun. Dont keep them out of the water too long, use an intermediate bucket if you need to. Position an air stone nearby (few cm) to generate current but making sure the eggs dont actually get hit by the air bubbles. This will keep them clean. Dead eggs will turn white. Its natural to have a few of these and the parents would normally remove them, they aren't a problem unless they begin to fungus, in which case using Meth Blue is a good idea. Also fungii likes light, so keep the tank dark. Its normally recommended to use meth blue anyway, however I hate the fact it stains EVERYTHING, my severum breeding rock or kribensis log will never be the same After a few days they turn to wriggles and just look like eggs with tails having a spaz all over the place. Then they turn in to fish with egg sacks hanging off. Then they turn into fish who need something to eat. Microworms and Baby Brine Shrimp seem to be a very good combination. BBS are best but are a pain in the bum and sometimes I can't be bothered, which is where having a microworm culture is handy Hope that helps for next time 8)

Not so bad now, but when I first moved them they didn't have enough black on them yet and I couldn't see them. They'd sit dead still in the sand and were the same colour as the sand. 12 hours after I'd moved them I was still panicing I'd killed them all because I couldn't see more than 1, but they're just good at camoflauge. You can easily count more than 10 now, I moved ~20 over, and left 2 with the parents. Their new tank can be stocked with heaps of live food without the parents interfereing now, and is filtered with a matured sponge and ramshorn snails. They bred in a Jebo R338 which is a 38L tank with a 400L/hr pump on it, absolutely stupid design, way too much current. New tank is about 20 litres, but much more reasonable water flow! Fed them tonnes of microworms today, but baby brineshrimp is on the menu for lunch and dinner (got two hatcheries going). I'm using that NZ Brine Shrimp, BEST BRINE SHRIMP EVER btw.

Hey chickiejo, From memory you are in Upper Hutt, send me a PM if you want me to come around and have a look, will be able to give much better answers if I can see it in person. I work from home so I'm always around. When you started up your new filter, did you disconnect your old one? Only advice for the moment is to make sure the water in his Q tank is as clean as possible, if you can smell anything other than clean water or dirt, then do water changes of a similar temp. Redspot Plecs are one of the most hardy fish around, so chances of recovery for the guy are quite high. Good luck, Jono

Ours have been fine, but we would have bought a better brand name if we could find them in 6500K, don't know why but I've only been able to find 6500K bulbs in the cheap brands. We've got a 14W Red Stamp 6500K in the toilet and that blinds ya at night. Makes the toilet look cleaner though.

Hey Milet. A good question. The plants will probably live with a standard light bulb but wont thrive, the reason being the spectrum of light your average household bulb gives off is wrong for plants. Most bulbs are around 2700 kelvins, which is a kind of yellow colour. However don't fear because you can buy the proper bulb you need fuss free at your local Warehouse. Go down and rifle through their range of energy saver light bulbs. You will eventually find an energy saver lamp that has '6500K' or 'Daylight' written on it, they're available in both bayonet and edison screw. They use less power than a standard bulb and are the perfect light spectrum for growing plants $3.55 from memory.

They can survive in outdoor ponds in the northen areas.

http://www.wetpetz.com/surinamensis.htm Hope that helps

Never move your apisto fry in to a tank with a sand substrate.

Nope, this is the first I've heard of it, but it can't hurt for future recipies. Admittedly the fiance got sick of making the home mix, and now they're feed mostly on raw beefheart, cichlid pellets, and Hearty Beef dog roll Only thing I hate about dog roll is all the crud that comes in it, I wish oscars weren't so messy :-? Oh and don't use chicken livers, big mistake, totally ruins the tank water.

We used to just add it in our homemade mix. Fish seemed to like it and the smell of garlic is so much nicer than the heart of a cow mixed with chicken liver and dead seafood.

Sounds like you have an air leak on the inlet line, possibly at the tap. Turn off the filter and see if any tiny droplets appear. Filter just can't hold enough air to do that for 20+ hours, and if its getting stronger then its collecting new air. Lots of people lately have been seeming to have problems with AquaOne taps. Cheap part to replace if that is the problem though.

This isn't a scientific answer but I think its about 3 hours? Basically when their air supply runs out. Disconnecting it to do a quick syphon is fine. We had a 2 hour power cut the other night, nothing skipped a beat.

haha awesome, if you want any more just bring a bag I used the worm culture you gave us to seed 3 new ones, and they're all going crazy with worm production My fish get worms for breakie and BBS for dinner now. Microworms are awesome. TimTam - aww well at least you know they're fry making machines too 8) Mine are ready to go again, well the male is :lol: Thanks everyone for the kind comments, they're growing very quick and I'd say there is about 20 swimming around now. The female is spending more time avoiding randy andy here than looking after them now, so I'm going to move the parents out. She still picks them up, spins them round, and spits them out, but that just makes me nervous, I have trust issues when it comes to cichlids :lol:

Awesome work 8)

Hey all, I'm starting a DIY project this weekend based around an aquarium setup I got for $60. The tank was originally built for an elderly home and is complete with cupboards, 3 x 5ft fluoros etc but the tank was disassembled and as you can see the stand is going to need some refinishing This weekend I'm doing the stand BUT soon I'm going to need to reassemble the glass aquarium that sits inside. The tank is 650 litres, your standard 6'x2'x2' and was constructed with poorly braced 10mm. I'm going to get some bits cut up to brace it properly etc but my problem really lies with not having built a tank before. I've repaired them but thats it. Ok so here is what I DO know: - use an air powered caulking gun to make sealant application easy and quick - use acetic cure silicone - use a wet finger to bead the silicone - rough edge down, polished edge up (glass edges already done) - after the glass is sealed, run an additional silicone bead on the inside of tank joins - how to brace - most people use packing tape to hold the glass But what I want to hear is, how do you guys assemble an aquarium? I've seen pictures of people using L-clamps before instead of tape? Where do I get those? What order to you assemble the glass? Any other hints to make my first tank build less of a disaster? Thanks heaps, Jono

haha awesome I'm sure your tank is more than fine for a discus TGWH. But remember they do best in groups of 3 or more

Custom made glass is much cheaper. You just dont get a nice tidy plastic hood and curved corners. 3 foot tank (150 litre) in our lounge was: $120 for the tank new and delivered $60 Shark ADV800 filter $30 150W heater $40 for the light (which was second hand, new price probably around $60-80) We just used an old table for a stand, but you could build or have something made for a few hundred make it look pretty. I used sand as a substrate too which is super cheap. We've got a large range of tanks from 20 litres to 650 litres here, all but one is custom glass. AquaOne etc tanks do look tidier out of the box, and they're a great unit, but not really a money saver Only all-in-one tank I have is a Jebo R338 38L cost me $99 on special .

Ouch Congrats on the spawn, and glad you're here to see it!

Not sure about yours, but my cannisters flow from bottom to top.

Also remember rainwater is very soft and is prone to pH swings. Any swing larger than .2 on the pH scale can cause problems with some fish. I'm not saying this is definately your problem, but its another item for consideration. Our local supply has less than 1 degree KH, so in my smaller tanks and tanks with more sensitive fish I add a small amount of coral sand to bring it up closer to 3 degrees (just a handful in a stocking in the filter). This small change isnt noticed by the fish but is just enough to stablise my pH at around 7. Other options are just putting a single shell in the aquarium etc Just another idea for the pile.