SpidersWeb

Oh man, I am the male in this house, and I can't build for nuts. Seriously if they need like a keg of beer or some extra money or something I need more fish stands! Even just one big one would be great. I'm more of an electrician than a builder. We're using a 1970's pimped out bar for the oscar tank even has the red light, bling bling.

Don't have an AquaOne, but I have the Jebo 81x filters, went downstairs to measure and they were 60mm inside gap. 75mm is a nice piece of brace btw Anywho cannister filters come with quite a lot of spare hose, which fits on to the piping, so I'd suggest cutting the curved pipe at the top (hacksaw) and using a bit of the flexible rubber hosing as a 15mm-ish extension The rear bracing is a real pain in the butt with a spray bar though. I only have one tank like that and I just gave up getting the spray bar to sit properly, but you could do it. Mine came with spare piping for 'misc purposes', and now I can see why. Edit: because I have nothing better to do at midnight and I'm not tired, here is a pretty picture: to do that you'd only need one extra elbow piece, which shouldn't cost more than about a dollar or two (perfect for the student budget). I also quickly checked the Eheim install kits, but couldn't see any solution for you there. Edit 2: The 2nd 'piece of rubber' at the bottom should actually be a piece of plastic tubing. The rubber piping can't attach to the elbows. The Jebo's came with the spare plastic pipe so I imagine the AquaOne does too, if the Aqua one doesn't I can send one or you can pick them up cheap as well.

Filter wool?

Jager is the best for glass bi-metal heaters... but since we're on the heater topic again.... Switched on Gardner sells AquaOne stainless steel heaters (150,200,300W @ $45, $50, $55). The thermostat is digital, so you dont have to worry about the bimetal strip sticking on, or rust, and the heater itself is stainless steel so you can't break it, and for larger fish you dont need heater-protectors. They're also more accurate. They're around $80 in pet stores. As for cheapo glass don't be tempted by buying Masterpet heaters because of their $19 price tag, mine already have huge amounts of water in them. Jebo heaters going fine, and AquaClears working fine but there is a little condenstation.

Our big fish are the red devil cichlid, and oscar cichlid. Love them both, still only half grown. But yeah not good with plants. Our severums like our marble sword though.

Mine are 27-28C and 29-30C for fry tanks.

haha I had the same problem with stress coat, put too much in all the time lol Dont use more than the recommended dose (for removing chlorine, which is a half dose), when you're doing your water changes. After a few water changes it'll go away, when I first did it myself, I did a 40% change without the coat and it cleared, but whether that was a good idea or not I dont know, nothing died and it got rid of the bubbles though. I dont use any stress coat or water ager product now except for large (>20%) water changes or baby fry tanks.

These are back on the shelves again! (now that I dont need them hah) Just thought I'd mention it so that nobody else tries the Drontal method un-necessarily.

When I got my first big fish tank made up (5ft), I was about 15 at the time, and I still remember the guy explaining to me in one short sentance why I needed to use poly underneath: "Glass doesn't bend well." 10 years later and I still find that amusing. I've only setup one tank without poly, it was 3ft and about 120 litres, previous owner said it didn't have poly under it before (turned out he was wrong btw), the base cracked right along the length of the tank, and within about an hour or two it'd fully drained dry.

Switched On Gardner, they're the hydroponics store, when growing 'tomatoes' for your 'uni-project' you want good lighting and heated water etc, so they have lots of stuff that is for or can be used for aquariums. http://www.sog.co.nz

Yep, in pet stores they're $70+ish. SOG sells aquarium lights too, once again cheaper than any pet store I've seen. Also that reflective stuff for behind the lights, much much much cheaper.

Oh lord! and Woohoo! Congrats on new tank stand 8) Switched on Gardner sell digital heaters for ~$50 in varying wattages. If you dont mind spending the extra 20 its a good investment. Dont get ya hands wet adjusting, they're solid state (see: reliable) and the heater bit is metal so it wont crack on ya either. I know you fixed your heater problem a while ago, just thought I'd mention the SOG digitals, you're lucky it burned out tho, most of the time my old ones get stuck ON which is much worse Best of luck and good spotting on the one degree!

Yep I've had no problems with any of my Jebo cannister filters, HOB filters, or heaters. Heaters are a sore spot for all low cost brands, but yeah my Jebo's are the only ones without water in them (AquaClear,Jebo,Masterpet).

Jebo 819 $150 Not to be confused with Jebao Running two of them would give you 2400L/hr circulation and a LOT of filter media. I was suprised with what it came with too: - cermic noodles - fine bio-foam - coarse foam - glass/cermaic noodles (smaller) - sealed bag of carbon There are 8 trays, and each holds 2 items, e.g. two bits of foam, so there is 16 layers of media it comes with. Comes with all the piping bends you need, plus the spray bar, and a plastic pipe for 'miscellaneous use' haha :roll: I was stoked when I opened it up. What it doesn't have is the fancy stuff, like the unkinkable hoses, or the drain tap, or the auto-siphon. The FX5 is worth the money if you like those quality features, especially at the petplanet price, $580 is pretty damn good! As far as filters go, the FX5 is the bees knees. Although make sure that price includes filter media. The FX5 would mean one filter, instead of two as well so thats less piping and it'd take up less room, so if you dont mind spending the extra $280, I'd still be thinking about it in your situation (as much as I love my Jebos).

Stress Zyme does not remove chlorine, it helps biological filtration. Stress Coat does though, and it definately will not be the bottle thats infected, in fact nothing will be infected, clown loaches (in paticular) get sick when stressed, and the most common stress for them is water conditions. Also changing more than 20% of the water can (not always) stress fish depending on how close your tank was with the water you used (temp, pH, hardness). If you've done more than one 50% water change, leave it for now, any toxin build ups would have been dilluted enough, and large water changes can cause further stress on fish. Just give the fish the best conditions (e.g. leave it be) and hope he/she gets better. If you insist on something to help, I've always liked and had success with Furan2, however you should check its ok with your fish before using. I can't guarantee or advise which option is best I'm affraid as I don't have clown loaches. I've got some platties doing the same thing (3/6 recently added fish ), I've done a 30-40% water change, and am just going to let them be, if no improvements by Friday I'll put in some Furan2. Its not a 'sure thing' its just what I like to do. Was said at a club meeting, 'everyone has their own way of doing things', and thats just my way. I'm blaming water conditions as I've been slack with that tank lately plus the stress of being in a bag = sick. Sorry for your loss and best of luck to your other guy. I hope something in there was useful to you!

Its not really necessary unless you're having fish problems and need to check your water parameters. Just as important are Ammonia and Nitrate tests. If you do 20% water changes once a week, you shouldn't have any problems. I've had good experiences with Aquarium Pharamcuteculs (spelling) like http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-animals/Fish/Water-treatment/auction-70239537.htm but I recommend getting the Freshwater Master Kit not just pH. Its about $50-60 though. The kit you linked to, I've used before, and found it too annoying to read. Oh and almost forgot, dont use pH up or down liquids. If your pH wont stay stable, you need to raise the water hardness a little bit, a small handful of coral sand normally does the trick, or a shell, or small piece of limestone. A stable pH is more important than the correct pH for most fish, as long as you're in the 6.5-7.8 range everyone should be happy.

hah yeah I know, 'twas more because Helen wanted to see it rather than dietry, and it surely entertained the guy, got the carpet wet lol He gets either bloodworms, tubifex cubes, or cichlid pellets for snacks, and we use the oscar mix from oscarspot for dinners. He has grown an inch since we got him He's sulking a little bit today, looks like he failed at a Hudini attempt last night, tad sore I imagine. We finally found some baby oscars. We wanted these earlier but thought the smallest size you could get was normally 8 inch, but imports have just come in, and they're about 2-3 inches, and act like excited little kittens, so have plans on getting a pair this or next weekend. Obvious concern will be tank space as they get older. Cracks me up though, we got the power bill and Helen goes 'NO MORE FISH TANKS' then we were at the store and she saw the baby oscars hahaha 'omg can we get some' was classic.

ooo that is a good idea I have HUGE pieces of wood in my 4ft, and I used rocks to keep them in place. After about 2 months I removed the rocks as they werent needed anymore. It will tint your water yellow as the tannins release for quite a while, its been 3 months and my planted tank still has tinted water, guess it also depends on the wood type etc etc. I just got used to it. If you have small bits, you can boil out the tannins, but where is the fun in that? I got all my bits (rocks, wood) from the Hutt River.

Switched on Gardner sell them. https://secure.sog.co.nz/store.htm I beleive its under Electrical and then at the bottom 'Lighting Movers'. Think thats what you were after? Altho those ones are robotic.

haha oh sorry Coastlands good Other store bad

Jebo 819 $150, 1200L/hr, and has eight buckets for filter media and includes filter media. You could get two of these if needed. I have two of these, and a Jebo 810. I love them all. Silent, run great, and the 819 is huge, like half a meter tall. Fluval FX5 is about $800 from memory. Could be wrong. Blueandkim on these forums is the only one I know whom has one, and they rave about it. The sump is a nice option, except I doubt the cheapest. I think their biggest appeal is really their ability to remove equipment from the display. Its more common with saltwater setups because they run skimmers and other equipment in the sump too, tropical tanks really just have filters and heaters, so not such a big deal visually, and setting up a good one that is silent (eg durso standpipes) and filters well (lots of media, high flow pump) will end up costing you, not huge money, but things add up, $20 here, $50 here, and so it goes. Just my 2 cents anyway I've always wanted a sump, but couldn't validate it cost or space wise. If I have room for another tank, it should have fish in it haha

There is two stores in Paraparaumu? I've only been to the one at Coastlands, while it did have an algae problem, I have heard good things in regards to customer service and fish health. I've only personally got one pair of fish from them, some teenage gold severums, price was great and fish were healthy and the service was great plus he gave me a bit of history and knew his fish, so they did get my thumbs up, although 20 minutes with an algae scraper would help lol I haven't been there in a few months though, might have been cleaned, no harm to the fish though, what I watch for is ammonia or bacteria build ups (white/smelly), dead fish in tank and diseased fish. Some stores have more problems with these issues than others. Just wanted to post the up-sides to Coastlands because I had a good experience there. I do miss Hamilton though, the Goldfish Bowl was awesome although they didnt have a giant gourami that tries to eat me, decisions decisions

Eggs need good water movement/aeration to survive. Normally the parents would fan the eggs. Its normally recommended to just let them raise them themselves. They are cichlids, and will look after their young ones, they'll keep the eggs clean and circulated, pick up wrigglers (when the eggs pop tails), and feed the young. I've also heard of people removing one parent where needed, but never both. Those that remove cichlid eggs, normally place them in a small bare bottom tank near an airstone (for circulation).

Yeah wasnt my idea, but Helen was keen, and I think its good to do things like this with larger cichlids to make their life a little less boring. After about 5 minutes there was a good 15 or so left, so I said if he hasn't eaten them after we've had a coffee, the remainder will go in to the planted tank, but he got the last 15 sooooo quick. Red Devil only got one of them. Pawz: haha yeah, please excuse the rubbish, I forgot it was rubbish day on Friday.

$15 for 10 Goldfish were $3 each, and no bulk buy special on guppies, so was the best value for money. Was also recommended as they're faster than guppies/goldfish. Only a rare treat, gives him some good entertainment and oh boy some exercise. He got water all over the carpet.