Aquarium Dude

I built a stand for a 5.5ft tank, it is similar to those pictures above, the whole thing is mdf with 6 cupboards in the front and a beading 85mm wide around the bottom, and around the bottom of the tank. I had it painted professionally buy a guy in christchurch, it was reasonable price wise and looks brilliant. I wouldnt hang the tank over the edge of the cabinet like those pictures.

I was thinking about using a picaxe chip to control the 12v fans eg have a temp sensor which above a certain point will switch the fans on. Does anyone have pictures of mounting layouts (of fans). I really dont want to wreck what is already there (its a nice hood etc)?

I have 4 5ft tubes in my aquarium hood. The problem is that the inside of the hood gets way to hot, in fact it is so hot it easily raises the temperature in the tank to a point where I have to turn the lights off. I was thinking about putting some computer fans in the top to blow cold air into the hood. This mabey would work but I wondered what other people had done and what they recommend.

No, no bio balls just foam, bio stuff and ceramic tubes

I thought that all but those silly battery powered air pumps were electromagnetic?

What do you think of the quality of the 2200/2400, I have had to resort to prying the top of with a screw driver after both the side lift handels have broken. Overall I am not happy with the quality and wouldnt buy another one. I have always considered replacing it with the fx5 but they can be quite expensive

Where can you get them and how expensive are they likley to be?

I have done everything I can to get the air out. The filter is very big (about 20kg) so it is quite difficult to move to get the air out. I think that all the air has gone now but it is still making this horrible noise (for the first time in 1.5yrs) Thanks for the suggestions

I have been shaking it every hour or so, the bubbled are released but it makes no difference. I have removed the impeller and shaft twice since the rattle started but this has not made a difference. (So presumably it is right)

My aqua one 2200 is making some very funny rattely sounds, I have checked all the insides but cant see anything amiss. The filter has been running 24hrs since rattling started. Does anyone have one of these filters? or could any one suggest any soloutions? Thanks

Aquarelle bulbs, What do people Think??? The Phillips fact file said that they are 10000k "The well-defined light spectrum of this low-pressure mercury vapour fluorescent lamp is optimally tuned to reveal the true beauty of fish and plant life in freshwater aquaria. The Aquarelle light output closely matches the natural light wavelength which is required for successful photosynthesis and chlorophyll synthesis. An additional benefit of Aquarelle is the particularly high energy in the blue region providing a wellbalanced spectrum which stimulates oxygen production, promotes thriving aquarium plant and fish life and gives a good colour rendering. According to personal preference, Aquarelle can be combined with Philips 'TL'D/80 New Generation or 'TL'D/90 de Luxe colours to create different visual impressions without impairing the biological qualities of the Aquarelle light output. Lamps are to be operated on AC mains on switch-start or HF control gear. Applications - Freshwater aquaria.

The only thing is that it might be quite hard to find fish as big as mine, most of the ones in he shop are quite small. Thanks for your help

Hi, I have got 2 headlight taillight tetras and 2 red phantom tetras that are quite pale and have poor fins, I wondered if some of my other fish are nipping them. I have 6 of each variety of the effected fish and the rest are perfect, the 4 fish that are effected would be slightly smaller than the others (of their variety). The tank is 450l and has 4 opaline gouramis, 2 golden gouramis and a kissing gourami in it (+ many other smaller breeds including neon tetras, sae's, bronze catfish etc) What is the problem? How can I help these fish? (They are quite reclusive, and stay in one secluded spot for vast amounts of time)

I have only ever seen 4ft tubes in the fish shop never 5ft, instead of buying "Gro-lux" can you get a normal tube with a particular kelvin rating? what kelvin rating is "cool white"? The tank is heavily planted tropical. Thanks

I have 4 5ft light tubes in my tank, they are 6500k, I have heard somewhere that a combination of two different types of light can work really well, has anyone heard of this? Ps. I dropped one of the tubes and so need to get a new one anyway

well, its perfect. I leave the uv machine in the tank all the time and turn it on when necessary (about 3 days (not nights) in about 3 months), I have got that awsome looking wonderfully clear water you see in pictures of really awsome tanks. The water never gets bad or anything, I just use the uv to maintain that really clear water. Definetly worth it...

My tank got really hot afew days ago, I used ice to stabilize the temperature.

Is that to operate in or 550 to get it in the cupboard??

I'm no expert but I wouldnt touch it with a barge pole... (it might break) It doesnt look as though is got any angle bracing, so it might just fall over sideways...

I think my current filter is a bit wimpy, so it would be nice to get something abit meaner...

What is the minimum height needed for a fluval Fx5, 1, to get it out of the cupboard and 2, to get the taps on??? I was thinking about upgrading...

My readings are very similar, I also use Daltons Aquatics Mix, I have a high range test and it reads about 7.8ph I live in Chch though, they guy in redwood aquatics said that that was the reason that I have terrible hair algae and can only grow vallesneria.

I took one of them back into Animates in Tower Junction, they replaced it on the spot, the new one's temperature display seems to be a lot more accurate, (the other two had to be set on like 20 degrees to maintain 25 degrees in the tank) The woman in Animates said that I might just have gotten 2 heaters from a dodgy batch.

My tank is closer to the laundry tub than the outside tap, so I just hook a hose to the mixer in the laundry then get the water temperature similar to in the tank, (just by feel) Then fill the tank. Its just as easy to get the temperature right.

Thanks Spidersweb Those ceramic tubes are mechanical more than anything arent they? Do I need some of that white volcanicy looking stuff made my eheim?