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New Prescription Fish Tank Eliminates Need For Glasses While Looking At Fish SAGINAW, MI—Executives at Poseidon Aquatic Enclosures announced Monday the launch of a new line of made-to-order fish tanks that can be outfitted with customers' individual vision prescriptions. "How many times have you misplaced your eyeglasses yet still wanted to look at your fish?" company spokesperson Ian Barnes said of the new corrective tanks, which are available in sizes up to 100 gallons. "Never again with the new IchthyOptic System. Whether you have a slight astigmatism or need a bifocal tank to simultaneously look at your tiny gobies and large plecostomus, Poseidon can provide you with a crystal-clear fish-viewing solution." Barnes said the company is also developing a line of fish tanks that will incorporate Transitions-brand automatic tinting technology, which will eliminate glare when looking at fish outside on sunny days. :bounce: From The Onion - America's finest news source Note: Not all news items in The Onion are suitable for general viewing (like a lot of the Interweb) http://www.theonion.com/content/news_br ... _fish_tank

LOL yeah I was (briefly) tempted but I already had my community of little fish - any one of the biggies would have eaten them in a single meal! BTW I only told the good news above. I didn't mention the infestation of BBA that came along with the tank despite me thinking I had thoroughly disinfected everything. :roll:

In all likelihood the neons will LOVE the driftwood in their tank. It shouldn't change the pH very fast (unless it is rotting) so it will drop slowly to a level where the neons are very happy. A bit of tannin-stain in the water will also be great for the neons and make their colours really stand out. :bounce:

I got my tank (including lights, heater, eheim filter, gravel, driftwood, assorted food & chemicals) for $350 off Trademe. I already had a piece of furniture that I use as a stand (the seller was willing to throw in the breeze-block & wood stand but it didn't look pretty ). The best thing about it is that $350 included a bunch of monster fish. I sold the fish one by one on trademe and made back (I think) $200... so the whole setup cost me around $150 in the end. Oh, and I "gave away" two giant pacus because nobody wanted to buy them (for obvious reasons). But the guy I gave them to gave me his spare 4-foot light! So actually I made on that deal too! :bounce: I'm trying to remember the fish that were in the tank when I got it... I remember an arowana, the two pacus, a huge pleco, a bichir... and something else that slips my mind right now. So four fish sold for an average of $50 each = $200. I still can't believe the guy had all those fish in a 4-foot tank.

I was keen to do this a while ago (on a much smaller scale, of course!) but the cost of perspex pipe put me off. Something like $100 - $150 per metre. I still imagine having it for my dream setup when I win lotto though... I have it all planned! :bounce:

Heh. I think I hear the voice of experience...

Looks pretty real to me - all the reflections etc on the tanks are too accurate to be photo-shopped. I would love to know whether it was successful and whether it's still around.

OoOooOoo lovely! :bounce:

Yes, I think the gravel is likely to be too coarse. I wish I had some sand handy to give it a go. I would also have liked to try some common-or-garden seed-raising mix and some water with a drop of sprouting hormone in it. Will be interesting to see what other people do.

oeminx has generously sent me some tiger lotus seeds on which to carry out evil experiments *rubs hands together in a sinister manner* I have divided the seeds into three containers of approximately equal numbers of tiny seeds. I have all three containers floating in my tank so that a) the temperature is steady b) they are close to the lights The proximity of the containers to the lights also means and the temperature is likely to vary a lot between night and day (my tank water is 28 degrees and the lights are on 12.5 hours a day). Here are the setups of the three containers: Container 1: 3 cm of plain tank water (no substrate) Container 2: 1 cm of gravel and 2cm of tank water Container 3: 1 cm of gravel, 2cm of tank water and half a JBL clay ball Any other suggestions? What do I do now (except wait and watch)? The seeds are so fine it would be interesting to see what they would do if someone used sand or a fine propagating mix as a substrate. Has anyone here grown tiger lotus from seed before? And is anyone else experimenting with oeminx's seeds?

Well, I received my mysterious, squishy envelope today (ingenious packaging, oeminx). I think I will start a different thread to blog my experiment rather than hijacking this thread. Very exciting. Thanks again oeminx :bounce:

What kind of fish do you have, bulldogod? A five-foot tank sounds lovely! :bounce:

Dalton's isn't essential, and as you're just getting into plants I would suggest you start off not using it - you can always get some if you decide to set up a high-tech planted tank later. I would suggest your two current issues are lighting and nutrients. Start off by changing all three of your tubes as suggested already. Also add a few slow-release fert balls under your plants. Once the plants are nicely established, you can also add some general solubale ferts to the water. Apparently PMDD is a cheap and effective option (I haven't tried it myself) but you can also get general, balanced ferts from an aquarium shop. Good luck with your plant project - it's well worth putting in the effort for a beautiful tank.

That's brilliant! :bounce: There are no lights on top, so I wonder if they are artificial plants? But the idea of the fish being able to swim freely the entire length of the aquarium and back is great - an ever-changing view for the workers. (I would sneak food into my bit of the tank so the fish would always come to my section and be pleased to see me ...)

First, check that the water conditions in both your old tanks are as similar as possible. Do they have the same temperature, pH etc? If not, it would pay to spend some time making sure all the conditions match before combining the fish into one tank. When the conditions are properly matched, transfer the fish into buckets. Then move as much water and other stuff out of your old tanks as possible, and put in your new tank. (Are you moving decor, plants etc over from the old tanks?) Transfer both your old filters over, without cleaning them. This applies even if you are not intending to use both the old filters permanently on the new tank. Then top up the new tank with treated tap water, with the temperature as close as possible to the temp of the old tanks. Then transfer all your fish into the new tank at the same time. You didn't mention what type of fish they are - I presume they are all compatible, need similar conditions and will live together nicely?

OMG! That's brilliant! :bounce: Yes, I would be keen to try growing some seeds, just for fun. I wonder how to keep them warm though, with this cold weather. I might try growing them in a shallow dish floating in my tank. That way the water underneath will keep them warm, and they will be close to the lights too. In fact I might try a few different floating dishes... maybe one with just plain water, one with water and added nutrients, one with wet cotton wool... Gosh, sounds like excellent fun! Thanks for sharing, oeminx! :bounce: :bounce: (I will send you a PM to work out the details...)

Hmm... it seems a shame to be keeping your tank at a steady, warm temperature and not being able to harness that energy for keeping your yeast mix warm. Is there really no way you can keep it in, on or near your tank? If you have a cannister filter, can you keep it near that? Near your tank lights? (beware of not overheating it though). Also something to look out for (for those who do keep it on top of their tank) ensure you have a system in palce to make sure the yeast mix can't accidentally syphon into your tank water

Yep, all in favour of bristlenoses at my place! They're so ugly that they're cute! :lol: I have two... unfortunately they both turned out to be males. But in my 4-foot long tank they both seem to find enough space to keep out of each others' way, seem fit and healthy, and are peaceful with each other and with other fish. Between them and the SAEs I don't have an algae problem in my tank at all - but I must admit I don't know who is eating which algae. It might be the SAEs eating everything.

If there's any left over food sitting around on the gravel, see if you can vacuum it out before it goes all gooey and nasty. Do more water changes that you would normally do, and keep an eye on your ammonia levels (rotting food may create an ammonia spike). Has your tank been established for a while, and has it gone fully through the cycling process? If so, you should be fine. If it's a newer tank you will need to be more cautious, do more water changes and keep a closer eye on water quality.

Nor can I... I have a Tom Barr planted tank as my computer wallpaper though... I wonder if this is the same one...

I have the plot for a short story: Plant breeder breeds rare hybrid lotus that's going to make him famous (and a millionaire). He hosts a pot-luck dinner for local aquarium society and plans to reveal the amazing plant at the end of the dinner. Guest arrives and realises with great embarassment that she hasn't brought any food to share. But don't worry, she knows how to make an excellent stir-fry...

I think oeminx might be a bit annoyed if we dug up the lotus and ate its roots at this stage. :-?

For the sake of the fish, it's good to do a water change every time the ammonia level in the water starts to build up. Ammonia burns their gills and skin so it's a very nasty substance to be swimming around in! The lower you can keep the ammonia, the better for the fish. As for the effect on your cycle, most of the beneficial bacteria will be building up on your filter media so changing the water isn't going to have a drastic effect. Removing some of the ammonia from the water may slow your cycle down a little, but personally I think the welfare of your fish should come first. IMO, water changes during the cylce are a very good thing.

bristlenoses like to have it as part of their diet, but it would take many, many years for a bristlenose to eat up a decent bit of wood.

Yep. If it's pre-sunk you might not even need to anchor it down. And there's no need to soak it until the tannins (the brown/yellow stain in the water) disappears. Some wood will take years to get to that point.