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Warren

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Everything posted by Warren

  1. Welcome v.c.h, looks like a pretty vigorous start. I hope you enjoy the site and you learn from it and us from you...
  2. Works fine. Just clean it very well first...
  3. Warren

    overflow size

    I'm using 2 x 32 on 6000L/hour. Looks like it has spare capacity but how much, - who knows. The two 32mm pipes feed into a 50mm return. My sump is above the tank with the overflow in the sump... Using a Grundfos FP4 100W, no longer available. Now licensed to Oase as the Oase Nautilus 1600 (1600GPH). Since this pump only has a 400mm head it pumps just over 6000L/hour according to the pump curve. I've never actually measured it so it could be a bit less.
  4. Cool, you're welcome any time... We've got the tank crawl next weekend (at least I think it's next weekend) so good a time as any... I'm entering in it this year just for a laugh. A lot of the HB members have already seen it but there are quite a few new people this year. Hopefully we'll get a good turnout.
  5. The colouration in the water will reduce the light. As long as the colour doesn't get too dark all will be ok. You may notice a slight drop in grow rate...
  6. I don't know the exact weights but they are quite similar. I use 3mm sheets about 750mm * 1000mm and they're pretty lightweight.
  7. Warren

    What's the Answer

    Need more info. Suggest looking at bacterial problems to them. Not enough water changes sounds like a good starting point. Did they give you any contact details other than a postal address?
  8. Polycarb goes by the trade name 'Lexan' and is what's commonly used as window material at sports venues. It is very flexible and almost impossible to break and has a very good elastic memory. It can be bend 360' without breaking! Perspex (also known as Acrylic) is clearer and slightly stronger but it doesn't bend much before it breaks. It's much more like glass than polycarb. It has a poor memory and when a thin sheet is left suspended over a wide area it will sag with time.
  9. Cheers, will keep the pics coming as it matures even more...
  10. I use polycarbonate lids. Doesn't seem to stop the light too much and it's supposed to let more useful light through than glass. I used to have no covers but found evapouration too high and discovered discus are pretty good jumpers...
  11. Yes, wrap it in a stocking, it's commonly done. The brown water is quite normal in the fishes natural environment. In some area's of the Amazon river the water is known as 'Black Water' it is that dark. It also has a very low pH (around 5-5.4 from memory). The fish won't care and may even find it better for breeding as they are often more settled in dim light.
  12. Ok, try now. Was using the FNZAS site to upload the pictures and couldn't make it work. Put it in 'Photbucket' instead... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewto ... 1283#61283
  13. Do you have a Palmers Garden Center? If so, they'll have it too. Peat can lower the pH too far. You'll learn how long to leave it in for. You'll find the water changes to a certain colour (golden brown). After a certain amount of time the pH will be about right and the water a certain colour. Provided your water supply doesn't change it's chemical composition much you'll be able to associate the colour of the water with the pH and take the peat out or add it depending on the colour. A pH test kit will give you a more accurate result but you'll learn to get pretty close just by the colour...
  14. There is no link, the pictures are uploaded onto the FNZAS site, - you should be able to see them...
  15. Hmm, I'm stumped, - good luck... :-?
  16. No, but if you give me $22 in $1 coins over the next week I'll give you $10 in change... (Interest mate!!)
  17. Ok, here's the tank 2.5 months on. It's just had a massive prune so the light can get in again. The extra gravel hasn't arrived yet so it's still not in it's final form. At the front left the Glossostigma is growing very well. It's spreading pretty quickly. On the front right, the Tenelus is going ok but it's been sulking a bit... Old Photo New Photo
  18. Warren

    Ammonia

    Keep your pH as close to 7 or just below as you can. 6.5 is good. Ammonia becomes logarithmically more toxic as pH goes up. Eg at pH 9.0 it’s 10x more toxic than at 8.0…. At pH less than 7.0, ammonia changes to ammonium, which is less toxic than ammonia. It gives you the chance to get rid of it with water changes as long as your fish are ok at 6.5
  19. Is the regulator a proper CO2 one? Be carefull of regulators not designed for CO2 because they won't last. As CO2 is a liquid at 1000PSI and stays that way until the cylinder is almost empty the regulator has liquid CO2 in it. Notice an aluminium bottle is used, cause it eats steel when under pressure. The guts of a CO2 regulator is stainless steel. It would be a shame if your regulator failed and pumped your tank full of CO2...
  20. I'm only using about 500W on 300gals and have excellent growth at the substrate on all plants. It may not be the lighting but don't write it off. If everything has been fine since it was setup and things are going wrong now it probably isn't the lighting though. I'd check the phosphate level in the substrate. If there is too much (over about 3ppm) you can get root-burn. I've never had it myself but have read about it a long time ago. Another thing to look for is gas bubbles. If you push a small stick (about 3-4mm diameter) right to the bottom of the gravel and there are gas bubbles when you remove it there is a problem. It's a worse problem if the gas smells like rotten eggs. It means your substrate isn't breathing enough and is going stale. About 18 months is about the right time for this to happen if the gravel isn’t breathing properly. Under gravel heating helps with this problem as it creates a very slow circulation, just enough to stop it going stale but no so much that the fertiliser washes out into the water. This is due to the aquatic potting mix containing a lot of organic matter. Check your substrate fertiliser, it may have too much P in it. I've always found there is too much P in most fertilisers available. Most of the P in your substrate will come from uneaten food or waste. If any extra P is required, you won't need much. Too much P inhibits plant growth. It may not be P but organics breaking down in the substrate. Even the best planted tanks get algae on dying leaves. That's why you remove them at the first sign... If you have a deficiency problem, be it light or anything else or too much phosphate the leaves will struggle and algae will form on them.
  21. Ok, so we don’t get any misinterpretation, here's what my argument is based on; You normally setup a continuous system to be exactly that, continuous. A 20% weekly water change is normally done all at once by removing water and adding more (effectively diluting to approx 80%). This is the method my argument is based on and it's still valid. I'll back it up with the calcs in a day or so when I get time to do it graphically. Incidentally, I passed my calcs past 2 of our PHD engineers and one ME and all agreed... We also modelled it in Matlab with the same result. The only point left not clarified is where the water enters and exits. All new water enters into the system so it travels through the tanks first then overflows down the drain…
  22. Ok, 4 bottles of chemicals for $60, lasted over 10 years so far. At present I'm at $6 per year and only about 3/4 of the way through... At that rate it will end up costing me about $4.00 per year. Much cheaper in the long run to use chemicals... Don't have kids and I obviously know what I'm doing as my fish don't die either. As previously stated, if you know what you're doing chemicals are safe... It's like anything, if you don't know what you're doing, best not do it - common sense really.
  23. So you're not willing to trust someone who got 98% school C maths, acredited UE and a maths degree then... Believe me, if I tell you it's higher it is... Just for you though, I'll do the workings in Matlab and do a screen dump as a graphic I can put here...
  24. Oops, lower pH... :oops: Previous post now edited...
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