Ianab

Here is some pics of my bigger L001 Pleco (about 6" long) Mmm.. lettuce leaf... Chow time... Full belly now. Cheers Ian

The little ones from the beach rockpools will live quite happily in a cold saltwater tank along with various other rockpool critters. Years ago I had a tank with various small fish, cushion stars, hermit crabs etc. I dont know how the native ones will go in warm brackish water though? Cheers Ian

Wash it untill you cant smell turps in it anymore, then let it dry for a day or so, any last residue will evaporate. Cheers Ian

This is another tank stand I built a while back, only just got some pictures of it with the tanks though. Macrocarpa timber again and 2 x 2ft tanks Cheers Ian

Looks like pretty normal volcanic basalt rocks. 99% thats it will be fine in a tank. Do the tests that Caryl suggests to make sure. Cheers Ian

yup.. plywood is the best option. The top especially. For the base it's not as important, you can spread the weigth OK with the bottom rail 4x2s. Cheers Ian

I would suggest it's that problem many businesses have where you go from a hobby to a full blown business. As a hobby it's more about finding a home for the extra fish and maybe making a few dollars to support your hobby. You cant supply a regular stream of fish from a price list. The shop really has to just buy what you happen to have at the time while thinking about what will actually sell. A full blown breeding or importing business can supply a list of stock and prices to the fish shops, they can order exactly what they want, and usually pay for it next month. OK, so they will buy off you, but at a lower price. It's more hassle to buy off you, so they will only do it if there is more profit involved. If you go up a level and hold some regular stock, build up a relationship with the shops you supply and invoice them for payment on the 20th you might get better prices. But then it's not a hobby any more.. it's a fish wholesale business. :-? Cheers Ian

Yeah.. I figured you used the 4x4 corners so it was easier to make the lap joints that hold it all together. That stand isn't going to collapse in our lifetimes Cheers Ian

The angle brackets they show will hold the joints together, but you want large diagonal braces to prevent racking. If you look at Hummingbirds picture above you can see the 45 deg wooden braces, those will do more to stop the stand folding up than a small metal angle. But securely attaching plywood to the outside of your box is probably the strongest of all. Imagine how much force it takes to twist a sheet of ply lengthways, especially when it has some 4x2s glued and screwed to it! Mine are clad with solid timber T&G boards, has a similar bracing effect. looks nicer and I have the boards. (Plywood I have to buy) Plywood would actually be stronger though If you built the stand from 4x2s and clad it in 12mm ply (screwed and glued) it's going to be stronger than the house it's sitting in. Bracing is the key. If you want it to look nice, then build the strong box and clad it in any fancy finish you want. Cheers Ian

What tools do you have? If you have basic woodworking tools you can make a perfectly good MDF box, sand it and paint it too suit. For a small tanks MDF will be plenty strong. You would want a skillsaw, a straight edge and a drill / screwdriver. Sheet of heavy MDF, a pack of screws and a jar of gorilla glue. You will want to paint the MDF properly as it's not very water proof. Alternatively I can talk you though cutting down a tree and starting from there, but that will need a few more tools and it will take a bit longer Cheers Ian

4x4s is probably overkill, but I dont see any bracing in the plan? Better to make a frame out of 4x2 like Hummingbird posted (although I see it has 4x4 corners?) and then clad it with plywood. Back, sides, top and bottom. Umm... no plans for mine sorry, I just sort of start buildling and keep going till I have a tank stand. The 26x1.5" top board isn't something you will be able to buy in the shops either, but a heavy piece of ply will do the same job. Cheers Ian

No more fish till the ammonia and nitrite are zero. Dont worry about the algae, it might look yuck but it wont harm the fish, and when you do get a pleco in there, it will think it's Xmas. It will have everything cleaned up in a few days and you wont have to worry about feeding it untill it runs out of algae. :lol: Sorry about the guppies tho Ian

The stand ideas shown with the 4x2s, either braced with diagonals or plywood back and sides are good. Holding up the weight is not a problem, if a stand is ever going to fail it's going to be by racking, folding up like a stack of cards. Not a solid 4x2 breaking in simple compression. The bracing is the key. I also like to have a bit more width then is strictly needed, more stable earthquake wise etc. A solid ply top helps give an even surface and make sure the base spreads the weigth out over the floor too. This is one stand I built a while back for a friends 4 ft tank. It's a lower stand, coffee table height, but thats what she wanted. It's a basic wooden frame and clad with solid T&G timber for extra support and bracing plus the looks. Front has simple doors made from the same T&G and the top is a solid slab of macrocarpa. I dont seem to have any pics of it with the tank though Cheers Ian

Look good Setting up the uprights with that 'T' section should be plenty strong enough and makes the stand seem a lot less 'chunky'. I like the solid wood better than the laminated MDF thats usually used too I've built a couple of stands myself, and will need to construct another for the big tank I'm planning on getting soon. So a few ideas are allways good. I start a bit further back in the DIY process though, have to saw down the tree first :roll: Cheers Ian

Dont know how successfull that will be, you wont cycle the tank (build up any bacteria in the filters) untill you have a few fish eating and pooping in there. Likewise with nutrients for the plants. I would go with a few smaller fish to start with, maybe the species you want and let them grow. That first month is critical as the tank cycles, but small fish / large tank will work OK Some do, some dont. Many more species of Pleco available now than 20 years ago. You could get some little bristlenose plecos, they dont grow much over 5" long. They would be fine mooching around the bottom of the size tank you are thinking about. Anyway good luck with what you choose, lots of interesting fish out there. I've basically got back into fish after 20+ years. Inherited a small tank from my partners father, then picked up a couple more 80l tanks. Now looking for another bigger tank to house my Plecos Dont tell your wife about the potential for MTS though Cheers Ian MTS - multi tank syndrome

Guppies dont mind a bit of salt in the water, but they dont need it either. Neons dont like salt, so if you are going with them, stay away from the salt. Some thoughts on salt. http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article5.html For a normal community tank, I wouldn't put any in. Cheers Ian

This page has a good write up on Black Widows, they should be OK as long as they dont start nipping the guppies. http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/characins2/a/blackwidow.htm Generaly you will want seperate tanks if you want to breed your fish. There are some species that can breed in a community tank, but usually the eggs and fry get eaten by the other fish and/or the parents. Having a smaller tank you can put the breeding pair in, then remove, them after they lay eggs is best. (Or leave to raise their young depending on species)Then you can feed the baby fry with brineshrimp, fine dry food etc depending on species. Guppies have to be the easiest to breed, along with other livebearers. Bristlenose catfish and Kribensis chiclids are other easy ones. But have a readup as they spawn in different ways and want different environments. Ohh. this is my guppy tank.. they are VERY prolific :lol: Cheers Ian P.S. NO MORE FISH untill your Ammonia and Nitrite read ZERO 8)

The water tests show the ammonia is up a little, normal for a tank thats cycling but that might be causing problems. Change some of the water now (30% maybe), that will reduce the ammonia, and only feed them very lightly. Good luck, hope you can get the tank cycled and running normally soon. Cheers Ian

Anything they can get their pinchers on.....

I think that counts as decent filtering A small airpump and bubble wall wont hurt anything if you want that look, but it's not needed. Cheers Ian

What filtering have you got? If you have decent filters then extra airstones aren't needed. You can still put them in as a backup or cos they look cool, but they aren't needed if the filters are moving enough water. Cheers Ian

Luckily there is a fair bit of leeway between what they can eat, and what they NEED to eat to survive. So even though they might be able to eat 4 pellets, 2 will be plenty to keep them healthy. My Pleccys are in tanks with guppies, and they clean up any soggy leftover tablets in the morning too. Main thing is, you dont want old food laying around in the tank, but if something is eating it it's not really a problem. Cheers Ian

Yes it's sometimes hard to tell. I generally put a few tablets in each night and if they are all gone in the morning then it's fine, give them one more next time. If there are some leftovers, then it was too many, give them less next night. Chunks of vege are good, you can leave them in there overnight, they can eat their fill, and take out whats left in the morning. Do that a couple of times a week, and a few pellets on the other nights and they will be fine. Cheers Ian

If I remember right you have a decent sized tank ? 4 guppies shouldn't have overtaxed things even when it was cycling, and it should be cycling pretty slowly and gently with only those fish in there. Generall if the fish eat all the food you give them in a few minutes then you aren't overfeeding, and I dont think a few small guppies will raise the ammonia levels very high before the filters catch up. Do the others look OK? If they are looking stressed and unhappy then you need to worry, otherwise it might just be bad luck that one died. Doing a small water change will never hurt anything, so go ahead and do that anyway. Cheers Ian

I have internal filters and airstones / curtains in 2 of my tanks. It's not necessary if you have a good filter, but it looks good, cant harm anything and gives you a backup in case your filter gets blocked up and you aren't there to notice. If you have a filter you can probably just run the airstones when you feel like it. Your fish shop should have a little set of valves that you can use to adjust air flow from one pump to different tanks or airstones too Doesn't cost much and makes it easy to get the airflow you want. Cheers Ian