livingart

as Caryl and elusive fish have said keeping it cool is another must a chiller can be an expensive purchase brand new, occasionally they come up for sale on auction sites or some of the saltwater sites in nz there are some DIY ideas available on the internet i have had my tanks at 20 - 22 degrees Celsius for awhile but they were rock pool species that could handle it

you could go to the local hospital and get yourself a big box of patience fish school together for protection if there is nowhere to hide lots of places to hide means they maybe behaving more naturally to the big shape moving round the room

your first step is to read this viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23675 the next step is to have lots of patience cold water marine takes longer to cycle than a tropical marine and both take longer to cycle than freshwater tanks if you have access to fresh clean natural salt water (NSW) you can set a tank up from scratch by doing 2 x 25% or 1 x 50% water changes weekly As to size of tank and the type. Basically the larger the tank the better (easier to keep water condition stable), and large surface area on the tank is better than a narrow deep tank having a sump on the tank is better than canister filters, these can be used but may need the filter media washing in NSW frequently you will need some clean coral rock as this is more porous and makes a good home for the beneficial bacteria and pods (that will help maintain your system) to live in. You can use live rock from a tropical marine tank but some of the bacteria etc. may die off. will add more later

is that up or down a level :oops:

:oops: did an audio swap, checked it but it couldn't have worked

if your power turns off or sump pump stops tank will drain to the level of your outlet to sump if the outlet is low in your overflow and that is leaking then it will drain to where the leak is if you have a standpipe in the overflow then it can only leak to the outlet of the standpipe

closer vid from big bossy pants

depends on how high the outlet to the sump is

well done

Ssssshhhhh

video brought to you by Nymox and Big boss pants and living art productions

good relationships can be important

trade me

one of his daughters is a member here

might as well get a litre of petrol

good old Reg, still alive not doing fish or plants though

Herpetology is the study of herpetofauna

herpetofauna

good way of getting some of the money paid out in benefits back

very nice pics

had this on the computer for a while Warwick brown wrote it but i don't know where it came from Cagey Concept. I have often been asked about ideas on the building of cages and so have put a few thoughts together on out-door caging. They may not suit all but do provide some simple options as follows: The basic cage has a number of features: Floor: The elevated floor of the cage is at thigh height to save your back during those endless hours of gecko study. Say 700mm from the ground. Made from marine ply or fibre-cement panels, be sure to include cross brace supports for the those heavy pot plants which can be dropped through large holes cut in the floor. This provides the depth of soil the plants will need. Roof: The roof needs to be low enough to allow you to pluck the geckos from the ceiling. Say 1800mm from ground level. Allow natural sun light to penetrate unhindered by glass or plastic for 30% of the area. Depth: he depth of the cage depends on the length of your arms so you can reach the rear wall; say 600-700mm. Width: The width of each compartment is usually 500-700mm depending on your shoulder width. [some corners can be hard to get to.] Support Legs: Usually the maximum span you can have between the supporting corner legs is 1800mm to avoid centre sag and difficulty with doors jamming. Material: I have used tanalized and weathered 40mm square pine without ill effect on the geckos or skinks and without wood decay, so far. Plants: In general, natives are best, but if I was to pick only two, it would have to be a potted Golden Coprosma and for the babies, a roof hanging Spanish Moss ‘air ‘ plant. The base of some pots allow for trays to be clipped on to contain water. These are ideas for watering the plants from below without letting the flies-moths escape. Wall covering: All walls need to be covered internally with a fine whitebait netting in aluminium or stainless steel, painted black. Painting this black makes it easier to see through. External walls need an additional layer to keep out cats. Packed out by 20mm, a layer of small hole chicken mesh is most effective but again, paint a dark colour to enable vision through it. Weather proofing: Roof & end walls: Partially cover with Clearlight to allow ventilation and 30% direct sun light through the remaining netting. Glass: Limit yourself to only one sheet of glass as a viewing panel. Glue it to wood and hinge the wood to the cage frame. Having mesh below and above allows for good air circulation. Feeding doors: The feeding door (s) should be small so when emptying your moth/fly net into the cage, the entire door opening is covered by the net. Put the feeding door on the shaded side of the cage away from the sunlight at the time of day when you intend to add food. The flies will generally fly toward the light to escape so you will need a dark back ground to prevent the flies escaping during feeding. On my cages, I have a pair of feeding doors above the one glass viewing panel. When geckos are basking on the ledge of one door, I can often use the other. Water containers: I use two, one a wall mounted budgie feeder and the other, an upturned Agee preserving jar with a plastic bird feeder lid. I’ve placed whitebait netting over the water outlet cavity and filled the remaining bath with road gravel. The stones are always wet and prevent the skinks from burrowing in and drowning in the water column. Basking branches: Large branches, some 40mm in diameter, are a must for the geckos to spread out to soak up the sun. The DoC brochure “A GUIDE TO THE KEEPING OF LIZARDS IN CAPTIVITY” is worth reading to gain a greater insight into the animals’ needs. Warwick Brown

what do DOC recommend nowadays?

a type of timber, hard to work with, splits easily i predrilled holes and used screws tanalised i was tol was all right so long as it has been dried out completely wet tanalised can still leach out bad salts

i used a good quality water based stain on our ones

i have used douglas fir, it lasted 8 years also used dressed, well dried, tanalised, still in one piece after 12 years