Cricketman

wow. That is awesome!

is that top one a trap-door tortoise? I used to have one in Zimbabwe when I was very young...

its tomorrow... :slfg:

they can fit through a hole the size of their "beak". Bear this in mind, as any, and I mean ANY hole that is bigger will result in you walking in to find an octopus ready to extract revenge for its incarceration...

just check when the cartridges were last changed, as they do wear out over time and replacement may up the price in the big picture, but still, that is cheeeep! :thup: Having said that, 6 stage with full working cartridges should end up with 0-1ppm TDS, So insanely pure!

Daltons propagating mix for the substrate + JBL fert balls... Trust me. :thup:

surely changing air pressure would also come into effect? especially in NZ where we are so close to the sea... (compared to a higher altitude) :dunno:

sink the screws 25 mm, thatll get your depth

yes, but the sudden shock of 100% water change may be enough to push them over the edge... Gently gently I say...

the rocks or your rocks... :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :digH: yea, a closer look reveals a lot... but I'm far too impatient for that... :slfg:

This...

:thup: :thup: :thup: !drool: !drool: !drool: my reaction: "Holey **** stick!!"

Just keep water changes up, do them every couple hours even at 20% or so if you want to minimise shock.

:rotf: :digH: Back to Helping Morcs, It all about stability, the more water you have, the more stable your tank going to be. In lieu of volume, you're going to have to put a heap more time and effort into it in terms of W/C's (like, daily) especially 'till your tank ages out properly. Also temperature fluctuations are going to be bigger. Not to put you off, but ideally, if you want a nice nano that is not going to take all your time and effort, get a nano size display and have a sump on it to increase over all volume. All your gear is neatly hidden away, You don't have to over-stress W/C's etc, and you'll have a better environment for your shrimp... Just my opinion, but I do not like the "All in one" type tanks, not least since they tend to charge like a wounded bull for consumables and replacement parts. Also tends to work out cheaper doing it in components, and not a big initial out-lay.

[/plug] :sml1:

My apologies, light coloured aren't they! hence why I thought that they were dry. Nope, sorry, but.... http://www.daltons.co.nz/home-gardening/retail-products/sand-and-pumice/propagating-sand-no2 Actually it says there that it is "sharp" but to be honest, I wouldn't of classed it so, it hasn't seemed overly "sharp" to me... :dunno: Edit Stolen from Supasi's blog :thup:

This... Plus, I found that having a % score highly motivating between myself and my friends (yes, we were nerds...) but now every-one is so fluffy bunny and PC and "every child is special" that your thrown in a category, killing all competitiveness and meaning that even if you excel beyond many others, you're still bunched together, making it pointless to try do better than necessary to get the "M" or "E"... [/rant]

Glue AND screw is the way to go bru... :thup:

I've never seen much point in going much further than Daltons propagating mix. It is nearly the same colours as your rocks (which you realise are going to look different wet of course) and is good for plant growth, and for siphon-vaccuming... Horses for courses... :thup:

Water changes are going to be important once you get Nitrate forming, as this is the part of the Nitrogen cycle that is accessible to Algae. Since your lacking in plants (macro-algae) the slack shall be taken up by micro-algae, leaving you with an algal bloom if you do not remove the nitrate by way of water change. :thup:

get a overflow box, with the hole in the bottom sheet of glass, like a weir, this will mean that you skim the surface of your display tank, stops some of the scummage that some people experience. also means you can go straight through the stand to your sump. I say this because it is what I have and has worked well for me so far.

In what way?

have you checked water parameters? unfortunately lack of scales means that loaches are extra sensitive to changes in their environ.

!drool: !drool: !drool: :thup: Screw the honeymoon, how much to live on site?

I think you answered your own question... EDIT: obviously you'll need a bit more gear, but maybe start out local marine and turn tropical later