Ira

Yeah, that should work. Just set it up so the middle of the top U-bend is just below the top of the overflow.

Hmmm, From what I remember it didn't look like it'd be too hard to get a standpipe in there.

I told you how to do a standpipe, Jude. They're really easy to make and with the small return pump you're using should be very quiet. You should be able to get all the bits you need at Mitre-10 mega or bunnings. Make something like this:

I see no problem at all if that's what it's designed to do. Don't complain if the temperature doesn't stay at the point you have it set to turn off at long. You're not setting the temperature it will hold. You're setting the point it turns the heater off.

Don't worry about the type of wood. Even if it is pine, deteriorate quickly means it will most likely still be there long after you get bored of how the tank is set up and decide to rearrange it.

That's about as close as I can get them to the water without removing the center brace. My camera's just going blind I think.

2X250W DE.

Thought since I gave someone a hard time in the FW forum about taking before and after pics with different camera settings, here's my new bulbs. Top is the old bulbs, 14K something or others. Middle is the new bulbs, 12K reeflux after about 10 minutes warmup time newly installed, bottom is after 4 days. Pictures taken with 1/60second shutter, 2.6 aperature, 200 iso and color balance on Fine. Doesn't seem to be a huge difference in brightness so far. But I think I like these ones much better. Seems to bring out the colors better compared to the kind of washed out whitish blue of the 14K bulbs.

Amazing how many people weren't paying attention to math in school.

Get rid of that POS stream and get a Seio.

Plecos don't really have slime coats. Not much there to eat. And no way of knowing what he's doing.

So what if the pleco tries to eat the discus? Plecos are better than discus. Especially many of the more exotic ones in that tank.

The gov should encourage you to remove such an invasive, introduced species from New Zealand's waterways.

I've got a glass anemone or two I could sell you. Very hardy anemones, good for beginners, don't need much light. Not picky about water parameters. $10+shipping each.

Even if the fish was blind he'd react to your hand moving in the water near him. Most fish use their lateral line to sense movement in the water more than their eyes and they can navigate pretty well without eyes because they can usually feel the pressure waves from their own movement bouncing off glass, rocks, etc. If he wasn't reacting at all it's because he's too far gone to care. Swimming dead, basically, not blind.

You could make your sump air tight and turn it into a giant cannister filter.

True... Old chev=gets you where you want to go and costs $10K Lexus=Gets you where you want to go, but costs $80K.

Dear Tooth fairy... Hehe, How much was it? Prices I've seen in the US were significantly more than a sea swirl if I remember right.

Sweet. NOw find me one for $100 and I'll buy one.

I was just thinking about this...I wonder if it might not be part of my problem? Mine exits maybe 9" below the water surface. It looks like the only way I can get the water level stable is having the water level in the overflow extremely high, basically at the same height as the rest of the tank. Maybe if I cut a bit of length off the pipe to the sump I can get the siphon in the durso turned up a little more and get the water level in the overflow a bit lower which would also help skim off the surface of the tank?

No, the entire pipe doesn't need to be full of water to siphon. And the pump doesn't need to be turned off because, like Reef says, it's unlikely the return pump could pump water as fast as the siphoning overflow will be sucking it out. And your current durso, plug the air hole and see what it does. After a bit it will suck all the water out of the overflow until it hits the inlet and lets air in.

The water is going to take small bubbles of air down the pipe with it. Eventually that will be enough to turn it into a siphon.

Yeah, eventually you'd end up with a siphon which would drain the overflow box all the way down to the inlet and then lose the siphon. Unless you put an air valve or hole in the top of the U to let air in which kinda defeats the purpose....

I've been thinking of getting a second hand AC ammeter guage and then I could plug that into the fuse box and see the amp draw. Not as easy to find them as I'd thought...

*Snicker* (Yeah, I know, I'm probably not the first to do this...)