Ira

A new pane of glass really shouldn't cost that much, maybe you can save some money DIYing something with ply, but it's going to take enough work that you might as well just use glass.

Seems to have died off a lot after the move to the new forum software.

How the hell are your tanks not nearly overflowing? Mine is full and I've been watering a greenhouse, garden, water changes in a tank bigger than yours and filling up a spa pool!

I don't think bristlenoses get that big. Or that's going to be a very large one.

Nice. Hey, once you've grown them up to a good size, let me know. I'll buy a fewoff you.

And they'll even do it if you try to stop them.

There are probably some cases where you could use a canister just for mechanical filtration and clean it frequently. But even for that a sump is probably going to be easier to clean the filters. Next time I build a new tank I think I'm definitely going with a big sump.

You don't have to. And sumps aren't filters. Though they can contain filters. HOBs, Canisters and submersible filters can be used, but they're basically obsolete for marine tanks.

Not sure why you'd want a tank like this, but...Whatever. And yes, T8s should be fine, if they're old they tend to produce more algae, but as far as the fish go that's not an issue.

1. Yes, but there really is no good reason to. 2. Collect it at high tide, when there hasn't been much rainfall recently. Even collecting it in poor conditions it's pretty much guaranteed to be cleaner than the water in your tank you're changing it with.

I did once, had a handful of 12 hour power outages over a couple weeks, without problem. Then one day after a 5-6 hour outage I woke up to find 30 dead tetras. Ever since then if the outage lasts more than an hour I just unplug the filters, once the power comes back I give the filters a quick clean and dump the water out. No issues at all since then. It's not a big deal if the fish have to wait a little longer for you to get the filter running, they can last days without filters. Though, I've also had a couple times the power went out while I was at work for a long time and it was fine when it came back. So may be over cautious.

As long as you don't have a tiny tank, or power outages lasting days in the middle of winter then temperature isn't really a problem. I've accidentally left the heater unplugged in my tank for a couple weeks over winter and it's colder in Wellington than Auckland. Didn't notice until I wondered idly why the fish are moving a little slower. Turned out the tank was at 15°. Tank had a bunch of tetras, bristlenoses, I think a couple dwarf cichlids at the time too. All were perfectly fine. My bigger tank only lost about 4 degrees the last time we had a 20 hour power outage over winter.

My ideas are that your research is completely wrong, I've been using nothing but rainwater for 17 years.

Easiest might be to just stop at a convenient glazier, tell them what size you need and ask if they have a scrap piece about that size?

Only if you have a problem with free floating algae, otherwise it's a waste of money.

Welcome to the wonderful world of common names.

Yeah, they'll absorb some ammonia, nitrates etc but as far as mechanical? No way, if anything they'll make it worse. All the little bits of rotten leaves and plant debris will make it worse.

I think the reef octopus external skimmers are generally good mid range external ones. http://www.marinedepot.com/Reef_Octopus_Classic_110_EXT_Recirculating_Protein_Skimmer_In_Sump_Protein_Skimmers_for_Aquariums_Reefs-Reef_Octopus-CV5131-FIPSIS-vi.html

Depends on if it's an in sump skimmer or a hang on back skimmer. Which skimmer?

Yeah, I'd go with another 1200 too. You're definitely under filtered. I've got an FX5 and an AC1200 like you've got on my 440L tank and it still has a lot of little particles floating around in the water. Occasionally along with bunches of detritus worms, yuck. Even wrapping my powerhead with filter wool turning it into an 8000 LPH filter that completely clogs up the filter wool in an hour or two doesn't get all the particles out.

I try to keep it less than plus or minus 2 degrees. Easy enough to do when filling from the kitchen sink with a hose.

Don't spill it on your hands, don't drink it.

Should have a big O-ring running around the motor housing. https://www.aquariumkingdom.com.au/image/cache/data/Aqua One/Spare Parts/10698 Aqua One Powerhead O-ring 500 700 1-600x800.jpg

Blue mountains.

And now that the voltage is back up to 230, it's running with its normal hum.:) Tripped something in our house's water pump too, but that's reset and running.