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What I've thought is, isn't the actual light created by phosphors on the glass luminescing when exposed to UV light created by the gasses in the tube? So, why can't they just sell a standard uncoated tube and you simply slip a sleeve onto it to produce the light you want? Probably answer my own question, I guess it's cheaper and easier to put everything in one package, assuming seperating them would even work.

Hehe, Yup, got him at twiglands. They had two and I'm pretty sure the one I got is a male, the other might have been a female, maybe I should have grabbed it too. Oh well. No, didn't get the piece, I've got Paws and Claws in Upper Hutt getting it for me. Was great timing when I went in actually, the Rep was there. I'm actually getting a bit of an upgrade, the old one is the one with a single lever that automatically cuts the water flow off when you disconnect it. I'm getting the newer one that has a seperate lever to shut off the water. It flows somewhere around 200L/hr better when I tested it a while ago.

Aquaclears go by their gallons per hour. The 500 is 500 gallons per hour, 400 is 400 gallons per hour, etc. 570 lph comes out to 150 gallons per hour, but I dunno if there's an AC150. It might be a mini. Anyway, a pair at 570lph each would be 1140 liters per hour for $40. That's almost turning the tank over 6 times per hour and would actually be a GREAT deal the more I think about it. You'd also get some redundancy if one of them fails.

Spur of the moment since my Pleco died yesterday and of course that means I now have room for another fish. And I was out looking for another aquastop for my 404 which is leaking. Anyway, saw this pretty fish for $10.95, grabbed it, took it home and look up Gold Saum...Uhoh, AKA Green Terror, that doesn't sound good maybe I shoulda done a bit of research first. :lol: Though, from what I've read green terrors aren't too aggressive and he's in with my Geophaguses and Severums, so if he acts up maybe they'll put him in his place.

300 watts would probably be ok, kinda borderline though. On a tank that long it would be preferable to have a heater on each end. So, you might as well grab another heater and put them on opposite ends of the tank. Makes the heating a bit more even, though, it's not critical.

I'd say if those are the only options then the aquaclears. The internal filters has about the right flow, but internal filters look pretty bad in the tank. They should have larger aquaclears, though, $20 each seems like a damn good price for the smallish ones. You'd want at least two of them. Oh, and you won't need the sponge filter, the aquaclears should do just fine for bio filtration.

By that time they're probably putting out a LOT less light than new ones and the spectrum would have changed so you might as well replace them and get a brighter, better looking tank.

Growing illegal coral, hehe. Mine is only around $150 a month and that's with a spa and underfloor heating.

What's a loch? Other than a lake in scotland.

Hmmm...Your name is Kevin? And all this time I thought you were a chick.

Caryl, you could always try banging together a beer fridge cooling system for it. Only cost would be a heap of hose and however much you can get a secondhand beer fridge for. (And maybe any necessary tools you don't already have) Seriously, I'd quite like to do it, but wifey wouldn't be too pleased with the idea, but YOU don't have that problem.

Haha, That looks great, I like it, Chris!

Yup, that's the one. My planter full of succulents where it's going isn't particularly happy. I got pieces of about 20 different succulents from a friend and it looks like most of them are just dying. A few look like they'll do well though.

Speaking of plants(But not carnivorous), I just picked up a Ledebouria Socialis. Interesting plant with green and grey speckled leaves, grows from a bulb. Going to put it in with my succulents.

Probably best off just replacing the tank. Small tanks like that are pretty cheap.

I don't think the UGF would have enough suction to pull the eggs through even if you put a massive powerhead on it.

Yeah, all the bacteria is really for is for the nitrate cycle which would be redundant if you're changing enough water. And you can't really hurt the nitrifying bacteria through gravel vacuuming. Maybe a small fraction of the bacteria would get vacuumed off, but most of it is fairly well attached or lodged in the gravel. Also there's heaps on the glass, any plants, rocks, decoration, in the filter, etc.

Uhhh...No, it doesn't sound right. I don't think you can keep the tank too clean as long as the water you're replacing is right for the fish. But, to many water changes with water with the wrong PH, hardness etc can cause problems.

Hmmm, At that price glass alone for my 200 L would be about $450 dollars with 10mm. Ouch.

I've tried covering the airstone with gravel. For me all it ever managed to do is the airstone either blew all the gravel off and unburied itself or I ended up with it making really big bubbles and going "Bloop bloop bloop bloop"

Yeah, I intend to give them a couple tries, except I'm kinda worried I've actually got two females together. Though, I don't think it's likely that two females would both protect the eggs, I just keep thinking that the females are supposed to be the more brilliantly colored sex and yet, it's the two most colorful that were the ones guarding the eggs so I picked them as a pair. That's why I'd like to make sure at least a couple hatch to be SURE I've got a male and female. I just had a thought, something I'm not sure whether it's a coincidence or not...Before the first time they laid eggs the filter had slowed down to not much more than a trickle for a few days because of something I'd stuffed up in the filter and they laid eggs sometime that day after I fixed it. T Today the filter had slowed down to about a trickle because I've got a clump of filter wool around the intake to keep any possible fry from getting sucked up, it was clogged and I'd just cleaned it earlier today. Then this evening I find they've laid eggs. So, in both cases the water would have been pretty poorly airated because of the slow filter and then the same day after getting a good flow and good airation I get eggs. Now, whether they just happened to lay after I fixed the filter both times or if the sudden jump in oxygen and current is a trigger, I don't know. Seems plausible though because something similar might happen in the wild after a heavy rain and might be a good time to lay eggs?

Yeah, I was suprised, I thought it'd be another week at least. It's been only 10 days since the last batch. What're you doing up so late, Sue? You like me and don't have a life?

Got another batch I'd guesstimate at being approximately 3 million eggs...Ok, probably more like 200-300. This time I'm going to feed the parents twice a day, maybe that will discourage them from eating the eggs. If they DO start eating the eggs I might see if I can rig something up to at least save a few.

A fizzer bar I'm assuming is just a long airstone you'd have laying on top of the gravel? No, it won't do anything similar to what an undergravel filter would do. You'd get heaps of current and airation which would be good, but it wouldn't move any water through the gravel.

Most of that volume probably would have just been empty box and likely more than half of the unit would probably be a transformer that would sit outside the tank. I'm guessing it's a 12 volt light.