spoon

try the marginal plants section at oderings

ane 2 pot epoxy should be fine drys super hard they wont be able to scratch it or climb it

i have some bumble bee gobies and im looking to get more i have read they like a lot of movement i have a tank similar to an r338 4 them would a 400lph and a 380 lph powerhead set up so that 1 runs the filter on top and the other skims the surface thru a grill and filterwool and spits it out bout half way down diagonally across the tank would this be suffiecent or am i better off useing a 2000lph(prolli actually around 1500lph) power head this has two outlets set at 90degrees i could use 1 to run a fluidised bed filter which would go into the original filter after wards and the other to push out into the tank or would this be overkill?

java fern and java moss are good for low lite siuations i think crypt is as well

does ane1 have ane ideas on how to make a device to change the direction of flow from a powerhead at random times? it would also need to be small

try the $2 shop they have clear rubber suckers that may be able to be adapted for this

summary: 1 decide on the effect u want and get some online pictures to help u with the carving 2 get some tools 2gether like craft knifes, heat gun, maybe a mini blow torch, small curved rasps or surforms 3 start carving the poly styrene, if u want to hide heaters and filter behind the poly this is the time to figure it out also make very sure u have cut the poly to the exact size it needs to be if u want more depth to a background use thicker poly or remember u can glue poly 2gether using epoxy glue 4 now u have ur piece carved how u want it go over it gently with the heat gun to get rid of ane fluff on it( unless u used only the heat gun for carving) 5 find an epoxy clear coat to use DO NOT USE POLYESTER RESINS! , i used equis epistixx clear its a waterbased epoxy , tho 4 a harder finish i suggest norski 421( more resistant to water dragon/turtle claws and boisterouis fishes. there are also a few other brands u can use like nuplex R180 ,or epiglass epoxy 6000 6 if u are doin a rock background a good effect is to coat the background with clearcoat and sprinkle river sand on top this in its self looks awesome and can be painted over (see below) coat all poly surfaces even if u wont see them when its finished remeber to do the two ends if u look at the sides of the tank also now if u are not using river sand u can mix some acylic paint with epoxy clear coat to colour it i have used ordinary artist or student acrylic NOT HOUSE PAINT. use earth colours such as sienna , burnt and raw umber or mix ur own colours to ur liking i wouldnt recommend using more than 15% paint in the epoxy (unless its waterbased epoxy) as its unlikely to set hard enuff. if u use a dark colour then dry brush ( very little paint , Almost a dry brush) a lighter colour over top in raised areas a nice finish can be achieved like simians background pictured earlier. this painting method can also be used over top of the river sand if u want a different colour, i have found it very difficult to use epoxy over normal paint as u end up brushing it off , if u find the finish is a bit shiny for u , when the epoxy is almost set brush it with a dry rag being careful not to wipe it off this will reduce the gloss(thanks again simian ) using these methods or others u may have found u can acheive a good finished product. 7 so its all painted completly dry and u are itching to get it in the tank , unless its a new tank u will need to drain the water and remove the gravel its also a good time to clean the tank . dry tank off and put it in to cheack it fits and ur heater or and filter will fit in behind it , if u have gone down this road with it, all good? now silicone it in using aquarium safe silicone i find it best to coat the bottom of the background and the bits that will touch the back wall then lever it into place being careful not to get the silicone in places u dont want it, next seal down the sides with a bead of silicone (ane pieces contacted the glass depending on the design will need sealing around the edge) wait 24 hrs before putting gravel back in and filling with water . do a water change in 24 hrs and then another 1 in another 24hrs this will remove ane acid from the silicone curing, this should not leech if u do it properly as the epoxy is completly inert when set and does not react with anething however keep an eye out aneway. cycle ur tank and put ur fish back in ( a hint to speed this up is to put ur filter into another tank to keep it good while u have no water in the tank u are working on) 8 enjoy

mite give it a go at some stage too maybe in my big tropical tank in september

like this 1? http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/10/cre ... water.html

well 1 tank has a built in filter behind it and the other i carved the poly to take a hang on back filter the next tank i do will be hiding powerheads and heater when u come around this weekend i will show u what i do to make them is sat morning ok 4 u if u cant gt transport i can pick u up and drop u off

u have to drain the tank then just silicone it in wait 24 hrs before u fill it up then wait two days doing complete water changes each day to get rid of the acid from the silicone then ur sweet

my brothers g/f mite want it they are in riwaka im going up there next weekend i can ask then and pm u from there computer as they mite also know some1 who would want it if they dont and this is as a pet

true true i have scars to prove that , but dont let that put u off u will become local in no time in general the people are very friendly and its like with everything a few idiots can spoil it 4 the rest , i lived in greymouth 4 a year my dad lives in barrytown atm its a great lifestyle a lil different to the rest of nz . 0nly real downside is i cant think of ane petshops at all on the whole west coast! i guess that means u will be visiting us folks in chch a lot

i would have an ant eater as my old flatmate got bitten by 1 in ecudor while he was feeding it (it drew blood) so i reckon would make a good guard dog

it also depends on what colour lite u like looking at and also ur needs like marine ppl sometimes use slightky blue tubes and other hues for different purposes are availible 4 instance i have a biolux branded tube(bout $25) it puts out light in the blue and red spectrum this helps with plant growth and makes the colours on the fish look brighter i also have 2 6400k tubes ($6) ea at bunnings these are perfectly fine for plant growth and ur fish still look gud underneath them

bunnings etc wont have these u would need to go to a more speacialised trade store, but hey on the brightside i think the post above mine will solve your problems amyway

yep if u arent buying prpoer aquarium tubes go 4 a cool white which is 6400k like hans said . a warm white is the yellow colour u want to avoid

yep u are right dc will equal no flicker wat i was talking about was doin this to a tank i am setting up its similar to a jebo338 but masterpet brand it has a 12vac transformer which powers the powerhead and used to power a 6w flourescent tube fitting which was damaged , i pulled this out and used some leds about 40 of them from a toy mirror, i have run leds (attached to a pond powerhead) from an ac supply before which didnt flicker noticably however the 1s i put in this tank did really bad i am now thinking it had something to do with the other circuitry on the printed circuit boards the leds were attached to rather than the leds themselves pon the ac supply , as leds will lite up on an alternating supply but will flick on and off bout 50 times a sec which our eyes cant keep up with so they appear to be on all the time , sorry for not being so clear but put simply leds on a dc supply will have no problems at all , i was going about it in my difficult way to try and minimise the amount of power cords i have plugged in and i will proli find if i buy the led tube on friday like i intend to it will work fine aneway

when i tried running leds off a 12v ac supply they flickered this is because they turn the ac sine wave a bit funny its the diodes function imaginge a sine wave then cut the negitive(botomm part) off u are left with a series of positive pulses hence the flicker i doubt it would be 2 noticable running straight leds nothing else but as the leds i was using were pinced off a toy and wired to allow the changing off differnet colours and brightnesses with intergrated circuits so im guessing the frequency of the power supply was altered somewhere along the the way(possibly a dc resistor acting as an inductor) and made the flicker noticable to the human eye, sorry if i caused ane confusion there before (or just now) but yeah im starting to think the led tube like caspers will be easier in my situation either that or change the rank to an open top and use a spare 9w pl fitting i have lying around

i did an electrical course a few yrs ago at wintec up there mite complete it soon as i mite be gettin made redundant at my current job(non electrical ) sn

sounds like u ned a new simmerstat

i had a fighter die of dropsy 2day he had it 4 the last 3 days

u could do the same but with acrylic as its much easier /safer to cut than glass

if u really dont like the tannin in the water u can buy filter media that can take it out as it leeches this can be expensive tho and it will eventually go away by itself

thank you to all that replied , and thank you donna i will pass ur details onto her