Jo

We have been using an Eheim 2217 on a 500 litre tank for the last 2 years and it is coping well with a large number of fish in tank. I would suggest buying a large cannister filter and you can always add an internal later if required. PM me if you would like a quote on Eheim Flucal or Aqua One filters. If you want nice plants in your tank I would avoid under gravels. Peter is also able to drill holes in the tank if you wanted to internally plumb it so you don't have hoses draping over the top of the tank.

If a built in the wall unit was an option, I would agree with you but I have yet to see a free-standing unit with a nicely finished, rounded edge hood that was light enough to remove single handed. The moulded glass is attractive too and I hate to think how much that would cost if you had one specially made!

HI Jude Yes it looks to me like the tank is curved at the left end. The stand comes flat packed so not sure if it can be swapped around. I will ask the sales rep. I was looking at $750 which is really cheap as the company ordered too many. The purchased setups look very tidy and are finished much better than a custom made one ever could be. The hoods look so tidy and streamlined and being plastic would be much easier to remove than a wooden hood. If you decided to go with a custom made, all you would have to do is get a cabinet maker to do the stand and hood making sure you told him the weight it would have to support. You would then have a really nice tank but I think it would cost more than a ready made one. If you want any help feel free to call.

Hi Jude, I have the HR-1280 advertised on trademe, it expires this morning. http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auct ... d=15512518 It doesn't have a top filter, is also black and is 300 litres. Access looks good on this one and you are most welcome to take a look. I am also able to get any of the other tanks in this range. As for getting your arms in - have you thought of a planting stick? We use one which also has a sissor attachment and it is very useful. If you wish to call, the number is 04 904 3128(kapiti).

Peter at Port Nicholson Glass. He is in Lower Hutt and has a constant supply of recycled glass. Also makes the best priced tanks in the area.

I would assume the peat would lower the PH.

Well I have a Seachem phamplet in front of me and this is what it says about Flourish Excel: Is a simple source of readily available organic carbon. One can derive a substantial benefit with the use of Flourish Excel either alone or in conjunction with CO2 injection. Also has iron reducing properties which promote the ferrous state of iron (Fe+2) which is more easily utilized by plants than ferric iron (Fe+3). Hope that is of use.

Got to disagree here. Most of our tanks are acrylic and any scratches can be polished out with Brasso. The only problem would be the cost. The wider the tank is the thicker the acrylic would have to be. Also you can not use a conventional magnet to clean the front face. It would have to covered with a non-scratch pad and the magnet would have to be extremely powerful (I am talking hundreds just for the magnet). I too would get in touch with Peter as he is very reasonable and glass would be heaps cheaper.

Shame we bought a couple of ponds to house the goldfish recently. Over run with tropicals but somhow don't think they would like the pond.

Thanks Ira, will give it a miss then and wait for the next big tank.

How do you think the Sth American cichlids would go in a 110 litre hexagonal? I have been wanting to try them for a while.

Thanks Mark, We do have carbon in the filters but will set something up at home with a filter operating and try and remove the colour that way. The logs are purchased and eventually do loose the leaching. Water changes do improve the colour but it keeps comming back!

Thanks everyone. I will try more frequent water changes and baking soda then. I do not have a problem with them sinking at all. These logs have been soaked for about 3 months and they are still leaching. It makes people think the water is dirty although we assure them this is not the case. I wonder if it is the type of wood we are using (Malaysian Hardwood). I have used driftwood from the beach but it occassionally develops a white fungas which looks terrible.

Has anyone tried boiling logs in order to stop leeching. We soak for months and that works but I really need to speed up the process.

We always use the eheim classics. They take about 10mins to clean which we only have to do every 10-12 weeks and impellors last years. We found the baskets in the 2213 a problem so ditched them and put the grills back in. No problem since. The wholesale price on eheim and fluval is very similar.