si_sphinx

I found people putting empty bottles into my tank once, floating them, and having bottle races with the power head pushing them in a circuit around the tank. It was kind of funny at the time because they were trying to not let me notice by distracting me. But they were stopped as soon as someone sank one. :sage:

no its not so could be lack of nutrients and light? :dunno:

Ive had java fern melt before in normal low light tanks. As soon as I put it under higher light it takes off and doesn't stop growing. I know it isn't a high light plant but it always does well for me. I also had trouble growing it in hard water too. It always went brown and died.

Yes it is a very thin layer, I ran out of gravel :roll: I have been meaning to add a layer of sand. That should top it off and stop anything coming through.

Have a look at my thread in "Freshwater". I have used it. plants grow well with it BUT i didn't put a thick enough layer of gravel on top of it and I have major algae issues with too much ferts releasing into the water from the substrate.

LDA33 snowball pleco gets big

Just cut it yourself, its easy when you have done it a few times. I do all my own glass cutting.

4000-6000lph should be fine

prosthetic fin spike from a veteran pleco?

They sold all their last shippment in one weekend. Thats why there is no fish in their tank at the moment. And the mollies will let me know if there is anything wrong. I am sure it will be ok. I have never seen sick fish in their marine tank.

It has been just over 4 weeks since I set this up now and the cycle seems to be going good. The LFS gave me some water and sand from their tank to help it cycle. Ammonia and nitrite spikes have been and gone. Algae bloom hit hard and realized I had the lights on for too long, so have turned them back to 6 hours and algae is now retreating. And now I have two male mollies in it to test it for a further few weeks before I add any life. I am surprised at how patient I have been with this tank. :spop: LEDs in the hood blew within days of setting it up. And just soldered new bulbs in tonight. No photos yet as there is nothing really to look at that is different from the first photo.

Here is a photo of my bottle if it helps...

it costs me $45 every 3 months to fill my 6.5kg bottle. It is also an old Co2 fire extinguisher.

I have moved it into the skimmer section already with no difference. I don't want it in the main part of the tank but will try it to see if it makes a change.

I am having a problem with getting this tank up to temperature. Has anyone else had troubles with this? The heater it came with, I set it to 24deg and the next day the tank was at 31deg so got rid of that heater(tried it on another tank and over heated that too) and used a good 150w fluval from another tank(that I know works well) and set to 26deg. the next day the temp is at 18deg. So I turned the heater up to 28deg and the tank temp went up to 20deg :facepalm: now i have it set to 30deg and the tank is at 22deg :an!gry The heater is in the back compartment where it is supposed to go but it doesn't seem to be very efficient at heating the tank. Maybe there isn't enough flow past the heater with the two stock powerheads. idk. Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this tank?

And take my time I will :thup:

So I have started a small 130ltr Red Sea Max marine tank for a learning tank before I convert my 800ltr to salt. I have done a lot of research but still learning and need this tank as a learning curve so any mistakes made will hopefully be a lot easier than making them on a bigger scale. I set the RSM up on Saturday. I started with my substrate. Red Sea Aragonite substrate base with calcium chips mixed in. Added my dead coral rock to the way I wanted it. Then added tap water. Turned the heater and pumps on. I left it all to soak over night in the warm water, then siphoned out the water and added prepared salt water. The salt water was made up with tap water(anti chlorine chems added) for now until my RODI unit arrives next week. Added the cycle starter chemicals that come with the tank. I don't usually use these when starting tanks but I have them so may as well use them. I tested the water today for ammonia just out of curiosity, and it was measuring 0.50ppm after 2 days. I am guessing this is because I never cleaned the dead rock before I put it in the tank. I use to use the rock in my cichlid tanks and never use to clean it and worked well when starting new tanks. It had been dry for a 11 months. I'm not sure if marine is different in the cycling process but would think this would be helpful in starting the cycle..? I have also added a cooked shrimp from the supermarket to help. My LFS have also said they would give me some water and sand from their tank when I have had it running for a few weeks. Tank is still a bit cloudy

Two words... "CLOWN LOACH" is the best way IME. Ive never seen them eat plants. 3 do a good job in my 800ltr tank

I will be stopping at redwoods in chch for a look and heading straight to Invercargill on Monday. If anyone needs anything brought down let me know.

if they are from the LFS then who knows what they are. I see them breeding at 4cm in their 30ltr selling tank with all the other cichlids. they are usually in that tank so long they get stunted.

I haven't seen them with baring like that before. Hybrids possibly. Where did you get them from? And have you seen them breed to prove that 2nd one is a female?

only the last 3 pictures are showing up

Thanks for the kind comments. I am still fighting a losing battle with the BBA :an!gry I just can't seem to get rid of it without affecting the fish.

Took some new photos tonight.

All my plecs are fine with my discus and my tank is always above 28degs. neons are fine in there too and haven't lost any yet