si_sphinx

All your fish are looking awesome. !drool:

Tank has now been running for 10 days and I already have noticable growth in some of the plants.

You will have to find a dead tree with some nice branches intact. And then you can soak it and peel off all the bark to get it looking clean like the ones above

Feed them on decomposing greens. Add a little amount of lawn clippings like Ryan did. I threw in a few leaves of old lettuce and my culture grows just fiine.

Yes I have filter wool to go in on top of the noodles and also before the return pump. I also have a bucket of bioballs if I need them. Im hoping with my low stocking and a lot of plants I won't need too much filtration. Just enough to remove floating particles within the water column. I am planning on putting a uv filter in the sump too.

I found the site in a Google search when I tried to find out why my 1st ever cichlids were dying after buying them from Trade Me and some poor information given from the trader. I found the forum and trawled through it taking in all the information I could and then joined when I had more questions and realized this is a great place for very helpful and friendly information. How were you introduced to the FNZAS site and forum? Did you find it in an online search or were you referred to it by a member or friend? And why did you join?

Thanks for the link Jen, I will get hold of them, What exactly should I ask for that I am missing from my ferts?

UPDATE: Filter now flowing nicely. Bad quality photos below... After a lot of research I sorted the overflow and it is now virtually silent. 1st pipe going through the bottom with the flow controlled by a valve ensuring a full siphon. 2nd pipe going up is a hang on back overflow. made the same as here... http://www.aquariumlife.net/projects/diy-overflow/120.asp This is to take the extra overflow and if the 1st pipe becomes blocked. Water passes through a coarse foam then through noodles. Every thing is kept off the bottom with egg crate to make cleaning easier. In my last sump I noticed when the media sat on the bottom gunk would build up and would need cleaning more often. Problem now solved. Return pump. Auto water top up ball float installed but not hooked up yet. I havn't decided yet if I'm going to put in a small reservoir for top up or install a direct water line. Temp is now staying at a constant 26deg. I still need to tidy up messy wires.

And we have progress finally. Tank has been filled and is heating up slowly. Now I can plumb in the sump and get the media cycling.

This is the reply I got when asking why the ferts I have don't contain any phosphorus from the person who made it. I got it from 'valray' on TM. are they on here? So if I need phosphorus and calcium, where can I obtain them?

No there doesn't seem to be any in the mixes I have. Do you think I will need some to add separately? Yes well it won't be exactly 2 weeks, I will keep a close eye on things to when I think I will need to start the Co2.

Yes I have a dry mix of ferts that I will mix up 500ml of solution at a time. I don't really know dosage rates just yet. I will figure it out when I get it running and plants get going. It will also depend on how much plants I have in the tank. I was thinking I would start with 5ml/50ltrs every 2-3 days and go from there. I won't have any fish in there until I get it right. The fertilizer solution is: Macros Magnesium Sulphate (2%) Potassium Nitrate (3%) Potassium Sulphate (8%) Micros Trace elements (4%) (iron,copper,boron,zinc,molybdenum,manganese and magnesium) RO Water (83%) Full lighting won't be fully used if algae presents itself straight away and Co2 won't be started for a week or 2 untill the plants have settled in. Any comments or something I should be thinking about or missed?

Cold water up North will surely be different to cold water down in the South. I have been meaning to try acclimatize some barbs but I have a feeling they wouldn't survive in my cold water.

When I was looking at buying a house I put in an offer to a house with the condition that I would purchase if I could also purchase the small section behind it. The house vendor accepted my offer but the section owner did not. So I never continued with the house purchase. However the realestate agent put through the paperwork for the house to the lawyer before the section owner made a decesion. So the lawer had to process this and I was charged for something that never went ahead and was a waste of money. I wasn't very happy with the RE agent but they said they have to put through approved purchase aggrements as soon as they are accepted. :an!gry $100 Lesson learnt.

Ive managed to find some bulbs now. Thanks

WOW looking good. Love the carpeting, what is it?

Looks like Juli Ornatus to me but with very clear barring. Nice tangs all up tho. :thup:

Chuck an airstone in there and see if it helps.

Congrats :thup: I need to set up a breeding tank for mine. :facepalm:

Sure did, I couldn't get it to fit how I wanted and I accidently split a piece off it so I thought I may as well pull it apart. So your saying make it all come from the tree stump on the left? What I want to do is make it look like low lying roots and bits of wood sticking out up higher, I still need to find more wood and I possibly almost cover the entire background with wood. I want to have a lot of ferns, moss and anubias growing from it so eventually you won't see so much wood, just the pieces that stick out. Its hard to describe what I see in my head but maybe when I have more wood and get the layout right it will be more clear.

Ive found the leak, I just need some glue to seal it. I have also been playing around with possible layouts and this is where I'm at so far... I still need more wood and rocks.

If you see my thread about my tank you will see the lighthood I have and need the bulbs to fit this hood. My main light source is MHs and the T5s are only to semi recreate sunrise and sunset before and after the MHs.

Yea it has one but I just have to figure out where its leaking.

A background of plants maybe :slfg: I would have liked to if this was going to be a cichlid tank but I will probably do it with a new and bigger tank :thup:

Yep my thoughts exactly, I will be trying to get as much indian fern as I can from someone who has too much down here. I wont be starting with full lighting or co2 straight away either. If any one has a heap of weed plants that they could send me that would help me out a lot. I will pay postage.