David R

I usually use PVC waste pipe, good range of fittings and not too badly priced if you talk nicely to the guys at Plumbing World.

If the tank is empty find someone competent with drilling glass and get it drilled IMO. Those HOB overflows do work, but always riskier than drilled, and not sure how quiet they are either.

Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0282591117

There's nothing wrong with the above design, but IMO it is over-complicated for the average FW set up. I would use two 100 micron filter socks suspended over an old aquarium (100L+), then use ceramic rings stacked up in laundry bags (for easy cleaning) then heaters and return pumps. Baffles aren't really needed, and bubble traps are more for marine tanks. Is your tank drilled? If not, I would look into drilling it and setting it up with a herbie-type overflow.

Nope. Nor the hardness....

Lovely pic of a great looking fish, but damn I wish people would stop calling them Panaque!

So what you're really saying is that checking TDS is important for users of RO/DI filters, not necessarily marine aquarists. I never checked the TDS of my marine tank, but regularly checked my FW aquariums. My feeling is that TDS is worth monitoring [for me] as it shows the entire mineral content of the water, including things like salts that aren't picked up when testing hardness, which have an effect on soft-water fish and how they osmoregulate. I had HITH problems with the Geophagus in my old 1400L tank with the cement background (pH ~7.5, low-moderate hardness, TDS ~150ppm) that were solved by moving them to another tank with no background and water with pH 7.2, low-moderate hardness, and TDS ~85ppm. So it is certainly possible to have low pH and hardness, while having high enough TDS to cause trouble for soft water fish. IMO the best practice is to look at water parameters as a whole, rather than individual values. Many hobbyists (new and experienced) still seem transfixed on pH as the one and only parameter to monitor. Here's the article I mentioned before that has a good explanation of the importance of conductivity and how it translated to osmotic pressure. Starts on page 3 and is a fairly long and involved read, but worth it if you're interested in water chemistry. http://www.tbas1.com/Exchange/The%20New ... d%2011.pdf

I doubt tiny kribs would be imported, I think more likely is they were bred, either intentionally or unintentionally, by a hobbyist somewhere and dumped in the LFS as soon as possible because they didn't have the tankspace to grow them out, or wanted to make a quick buck as soon as possible. Aside from the issues around moving fish of that size, there are other issues like quality control that come from not growing fish out to a decent size. Wth generation after generation of parents randomly selected from large groups of tiny fry its no wonder fish like convicts and kribs are de-evolving.

As I understand, pH generally isn't as important as hardness and conductivity as they have an effect on the osmoregulation of the fish. Water parameters should always be looked at as part of a big picture though, and TDS/conductivity is useful as it takes into account things like salts that have an effect on osmoregulation but aren't measured when testing pH and hardness. I've read a good article on the subject but I don't have it bookmarked on this computer, will post it later.

Might want to check the calibration of your meter, or the cartridges in your RO, as RO water should be 0ppm.

That certainly looks like a great deal, much better than trying to run multiple heaters in a sump. I've heard good thinks about the Ranco controllers too, I would have bought one with a couple of big titanium elements but I already had a pile of 300W heaters, and Henwards father-in-law built the controller for a pretty reasonable price.

Short clip of one of the royals eating kumara. http://youtu.be/aNrNT9vMoxY

I'm sure that would be fine for your intended stock of loaches, silver dollars and red humps.

If you were using regular aquarium heaters I'd agree about using two instead of one for reliability sake, but I think with the single element and controller it won't be such an issue. Can you share a link to the elements you're looking at? I'm currently using five 300W heaters on a controller in my sump, would be nice to replace them with something a little tidier.

Sounds like the same as mine Adrienne, let me know what you find about the calibration, I guess it is probably time to do mine. It would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison with a few different meters some time.

dimensions?

The only issue I'd see with your stock list is feeding the ctenopoma with all the other boisterous feeders it there could be a bit difficult. I don't think you've over-done it for a 750L tank at all. I had 30 med-large clowns and a bunch of cichlids in my old tank of similar size, as long as your filtration is up to the task I think you'd be fine with 6-10 clowns in there.

Ebay IIRC.

+1 for pics, sajica are beautiful little fish!

The only other time it could be necessary is if you have exceptionally hard tap water and are keeping soft-water species that are delicate enough to suffer with incorrect water (discus, uaru, angels etc). And in that case, in New Zealand at least, it is far cheaper and easier to collect rain water to help soften the water. How are you going to do your auto system? Pump to waste on a timer and a float valve to control the top off, or drain in the sump and incoming water dripped/pumped into the tank?

Picked up another royal from Henward yesterday, similar size to the other four but with an interesting fine-lined L27-ish pattern and very bold colours. Henwards tank has black substrate so I'll be interested to see if the colour changes at all with the lighter substrate in my tank. Certainly an L190 with those teeth.

Great idea if you've got the money and tank space. Get a group of Nuggets growing out while you hone your breeding skills with other smaller species. On the subject of growing out fish, I think Geoff is right that big water changes play a part, but based on what I've seen with all sorts of fish (catfish, cichlids, polypterus, arowana, loaches, etc) is that there is no real substitute for a big tank. Plenty of space, good water (not just nitrates, but correct hardness, temp, current etc), and good food are the key ingredients to growing out fish. Frequent water changes can help, especially in less than ideal circumstances, but I'd put money on it that my Panaques will be growing faster with an 8x4' footprint and weekly water changes than they would be with a 5x2' footprint and daily changes.

I quizzed my accountant wife on this and she said it is a bit of a grey area, but quoted this after a brief search of some accountant-y website; The courts have held that a person is probably running a business if: 1. the activity is carried out in an organised and coherent way, and 2. the person is intending to make a profit. A hobby is an activity conducted primarily for private pleasure or recreation. The hobbyist is not interested in making a profit. They may sell goods, but any sales are of secondary importance. Unless you're doing it on a scale where you make an actual profit over and above the related expenses I wouldn't think you need to declare the income, unless there was a loss to offset against other earnings. I would suspect that there would be a reasonable profit on the Asian arowanas being sold though (but that is just a slightly educated guess) and if he has imported them with the intention of on-selling then it wouldn't fall under the "hobby" category. However, if he had lost a fish or two in transit it could easily offset any money made.

I would expect many of the minerals found in bore water responsible for deposits in hot water cylinders (calcium, for example) would be beneficial to your rift lake fish over rain water (or RO). I'd give it all the 'regular' tests initially (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, hardness, TDS) to see what it is like, and keep an eye on the colour too. If you're currently using rain water and have a reliable recipe to buffer it to the levels your fish prefer then you could always set up a separate rainwater catchment at the new house to feed the fish tanks and leave the bore water for the house supply.