David R

All this procrastination in setting up my 150x70x60 tank is getting dangerous, I was at HFF the other day and while standing at the counter I started watching the koran angelfish and niger trigger. I've always liked the idea of doing a salt water fish only tank with some big fish, but never really seriously considered it as we can't get lionfish or morays here. So, if I was to go down that route, what would I need and what could I keep?! Tank is 630L, and has a large sump with over two boxes of bioballs about half above water and half submerged. Haven't bought pumps yet, but was going to aim for at least 6x turn over, probably closer to 8-10x per hour. I've kept fresh water fish for around 10 years and would consider myself fairly experienced, except in salt water. What I'd like to know is; What other equipment I'd need; skimmer, lighting, rock etc. Natural sea water or atrificial (or does it even matter with no invertebrates)? Stocking? Suggested species, I've got no idea of whats available here and how they get along together, and are there some invertebrates I could keep? I like the colourful shrimps and bristlestars, but not sure if they would live with larger fish. This is all still just an idea, and I'm still not sure if I'd be able to part with some of my large fw fish. Any help/encouragement is appreciated!!

Yeah apparently there's plenty of them in australia, many people breeding them there. Might have to go for a holiday and try track some down... :lol:

Perhaps you'd better read the guidelines because thats not really true....

Woodhill is alright, the structures are kinda fun, but the sandy trails are horrible unless its wet. Its a good place to ride in winter. Riverhead is better when its dry, plus the hills are bigger so you get a longer run down. Dome valley is even better agaiN!

var what? Var is often used as an abbreviation for variety, so maybe there is two different varieties of the same species?

Haha, he should definitely sign up!!

My sister was right into the whole pokemon thing, drove me mad! She had a pokemon gameboy that she would constantly play with the horribly annoying sound turned up loud. One day when she was in the shower (I think that was the only time she put it down) I pulled the batteries out and put a small piece of sellotape over the contact where the battery goes. Sure enough she was soon complaining to mum that she needed new batteries [again]. I went away for the weekend, and when I came back she wasn't playing it anymore, I figured she had given up on it because it didn't work even with new batteries. A few weeks later mum and claire came home from town with the blastard thing working again!! I asked what had happened, and mum said they had taken it back to Dick Smith, they couldn't fix it so they sent it back to the manufacturer who pulled it apart completely, only to find a small piece of sellotape stuck to the battery contact. They thought it must have accidentally got stuck on there when changing the batteries and were very embarrassed they hadn't picked it up sooner. I couldn't help myself and cracked up laughing, needless to say little sister was not impressed. :lol:

I'd rather have an umbee.

:roll: which could just be the wholesales either being ignorant or trying to make a bit more money. Do they have latin names on the list?

Nice looking fish! How big is the tank and how big is the jag? They can get quite nasty in comparison to the other two.

I remember seeing a guy who kept polypterus with cichlids and he had trained the polys to feed inside a piece of pvc pipe that was too small for the cichlids to get into.

or humans?

Meh, it was cheap, at least it wasn't from Torpedo7....

Not a fan of the crumpet toast, tried it ages ago. Crumpets are great though, with either jam or golden syrup. I used to work with someone who ate them with vegemite, yuck!

When I feed my 3' tank I defrost 2 cubes in a big shot glass along with some chopped up shrimp, and nearly every time I can't help but have the sick idea of giving it to some drunk person to do the shot...

Yeah, I sold the trailstar and picked up a cheap coilair frame off trademe. Its a bit of a bitza but its fine for now and I didn't have the money to buy a whole new bike at the time. I've been riding for about 14 years now, although admittedly not very much in the past 5 years.

Wow, there's some big bikes, lets see the pictures of them being used!!

Good idea Sulphew, just make sure you test it first. I had a set up like this once and found I had to drill several holes for it to be enough to break the syphon completely. Adoge are you talking about a hang-on-the-back overflow?

Wonder if they'll ship me one...

The people who make the rules are a bunch of bureaucrats with no knowledge or experience in the field they're dealing with. :evil:

Tank is 20" wide (external), total length is around 14"

Johannes that tigerfish is awesome!!!! Do you know the latin name for the fin face brim? I tried googling it but found more info on hats than fish...

If the species you're after is not on The List then they probably won't ever be imported (legally). Even if they are, sometimes fish just don't come in, like pike cichlids (Crenicichla lacustris) or red terrors (Cichlasoma festae [now Amphilophus]) for example. If they are on the list you could try contact someone like redwoods to import them for you.

Bichirs do sometimes eat substrate, which is why its not recommended to keep them on gravel. Ornates can vary in colour, and substrate can also have an effect on colour, try a dark red, dark grey or black substrate for bolder colour. My two smaller ones varied quite a bit, especially when kept in a bare bottom tank, they're a bit more even now they're on dark substrate again. Try feeding it Hikari sinking carnivore pellets, and shrimp. I've gone off beef heart as it is apparently hard for fish to digest, and I found my ornate was getting fussy and wouldn't eat anything else. He's back on shrimp now. While we're on the subject of ornates, here's a pic I snapped last night, he didn't really feel like posing...

If you put the spraybar below the water level of the overflow then it will need some sort of non-return valve or it will siphon your tank when the pump is switched off. Just put it at the top and add a couple of small powerheads if you need more water movement.