David R

ASB??

That really sucks, but by the looks of it the place is pretty dry.

Taken about 2 minutes ago.

Care to elaborate? If the left hand end of the stand isn't parallel with the right hand end, then the top isn't level, right? I guess it could have been made crooked, and may not necessarily twisted. Stupid steel, should have just stuck with what I knew and made a wooden one. I'm so over this tank already! :evil:

He's not full-size yet, only about a year old (this is his second winter).

There are four bars running front-to-back. The left hand one is level, the right hand one is on a lean (higher at the back than the front). Does that not confirm that the stand has a twist?

Great coffee table books for flicking thru and looking at the amazing photos, not sure about how they are as an information source tho.

Ours is still very active, eating like mad and showing no sign of slowing down yet. We didn't brumate him last year but he kinda had a short dormancy for a few months late in the year. When would you suggest slowing him down? His tank is in the lounge, along with a 4' fish tank so the room usually stays warm, and its north facing so it gets pretty warm on a sunny day (not sure about winter yet.

^ they're available on youtube. +1, let me know if you get it and I'll send a SAE and blank DVD.

Currently the lights on out beardys tank are on for 14 hours, and as we're coming into winter this will obviously need to be reduced. How does everyone go about this? How gradually do you reduce the length of time they're on for? Do you run the UV tube for the same amount of time and shorten the length of time the basking lamp is on?

Good idea Alan, I could put the tank on the stank with no ply or polystyrene, and see if/how much it straightens it out and which legs need to be shimmed. I've checked it with a spirit level and I'm certain the stand is twisted.

Thanks Warren. I'll try straighten it out tonight. What would you use for diagonal bracing? Thick ply/mdf screwed to the ends and back of the stand? I've never actually seen a steel stand with diagonal bracing, even on the massive display tank at HFF Albany. Lucky we don't get too many earthquakes up here!

smcoleman- I've got a piece of 15mm ply to go on top of the stand, just finished painting it somewhere else. Ira- the floor isn't 100% perfect, I've tried the stand in various locations in the garage and it varies from being nearly 10mm out to sitting nearly perfect. However, in its final location with people standing on the stand to take the bend out of it, I've checked it with a spirit level and it looks pretty good. I have some pieces of 1mm and 2mm thick steel to shim it if needed. Stella- yeah I think I may be being paranoid, as you probably wouldn't even notice such small gaps on a floor with carpet. The poly will help a little (I think) but its more for absorbing small bumps [like a proud screw head] than twists. I've got a sheet of 10mm polystyrene, will that be thick enough? As I understand, anything thicker isn't necessary because they poly is only good for absorbing small defects, certainly nothing anywhere near as big as 10mm. Cheers

Ask Anne/beblondie on the Polypterus forum on MFK. Or try reading the Polypterus primer there as I think it may have info on sexing polys.

I'm setting up my 160g (150lx70wx60h) in the garage on the bare concrete floor. I had a stand made from 30mm square steel, with eight legs (see pic). I'm in a bit of a predicament; the stand has a slight twist, so when the front left leg is on the ground the back right is about 4-5mm off the ground. Two people (around 60kg each) standing on opposite corners is enough to flex the stand so it is level. Obviously the weight of the full tank will be far greater than this, so it will level itself out, but I'm worried about the force stressing the tank, and possibly cracking it. The tank is made from 12mm glass and and has bracing along the front and back, top and bottom. The other thing is that the ends of the legs and the concrete is not perfectly parallel, so I was thinking of putting a piece of 3x3x1" timber under each leg to act like polystyrene under a tank and even up the weight. Is this a good idea, or is the wood likely to crush and split with the weight of the tank on it? I think I may just be being paranoid, if it was going on a floor with carpet you probably wouldn't even notice little things like this! :screwy: Here's the stand and tank:

Yeah Loopy is right. Its just an expression Caryl, do you actually laugh out loud every time you write LOL?

Bingo, even releasing wild-caught fish that have been kept in a tank with fish from other places (captive or wild) could potentially release a new disease/pathogen into an area where it wasn't before.

Someone with a dvd recorder needs to record it and send it to us poor folk without sky!! :lol:

Taken from MFK... The Queensland Government has proposed for a new dam, the Traveston Dam, to be built on the upper Mary River. For those that are not familiar with this river, it is home to 3 endangered and vulnerable species of wildlife, the Queensland (Australian) Lungfish, Mary River Cod and Mary River Turtle. As many of you would already know, the Australian Lungfish is a totally unique animal which is capable of breathing through a specialized air sack through times of drought and low oxygenated water. The Mary River is a major breeding ground for the Australian Lungfish and the number of wild specimens will plummet if its habitat is destroyed. The Mary River Turtle, Australia’s second most endangered turtle and also one of Australia’s largest freshwater turtles, is capable of breathing through specially developed organs, similar to gills, within its tail & under the right conditions can stay submerged for up to one week at a time making it truly unique. The Mary River is its last remaining habitat and several experts are predicting the imminent extinction of The Mary River Turtle if the mega-dam proceeds as planned. The Mary River Cod is a close relative to the Brisbane River Cod, which coincidently has been extinct for some time due to over fishing and poor water quality caused by the affects of humans. With the super dam Australia will again lose another cod species. Whilst I understand Queensland is experiencing one of the worst draughts in recent times, it must be understood that there are alternative solutions to Queensland’s water crisis. There are no alternatives for the endangered animals at risk. Don’t let these endangered species become forever lost to the ignorance of a narrow-minded Government. Please take a few moments to consider the future of these remarkable animals. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/741410919

TTIWWOP!!!!!!

If your oscars are mellow enough they might get on with the geos in that big a tank. Or the clown knife may be able to compete for food a bit better now that its bigger.

:lol: Stupid Firefox spell checker, I guess that email that says it doesn't matter which order the middle letters are in as long as the first and last letters are correct you can still read the words is true.

I would like to learn what a "slightery/silthery thing" is.

Which a UV filter will help with by killing the ich when its in the free-swimming stage before it attaches to the fish. With a UV you need to get the right balance between fast enough flow to turn over enough water to make it worth while and slow enough flor (and strong enough light) to maximise the waters exposure to the UV light to kill the spores. I added one when I had a bad lingering whitespot problem and I think it helped. The guy at HFF suggested that I go for a pond one for a pond 10 times bigger than my tank (ie 3000L pond UV steriliser for my 300L tank).

Should get a moray eel if you can't get a shark!!