David R

That would work, but if you're changing a large portion of the water, disturbing gravel etc it would be better if you could put the canister on there all ready established.

He's already got the tank and plumbing etc. I don't think he needs sand or rocks, they will just make the tank harder to clean and reduce the swimming space (I guess it depends on the species), and lights aren't really important/necessary. But yeah, what species are you thinking of Bjorn? Perhaps you should upgrade to a circular plastic tank/paddling pool! :lol:

I'd suggest getting the canister a few weeks in advance so it can establish before you do the big remake as you're likely to lose a lot of bacteria.

Grr don't get me started on that!! All this hype and hysteria about noisy exhausts, but the government is too scared to introduce compulsory catylict converters and emissions tests as part of a WOF despite more people dieing from repository diseases from bad air than the entire road toll!! :evil:

Here ya go, its a temporary home for my two ornates that are off to Hamilton this weekend, so there's no media or pumps so I used my fantastic MSpaint skills to draw a diagram of how it will look once set up. HTH!

In the new sump I've got for my 160g I'm having both. I'll put up a pic tonight when I get home. More = better.

Its not lame, its the main point!! The government is being very selective with its social engineering. There is a large group of people with an anti-smoking sentiment, so the government trys to make it look like they're trying to stop people by not having cigarettes on display, graphic pictures on the box, strict limits on advertising, higher prices/more tax etc. Really, they don't want anyone to give up smoking because the amount of revenue it brings in is HUGE! Now compare this with alcohol. The anti-alcohol brigade is a very small minority, and the majority of kiwi's have some sort of drinking culture, from a single beer after work on Friday to those who's lives revolve around getting plastered several times a week. Aside from the anti-drink driving campaign, the government does very little to discourage this, there are a few ad's on tv, but in comparison to smoking/cigarettes there is few restrictions on how you are allowed to sell and promote alcohol. Which is worse is a whole other debate, but really, why should one 'social evil' be so heavily restricted when the other is free to do as it pleases?

Well they're not illegal are they? Why shouldn't they be displayed? People should be able to make up their minds based on fact and the propaganda the government force upon us, retailers shouldn't have to hide them away. Retailers are allowed to display and promote alcohol and I'd say that causes just as much harm (if not more) than smoking.

You might want to try Greg/Tanks2U. [email protected] Makes awesome tanks, fast and very well priced. He's in Auckland but I'd guess he knows a thing or two about shipping them. BTW the first post was just pointing out the fact that people have different ideas of 'big'. On trademe it is just about anything, but at monsterfishkeepers.com its not really a big tank until you can swim in it.

If you have problems with amonia levels after changing the filter wool then you must not have enough bio filtration. Yes there wil be bacteria on the filter wool, but there should be enough on the bio media that throwing away the filter wool doesn't matter. I rinse mine under the tap every time I do a water change (every 4-5 days ATM) and throw it away after a week or two.

How big is big? Try searching for "big tank" on trademe, there's a few for sale now. or big enough?

Been reading the Salt Water Sharks and Rays forum at MFK too much eh! It would be cool to see, but from what I've read most species grow fast and need perfect water.

Thats some messed up logic right there! I can't understand how having a pet of a particular species would affect your feelings about eating that meat, unless you are talking about eating your actual pets!! As kids we had pet lambs, yet mum would still cook a sunday roast, quite often of lamb. I've eaten horse before (not that I'd ever own one of those stinky things!!) and I wouldn't mind trying dog or cat. But anyway, yeah I eat fish, and owning fish isn't going to change that. How ever, I don't think I could gut and fillet my big dat, or do my large ornate with butter and lemon in tinfoil. :lol:

Good. I can't stand these "new" names (that are really just mis-spellings of old names), its like parents are having a secret contest to give their child the most stupid name possible. My mum works in education [won't saw where ] and I helped her sort out a big box of name tags from kids that had visited her work. I ended up with three equal piles; boy, girl, and unknown!

Looks nice, but it wouldn't have a concrete floor. :lol:

Don't worry, that was about three years ago, I got bored with the africans and haven't kept them for years. :lol: That said, I never had any problems with them, and they always appeared happy and healthy.

Most people in the 'post your pic' thread look pretty "normal", there might be a few closet wargaming-type-geeks tho.

I never had a problem doing 50% changes from the tap in hamilton (even in winter) on my old tanganyikan tank with leilupi's, A. ccompressorceps, brichardi, duboisi etc.

They sound exactly the same as bunnungs $7.95 ones, probably came outof the same factory in china/taiwan/khazkstan.

I've been monitoring this lately, and the water is coming out of my hose at around 21-23C in Auckland, so if the tank is at 26-27C and I replace 50% of the water with 22C water the temp doesnt drop below 24-25C. I'm sure fish can handle fluctuations like that, otherwise they'd never survive in the wild.

Its funny how people here are so pedantic about keeping them in hard water biotope type tanks (probably just because they're new/rare etc), yet on MFK people keep them with all sorts of other fish in "normal" water and have them thriving. Good on you for keeping them in the 'correct' conditions, but really, they're not going to drop dead instantly if the pH drops below 8.... :lol:

Hmm interesting idea. I had kinda thought about it, but don't want the fish to get used to not having the lights on as it might make them less comfortable/more shy when the lights are on. Saber what kind of fish do you have? Most healthy fish will be fine for a week without food.

They eat anyy smaller fish that will fit in their deceptively large mouths, but thats about it. Get quite big too, up to 18" I think.

You only need to get the water flowing over the edge of the tank, then let gravity do the rest. You don't need top suck it all the way to the end of the hose. I always strategicly place my larege tanks close to a window or door so I can run a hose outside for water changes. Buckets are for suckers! or for tanks under 200L anyway :lol:

How big was it?? Take a pic and post it here. RIP CK.