David R

Flow should be anywhere from 3x to 10x the volume depending on stocking levels. Syno's, pictus, or large CL's would be good scavengers, altho the loaches would need to be big to avoid being eaten by the oscars. Its going to look empty with jus tthe oscars and gourami, maybe think about adding some other semi-aggressive cichlids, or a school of silver dollars.

They don't need different water, they just (maybe) do better in different water. In all honesty I've seen perfectly looking africans kept in water just above 7, and sevrums are pretty tough and could probably handle it fine. You could run into aggression problems tho...

They can get up to 30cm long, and quite tall so I'm gonna say no.

Not recent ones, and none of the little guys. Should try to get some actually.

yup, growing a group of them out to keep with him.

I'm starting to sound like a stuck record here, but get some shrimp!!! Maybe something different will encourage them to eat??

Hmm glass + boiling water isnt always a good mix.... In all honesty, unless you're having problems in the tank the heater has come from then I wouldn't worry.

Go to an asian supermarket and get a big bag of frozen broken prawn. They love that stuff, I don't think any CL could resist it. 1kg shouldn't cost much more than a pack of bloodworms too!

My tiny dat who's been hiding behind the filter intake looking scared for days just came charging out thismorning and grabbed a hikari sinking carnivore pellet! He could barely swallow it, and swam around proudly with it hanging out of his mouth for a while before managing to get it down. Needless to say I'm stoked, and will be stopping the meaty foods for a few days to see if the others catch on.

As above, shrimp and beef heart are good staples, and can be bought cheap at asian supermarkets. Try to avoid the feeders except for a [very] occasional treat. Fasting him may help get him back on the pellets. As for the RD, how big is your tank?? It will work if there's room for them both to have their territories, but would be better in a big tank when you can have several larger cichlids, rather than just two. You may end up with one dominant one picking on the other constantly. Maybe add a few male [no females!] convicts to act as dithers.

I have losing CL's, not sure why but it always makes me feel bad. I lost three around 10-12cm a few months ago from a massive whitespot outbreak. Their replacements are bulking up nicely tho, and growing quite fast for loaches.

I've never found that problem with any of the large groups of loaches I've kept. I'd say if thats happening you need to chuck more food in!!! :lol:

I think it'll be alright anyway. I had a 5'x2'x2' running in line with the joists. It was only over two 6x2 jousts, and about 6" from an exterior wall. How thick is the ply you're getting?

Are you planning on smuggling in some arapima?? :lol:

Water seems good, are there plenty of hiding places? Anything could that be picking on them? Forget the packet food if you want to bulk them up, my four smaller ones have been on a diet of chopped shrimp, discus tucker [has garlic to help with parasites], beefheart etc for a few months now and they're really bulking up.

D.I.Y!! What are the other dimensions?? Big steel frame with glsas or perspex pannels (or marine ply at the back) perhaps?

Thats what I decided, always over-engineer! Barrie it's not quite so urgent now, but I might take you up on the offer of the glass soon as I may be turning the tank into a sump for my 6' tank thats in the pipeline. Thanks

I wouldn't count on it, treating it will do nothing to prevent it expanding and contracting as it gets wet. I used to work at carters at even the 21mm H3 ply [the thickest grade we stocked] was often warped out of the pack. The best thing to do would be to seal it and paint it to stop moisture getting in. It will still flex, just a whole lot less. I'm still sceptical about just how much of the weight it will transfer to the outside two joists, and how that will change over time, but I guess without setting up a big experiment with scales under each joist to measure the load we'll never really know.

If you got a piece of 21mm ply, or 25mm mdf [AFAIK they're the thickest commonly available] and supported it at each end, then put a 500kg weight in the middle of it how much would it bend? Even if the weight was only a couple of cm's either side of the supports, I think it would flex quite a bit. Even thick ply can warp when it gets wet and drys again, so I don't think that will work, and I don't think MDF has much more rigidity (I've seen how much a 3.6M piece of 18mm MDF will flex just under its own weight when supported only at the ends.). I think if you really want to distribute the weight over more joists you should make the stand longer so it sits over four joists rather than two. Could you move it across either way so it is sitting on 3 joists?

Look at it this way; if you chopped off your arm, then mated successfully with a woman who had also chopped off her arm would your fry be missing an arm? :lol:

Is there any proof that it will make a useful difference? I find it hard to believe that even a thick piece of ply or customwood has enough rigidity to do much to help distribute the weights of the tank. Remember we are talking about a weight of around 4-500kg vs a piece of 21mm [at the most] ply or customwood. I think its more of a psychological thing to make us feel better. I had a 5'x2'x2' tank on a wooden floor, running in line with the joists, about a foot out from an exterior wall. The piles were quite tall and I was able to keep a close eye on the joists, and noticed no signs of stress or problems in the 2 years + the tank was set up.

6mm glass? Does it have any bracing other than at the ends?

Awesome!! What kind of pellets, and how big is the dat?? I'm buying a few more this weekend [hopefully!], I've got two small ones together and I think they need some friends so they can sort out a proper pecking order.

Prefer being the operative word. In reality, if you have water somewhere between 15-30C you can keep (and probably breed) convicts. :lol: I'd suggest keeping only one sex though, otherwise they'll have a go at everything else in the tank.

I've got an old 3'x15x15" tank, made from 6mm glass. When I bought it (second hand) it didn't have a brace in the center and the people I got it from had been using it like that for some time. I added one in, better safe than sorry etc. The tank hasn't been used for a while, and the brace got broken when we moved house. I need to set the tank up again, so I'm wondering if its safe to use with no center brace?? The end braces are 10cm long, leaving a gap of 70cm in between. Should I risk it, or go get a piece of glass for a new brace?