David R

Not sure, I had to order the 1.5" adapter in, HFF asked but the rep couldn't find one. They're available on amazon.com but because of the small size and price you have to buy something else to make it shippable. I took that as a good excuse to buy a book or two!

The 'Maximum Flow' figure is with zero head. Based on this chart you'd be looking at about 5-5500LPH at 5' head, depending on the return plumbing of course. IMO that is sufficient for your tank size, and I'd say go with at least 32mm pipe for the return.

IMO it really is just guess work! Take the figure that the manufacturer quotes at the vertical height of your tank, deduct a bit based on the size and complexity of your return plumbing, then round it down a little to allow for a bit of a "fudge factor". There are figures out there that can be used to calculate the friction loss from piping and elbows etc, but the required turn over isn't an exact science so I think you'd be right with the PJ2000. Is that 7600LPH at zero head, or 5'?

Is that the right figure for the PJ2000? I think you'd want to shoot for at least 4-5 times turn over after the head loss etc, maybe more if you're planning on heavily stocking it.

You can't "see" nitrate though, not cleaning canisters regularly is a disaster waiting to happen and won't be doing the nitrate levels any favours. Frequent removal of physical waste from the water column is the best way to keep your water clean, biological filtration is really just bridging the gap between water changes.

You're going to love it when those pothos get going, 40ppm should be a thing of the past!

Find a local engineering/fabrication shop, they should be able to bend/weld you up something like this that can attach to your stand to suspend the lights from.

I think the definition of "plenty" depends mainly on the level of nitrate you're willing to subject your fish to. What are your nitrates before a water change smidey, cam, Amelia? Obviously there is more to it than just nitrate though, I'm sure there are other things that we don't/can't test for that need to be removed by water changes. However, IMHO changing more than 30-40% of the tank water at a time should never be necessary (except for emergency situations) and I'd much rather do more frequent smaller changes to create a more stable environment in terms of temp, hardness, TDS, conductivity etc etc. The question of how much is actually necessary still doesn't really have a solid answer, other than doing enough to keep your nitrate levels low. I know most people err on the side of too much than not enough, but being reliant on rain water I've recently had to change my mantra and instead ask just how little I can get away with changing without affecting the health of my fish. So far, with the light stock and pothos reducing the nitrates, I haven't done more than about a 15% change on the 2000L, and usually it is around 10-12% weekly. I've never seen the nitrates above 10ppm, and a that was after a week of heavy feeding and not siphoning the settling chamber in the filter for nearly a month. Obviously this will change as the fish grow and I add a few more, but for convenience sake I think I'll do more frequent rather than larger changes. For me, a 50% change would take me close to an hour to refill with the garden hose! Not to mention causing other issues like halving the hardness of the water and consuming a fairly large amount of power to heat.

Good to know, but forking out for a school of pink tails before the holiday isn't going to happen.

You don't need to let it sit at all if you add water conditioner to the aquarium as-per the instructions first. As long as you're happy with the temperature drop with the tap water then go for it!

I love it how the fronts make the plecos look active!!

Your best bet is to use a product like Seachem Prime to remove the chlorine/chloramines (the latter of which won't "gas off"). You can either add it to your tap water before adding to the tank, in which case you dose for the volume of the water being added, or dose for the entire volume of the tank and add the tap water directly. 5ml treats 200L so it is pretty cost-effective. As for the best way to change the water, it really depends on the type of cichlids you're keeping. With more sensitive types like discus you'd be better off pre-treating and warming the water, other hardier types like Central Americans or Africans you may be able to get away with adding the water straight out of the tap, provided you aren't changing too much at once.

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with how it has turned out, there's still a couple of things I'd like to do but they'll have to wait as my sister is getting married in the US in March. I'm thinking of adding a small group of Uaru, and I'd love to add a group of something mid-swimming, schooling, South American and large enough to not get chomped. The only thing I can think of is pink tailed Chalceus, which seem to be hard to find at the moment.

FX5 is good bang-for-buck, especially if you can find one for a good price second hand.

Thought I'd make a separate thread for these pics, seems how the discussion on the tank has rambled on for 17 pages... I added a couple of big pieces to the pile on the left of the tank today and rearranged it. The intention is to have it looking like a natural 'snag' you'd find in a river, and to provide plenty of cover for the catfish. FTS: The star of the tank, Osteoglossum ferrari ~ 14-15" Some of the six Geophagus altifrons L190 Panaque nigrolineatus Another L190, quite a different "look" with much finer and more regular stripes Three of the four L190 lined up under the stump L81 Baryancistrus Sp. L14 Scobinancistrus aureatus, taken earlier in the day on my cellphone (the three of them are the most shy of all the plecs in the tank).

Hah, yeah the beard is coming along nicely. The money I have saved on razors has gone a long way towards funding this project...

I did a bit of a re-arrange of the wood pile on the left side of the tank this morning, as the other wood I had been soaking finally sunk. I only added two pieces but they were both fairly large and it allowed me to pile it up a bit higher. 700mm is plenty deep enough, reaching the old wood was a struggle! The finished pile, just a lousy snap with my phone, I'll take some better pics tonight. After removing the old pile of wood I was able to get a good look at the L14 goldys for the first time since adding them to the tank. Despite never seeing them out to feed they look fat and healthy, good colours and seem to have grown a little. I'm going to stop feeding the plecs at night and instead try feeding them first thing in the morning before the tank lights come on, there is enough ambient light in the room to see the fish without it being too bright. A couple of the royals usually come out for the morning feed anyway, so hopefully the others will follow suit if I stop feeding them at night.

It does raise the issue of our restrictive import laws. When new species become popular aquarium pets overseas if they aren't allowed in here then there is going to be an increased likelihood of smuggling, which could have far worse consequences for the environment if potential pest species are also smuggled in.

:thup:

I've used one of these and found it to be pretty good for the price, seems accurate enough, and I used it for ~12 months with no issues; http://www.fish-street.com/aquarium_atc ... gory_id=60 Only downside is they are only good for 1000W, on the big tank I'm running a custom one made by a friends father who is an electrical engineer. I know of several people running these from Jehmco and they seem to be highly recommended; http://www.jehmco.com/html/temperature_controller.html Can't comment on the one from Kens sorry, but if you're running more than one heater then I'd highly recommend a controller.

Hmm, they have rays and a bunch of other cool stuff in aussie, $2k isn't too bad, might be worth a crack? Then again, the consequenses of a stingray down the trousers could be far worse!! :sml1: wonder is this will get me on the GCSB's watch list...

Good suggestion, if you can find a second hand fx5 for a good price it would be hard to beat bang-for-buck.

Can't beat Eheim IMO, fairly well priced here; www.aquaristikshop.com

I never noticed much of a chlorine smell with my Auckland tap water, but I understand the levels can fluctuate greatly depending on the quality of the incoming water. I also believe the effects of chlorine on fish aren't always as obvious as straight out death (as with heavy doses of chlorine), it might seem like they're "ok" using water straight out of the tap but who knows what it is doing to the sensitive gill tissue and the long-term effects on their health. I always used Prime with my water changes in Auckland, better safe than sorry.

From the link about four posts above mine; All this makes me glad I'm on rainwater supply...