David R

http://www.designsbynature.net/

where are the pics!!!

DIY LED all the way if you're prepared to do the research and work...

Using brand new glass vs offcuts will have a drastic effect on price. $1600 for a tank that size with newc12mm doesn't sound far fetched, but there is no reason suitable sized offcuts couldn't be sourced for a lot less.

Royals are cool, very messy with the rasping on the driftwood though. Look good when they get massive too. I'd say you could probably keep a couple in a tank that size if you can't make up your mind, no reason why you couldn't have a royal, gold nugget and blue phantom, why limit yourself to just one!! Just don't get one expecting it to be a "clean up" sort of fish, plecs should be kept because they make interesting additions to an aquarium and fed and accommodated accordingly. Don't expect them to do well scrounging for scraps...

+1 for getting something a bit nicer than a green. I loved my green, but in hindsight a few more $$ at the time of purchase spread over the life of the fish is insignificant. I think if I had got a RTG instead of a green I would still have it.

Good luck Thomas! I'd never even heard of a "bean animal" when I had that tank made, hindsight is a wonderful thing...

one drain = one bulkhead and one pipe, it's that simple. You could possibly put a durso on it to try make it quieter, or just see how it goes first. Hopefully your pump isn't too strong for the size of the drain, only one way to find out htough...

Sick eh.

Hope you're going to sort the polystyrene out!!! :lol:

:cophot: the L114 with the full red tail is awesome!!

Choice, I really hope people are able to breed them here! Will try call in next time I'm in town.

You can work out the amount of K1 you need based on the calculations they use for aquaculture, how big your fish are and how much you feed. This guy explains how (as well as building an awesome K1 filter in a barrel, which Henward won't like cos you can't see the media moving! )in this video: http://youtu.be/FwandSa_Hrg

:iag: Awesome looking fish, interesting Ron says they are easier than domestic varieties, I've read they are very sensitive to poor water and hard water too. Are you using RO?

Is there any water flowing thru all those noodles? Kinda looks like its all going over the top... K1 looks cool tho!

I've heard of an Eheim on a display tank in a popular Auckland LFS doing nearly double that without so much as a clean!

Having seen Henwards old tank running, I think by "waterfall" he means the water cascading over the overflow (literally like a waterfall) rather than noisy drains. I think you just need to make sure the overflow is wide enough for the amount of water going over it, only other thing I can think of is to make the drains at the top so it doesn't have as far to fall.

Have you measured the flow of the pump, or relying on the manufacturers graph? TBH those figures on MFK did seem a little low, but I'm not going to try re-check his math. I'm going 2x 50mm on mine (2000L), one running full siphon (with a ball valve to adjust it) and the other taking the excess. Having redundancy is a good thing when it comes to overflow drains...

Go with plastic mesh siliconed in place. Here's the thread about pipe sizes I was talking about earlier, a 25mm drain should only flow 600gph, probably want more than that for your big tank. Also look at the friction head loss figures, 1" plumbing for the return will add twice as much friction head as 2" plumbing. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forum ... Flow-Rates

Big heaters are ugly unless you have a sump to hide them in...

Both average cheapo brands AFAIK. Power consumption should be an important consideration when purchasing a pump, look at more than just LPH and price, you may find a more expensive one would pay for itself in a year or two with the savings.

1. I'd go for a sump, especially if you're willing to do a little research into the various aspects of how/why they work and design something that is going to best suit your space an application. With your planned stock you'll need good mechanical and plenty of bio filtration, so a sump seems ideal. If you're going to future-proof it even better, big is good... 2. Stocking sounds ok, I've kept black aros with peaceful SA cichlids and aggressive CA cichlids, and as long as the aro is big enough it will work fine as the cichlids are usually far more concerned about each other than the arowana. If you go for the CA cichlids, I'd suggest waiting until the aro is at least a foot long then add the cichlids when they're big enough to not be aggressive but small enough to not be a threat. I'm not sure if I'd mix an uaru with the other cichlids you suggested, they can possibly hold their own but if one of the other brutes takes a dislike to it things could get nasty. The uaru has a mouth made for eating plants and wood, where as the likes of a big jag has a mouth made for lip locking and eating fish, not to mention clearly visible teeth. Midas/red devil [and in reality most likely a hybrid of both] are around at the moment, a single one would work well with the jag/oscar/JD combo, but again might end up being a bit strong/nasty for the uaru. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I saw this thread a couple of times while browsing on my phone and decided to wait til I got home to write a decent reply, then forgot.... :facepalm:

L240?

Good point, and on a similar note are we hating on black swans specifically or just swans in general? IME the white ones can be just as nasty, but it's usually the black ones I hear people moaning about... :digH:

Hope you're not going to hide too much of is!! I guess that means you've moved the uaru on?