David R

You probably should have considered the filtration options before having the tank made, I'm guessing its not drilled?

Agreed, either go for a sump or off-the-shelf canisters. BTW how come the tank is so tall and narrow? Those fish would all prefer a bigger footprint rather than a tall tank.

I just googled them and found their website; http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~gasayers/highbrook/ Looks like you're supposed to be there at least as a guest of a paid member, but quite often there is no one there.

At Highbrook Park there is an airstrip and a club dedicated to flying them, I often see guys there when I am walking the dogs. Click here for a map, you can see the brown airstrip mown into the grass on the little peninsula bit by the estuary towards the bottom left of the picture. You get there by going to the end of El Kobar Drive and turning right, and driving to the end of the road.

Article in the recent PFK mag about celebrities spending tens (or hundreds) of thousands on massive aquariums would say no....

Looks good, got all the gaps covered to keep the eel and bichirs in??

I used to throw them into the garden years ago when I lived at home, until the cat brought one inside... I either bury my larger fish, or throw them in the rubbish bin. Buried my 45cm fire eel when it did the mystery death thing, just needed a long narrow trench...

Yeah I think they will be too small. This weekend I tried washing my filter socks in the washing machine as suggested by the guy from Napier Aquarium (no powder obviously, and gave them a rinse outside first) and they seem to have come out much cleaner. Maybe doing this will increase the frequency between changes? I think the coffee filters would be too restrictive for anything but a tiny tank, although they would be good to collect the very fine particles. I'm currently running 100 micron socks, if I had a better pre-filter I would consider running 50 micron or even 25. But back on topic, Yes your timber floor will require some serious reinforcing for a tank of that size, even the tank itself will weigh 200kg+. Concrete slab would be the best option by far, but certainly not impossible to do with a timber floor. I'd seriously consider lifting the ply flooring (if possible) to make it easier to beef up the bearers and add more piles if necessary.

At the start of the first video I thought it was going to be like one of Mel O's videos with the running commentary (look up 'guapotemel' or 'dovii gone wild' on youtube), should have kept it going!!

Would be a great tank for a comm of L114s!! As I said, do plenty of research and planning, if you're just going to have a sump for filtration its going to have to handle a fair bit of turn over. My two drains are only just keeping up with the flow from the Laguna 7500 pump, but there isn't much of a vertical drop because of the height of the tank either. Seriously consider an automatic water change system, in fact its a must-have with a tank this size. I still haven't got mine sorted, I think about it every week when I'm doing a 450L water change, there's plenty of time to think when you have to drain that much water! If I were doing it again I would also include several stages of mechanical filtration, first a settling chamber, followed by something with a couple of layers of filter wool that can easily be changed and thrown away, then the filter socks to polish the water. As it is now I have to change the socks every 3-4 days, even with the FX5 running on the tank.

Will be ok for the XB for a while though...

1. Yep, I've posted it many times, or check one of the build threads I made on MFK for pictures of it. Or come around and see it for yourself. 2. Depends on the number of each you're having. And for the :sage: part... You said you're 17 and in your last year of school. What are you doing next year? How much longer are you planning on living at home for? A tank of that size isn't an easy thing to move, especially with all the fish in it. Finding a house somewhere to put it is also difficult. I had a 5x2x2' in my bedroom while I lived at home, but sold it (and all the big fish) and downgraded to a single three foot tank for several years while I went flatting. If you do decide to go for it I have two pieces of advice; read lots, and plan lots....

Possibly, but a drip tray does nearly as good a job. If I was building a bio-tower I'd try rig one up, its a shame the TMC ones would be so expensive by the time they're shipped here, they're on par with Ultimas IMO for mega-tank filtration: http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/commercial/bio-tower.asp

My answer is that they just work, and thats all I need to know.... :lol:

I've often wondered similar things, never been able to answer them but still swear by the system! Having an even distribution over the media is important, thats why the really expensive biotowers (like the TMC ones used at the napier aquarium) have a rotating spray bar set up...

The royal looks really good, glad you managed to keep him secret for so long!! :sml1:

So how big is it? Most of the "sand sifting" species we get here grow to 8-12", so with the fish you already have you're going to want a good sized tank if you plan on adding more. I wouldn't recommend keeping an eartheater to keep your sand stirred though. If you are interested in keeping them for their behaviour and are willing to provide the right kind of food, environment etc to house them then go for it, but keeping any fish simply for housekeeping purposes is never a good idea.

16"+ IMO. And would probably be best to get the aro established in the tank first.

He's not getting the tank until Sunday, so you'll have to be patient!! 8)

Thats pretty cheap!! I'm always a bit concerned with buying stuff like that from overseas because of the potential problems dealing with warranty issues. Have you ever had to return anything?

If you're worried about the sand developing dead spots then thin it down as much as you can, and get one of these for stirring it during cleaning; http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/detail/view/magical-cleaning-rod-long/m/937/ I have 10 big altifrons in my 1400L and still stir the sand weekly. Still haven't figured out how to activate the "magical" part though... :facepalm:

Are they the ones at Animates Botany? I saw them the other day, probably the best looking fire eels I've seen imported in years, fat, healthy, colourful and a good size too.

You have a computer in bed?!

I have three in my big tank, they're probably the most outgoing and active of all the plecs in the tank. Not fussed about current, just give them good clean water, not too hard, and a good variety of food. Not exactly fast growing, and there is a bit of aggression between the three of them.

How big is your tank?