Brody4

Yeah, I can completely understand that and it could have been just my bad luck, but it was more the fact that he never replied to my e-mail that left me with a bad feeling about it all. Anyway it is all fixed now, fish are happy and so am I.

I had a tank made by Greg also 1800x600x600, had it for two years before I have to have all the silicone replaced - not sure why this would fail, it appeared rotten with large air bubbles forming along the seal and would just peal off in places. E-mailed him to ask his opinion on what might have gone wrong and he never replied. I don't know whether it was down to anything he did or did not do, but I would not buy from him again because of it.

I have a pair of Discus that spawn regularly, they are in a tank by themselves, bare bottom, with one potted sword and a flowerpot for egg laying. No problems with laying or fertilizing and I have witnessed this on several occasions. The problem is, when the eggs are less than half a day away from hatching, they are eaten. The hours prior to this both parents look after them. I shifted the tank to a spare room, incase there was too much activity around them, same thing happened, I have taken the male out and left the female with the eggs, again the same thing occured. Water parameters are perfect for breeding, and there is only a handful of unfertilized eggs with each batch, which are picked off by them early on. The female is between 12-18months,and I have tried changing the male, so one male is 4 years and the other 12 months. This has been happening 3-4 times a month for the last six months. I used to keep the same water changing routine going while the eggs were there, but for the last few months, I stopped all percieved interferance, so the water remained unchanged for the 2-3 days the eggs were there. Still don't even get to the wriggler stage! Any ideas would be appreciated

Thanks for all the advice guys. It sounds like it can be as complicated or as simple as I wish it to be. I will check out the vinyal option, along with the spraycan option (6ft tank) and will go from there. It is just good to know that this has been done before. It does not need to last a lifetime, but does have to look good for a reasonable amount of time. Will pass on the primer etching as this sounds like it marks the glass, therefore limiting my options in the future.

Went into Bunnings to buy some black paint to paint the back of my tank. This would seem to be a reasonably easy request.....apparently not! They could not sell me anything as they could only recommend a primer first followed by a coat of black paint. The primer is designed to etch into the glass to allow the paint to adhere - the primer was grey, so in fact that is what you would see. Surely there must be something available, as so many tanks are just painted. Any ideas anyone??

Hey Hoody, That would be cool, if you dont mind asking your friend. As it would be good to have someone who knows about fish and may have some design ideas. Especially when it comes to making the hood ie: easy access for feeding, simple maintenance as well as considering how the lighting would be mounted etc.

Hi, yes you are right it's 600 high. I have had no experience with cannister filters at all, I've read mixed reviews when it comes to comparing different brands, and certainly the skys the limit when it comes to pricing, but what I have noticed is that everyone who owns a FX5 is impressed, so I will certainly keep that in mind once the stand is sorted. (that's my newly adopted "one thing at a time" philosophy). Although it would be nice just to have the one filter to contend with....ahh.. the plumbing!

Thanks for that, I have PM him, but have not had a reply, so that may be the reason and fair enough. Thanks everyone for the warm welcome, I have been a silent peruser of the board and only recently getting up the courage to join! This will be my third and final tank and it will be a discus display tank, and I am really looking forward to getting stuck in, but all in good time, I keep telling myself as I want it done properly, but I do tend to have a "I want it NOW" personality. The next item on the agenda after the Stand, will be filteration, so I will have some homework to do there. Any suggestions, feel free to advise!

Thanks for that. Will do....all new to this PM thing, but how hard can it be!

Hi there, Just wanting a recommendation or a point in the right direction. I have purchased a tank, 1825x600 and will need to at some stage have a cabinet and hood made. Can anyone recommend someone, preferably in the Waikato Region, Cabinet Maker or Handyman, who knows what they are doing and prehaps has already built one in the past. It is exciting as it has taken many years to build up to my Ultimate Tank, so I am really looking for a professional job. Thanking you in advance!