phoenix44

you just reminded me of what I need. Crushed coral. Thanks! lol... :bounce: If your water is buffered well, and it seems it is... I'd probably leave it. but if you want it higher, more limestone may help. I will be putting crushed coral, and marine substrate in my externals so the pH of the water rises gradually.

Yes... same place. Nice lady - she gave me good discounts. I definitely recommend the schist from there, lol.

I had 6 lumpies survive, and then last night - i stirred up the tank once all the plants were out, and then against my better judgement - i didnt do a water change. ammonia spiked and all the babies died, as did the big one and my kribs

I had an accident with the lumpies too. PS- Ive left you a PM on fishkeepers.

lol. thank you. I don't think so.. guess I'll have to find out. :lol:

And the after shots. Please excuse the murky water - the filters will have that sorted in no time. Lots of hiding places.

Finally the time has come for me to make the change from S.American fish to Africans (again :roll:) I used to have rams, apistos, clown loaches (still do), a convict, and heaps of other S.American cichlids, and most of them have gone now. All that and a cazillion plants. The plants have sold, been donated, given away to those who helped me get plants that i needed in the past etc... and are some are even in friends tanks cause I just can't get rid of all my plants. The new tank shall have only demasonis (about 25) and electric yellows, and a feather fin syno who is awesome and has asked to stay cause he promises not to eat any other fish after he ate 100+ steel blue babies :lol: . The Tank measures 4ft long x 15" deep and about 1.5ft high. It has T5 HO lighting @ 18000K, and now also has a marine blue, and a 6500K T8. Here are pics of the tank in one of its many phases before the conversion: ______________ The process to change over has not been one I took lightly. I thought about it for months, deliberated and fought with my self and finally convinced my self that it made more sense :oops: :lol: I first sold as many fish as I could (and wanted to), and sold more than 10-12 kilos of sagittaria subulata! Then once there was just the heap (30kg) of gravel left - I gravel vacuumed it for the first time in over a year, and then proceeded to take out the driftwood (6 pieces), the remaining plants and then the gravel - which was a bit of a mission, as i had to use fish nets . Then once all the hiding spots were gone, i had my poly box full of tank water, and i caught my fish and chucked them in that. Drained the water from the tank, cleaned it, Refilled it; took the 2 cannister filters out, cleaned them (remember not to clean the media) and then put them back on the tank. I had collected some schist from an awesome landscaping place in palmy The 5 huge pieces of schist were sold at $128/m^2 - it worked out to $56 - but the kind lady gave it to me for $40. Then the little pieces used as the rockwork cost $0.80/kg. The first batch I got was about 12 kg but again the nice lady happily charged me only $9.80. Total spend that shop was $49.80 - bargain. Then of course I needed more rock, so i went back and got 22kg more - in the cold, wet, rain, and with an unobliging bird on my shoulder! He charged me $20 for the lot. great deal again. TOTAL Spend $69.80 on rockwork (south island schist). Now the landscaping is complete! I am just looking forward to getting the fish. The plan is for ~25 Demasonis (I even bought some more spirulina flakes) and maybe a dozen or more electric yellows. I am shopping around for prices, but one place looks promising. Pics after the conversion follow soon once I have something to eat. :bounce: If there is something I may have missed out on please let me know and I can type it up.

what you have are mini planets, not fish! :lol: :lol: :lol: :bounce:

DIY for what exactly. stands, tanks, filters, rubber hand blow up gloves. ..

5% formalin. 5 mL to 10L n=cv, lol.. im not doing the math. ha ha. we dont pour it over our selves, lol.. I dont like it much either :lol: lots of fish keepers use formalin for different things. I don't use it at home.

hello and welcome :bounce: I love your avatar :bounce: :bounce:

yes that's them. but their flow rate is wrong :lol: 1300LPH. also from HFF: http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/product_detail.php?id=413

blue acaras get too big for that tank. jewels aren't that bad. but its a relative term :lol: . it won't stay 2" for long, and it could turn to custard.

when they call next time do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5z4Vs26-TI

I would get rid of the jewel - and keep the firemouth and T bar. T bar may get bullied though.

what ever route you choose to go down; please buy a quality heater even if it costs more initially. look around on trade me, there are some bargains on there sometimes. also some stores have huge specials - so keep a look out for them too. good way to save is by getting gravel from a landscaping place, or secondhand off trademe. I'd do a tally of what my tank has cost me but the cost would be astronomical even thought most components were purchased at cost.

and my 405's are positioned as such: 1 filters intake is toward the center bottom of the tank, and its output is to the left hand side of the tank, and it throws water from the LHS to the RHS across the rear wall. Filter 2's intake is on the LHS side wall and its out pipe is on the extreme RHS, top corner of the tank, and it just pumps the water back into the tank. the out pipe is about an inch under the water. Hope that makes sense. The Fluval 405 is rated for 400L tanks. that is about 1300 LPH. that's what my box says.

the websites must be broken :lol: they do like chasing stuff. especially their own kind when they are older, and its only the odd few that don't.

you buy the imported fish off shops or those that sell on TM or here. some people import fish, but you need licenses, money, and an uncanny knack for dealing with bureaucracy etc. it is an expensive process, but economies of scale exist, so the more you import and sell the cheaper are the costs associated with the sale of each fish.

I think we need better fish. higher quality and more diverse. :bounce: not everyone is willing to pay though, so the signals sent to the wholesalers are that its better to import cheaper fish... sad aye..

I think he worships them. :bounce: :lol:

an inch? that is precious swimming space! :lol: if it has lids that are made to cover the tank properly the fish normally cant jump out. suppose it depends on how the tank is built too. PS Morcs- you now need a hood, lol.

D/t's are much much cheaper. lol.

many thanks oh one with the pokey stick :lol: . My eyes thank you. JarrenB - I think you will need a larger light with a higher output. getting the right spectrum tube with that fitting is tricky - but if there is a knowledgeable person in your lfs, they may be able to help you find the right one. try getting one that is the same length as your tank.

hi pete, I too have 2 405's on my 4ft 200L tank and they work a charm! :bounce: the water inlets are in different places, as are the outlets. one outlet just enters the water from the RHS of the tank at the back, and the other is attached to the out-flow pipe attachment thing that creates a lot of water current. HTH. (the filters will work well either way, as you are turning over more than enough water_)