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lmsmith

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Everything posted by lmsmith

  1. We are trying to give you advice based on the information you give us. The quality of our advice is directly related to the quality of the information we get. I agree with Mel, a 1200lph filter is a waste of time for you. It's too much for the tank, and filtration doesn't always fix ammonia problems, you need to take out the source of the ammonia too. Imagine being in a sealed toilet and someone farts in there. Having a fan isn't going to help, you need to open the window. Same goes with the fish tank. Because you've been cleaning the filter material, the filter isn't processing the ammonia, it's just pushing water around. If you leave the filter for a bit to cycle properly, cut down on feeding and increase your water changes until the filter is working, the problem will go away. To stop the filter from clogging up, do what Stella suggested, it works great.
  2. The tank gets mucky because you're feeding too much and there are too many fish in the tank. You need to really cut down on the feeding to once a day, and miss 2 days a week. Because you have so many fish in there, you should be doing lots of water changes to keep the water clean. I'd do 50% 2 or 3 times a week. You're doing 20% once a week now. Hopefully changing how much and how often you feed and cleaning more often will keep all the levels fine.
  3. Yeah but if I get them directly from a breeder, I get their help too. They can probably show me the parents and give specific help if I need it.
  4. Thats a bit far away for me, but I probably wont be getting it for a few months anyway so I might be able to make the trip wherever I need to to get one. Although, there are a few people on here I think I'd like to talk to about them because they look like theirs are much more colorful and healthy looking than the ones I've seen in the shops.
  5. You've probably got at least 2 males then. Be really careful about them puffing up, they often can't unpuff and the can't swim below the surface and starve. You can sometimes manually unpuff them but it's stressful for them and doesn't always work. Make sure you have broken lines of sight like plants or rocks so they can hang out alone and it keeps the aggression down.
  6. What would you suggest as a cheap and good media?
  7. Thanks for the tip, maybe you could upload some pics of the tank (unless there's already some on here you could point me to?) 4ft would be ideal, I think 3 ft is a bit small.
  8. Actually did I just have a totally dumb moment? Cork will rot right? :oops: :oops:
  9. I've been doing some googles and I can't find whether or not cork would be a good material for filters? It seems ideal, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that it was toxic? In saying that, we use it in wine bottles. Any ideas of whether or not cork would be ok?
  10. Wow, that'd be so awesome! I'm in welly.
  11. Thanks guys. So Rockwork, you got the runners for the glass doors from a hardware store - can you buy the glass and tracks together anywhere, or do you have to get them made?
  12. I was a bit worried about using MDF because it can go yuck getting wet and I'll want to wipe it down. Although, I just thought that I could paint it (duh!), so I think timber costs could be bought right down to about $20 or even less because the BF works at bunnings.
  13. I'm saving right now to get a BD. I don't have a job, so I imagine that it will take me a while to get the money together, but I figure I need about $500-$600 for the dragon, and $500 for the enclosure. I've been looking round on the forums and have searched lots of other reptile forums, and most places seem to think you can make setups for about $300. I'm not sure if that includes lights, and I have no idea how much they cost. I was thinking of building a setup on top of a coffee table. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Lounge-dining-hall/Tables/Coffee-tables/auction-194203995.htm So, I'd get something like this which would act as the base, then build sides up from that and a mesh roof. Then get tracks and sliders from wherever you get them from, tile the floor and fit lights etc. Think it'd work? That table looks to be a pretty good height, sure, it would be quite low to the ground, but I'm short! I think the timber would cost about $50, mesh maybe $20. Tiles another $20. No idea about how much the lighting would cost, but if I've set aside $500 for the setup, I've still got $400 to spend on lighting. It'd be great if people who have made their own enclosures (that don't already have pics on the forum) could post some pics or possible problems/ideas. Thanks guys!
  14. Looks awesome, what do you have on the ground of the enclosure?
  15. Good: Got some new fish that I LOVE I've finally got my life together enough to move out (when I get a job) Got good marks in most of my papers. Bad: Lost my job, so now I'm furiously trying to find a new one Failed an important paper at uni that I have to redo. Broke a tank
  16. Not poisonous to people, and I'm pretty sure they're not actually poisonous at all till they die. Dixon, don't forget, they're REALLY sensitive to copper, so watch out for that. Where's our pics???
  17. Alright....so I went to Bunnings today and got everything I need. I got: 2 x 1m 22mm Bute pipe (main drainage pipe) SKU 611578 1 x Bute Tee (connects outlet from tank to downpipe and allows for the plug to let more or less air through) SKU 611244 4 x Bute Elbow (to go round the corners of the tank) SKU 611074 1 x Bute Plug 22mm (with hole drilled to alter water flow) SKU 651977 1 x Bute Plug 15mm (for end of spray bar) SKU 651953 1 x 1m 15mm Bute pipe (drilled to make spray bar) SKU 611554 1 x Bute coupling inline (to connect spray bar to pipe from pump) SKU 610872 1 x Bute pipe clip (to support everything) SKU 611529 1 x Durastone Stack and Nest 42L Bin (sump) SKU 273377 2m 12.5mm clear vinyl tube (to get water from pump to tank) SKU 379906 1 x Accent 1000LPH pond pump SKU 550449 I've included the SKU numbers in case there is anyone out there who is interested in recreating it. What else I've used that I didn't need to buy: Filter media Acrylic to make baffles for the sump (I'm going to have two so the water has to go under the first one and over the second) Electrical tape 2 x flanges (to support pipe on either side of the glass) Tap aerator (as a grate so fishies don't get sucked up) The bute pipe and fittings I have used are used for internal plumbing, and the fittings need to be crimped into place to stop leaks. I used the crimping gear available to hire for a nominal fee. It does mean that they can't be taken apart easily, but they also are not going to leak. Overflow from the tank Showing tap aerator Plumbing Outlet into sump DIY Spraybar I've had it running with no filter media for a few hours and have set the pump at a perfect level where the pump and the overflow stay in equilibrium. To stop the sump overflowing if the pump breaks, the sump will be at a low enough level that the overflow will be out of the water but the sump will not quite be full. To stop the tank overflowing if the overflow gets blocked or breaks, the pump will be sitting on a ledge in the sump so it will stop pumping if the sump empties (before the tank overflows). It took a couple of hours of fiddling to get the levels right, but hopefully it will work out ok. All I have to do now is put the media in the sump and let it cycle, before I take out my old filter.
  18. Hope not, puffers are pretty much the worst fish you can cycle with. I guess it depends on your sex ratios, but I think that you sound like you've got lots of places for them to hide and hang out, so they should be ok.
  19. Cute!!! I'd want to put them in a bigger tank when they're bigger though, more like 100L than 75 because they can get really aggressive and kill each other.
  20. They are 10,000 x more colourful than the ones I've seen in pet stores, it is because they're older, or less stressed, or food?
  21. Thanks for the replies guys, and thanks so much for the offer Mystic, I'll get in touch with you after xmas. Great to see you on here again! I read the article, and I can't find anything about the reducer (apart from it saying you should have one) Is there something I'm missing?
  22. Hah...well if the iPhone doesn't use them, I'm out!
  23. Tonight I found another 2 baby lionheads in the puffer tank, so I guess there must be quite a few that have survived. I'm actually amazed that they've survived in the brackish water!
  24. Lol, I love how his feet are so dark and the rest of him is light. He's adorable!
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