ally07

So, I finally bit the bullet. Traded in my green and I'm going for a 3 silver comm. Unfortunately, due to a shortage of silvers, there is only 1 in the tank at the moment - 2 more to be added soon. Also did quite a major tank renovation and added some more driftwood. http://www.youtube.com/user/ally07#p/a/u/0/acImDsZ7aXE

Not really.. It's just a matter of fitting the hoses into the right sockets and using a screwdriver to tighten the 'grip' bracket. Of course, I had to go and screw it up by accidentally leaving the rubber bit on the end (which should have been on the other end) connected to the output socket. Went out for dinner, came home and saw that the bend of the hose had caused a slow leak from the connection point. Cabinet was a little wet for a day or so, but then again, so glad that the rubber connection didn't give - THAT would've been a problem.

I know that you're asking about Eheim filters, but why don't you consider Fluval as well? As far as I know, they are cheaper and probably as good (I've never done an apple-apple comparison myself because I've never had the need for two identical canisters). I bought my Fluval 105 about 3 years ago and it has been used on-and-off for 4 different tank set ups. There was even a period of time where it was lying in my backyard in between uses (oops.), but when I cleaned it up, everything clicked into place and worked just like new! I recently bought an FX-5 and I'm in :love: - so I would recommend Fluvals for being reliable and more affordable. But if you're set on Eheim, then go with your heart.

Looks good! Would you consider splurging a bit?? lol.. I was just thinking that having one of those internal filters with the built-in heater attachment would look so much cooler than having a sponge filter and a normal heater. They are, unfortunately, ridiculously expensive haha.

+1 If you did want to attempt having one male and multiple females (I would put in no less than 5, to spread the aggression), then you'd need to have lots of hiding spaces. Don't even consider two males, death is imminent. Just remember that before anybody breeds fighting fish, they need to pump the females for a couple of weeks with good food and then let them recover for a couple of weeks after simply because it is a stressful encounter for them. Having a male constantly in the tank would only serve to stress your females out and shorten their lifespans.

What's the pH of the water? If it is less than 7, the ammonia isn't "toxic" to fish. It isn't good to have it in the water, obviously, but the effects are not so severe that you can't leave 0.5ppm in the water overnight. Beneficial bacteria takes time to colonise. Water changing will help reduce ammonia, but ultimately your goal should be to cultivate a stronger bacteria colony (which takes ammonia).

LoL, when I first read your post I thought you wrote 110L instead of 1100L.. My eyes nearly popped outta my head when I saw FX-5 LOL! It would be a constant hurricane inside the tank haha. :sml1: After a lot of reading and asking around, everybody still insists that tower filter media have to be dripped through, especially bio balls. I think that the air pump just can't compare to open air oxygenation.

What about using loofas? Theoretically they should stay wet for longer right? I'm not sure about their surface area though. Ceramic noodles are good, but not economically viable for a tower sump. I might change my drip tray to a single perspex sheet with drilled holes instead of my current glass strips. I figure that holes in perspex will give a more even flow than glass strips which are liable to move around during maintenance.

Ghost knives are one of the coolest fish around, BUT they can get to about 60cm. They eat just about anything and aren't too fussed about water parameters as long as it's clean and stable. When they eat, they make a clicking noise which can be heard about 3m from the tank. Mine used to eat floating pellets, sinking pellets, algae pellets, bloodworms, whitebait, small fish..

The scars will heal within the week if you feed him well and the water's clean.. Don't be tempted to overfeed though, he will get reallly big reallly fast anyway lol.

Yeah.. How often does a kangaroo happen to fall dead right in the river so that the fish can grab a bite? :facepalm: Whatever happened to keeping food natural?! :roll:

Ornithological

Hey, nothing wrong with being a fish nerd! :smln: I find that the nerdier you are, the better off your fish are. Think about it - do dog owners analyse the ASH CONTENT of dog food? No way! It's just, yep, I'll get this cheap bag of food from the supermarket - the dog will be fine. I know I am not alone when I check the ingredients that go into my fish food to see if it's the highest protein content I can give my monsters. How about the science involved with fishkeeping? I hated chemistry at school, but I can tell you which bio media has the most surface area for beneficial bacteria; that water holds more oxygen at lower temps than higher; that pH and temp affect the toxicity of ammonia. I still find myself staring at my SUMP to try to figure out if I can get it to run better. My fiance recently caught me staring at the tank and commented that I was always staring at my fish. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was actually staring at the SUMP lol! :gigl: (She knows I'm crazy, just not to this extent.) I think that I am smarter and more relaxed (mostly) because of fishkeeping. So, nerd on! :smln:

When I was still in high school, I used to love listening to the radio while studying. When I went to uni, I suddenly found that I HATED any music in the background when studying lol. So, it's probably best to turn the music off anyway, so your brain is focused on the material rather than tapping to the beat or bursting out in song. As for note-taking, I used to dig up every sheet/ hand-out/ homework/ notebook I had accumulated over the year and highlight the key stuff. From there, I would copy all these key sentences (by hand - it helps you remember better) onto a fresh piece of paper. These exam notes should be as concise as you can get them so that you can view it before going into the exam without taking too long. I used to condense a whole semester's work into about 2 sides of paper. Then again, I'm a History/ Classics major so this style might not suit your needs entirely. But, I survived 3 years of NCEA and 3 years of uni with these techniques. Thousands and thousands of words committed to paper over exams past, so I guess that something must have worked lol. (Oh, and my favourite pre-exam ritual is to read through my notes ONE LAST TIME and then just chuck them in the bin before going for the exam. No turning back! ..Just make sure you have your exam dates right lol!)

I reckon freeze it till the next rubbish collection day. Double bag it and put it in the bin the night before. Otherwise the smell will haunt you until the rubbish is taken out.

I can't believe this is a 6ft tank! To be fair, the aros aren't fully grown yet, but still there are 7 of them and they don't look like they're squeezed for space! Makes my eventual 8ft, 5 aro comm tank look like overkill.. :roll:

&c:ry Condolences. Hope he gave you lots of viewing pleasure before giving up the ghost.

In this case an FX-5! :facepalm: (I hope HFF keeps their filter sale on for a while more..)

Plus the weight of the glass and the stand and the sump. My tank capacity is about 750L and I estimate the total weight on the floor to be about a ton. (No exaggeration when I say my tank weighs a ton! :thup:) But it's on concrete flooring so I sleep well at night.. :yaw2:

Damn, I was hoping you were one of the people with the answers haha! :smln:

Oh, and one more thing! When I clean my wool, I notice that the water never trickles down the same path.. So, essentially some of my BB on the bio balls will die and new colonies have to start somewhere else because I cleaned the wool?! :facepalm:

I was just looking at my wet/ dry filter recently (trying to make it more efficient) when some questions popped into my head. Everybody says that wet/ dry is one of, if not THE best sumps for freshwater because it allows a lot of oxygenation and surface area with the right media. But it just seems to me that a wet/ dry filter is a fickle creature. For instance, when I do a water change, what happens if I take too long and my bio balls start to dry out? Does it mean I've just killed all my BB? Or, the water doesn't seem to trickle down over all the bio balls evenly - does this mean that I'm not using the maximum potential of my bio balls? Can anybody shed some light on these issues and put my mind at ease please? :dunno: Slightly tempted to just give up the sump and get an FX-5 when I move house in the near future lol. At least I know that an FX-5 works at "maximum" efficiency.

Always have a back up plan when it comes to oscars and aros. ALWAYS. :sage:

Brutus Maximus? :lol:

Lookin' spoony! :thup: Btw Henward, I can come around next week to help you install those laser sensor beams to secure the perimeter.. :lol: