ally07

Onomatopoeia *muahahahahaha*

Out of curiosity, why is it necessary to rinse the filters? I would just say let the power get cut and turn back on once everything goes back to normal. If it's only for 6 hours I doubt if the fish will suffer too much from that.. Water changes and house moving are probably much more stressful than a power cut but most fish survive.

Hikari is absolutely brilliant. My green aro goes for them pretty quick even though aros are notorious for rejecting pellet/ fresh food diets. In the event that the filter intake does suck the pellet up before my aro gets it, it does not lose its shape. I have retrieved pellets from the filter wool after about 10-12 hours continuously soaked and they did not turn into mush or disintegrate - that's what really impressed me. Other brands I've tried claim to "retain their shape" but in reality start breaking apart within about 2 minutes. Hikari may not be the cheapest brand around but it's worth it IMO, since your tank ends up being a bit cleaner than having bits of food everywhere.

Personally, I reckon the fact that people are willing to shell out such money for exotic and rare fish is a good thing. Hopefully if demand keeps up, the fishkeeping hobby in general will improve even more and beautiful fish won't carry such a hefty price tag. *fingers crossed* IMO, 10cm is a little too small and the price tag is a little (understatement) too big for me, but I have to say that the coloration is spectacular..

OK, how about this? Instead of using the middle rock to support the back portion, turn the driftwood (according to the pic) forward so that it leans on its two branches. It should look like an airplane, with the main trunk being the body of the plane. Then, put all three rocks on the left side of the driftwood, doesn't need to be on top of the driftwood (or that could get dangerous), but just clumped haphazardly (but securely) on the left side of the tank. On the middle/ right side, put groups of smaller rocks, but in descending sizes - ie it should go from big group of rocks to medium to slightly smaller.. --> That would give it a sense of 'flow' from left to right. Picking the right gravel will help you complete the river look. Hope this makes sense to you.. I'm very hands-on with my rock/ driftwood arrangements, so I was staring intently at your picture trying to imagine a layout. Hope it actually works.

LEGEND!

Personally I think it looks a bit artificial, simply because of the placement of the rocks. From the angle of the photo it looks like the driftwood is supported by three points, all of which are "conveniently" secured by rocks. IMO the best driftwood/ rock tanks look completely random, as if the water just happened to put this driftwood awkwardly over time. Perhaps try adding some smaller groups of rocks to balance out the big rocks? Just an opinion..

This tank looks awesome, recently made the cover of TFH magazine.. The personal tank of Mr Takashi Amano: http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?p=155562 :love: :love: :love: EDIT: Video link included: Looks like he built an extension on his house just for his tank, lol..

It appears that I must've stumbled onto a secret fish farm experiment. No doubt they've sent people over here to "deal with me". If this is my last post alive, then Henward I bequeath you my green so that you're one step closer to achieving your goal.. :tears:

That's why I like to keep my tanks low maintenance! Less time spent mucking around trimming plants and more time sitting in my strategically placed couch watching my tank. (Apologies to all planted tank lovers) I reckon I spend about 1.5 hours a week doing a wc, but I have aquarium ADHD.. Everything can be fine one day and then suddenly (usually late at night), I'll get the urge to do something new. Either I'll get a creative burst to rearrange the rocks/ driftwood (which means I won't be able to sleep unless I get it done) or just sit and stare at my SUMP to figure out a way to make it run more efficiently. Call me crazy, but when I go to HFF, I spend 80% of my time looking at fish and 20% staring at sump designs. Efficiency is key! ...Even as I type this I have been tempted 3-4 times to just glance over my shoulder and look at my tank - such a distraction from something as important as writing this. :lol: @Waterlogged: the question NOT to ask is how much money. NEVER ask how much money. Especially not in front of someone's spouse/ parents/ loved ones who actually care enough about that person's financial situation to nag lol..

BTW, Henward, can you please have a look at my pics of the fish farm and tell me if one of those is an albino silver aro?? When I saw it, I could not figure out what it was! It's got the body shape of a silver (no doubt), but it's yellow-going-gold in colour. I tried to look but I don't think I saw red eyes (but I can't be certain).. Could there be an elusive gold-silver arowana?? P/S It's the 2nd pic from the top..

The dream lives on.. &c:ry

Yeah, I think that's what worried me a little bit, that the fish is still this size at 2 (?) years old.. I've accepted that it's not a perfect fish (size and gill) but it's still my first and I'm gonna give it the best chance to grow out. At the moment I'm trying to "bond" with it by standing in front of the tank regularly so that it gets used to my presence. Dimensions wise, I did another measurement, and it's about 70cm wide. From the start I'd only planned to leave the upper swimming space solely for the arowana. Not only for swimming space but also for aesthetics. I prefer to let the arowana be the centre of attention rather than another fish dashing around in the background. I think the consolation is that I'm aware of its condition, but I still love him to bits! :love:

Yeah, I'll definitely keep you guys posted. Thanks for posting the pic, now I know what you meant by stunted! My poor little guy must've had a tough childhood, it's like he's half the size he's supposed to be.. Anyway, I've got a packet of Hikari pellets (size appropriate, not massivores yet) and some prawns in the fridge (de-shelled, I'm not taking any chances) so we'll see how he responds to a high-protein diet and swimming space for a change. Just curious, how often is appropriate for me to feed him at this stage in his life? I've read so many different opinions I don't know what to believe. At the moment I find that he gets hungry every night, so if I feed him in the day he doesn't eat. Is daily feeding too much? I don't want to overload my bioload too suddenly with the new entrant either..

Yeah, sure! Just come on over and I'll show you my imaginary collection of red aros, you can take your pick.. :lol:

I know, right?? David, seriously, what do you feed him? Is there a secret training regime? He's a beefy fella. Once his colour really sets in he's gonna look awesome.

@David: 1. OMG your green is huge compared to mine 2. That's a lovely bichir 3. Where'd you get that driftwood? Very nice!

Yeah, I'll believe the bit about the gill curl.. I once saw an arowana that was so badly disfigured. Imagine the hunchback of notre dame but in arowana form, its spine was nearly an S-shape and one of its gills was so badly curled.. No doubt it was stuck in a tiny tank for most of its life. If I were the owner of the store I think I would have culled it. It's just pitiful to see it in such a state, obviously suffering greatly.

I think most of the common species of rays there cost about $100 odd, didn't really see many that crossed the $200 mark. The more expensive ones must've been harder to find I think. They look really cool but I dunno, the barbs on their tail scare the cr@p outta me. Wouldn't want to put my hand in there for a wc.. lol

Yeah, I wasn't too worried about the tail after I read on another forum that it should heal in about 1-2 months. The gill curl isn't ideal I guess, but I knew about it before purchasing it and he really is a great fish to have around so I'm still happy. The guy at Bird Barn told me that the importer operated on three of his own fish for gill curl - one died. 33.33% chance of losing a fish is a bit too dicey for me, so I highly doubt if I'll operate on it. Just curious, is the growth stunt due to bad water conditions/ diet/ genetics? Will good water and diet overcome this problem?

Yeah, the bottom part of the tail was from the traumatic house-moving. I found the bit of the tail and 2 scales in the fish transport bin afterwards. You reckon he's stunted? Honestly, I'm not very familiar with medium sized arowanas. I could probably tell if an adult was stunted but I thought he was just young. The gill curl was a concern and did hint at a bad childhood but I'm hoping it will recede with good water conditions. I went in to Bird Barn earlier today and the guy told me that the fish didn't come with a cert, but he'd check it out for me. Apparently they know a guy who imports them into NZ who also imported the B-grade reds that HFF sold a while back..?

I think over there rays are so cheap that people impulse buy without providing a big enough tank. Unlike arowanas, rays have a huge wing span and thus need lots of room to move around so the tank's gotta be pretty wide at the base.. A pond would be ideal, methinks. Most expensive fish were the arowanas. Juveniles were cheaper, some of the fully coloured adults hit about the $10K mark. Some didn't even have a price, so either they weren't for sale or they were above the $10K mark (or both?) I was hoping to see some blue base golds but they were all babies thus colourless.

Just to make you guys a little more envious.. I saw black ghost knives being sold for $2 each; assorted cichlids for $8 a pop and arowanas that cost approximately half the US Federal Reserve.. (just kidding, it's only 25%) The weird looking fish fifth from the bottom was described as a South African arowana.. Looked pretty odd so I snapped a pic..

Pics from a recent trip to Qian Hu fish farm in Singapore. They are apparently one of the biggest breeders/ exporters of fish in the world (especially arowanas). Enjoy!

Sweeeeet.. Cheers matey. As a reward for your Samaritan-ness, I will soon be posting all the pictures of my recent trip to Qian Hu Fish Farm in Singapore. (Spoiler alert: Arowana lovers prepare to drool..)