ally07

+1 The wood is awesome, looks very natural. :

+1 They can take you down without breaking a fingernail!

Problem is, they don't stay juvenile for very long haha..

I know the gurgling sound that you're talking about. I haven't found a solution for mine yet and I'm not sure there is one. As far as I can deduce, the gurgling sound is caused by air getting sucked into the pipe when the water rushes in. After a little while you kinda get used to it haha.

Imagine if the tank exploded lol... :digH:

I've heard/ read the same thing and I used to be worried about it, but not anymore haha. My sailfin used to suck on my ornate occassionally, but now the ornate just swims away - the sailfin doesn't chase him around for slime. I would say that if the tank has enough swimming/ hiding space, it doesn't occur often enough to be a big worry. My ornate doesn't show any signs of stress or any "scarring", so it's all good with me.

I think ground pellets simply mean put 'em through the blender lol.. Pretty sure that HFF sells liquid vitamins.

Oh, the things I would do with that tank... !drool: But ultimately, I think that tank isn't worth my life haha. :digH:

Time it so you can see the stingray feeding - that will make the trip more worthwhile!

Awesome. My future fish room will be a converted garage with carpetting and a heat pump. Can't forget a couch too lol. Part fish room, part man-cave. :thup:

lol, that would swim like a motorboat! :slfg:

I've heard that heatpumps can run 24/7 and the cost per day is approximately $1-ish. If the room is well-insulated, the heating element in the heatpump won't have to work as hard so it won't burn your bill. Even though the fan circulates the air in the room, I don't think that the heating element will be required for most of the day.

I disagree.. The initial cost of putting some hardy carpet on the floor is higher than leaving it as-is, but don't forget that the room will be colder if you leave it uncovered. Carpetting makes a huge difference to the temperature of the room. I would get something that can survive lots of spills and vacuuming (something like that HFF has) because water changes are never as clean as we'd like them to be. If you really want to go for gusto, install a heat pump. Since the room is small, it will cost very little to maintain an ambient temperature which will save you money on your aquarium heaters. Furthermore, a heat pump can act as a dehumidifier, preventing mold in the room. Also remember to air the room out regularly. My 750L tank is in my smallish room so I dehumidify/ clear the air everyday so that the room doesn't smell quite so funky lol.

Just go to a hardware store (Mitre10 was the cheapest I sourced) and buy sheets of polystyrene. I'm using 30mm poly. For an extra $2 they cut it to your specs (well, well-worth the money lol). Just stick it on with clear packing tape and make sure there are no air gaps.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - insulation on tanks works wonders! After insulating my tank, now only my 50W heater runs (and not 24/7), my 300W only runs some of the time. Before insulation, my 50W was running 24/7 and my 300W was usually running overnight as well. During the recent cold snap, my tank temperature never wavered (it used to dip 2 deg over night). Small things also help. For example, I put the cushion door stop at the foot of my door to prevent outside draft. My windows are closed and blinds are down from about 5pm. I do also run my little oil fin heater on low-medium from about 6pm which keeps the room temp comfortable without running up the bill - I'm comfortable and the tank doesn't lose as much heat to the surroundings. This is how I justify running my water pump/ FX-5/ small power head/ wave maker/ air pump 24/7. As it turns out, when you save your pennies, you feel better about spending your pounds! :lol:

Blinders. 8)

I've never designed my own sump but just make sure that you get someone with good math skills helps you to double check the design haha. My sump came with the tank and I nearly flooded my room at first because the pump was too strong. Small details make a huge difference haha. As for media, I think that you're on the right track. Bio balls are good, but best to double up with secondary media. If I were you, I would let the water pass through the bio balls then work its way through multiple sections of ceramic noodles, etc. By partitioning the sump with glass panes and forcing the water through a single path, you'll maximise the media efficiency. The sump should end up looking like an L with the longer part on the bottom.

Why don't you just buy frozen brineshrimp? Problem solved lol.

Agree - don't buy into the petshop scams lol. If your tank is cycled, just let nature take its course. By adding more Cycle every water change, it lessens the amount of ammonia that the bacteria colonies feed on but it could also lead to bacteria colonies dying off (due to lack of ammonia) and that can cause cloudiness in the water. Just let the existing bacteria colonies work their magic.

I'll keep you posted on the results of my silver comm experiment lol.. As soon as those suppliers get some more new stock in! Murphy's law.. When you want the most common aro, they're nowhere to be found! :roll: :facepalm:

Yeah, lots of superstition around arowanas. I don't really believe half of it, but it's still nice to think that there is some sort of "relationship" between us and the fish. If dogs and cats can read our moods, maybe our fish can too? Arowanas and oscars recognise specific owners and ignore other people around the house, so they're smarter than we think lol.

Might also pay to show them quickly how the vacuum siphon works...Just in case lol. Better to show them than to have a wet floor haha.

lol, just as long as the missus isn't around!

lol, I was going to advise you to strip the tank, but if they're hiding in the background... :facepalm: (I think they know where the safe house is.) :lol: If you're really desperate and baiting them doesn't work, you could always try to scare them out of the cave by prodding the entrance gently with the net, sometimes they freak out and swim frantically around the tank (at which point you need to be one step ahead). Not ideal, but hey, they chose the hard road.

Thanks for the compliments. Yeah he's really tiny, so cute lol. He took down about 10 mini cichlid gold pellets tonight which is awesome. The cichlids are a bit camera shy but I'll post a feeding vid once all 3 aros are in-house.