elusive_fish

Thanks suphew, that was a good explanation. But if the aerobic bacteria that are found in cannister filters still be breakind down ammonia to nitrites and nitries to nitrates... then the anaerobic stuff finishing the job? Sorry if its a dumb question, this marine stuff is all new to me

So why are some marine people so anti cannister filters? Apart from the buffering properties of coral rock, how is it really any different from bio noodles? Both are just porous homes for beneficial bacteria, right? I'll be at the next TT meeting, so hopefully I can say 'hi' and get some more advice from you guys in person too

Even though my malawi tank is healthy, attractive and breeding like rabbits I still have this crazy desire I can't shake to change it to a marine tank... if I can do it at a reasonable price. After some digging around here is my idea: A lightly stocked FOWLR tank (5 or so fish) That way selling my current fish would probably pay for the rock (but i'd still have to buy the fish, obviously). I could keep my aragonite sand, current lighting and probably still just run my cannister filter. I'd imagine i'd also have to get something to create current? My hope is that if i am keeping it lightly stocked i won't have to worry about sumps/protein skimmers etc for the mean time. I could add a sump/refugium/better lighting/protein skimmer etc if i really enjoy the marine fish and have the money required. Does this seem reasonable/feasible?

After thinking about what you guys have said, I'm not going to do the rock pool tank. Even though I do live close the beach and could attempt something quick n dirty, id rather do things properly. The other realisation I've had, and stated by carzkats is that it would actually be cheaper to set up a tropical marine... as its much easier/cheaper to heat than to cool. I don't mean to spam, but as its no longer about what the topic states I'll start another thread on this thought Thanks all.

I might see if I can find a 3ftish second hand tank to set up a local rock pool tank. I'm not entirely sure where in the house I will put it - need to keep the tank and wife cool :lol: So a chiller is obviously right out of the question, but would i need some kind of protein skimmer for a tank like this? What should I use as a substrate? just beach sand? I've heard cycling a cold water marine tank takes ages - can anyone give me a brief run down of how i would go about it for this project (I'm familiar with it in the tropical fresh capacity) Its weird how excited i am about doing this!

I might try something as an experiment, especially while the weather is cooler. But im kinda tempted to convert my 4ft tank that currently houses malawis into something different. I've always been fascinated by rock pools and would love to set up something to catch and observe things from that environment. The main problem with this idea is warmth. I'd like the tank where I can enjoy it ie the lounge, but my wife always has the heat pump cranked up :roll: And from what I see, chillers are prohibitively expensive. Are there some iypes of rock pool or coastal creatures that are ok living in room temperature water? BTW, i figured out what the greebly I dug up was.. apparently its a 'ghost shrimp'. Not the transparent kind, it looked more like this:http://martinsmartwildlife.com/167.htm

Hi all, I had my two little girls (2 and 4 years old) down at the beach the other day making sandcastles when we unearthed some kinda shrimp thingy - about 4cm long, with one large pincer and one small. My girls were absolutely fascinated. It got me wondering if it were possible to set up some kind of simple marine tank to catch and observe (and maybe keep in the longer term?) locally found marine fish etc. I'm an experienced tropical fresh water fish keeper, but know diddly squat about keeping marine fish. All i know is that they are typically expensive to set up and hard to maintain when small But with that being said, could i use an old aquarium either inside or outside to house something? Even just the crabs that are everywhere in the estuary would be fun.

I thought discus were from south america? Unless you mean she ate something that beatrice faumuina threw?

Man keeping fish can be frustrating. The two holding dems are looking desperately thin. After tearing up the entire tank last night I caught the one pictured above and put it in breeding net stuck on the side of the main tank. She didnt settle and was going a little ballistic trying to get out, so i decided to try and strip her. Man, Its NOT easy to strip a 3cm fish! I managed to get it to spit a couple of young, of about 4-5mm length before I felt like I was going to stress her to death. At that point i left her in the net, turned the light off and went to bed. When i woke up this morning the net suckers had let go, the holding female and babies gone and a bristlenose and male dem hanging around in the net instead. Then I managed to kneel down on the glass lid and break it. So now there are still two small holding dems in the tank, looking quite skinny and worse-for-wear. Will they spit soon or is it possible they will hang on so long they will get killed? If I should catch and strip them, any tips on doing it with such small fish? I dont even know what to do with the babies, i really dont have anywhere to set up grow-out tank and the damn breeding net doesnt seem to want to hold on with the suckers provided.

So would it be better to replace the rock 'wall' with, say, 5 smaller piles of rocks?

Here are a few pics of my tank as it currently looks. I've tried to provide plenty of rocks. Pretty boring to those with lush aquatic planted tanks! A couple of my dems One of the holding dems. You can see how big she is in comparison to the heater. Others in the tank: Mr Syno wants to be photographed My male brown hap One of my male peacocks My big ice blue male really doesn't like the camera much, he's hard to get a photo of.

I've had a colony of 14 dems for almost 2 months now, and there is never a dull moment with these guys. I have a few observations and questions to ask and thought others might be able to share some of their experiences with these fish. Even with a group size of 14 (originally 15, one died pretty early) and a fair bit of rock in the tank, these guys sure take a toll on each other. There are some pretty beaten up looking fish in the tank, but somehow they keep on keepin' on. One of them got his tail almost entirely removed and his dorsal fin had a chunk out of it. In my experience, most fish in this condition would stop eating, start sulking and get sick/further abused and die (without intervention that is). But this guy still fed, still tried to chase others and eventually grew his stumpy tail back. Another had his gill flap practically pulled off, but it still seems to be eating and joining in the mayhem. I'm amazed. I guess these guys start breeding pretty young and small! I'm positive a couple of them are holding at the moment, despite them only being about 3-3.5cm long. Could this be right? The poor females really take a beating, I hope they can put up with it so I dont end up with a tank of just angry males. All the agression does seem to be towards conspecifics. They dont even seem to notice their tank mates. Another question I have is around the barring on the fish. A couple of them have dark blue bars that 'fork' part way down. Is this normal for dems?

What you are describing makes me think of a game called Tongue of the Fat Man. But that might be a little too old... and crap. http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/179 (I have wasted WAAAAY too much time on gaming!)

I thought that it was considered abadoneware. Check out some of the sites like http://www.homeoftheunderdogs.net/

OK, I know I'm taking a slightly different view on things, but can anyone tell me what legal/legitimate reasons you would need unlimited home internet for? I mean, isn't it really just the illegal movie pillagers that will miss out by the bandwidth cap change?

Raffi - Banana phone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpvcyJ5fKuA

sesquipedalian

Anyone ever play the game Transport Tycoon (Deluxe)? There is a free recreation of the game and despite its old skool graphics (read: ugly) it's still a lot of fun to play. It's a small download and anyones computer could run it. It apparently works well online too - you can join the same company or compete. I thought it might be fun to organise a time to put a server up and get people from on here to try. It's pretty complicated to begin with, so download and have a play! Download here: http://www.openttd.org/en

Oh damn, I blubbered. I really did.

I think a lot of it is just to do with the technology. Depth perception (3D) is a result of each of your eyes seeing the same scene from a slightly different perspective. In a 3D movie this achieved by using two projectors, one projecting the right-eye image and the other producing the left-eye image. These images are polarised, so that the polarised glasses mostly block out the image it is not meant to be seeing ie right eye should only see right eye image. As the polarised light does not block out all of the other image there is some 'ghosting', which the brain has to try and interpret. I think it is this imcomplete blocking/ghosting that messes with your eyes/brain.. for me it felt like a bit of a strain. Well worth it though!

OK, so what is everyones favourite scene(s) in a movie? One of my fav movies is anchorman and the news crew rumble scene is just too funny for words. Ron: "Did you throw a trident?" Brick: "Yeah! there were horses, a man on fire and I killed a man with a Trident" A second favourite scene is from Hot Rod, when Rod does his angry dance in the forest and proceeds to fall down the hill for like a solid minute. I cried from laughing too hard. Then I rewound it, and cried some more. What are your favourite movie bits (they dont have to be funny)

It might be that you have marginal results in some areas (ie show characteristics of both sides) Maybe try doing the actual MBTI test and look at the results there: http://apps.facebook.com/my-type/

I do see a lot of value in psychometric testing, but they do need to be put within context and taken with a grain of salt. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test (which is alluded to with the ENTJ and ISTP) is an extention of Carl Jung's work and has been in use and revised since world war II. It is the most widely used personality instrument in the world and is considered reliable and valid. I have no idea what the other part of the 'test' is. It refers to your natural preference, but that does not mean people cannot and do not operate outside of those preferences. For example, you naturally write with one hand or the other - but you can write with the other, however messy, and can get better at doing so with practice. It's most interesting when you look at it in regards to its implications on group dynamics (Phoenix and N1cks results could be interesting to look at) The career choices are likely showing where your MB type is over-represented ie people of your type tend towards this sort of work. It is no indicator of ability or future success. Just do something you enjoy doing

That's interesting... I thought that fish showed better colour over dark substrate? I personally don't like my white aragonite sand as it is almost impossible to keep looking 'clean'.

How come chicken chips taste nothing like chicken?