Morcs

See my 10g thread. wasnt long ( 1 week) until i decided to change to a 20g. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46264

Exo terra do light controllers, cant remember if they are T5 or T8, but its basically a control box, with 4 lots of endcaps to run 4 bulbs, and automatically brightens and dims gradually.

I usually take them out to mist, but sometimes spray mist on the glass to get them to drink - being motion sensitive they see the water running down and drink

With stubborn bits, after a bit of a spray, i gently rub the area in a circular motion and it usually comes off.

Ill let you know in about 18 months :lol:

TOP COMMENT RIGHT THERE! that made my day. Arent african cichlids referred to as feeder fish over on MFK? :lol:

When young, beardie is much smaller than a same aged bluey generally, and they are very fast and could co-exist with a bluey so long as they had areas to climb, as the bluey will most likely stay low. adult beardie if he doesnt like bluey will try and take a bite. tried this. nearly ended badly. i was quick enough to pull the bluey away. If you only have one indoor enclosure at the moment stick with blueys. every tom and dick has beardies. Blueys rock! Mine have been brumating under my astroturf for a week now I miss them

Not at the moment, ive figured ive got enough flow in there already, and the tank is going to be a bit cluttered for equipment once a power skimmer goes in! Might ditch the filter though. the refugium is a bit too small to do anything noticeable, and if i do weekly water changes i can do without mech filtration.

Decided my 3ft would be a better first marine than the little 30L nano... did the switch the other night, got some more rock, modified my aquaclear 50 into a refugium, and dusted off my favourite powerhead and added a wide output nozzle to it. Still waiting on some bits, hopefully getting a double T5 unit, and waiting on two skimmers to arrive to try out. Spec: 90x30x30 Glass tank, 80L (20g long) Aquaclear 70 powerhead with modified output. 1800lph Aquaclear 50 filter modified into a refugium (AC30 impellor, basket cutup and used to create baffles with filterwool sandwidged in between, with the rest of the compartment for nitrate eating algae Eheim Jager 100w AL30 light hood with a 30w powerglo (hopefully changing to a GLO Double T5 unit running a 24w powerglo and 24w actinic. A decent amount of uncured dead lava and coral rock. Temp is set at 24 (probe digi thermometer), and sg is about 1.021. Not monitoring params until my test kit arrives. Also waiting on a nano in-tank hydrometer Stocking: Pair of perculus or ocellaris clowns Yellowtail blue damsel Flame angel Once ive mastered keeping the fish alive will look into soft corals. Got my water storage and mixing equipment sorted. use 2x 20L drums to get DI water from work, and have a 45L container containing a powerhead for mixing and storing salt water (enough for WC for a month?) Lemmme know what you all think. Note the whirlpool on the surface. looks really buzzy!

This tank now has FW in it btw... :lol: I switched with my 3ft, and the the 3ft is now marine

Just gotta find the right one to buy... ordered a power skimmer too for $40 US and ill give that a go. Failing both of those all spend the money and get a reef octopus.

What about keeping Betta's in jars? What about Arowanas in >6ft tanks? What about Oscars (and other potentially large cichlids) in >4ft tanks? What about Angelfish in >2ft tanks? What about Silver sharks in >6ft tanks? What about Giant gouramis and Pacus in 4ft tanks? What about captive birds kept in cages with their wings clipped? I could go on all day. I sold one of the 21L goldfish learner kits today. And what? I educate people, and if im happy they have taken what ive said onboard (these fish are gunna need a bigger tank soon!) then I dont have too much of a problem. Not everyone can house fish adequately from day one that they get them as juveniles. If they spent $1000 getting setup, and then they kinda decide fish keeping may not be for them, then theyve wasted a lotta money. Yes its not ideal, but id rather people give the hobby a go rather than be put off as they have to spend up large straight away.

It is something I hate, and something that despite doing my upmost to sway people away, on the larger scheme of things you just cant stop people. A lot of the people who buy these tanks get them because they are cheap, and they dont want the expense of getting kitted out properly. I have heaps of people whinging at me as a small goldfish will cost them around $8 nowadays - its hard to encourage people into the hobby that dont want to actually get into it - properly enough to spend the right amount of money on a decent sized tank and good equipment, research and learn, and do good maintenance. Now, the learner kits animates sell are fantastic little kits, not for 3 goldfish long term though. They are many ways you can look at the kits - they might get bought for kids, and the parents are under the impression theyll probably kill the fish (rough i know) or that its good to get into the hobby and they will slowly yearn for something bigger. How many fish keepers do you know who on day 1 of fish keeping, went and spent over $1000 on a tank and stuff? - only the ones with too much money to throw around.

True that! one of my workmates partners has discus. hes not terribly clued up though. He comes and asks me to order things like Discus buffer for him, and when I ask why he needs these things he cant actually give me an answer! Last breeders house i went to, all stunning discus. only food in sight were the big containers of colorbits. like 20 of them. Agreed, hence commercial food as a staple, then supplement with things that one feels are deficient or lacking in the diet?

Other option is to have another tank specifically for feeding, but i dont think the discus would appreciate being moved that much! :lol: Ive got an aquaclear 70 powerhead that would help heaps comes with the quickfilter attachment too

Ive always been of the opinion that the big food manufacturers go to a lot of time and money developing commercial foods, that they have developed foods that if used as a staple would be far more beneficial than an almost complete home made diet? Im of the opinion that Discus do not need any more extra special care or variety in diet than any other fish should have.

Possibly. will see how the hydrometer goes. Ill probably get one at some point as i can see myself getting a bigger nano at some point...

Updated enclosure and skink pics. Reptar finished his first shed since ive had him. hes a fair bit bigger than Yoshi (who remains quite thin, but doesnt show signs of being underweight) Both werent really eating so ive got the heat on at night again, will see how it goes. Night temps go down to about 13C, whearas day temps under heat are 34C warm end, 24C cool end. Changed my light setup as discussed prior. running a 26W 5.0 UV compact under a reflector. Nice and tidy as you can see. Also got a lid for the enclosure with a 1'' gap across the top at the cool end for ventilation.

Ill spend more time F2'ing SW stuff than doing work tomorrow haha! What about refractometers?

Coral rock looks nicer too! Ill get some more coral rock Got a API SW master kit on order. not sure if i can get salifert through work. API kit comes with nitrate, nitrite, KH, PH and phosphates i believe. Isnt magensium, calcium etc.. only really important with inverts?

any idea wether HFF would sell it? ill shoot up there straight after work tomorrow and get more bits of rock too. want to do any interesting scape with the limited space i have. build it nice and tall, with gaps through it, and still be able to circulate water nicely. Oh and no evaporation yet. temp is now stable at 24.5. my hydrometer isnt terribly accurate, gives different readings. will be investing in a refractometer as soon as the tank is left alone cycling :lol: had to actually add a bit more salt today as i raised the temp (has to go and get a decent probe thermometer as my other two didnt seem to read right)

Sweet Flick me a pm. Question to you all, whats the difference in the rock? I have some heavy and hard stuff (lava rock?) and some light stuff which looks nicer. whats the deal with the different types? and is normal aquarium silicone ok to use to stick them together? figured id better whip the rocks out and silicone them into a nicer shape before the tank gets underway too much!

Why not colorbits as the staple then supplement with beef heart etc..?

I like it too! Just went and tested my water. using a API freshwater kit though... PH 8.2 Ammonia: 0.5ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 0ppm KH: 9deg GH: gave up after adding 40 drops. not sure what this means... Test results are looking spot on I think?

Updated pics. More live rock. Heaps of microbubbles from initial tank fill My mixing stuff good SG!