Morcs

Picking up a blue tongue on friday

Id just ensure it sits above 3 degrees. And looking good btw

Cool, yeah id just cut back a bit and monitor your levels, see if it makes a difference. Selling up as got lots of tanks at work, and its hard to be as interested in a home tank when its in the garage rather than the living room So having a terrarium at home instead

PH crashing is potentially fatal. A low PH on its own is fine, so long as that is what the fish are used to. Its a logarithmic scale so any change is a BIG change, just ensure it keeps at a stable level. Along with that ensure you water change weekly, otherwise the plants will absorb all the carbonates out of the water, leaving you with 0 KH, and then your PH will craaaaaash (i have experienced this) Do you have a KH test kit? I have one you can borrow, though your KH is going to be around 3 Degress i think. I personally would put a bit of crushed oyster shell in. just to be on the safe safe. And for a plant, Parviflorus tropica! I have 4 at work if you want to check them out.

Hey Tim, 1) Nitrate levels of 20ppm arent anything to worry about, just keep em below 40ppm. Have you tested your water supply for nitrates? if they are present then thats where the problem lies. Nitrate levels will never be zero unless you change 100%, and then they would start rising again straight away. Oscars are messy and produce a lot of waste so its not a suprising figure to have on a weekly basis, it means your bio filtration is working well. However, I see the concern as the O is only a juvenile at this stage and hes going to get a whole lot messier when hes all grown up... It does seem strange as I had 2 medium oscars, a large flowerhorn and a few other 20cm fish in my 430L, and probably changed the same amount of water per week, and my nitrates were never above 10. I recommend cutting back on the feeding. Oscars will grow fast even with feeding that is only 'adequate' 2) You probably wont get a higher flow rate, but you may achieve better circulation, but better flow wont affect the above. Hope this helps, Pete

I just got a Arcadia 30w 36inch 6% UVB for mine, like was mentioned in my terrarium thread, its probably overkill, and mines only going to be at a 45cm distance, so ive set it to only be on for 10hrs per day. I think you should be fine at 60cm. Ive read that some Breeders have kept BTS' for years with no UV and have seen no ill effects, but that just shows their hardiness, so yeah, id think you would be fine with that tube from what i know.

What kind of work is it? Make the most of the time between shifts, get good rest, especially if you deal with any dangerous equipment, one little laspe in concertration due to tiredness can be fatal.

Chur!

You can, as BTs looooove to burrow apparently. But like sand etc.. it can be quite messy. the astroturf i will just pull out, and blast with a hose... Total cost at retail value, less than $600 I already had the logs and light hood, but ontop of that its cost me less than $400

Finished Picked up some more bits from work today, UV tube, bowls, dual probe thermometer, calcium and vitamin supplments, tongs etc 60W spot is the light of choice for heat. directly under the lamp it heats to 35C, just trialling now to see what the temp gradient comes out like at either end of the tank. Going to run a 12hr heat period, and a 10hr light period (30w UV tube)

Hehe feeder fish ftw! good stuff

Pictus, especially in a group just fang it round and round the tank, really busy and active, just think there isnt enough floorspace even in ya tank for the pictus to zoom around without annoying the polys, and it would be quite an expensive experient to try it out, and they arent easy fish to sell would be cool though, i think they are awesome.

I would advise against it. mine gave my ornate a lot of grief.

Through the lid in the bin. Didnt turn out to the standard id hoped. going for an open top, and just cut a piece of MDF to span the tank to bolt the heat lamp onto. Have begun temp trials. the basking area has warmed up and the temp is sat around 34-35. the max for BTs from reading is 35, so ill leave it on for a few more hours and see how it goes. Thats with a 60w spotlight, tomorrow will trial the 40w. definately wont need the 100w that i bought. Stand is currently in the garage after a few coats of woodstain.

Making a lid. Bought some mdf (in hindsight, ply wouldve been much better!) Cut sections of the mdf for a frame, the glued the mesh on. The lid is a perfect fit onto the open area of the tank. Now the glue holding the frame together has cured, i can flip it over to make some nice edging to reinforce it, and sandwich the mesh. When construction is done I shall be sanding away the excess glue, and varnishing with a mahogany coloured woodstain And then i can mount my heatlamp, and my aquarium is being emptied today so I can pinch my light unit for this Next pictures should be of a 95% finished terrarium, still got to pay for a UV tube, and wait for my ordered bits to come in (bowls etc...)

Im having trouble figuring the best way to have the heat lamp unit mounted due to the way the tank is constructed. ive got metal bracket things which i can kinda bend (though they are very thick and not very workable) but still cant get it mounted how id like. Thinking yes a thin ply top, varnished, with a cutout with a ventilation window on the cooler side, and the heat lamp screwed under the other side.

Beardie is like 2 months old. Will probably just go and get a bluey or two as soon as its setup fully :lol: ... ill worry about the beardie nearer the time.

Update! Picked up the terrarium last night. threw the basking tile, grass and some random logs in just for now. Went to mitre 10. Spent a whole $13 on 3 different wattage bulbs (40,60,100) and some mesh. When my dual probe thermometer comes in ill play around with the different bulbs as suggested. Got a ceramic holder and cage from work today too, just got to figure out how to mount it, and the mesh top. More pics coming soon!

How many guppies a big dat can eat in 2 minutes when it hasnt been fed for a week?

Cheers, so any spotlight type bulb will suffice? that would be good, would definately be able to play around with different wattages as they are cheap. I had a heart attack even at my staff-buy price on a exo terra heat bulb today. Ill probably go with the ceramic bulb holder too though. For UV, going to use my aquariums 90cm T8 light hood running a 30W UV10.0 across the length of the tank, overkill in the size of light or UV rating? Thanks for your input, im still learning about reptiles

Yep, havent started thinking about the cool end yet! going to see how it looks with the current bits in, and then decide what to do with the rest and got to figure out what to use so he can actually get up onto the basking tile, probably a piece of driftwood. What wattage heatlamp do you think id be able to get away with? Tank is 45 tall, basking area is 9cm off the ground, and bulb would probably hang inside the top corner, meaning a distance of around 25cm.

This thread will be my log. It will be housing a baby beardie for a friend for a while whilst they are overseas, then hopefully get my hands on a baby blue tongue My tank is being made today, a 1200x450x450 with front sliding doors thanks to Greg at Tanks2u, picking up tuesday night. Decided to make a 'stand' today. Couldnt find a cheap coffee table in the right dimensions. I liked the idea of having the tank close to the floor, so a very simple stand made from a 10mm ply sheet, and some sections of 45x45mm timber. Next up was my basking platform. I liked the idea of using a tile, so got a 305x305mm floor tile. In black. should heat up nicely meaning i can use a lower wattage heat bulb. Had trouble wondering how to raise it, decided that pvc tubing cut into 9cm sections would suffice, making it a good distance from the lamp, and providing a 'cave' underneath. For the 'substrate' im going to try the artificial turf stuff. looks good, and easy to clean (pull out, hose off) Will post more pics once the tank is here!

2 FX5s rather than a 2080!

Pair of convicts? I know they are common as, blah blah, but watching a pair raise their young is a sight to behold.

I dont think you could go with a singular cichlid in a AR850 - The general idea of housing a singular cichlid is to have a 'wet pet', and the only cichlids that fit that category just happen to grow 12''+