the-obstacle

and so it begins... I had to throw the extra rubble and the big bit of left over rock in to cycle so it doesn't look quite as good at the moment. For the next few weeks it'll look like a black blob on a table as it's currently wrapped in a black rubbish bag to keep the light out for the cycle. Exciting times! I've got enough rock and new buckets to make a sweet diy turf scrubber too.

+1 - but you never know. I personally would have gone with a tank the maximum width of the unit so the down forces transferred to the vertical legs directly at the outer edges. Then again, it could be sweet. Don't worry about it, just be aware it could happen. Nice tank by the way

Thanks, I'll go to the LFS for some formalin now. I've just done the first big water change to get the wundow tonic out. Will do another in a few hours and then start the formalin. Fingers crossed.

I was under the impression clamp fin was a symptom of illness not an actual disease. Interesting - i'll do some more research. Thanks.

Is it the white powder all over his nose that gives it away? (sorry, I had to ask :slfg: )

Thanks, that makes me feel better. all up in their grills? :lol: but seriously - I did wonder this but what would the symptoms be? I lost one smaller one today but the rest are still the same. I'll happily try anything to get them better but what would I be trying to treat with these?

boxer red or green

Nobody? Well, I did a 10% water change today and added some wunder tonic for good measure (i know, i know...) and the angels went from sitting really still in the corner to being a bit more active. After a little while they started flashing the bottom of the tank so I've either caused them to have a reaction or whatever they've got reacted to the tonic and they started to feel it. I'll keep an eye on them and may do 2 50% water changes tomorrow to get the tonic out if they're not getting any better. If they stay a little bit more active I'll carry on with the tonic and treat as recommended. Still nothing visible on their scales though.

Ira is right - co2 tanks have a much higher pressure rating than LPG tanks. :slfg: Dive tanks have an even higher rating (3000psi) and in theory can be converted to co2 with the appropriate valve but it is at the discretion of your local gas fitter whether they will do the conversion and guarantee to fill them later on down the track. On my tank it'd take about 3 years to empty a dive tank worth of co2 and I'm not sure I'd trust that the same guy at the shop will be there to let me refill it again.

Alan is right -the co2 tanks have a much higher pressure rating and are generally a lot thicker walled than an lpg tank. CO2 extinguishers either have the perfect thread for a standard aquarium regulator or one that is too small for the regulator, in which case an adaptor is about $5 or less. It's possible that the newer ones have the right size for regulators and the older standard needs the adaptor but I'm not certain of that. There are definitely 2 types of fitting for CO2 extinguishers though.

fork bacon or eggs?

Very nice.

Flick me some details?

used to?

I doubt you'd get a big pH swing with DIY unless it's a little tank and 2 x 3 litre DIY bottles.

For the price you're better to invest a little bit more for something that will suit for when you upgrade to a bigger tank. Note I didn't say 'if'

Woo hoo! Finally!

A pair of any apisto will be fine but WILL get aggressive when/if breeding. I lost a lot of cories in my display tank because of a breeding pair of cockatoos. As long as the tank is not overstocked and there are plenty of hiding places they'll be a great addition to your tank.

That is interesting. Thanks to global warming we'll soon be able to harvest our own tropical marine fish from the hauraki gulf :slfg: :facepalm:

Argh! So I've had my angels in my community tank for about 6 weeks and they've been relatively lively and happy. Yesterday I went under the house and found all of them had clamped fins and were hardly moving, just sitting in the gentlest part of the tank and trying not to exert much effort. I threw together a separate tank for them with 50/50 existing tank water and fresh water from the hose and then waited for the heaters to bring the water up to the same temp as the tank so I could transfer them. They've been living in 26 degree water, give or take .5 depending on the weather, and I transfered them at 26 degrees and have now got the heaters doing their best to get to 30 degrees. There are no other signs of what's going on other than their lethargy and clamped fins. They're able to move in all parts of the water column so their swim bladder isn't stuffed and they don't appear to have and fungus / white spots / fluff / bloating so I'm at a bit of a loss as to what it is. I'm hoping they're just a stressed about having been at 26 degrees for so long and a good dose of warmer water will get them back to normal. I've put some salt in with them as well for good measure. Any ideas of what I'm dealing with?

Bah haa haa! :sml1:

Lose the plants and get more wood. :sml2: :thup:

So you don't already have them? If you're yet to get them I'd recommend going another direction but if you've got them then go for a mix maybe 2:1 white:blue at the most for daytime light conditions. I feel like I'm the only one giving advice here. That either means I'm saying the right things or nobody is reading this. :dunno:

x5! Really really cool.

Ahh, good point! There's a beginners guide on nano-reef.com that mentions hermit crabs, in the US of course, that spend their time cleaning the sand a grain at a time. I'm not sure if we can get tropical hermits here but I haven't read anything else that manages to clean like they do. edit: it seems you can get tropical hermits here. I'm planning to go crushed coral/shell sand to increase the amount of bio filtration. Never going to be adding silica to the marine tank.