the-obstacle

I have the exact same regulator / solenoid that p44 posted and it's awesome. I think it'll be a great way to go. The GLA ones don't specifically mention 220-240V so I would assume they're American standard. The Up aqua have a needle valve on them as well it's just not a big chunky one like those have. If you've ordered the GLA one then it looks like a good solenoid. If you haven't ordered yet I'd go up aqua at what looks like a 1/4 of the price and a lot of people on here use it. At the end of the day if it is a 110v unit you can always grab a converter from Dick Smith or similar to run it and they're not a big deal.

Frequency doesn't matter. It's the voltage that matters. The Up Aqua ones come in international and US versions on ebay. The international ones handle 220v and 110v and the US ones are 110v only.

wow, the gold/orange is a nice colour! i'm so used to the flame look

kraftwerk

Yep, just read that :oops: and PM'd you As you were...

oh, I forgot to mention it here. I have a 2kg co2 extinguisher in test for sale if you want it. $60 +shipping (it's already empty and ready to ship). It has the extinguisher handle on it still but all it needs to work is an adapter for the regulator to screw onto the extinguisher screw point.

wow, I'm running a 4900L on the 700L tank. Maybe I've gone a bit overboard...

Ha ha, I was just in Hamilton too. I'm currently building up a stock of 'fish to pass on' in the guppy tank so I'm not allowed any more new fish until they're gone. I've got cardinals though which are better than neons, it's been scientifically proven

I'm no expert so good idea in waiting for someone else. Don't do it unless you have to. The only way to know if you have to is to fill it to the top. If you need to put a temporary centre brace on it to fill it up then that's the way to go. Once it's full see if it leaks. If it leaks then replace it. If not and it looks good go with what you've got. By the sounds of it the tank has been seen by Duncan7 and all he was planning was a centre brace so it probably doesn't need a full rebuild. I'll shut up now.

I have an in test 2KG co2 fire extinguisher spare if anybody wants to buy one. $60 +shipping if required (it's currently empty). It will just need an adapter for the extinguisher to regulator but at a gas place they cost next to nothing. In other news - drove to Hamilton and got more cockatoos today. They're awesome. It seems I didn't really think this one through though so they're going in a holding tank for a few weeks while I sort everything out and chose the final stock list for each tank.

one day I'll see what I can do...

Awesome! What exactly is bubble counter fluid? I just used water, am I in for big trouble?

If you change any silicone change it all. Tear the tank down to glass panes and put it back together again. If it looks good I wouldn't bother with the hassle of playing with silicone though. By the sounds of it it needs a centre brace to fill to the top? I would put one on temporarily, fill the tank to the top as a test, empty, then remove the brace (a razor blade and some gentle love) and get to work on the background. This will be a lot easier than tearing it down and starting again.

Nope, I've had to put it off for another day :roll: I'm off to Hamilton to pick up some fish Might get a bit of time tonight but it all depends on whether or not I can get the apisto wrigglers out first. It's fairly bad timing to be honest as I'd like them to grow out enough to at least be able to survive without their mother guarding them. I did test the sand in a glass and it looks awesome!

Yeah, at that price they're a bit of a stretch. I know what you mean about heart breaking apistos - Ryan gave me a beautiful female and she got beaten by my male (harem breeding didn't work this time) so she gave up and hid in the corner and didn't eat until she passed away. I moved her to a different tank on her own and she still wouldn't eat/swim much. I am gutted about the loss but still have my original pair which have had another spawn so I'm hoping to replace her.

I've used Paint.NET for all of the above. I had to find a script for red eye removal but I'm sure I found one really easily. It's been a few months since I used it so off the top of my head can't remember how. Oh, hang on, here's a little helpful article on exactly how to do it.

Don't tempt me. I'm already thinking I need a breeding setup just for the pandas and cockatoos. Although they already do it without any help from me I think less predators in the tank at the time will lead to better outcomes. I'm sure it's your turn

The iron reacts to acidic water or the fish? The fish are used to acidic water but I'll be making sure it doesn't lower the PH at all. Hmmm, ok, I'll do some more research...

Got about 15-20kg of black iron sand from Muriwai today. It's BLACK! and looks awesome with the rocks I have. I'll be redoing the lounge display tank tomorrow (or maybe the next day now) so will post pics. I'll be testing the water parameters and doing multiple water changes over the next few weeks and if it's all good it'll be going in my big tank. Stoked!

They're cool eh? A panda in a tuxedo.

So I went to my usual dog walking spot out at Muriwai today and took a bucket and an empty daltons sand bag and got about 20kgs of beautiful black black sand. I'm not sure it's going in this tank yet as I want to test what it does to water conditions, plants etc. but I'm in the mood to strip down my living room tank and re-scape it so it'll go in there for the trial. Once I know it works and is safe I'll be collecting more for the big tank. I'll hopefully get some pictures tomorrow if I get the lounge tank torn down, cleaned and rescaped tomorrow.

ha! tell me about it...

I hear that. I've found some awesome almost black silica sand at muriwai that I'm hoping to collect tomorrow. I don't know how it'll react with plants but I'm hoping to test a few pandas on it to see if they like it. I'll post pics in a few days when I've got it in a small trial tank.

I commented in my previous post about ones I got from a breeder but now that I think of it I got the female from what I assume is a local breeder through HFF about 9 months ago. I have some of her male offspring which are now showing tripple red markings so I guess they're not pure. I don't understand the difference with the wavy line vs. straight line etc. Have you got any pictures? What breed coreys were they?

I commented in my previous post about ones I got from a breeder but now that I think of it I got the female from what I assume is a local breeder through HFF about 9 months ago. I have some of her male offspring which are now showing tripple red markings so I guess they're not pure. I don't understand the difference with the wavy line vs. straight line etc. Have you got any pictures? What breed coreys were they?