the-obstacle

Absolutely, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be the hero here but I do have a couple of months off work so figure putting in manpower would be the least I could do. I've got friends in the SAR and Red Cross and have signed up for the student army etc. and will wait for the calls to come in for general man power. I just thought if there was anybody here looking for relief from overstocking of animals they'd taken in, or if they know of anybody with animals they can't look after, I would offer to bring them back with me.

I love apistos. :love:

Does anybody want a hand with pets / jobs around the house etc. in chch? I'm keen to come down but so far the call for volunteers hasn't come in so if I can find somebody that needs something done I'll be there in a flash. Also, I'm happy to take a few fish / cats / dogs / animals with me back to AKL for either temporary or permanent re-homing. I'm sure there are heaps of people up here with tank space and I have a few contacts for other animal rehousing. Basically just offering any help at all to anybody that needs it. cheers dan

+1

Ahhhh, now it's all making sense. It's going to be fairly lightly stocked otherwise - a few pandas, some cardinals and a couple of apistos. Thanks for the tip.

I'm planning stock for my new tank and thought I'd see what aqadvisor has to say about the stock levels. When I put in geo. altifrons it tells me 700L is not going to be big enough for 8 adults but if I put in 8 geo. suri. instead it's only 50% of my tank stock levels. Does this seem right? Everything I've read suggests they both grow to 25-30cm as adults. I guess the real question is - are 8 geos too many for a 700L tank?

Very nice. Simple but effective.

It was from a breeder up here, I'll see if I can find her details and get back to you...

Keen to do the panda bloodline swap at some point before you go if you're still keen? I'd need you to pick them (I'm still unsure of their sexes but have a good enough idea) but I think even we did 2 for 2 it'd be a good way to mix it up a bit.

Interestingly mine is the same from the same breeder. Awesome colours but not the best skeleton. I'll see what comes of my fry.

the tank is full for the first time. I just wanted to test the seals and level of the stand etc. I'll let it soak for a few days while I gather the ingredients for the layout and then it'll be all on for the build. I've done a full 360 on the plans for this tank. It's going to be stocked with geos and pandas and a school or 2 of tetra (cardinals and maybe something a little higher up the water column). The front half or so of the tank will be sand only and the rear will be made up of a stone wall housing a raised planted area with daltons in the base and then sand to seal and finally some bigger stones so the geos can't get them in their mouth. I went to Pakiri on Saturday and came home with some big bits of drift wood which are currently soaking on the deck in tubs that are far too small. Am I likely to get silicone toxins in the wood if I soak in the tank on this first fill? The silicone has been curing for a week and a half and most of the smell has gone.

When did you last replace your carbon filter cartridge? That's disgusting water for town supply.

ryanjury showed me how his ones bite when he gave me the tour of his place a while back. he said "they bite, it really hurts, watch this" :roll: I laughed a lot.

Dude! Sweet!

Awesome! Thanks heaps.

beauties

Yeah, I guess there is a bit of sap in the wood but once it dries it's seriously hard wood. I'll report back once I know...

awesome

I think i'll just give it a go...

For a steel frame custom made that's a pretty reasonable price. I went down the path of pricing up my stand before I built it myself and the steel stand was about $600 for my tank size. Yours is a bit bigger (heaps bigger) so it seems like a good price. I'd go with it.

It's well dry now. It's been on the lawn for a month in the sun. Seeing as I can't afford to do anything with the big tank I might as well turn it into a soaking pool for a while. See what interesting bits I can come up with.

This super slow build just got a whole lot slower. I'm having to take a few months off work which means no income so I'll be doing this one super DIY styles. It sucks that although work stops mortgage payments don't.

I've just cut down 1.5 apple trees and I've got a heap of cool pieces that might work in an aquarium. Is apple wood safe to use?

Sweet! I look forward to the pics.

Looks like the stuff HFF sells as "black grit"?