Ismart120

Gourami would be worth a look? Or were you wanting something a bit less common?

Angelius loaches may be better for a more peaceful tank (although skunks are awesome anyway), they dont eat the big mts usually but all the small ones and control the population quite well

Good point, thanks. Might see if I can make it about 600, rather than the 800 I was tying with. Anyone know how much 4x2s are per metre or where to get cheap 2x2s?

Yeah, I was going to build a lip onto the stand to stop it moving around, is the carpet just for weight? Going to put a non slip mat under the tank to stop as much sliding as possible too. Would love to bolt it down but hopefully moving sometime next year hence the need for it to be semi movable.

Size will become an issue, but it might be just worth going up to three foot though? And given the frequency of quakes and seeing my old four foot lodged in the wall, I'm not that keen on lots of height. lol What about 900mm long, 450 high and 400 deep? that gives about 160 litres max water, maybe about 145 in real terms?

Ok, eqc money has almost arrived so I'll finally be able to move my fish out of their temp housing (yes, most of them are still alive even) The real question is, what do I get? I haven't been too fussed on how the juwel stand fared last time (mdf crushed itself) so not really wanting to go down that isle again, I do like the tanks but thought if I'm going to get/build a custom stand, I may as well get everything else custom too. So, I'm aiming for about 125-160 litres, smaller than three foot (just to be a pain), planted, with hoplos, tetras and dwarf loaches/ cichlids - any tank dimensions people can suggest? Also, a place to get this made/ what bracing do I get/ and can I have black silicone please. For the stand, wooden or steel? Will need to move it around a bit later on/ not wanting to spend the earth on it (and will clad it with wood anyway) Again, dimensions? Will have either an ehiem 2213 and/or 2215 running, need to fit this in the stand. Lighting? Mainly crypts and anubias really but may want to go for some red plants too. what build of hood? Note that cats are be present so topless doesn't work. Or do I just go with the juwel rio 125 and hope for the best in the stand? Thanks for any ideas That is all

They can also store what they need so can be nearly always 'pregnant' too.

Not more aggressive as such, just seem to hit heads with fighters more often - similar size, habitat etc

Is the tank planted? I find that makes quite a difference to how they behave in larger tanks; tend to do better when the territories are broken up slightly, males and females both

You wouldn't use it to grow more bell frogs in, say from tadpoles, and once they were adults, you could go with a few smaller coldwater fish in the bottom? White clouds, paradise fish, even slightly heated and have cories?

Actually, thats a good point - they do have a fondness for drowning as I remember. :facepalm:

Haha, at my place it seems to have dropped? From about 7.2 to about 6.5ish

I've been finding shifts with the water parameters too - I think the ground water has changed slightly in different areas due to movement etc.

What about turning it into a white cloud minnow/whistling tree frog setup? Not heated for either, easy to set up and I cant imagine they'd bother each other; the tree frogs wouldn't even really go into the water

You just need a bigger tank... I'll put my hand up for some crypts when you come to selling them though

Well that too, but you know how hard that'd be to prove in court... :facepalm:

Yeah, there should be some form of liability in it, even if just to stop people second guessing things all the time. And I cant imagine the rest of NZ want to keep hearing about what people think is going to happen anyway. Its nearly always based on nothing.

I'm not quite sure thats how it works, I mean, how would the weather forecasters ever make it if that was the case?

Eh, seems we survived somewhat. Bring on the zombies...

I guess I'm still alive? What about everyone else in chch?

The problem with the thin stuff is that it warps easy under heat, so your lights may be an issue. Go for the acrylic if you can

Seen Van Helsing? Thats a real cross bow there... And they're not too bad actually, easy to get accurate with too. You plan to stand there all day? :facepalm:

Ah, but a cross bow as a long range weapon would be better?

Thats looking really good, can I ask what sort of paint and colour you're going to use for the final coat? I'm assuming an oil based one?

Sorry, big wednesday's mine this time, you can have the next... And the problem with guns and zombies is that you just end up attracting more with the loud noises, so guns are a last resort thing anyway . I was under the belief that the fault lines under chch were pretty hard to see in that sense so theres no predicting them around here though?