Bishop

Thanks. I can, pm me your tank dimensions and will see if we can make them fit to your tank.

How big is this tank? Big enough for a swim? looks primo man.

That looks like a lot of fun. And one hell of an addiction. :smln:

Looks good man.

I wonder if anybody ever actually learnt anything about language from being corrected on the internet. Or, more to the point, ever put those things into practice.

Yeah poly, rubber or anything like that. Spotlight usually have something.

I was told to do the same actually, but I looked at them and just thought they really weren't worth the effort. Cheap design and materials.

Thanks man, will see how it all goes, hopefully this one will be up for longer than the last.

Whats your filter? and how planted is it? Mine is in the set up stage too but was looking for around the same amount of fish. What's the stocking level if you remove the Pleco?

Well, back into it again. Moved Cities yet again so fish tank went on hold and had to be broken down and emptied. Just when I felt like I was getting the hang of making plants grow for longer than a few weeks. For the 100th time, starting from scratch... Lots of words so just scroll through the pics if you're that was inclined. Glass lily pipes broke when I was cleaning them, fixable but made me want new ones. Found some stainless steel pipes overseas for a large sum of cash. Stainless matches my door handles so added to my wish list. Always prefer the DIY route so made my own. ( black tape is temporary ). They are bloody good imo, only worry is that they are heavy and I am a neanderthal when it comes to moving stuff around. Can imagine putting one through the side of the tank. Pulled apart my light fixture to find it was rusty in parts and the T5 sockets had gone brittle and fallen apart. Was either fix the parts or buy a new fixture. Determined not to sink my entire savings into this project I decided to fix what was there. The parts were some crazy Chinese design that I could only find in amounts of 100. Was easy to go for a new one. One of my biggest annoyances with the old fixture was having 4 t5's on two switches ( 2 each ) but one power cord. At around 5 watts per gallon its was a pain in the ### to work out my light cycle and keep to it. The second switch had to be flipped on and off manually. :an!gry Again I could either wire a new cord in or see whats on the market. Found these which had okay reviews and they were only $100 bucks with bulbs. But... Forgot to ask for the right bulbs to got 4 x 6500k cheap bulbs and of course forgot to look if it was 250 watts or not. By the time the guy replied to my email he said it had been sent. Pretty standard behavior from myself. Lights arrived had to buy a new plug end and then it sunk in that the ballasts were US power supply. I like to play with things I know nothing about so took the lights apart and removed the balast. Went over them to see if the parts could be replaced and found that the quality was really really average. ( $100 quad t5 light fixture, go figure :nilly: ) Well my old lights had good balasts so pulled them both apart and swapped them over. Best thing about the new fixture is the timer. Its a bit ugly and the LED's night lights are gimmicky but that timer is sweet and $100 bucks seems like a bargain. Wires in the old fixture were so bad, every wire was red. Bit of a headache but sorted. Re wired the new fixture but used old connectors which made me feel unsafe. so got new ones and ... Had to label the t5 fittings so I didn't screw it up. Light works really well, a bit dim as the old balasts are 3-4 years old but it works. no house fire yet :happy2: Not sure why I do everything the hard way but that's it for now.

:spop:

Welcome back. O/

Great photos mate.

680 is quite high for LED's ?, T5's would be pricey assuming you would be replacing all the bulbs etc. Metal Halides and t5's seem the best fit. Can get a light rail to hang your lights off for around $100 I would say if holes in your ceiling are the only thing holding you back.

'Family' is quite a broad spectrum of fish.

Cichlidae - Geophaginae

Actually didn't see this was 340 L when I first read it. Thats really good. Can I ask your filtration and lighting regime? IMO that Mcandra, once grown in will be a nice focal point / contrast, but as of now it looks a bit scragly.

Looks good, nice and lush green.

Hey bro. Moved a while ago. way to busy up here lol Stem plants don't seem to want to be my friends, so some Bolbitis would be good although I haven't seen any. Any yeah, cant live without my moss.

Thanks for the replies. I don't have an accurate list as yet of plants that I am after. Trying to keep it basic this time. but xmas moss, Java fern, small crypts, Anubius, ( pref petite ) Amazon swords ( red/green ) and possibly Cyperus helferi although swords and Cyperus grow a bit too tall for my tank, so maybe tall hairgrass and some Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides. The problem is I have to start from scratch again, I have no holding tank so would prefer to get the substrate and hardscape set up and have the plants within two days. Trade me is always the best source of plants for me but there is never anything that I want when I need it so I get mouse happy and end up buying everything I can. Was hopping HFF had a good selection but haven't been there yet.

Looking good. Always nice to see the progress pics.

Been away for a bit, tanks all pulled down but ready to get my last tank cranking. Any advice on the best place to but tropical plants In Auckland? Best range/quality. I would really prefer getting them all at once. thanks

Cheers bro, good to see you're still around. That Anubias in there is the same stuff you gave me, Crazy to think it survived all that and is still going strong.

If you are getting it made I am sure you will be fine mate, I can't remember what it was of the top of my head. I think i threw the tube out in disgust but Ill have a look. I think this was a case of the place just wanting to sell me something. Let you know when I find out what it was.

A little update, its been awhile. This thread was supposed to be a bit of a journal for me but I lost a few images of the tank being built ect so there is a big gap. Skip to the images to bypass the boring read Made the new tank with a new architecture ( for use of a better word ), used black silicone, tested it and got it set up. Woke up one morning to let the dog out and realized I had wet socks. Bit of a disaster but managed to patch up the tank with water still in it ( best not to ask ). About a week later the other end lost its seal, so had to take everything out and reseal the tank. Upon pulling the tank apart the silicone was too easy to take off so decided against using black again. ( probably just a bad batch/wrong silicone, but had that stuff recommended ) Rebuilt the tank using Sellys brand, as I had built so many before with it I knew it could be trusted. Most of my plants in the hospital tank died. ( Crypts melted etc etc ) So had to replant a new tank with hardly any plants and tried to get them to grow out. Brought some more and planned a new tank got it set up and found out a few days later we had to move cities due to work :an!gry Managed to sell off most of my gear to some nice people in palmy, along with my fish. Prepared all the plants for travel and found out after the movers had left with our stuff that they didn't and wouldn't deliver over the long weekend. After they got delivered with my tank I put them in a holding tank to set up the new one while I planned out what I wanted to do. With all the moving tanks I think the plants just had enough and most died. So again I had to set up a grow out tank and try and get a plan sorted. Thought of a plan of what I wanted, crypt heavy layout. Crypts melted as they do and came back really strong. After about a month of that they all melted away within about 3 days. Not happy &c:ry Anyway it gave me some time to rethink what I wanted to do. Brought a new range of plants, which still need to be added too as this grows out I will buy some plants to fit the empty spaces and as they become available. Been looking for some HYDROCOTYLE SIBTHORPIOIDES for ages, hint hint :ton: Still in its growing stage right now but here are the pics for any interested. Coming along slowly but everything seems healthy ( for now ) A big thanks too to the regular trade me sellers , plants are always healthy and in great condition.