Pegasus

Seems you may have a point Ira. On checking several sites nobody seems to have the article I mentioned although this company had something similar, but no photo was available. ... Battery Vac Aquarium Vacuum Cleaner. Here's an easy way to clean your aquarium gravel. The battery-powered motor uses two C batteries, has a reusable filter bag ... www.aquariumsite.org/prodshow.cfm?ID=666 - 5k - Cached - Similar pages [ More results from www.aquariumsite.org ] Bill

Getting Technical Vacuum: Aspace devoid of any matter. The word "vacuum" in our discussion is a figure of speech. There was, and probably still is, a small vacuum unit consisting of a simple airlift with a very fine mesh bag attached to the outlet. This allowed one to suck up the debris from the gravel without losing any water as the system worked completely underwater. Last I heard there was one that was battery operated and fully submersible. Bill. This is diverting from the subject in hand, we have a member here with a problem. Can you help him/her??

It means just what it says. If you "Siphon" the rubbish off then you are killing two birds with one stone and saving another task. Vacuums usualy collect the rubbish in a bag of some sort and don't usually remove the water. Could be wrong, I often am Bill

Shame on yer Caryl... three times a year :) Hi Arly, Cloudy water is usually a sign of a high bacteria buildup, but if a tank has just been filled or given a heavy water change it could be suspended oxygen in the water made up of very tiny bubbles. If the cloudiness is caused by bacteria, try this. An old trick used by hardened aquarists was to place a few handsful of gravel from an established tank, into the cloudy tank, and if possible a filter from an established tank. Adding a bit of water from another tank wouldn't harm either. This helps to speed the "cycle" up, as they call it. Provided you have no fish in the cloudy tank then you have no problems regarding transmitting anything undesireable. What the gravel, filter and water do is introduce some of the good guys, (The good bacteria) and these go to work and should clear the tank in only a few hours. What "Cycling" is, is creating a biological filtration system that will control the condition of the water in your tank. The filtering elements in your filter system, should it be gravel or a medium of some sort, become coated in bacteria, and these bacteria consume much of the waste products that fish produce in the way of ammonia. They (the fish) excrete this through feces, urine, and through the gills. Ammonia at high levels is toxic and has to be changed to ammonium, which can also be harmful at high levels. Water high in nitrites means that the bio filtration isn't working, and your cloudy water "could" be a sign of this. You need to constantly check your nitrite and nitrate levels before you do your water changes. Also you should check the water you are ADDING to the tank, as this could be completely opposite to what you are trying to achieve. I always make sure the water is the same temperature before adding, but there are many views on this. Regarding water changes, if aquarists get into the habit of SIPHONING the rubbish from their tanks instead of VACUUMING, then the water siphoned off can be thrown out and the water you replace it with is your water change. Simple, easy, and few probs with water conditions. I've said it before, but a "Balanced" tank practically looks after itself. If you are running an undergravel filter and have turned it off for any amount of time you will get a bacteria build up that can cause the cloudy water. Turning it off (or any filter) for a prolonged period can also kill the good bacteria that has begun to populate the substrate. These die rapidly, hence the cloudy water. This is why you should never clean a filter until it is spotless, you should leave some good bacteria on it and not leave it out of the water too long. All filters become "alive" after a period of time. Just my opinion, but ANYTHING that you add to a tank in the form of chemicals during the setting up period, is going to upset the balance one way or another. pH can cause almost instant growths in algae, which may appear to cloud the water, so you need to check this constantly as well. What fish have you got in it, if any? What is the ammonia level, the nitrite and nitrate level, the pH and the dH (hardness)? What have you got in the tank besides water, any gravel, rocks, ornaments etc,? Some rocks/ornaments break down and cause cloudiness. Is the tank planted? What filter system are you using? (Inside/outside/power/etc) Are you running activated carbon in it? Also what other "additives" have you put in the tank since you set it up? Lotsa questions, but to help we need lotsa answers Regards Bill (Pegasus)

Like me, my books are pretty well worn and quite old, but the Etroplus suratensis in my books is called the "Banded Chromide" (Bloch) Here it says they need one tablespoon to every four litres, or the equivalent of 10% seawater, so I assume this "could" be classed as brackish. Either way, if the fish "are" indeed suffering then something should be done about it. They have no website, but do have an email contact listed in the yellow pages. Apparently the fish is a food fish in India and grows to around 8cm, but around 40cm in captivity and can be quite aggressive and only be trusted with fish of a similar size. They congregate in the brackish areas of rivers but are very seldom found in actual marine conditions. The article ends by saying "along with their inability to do well in fresh water this will always keep them from becoming favorites among aquarist" I personally can't ever remember keeping Chromides, but I hate to hear of any fish suffering through neglectful shopowners, should this be the case. This site seems to have some good info on the Chromides. http://www.mongabay.com/fish/asian_cichlids.htm Regards Bill (Pegasus)

Hi Midas, Well at least you tried, and hopefully they will sort it out, or get some decent staff that understand the needs of certain fish. Might be time to suggest they join the New Zealand Fishroom :) To be fair to the shop, according to my books the Orange Chromide should be kept in fresh clean water with around a quarter teaspoon full of salt added for each litre, but if this would then class the water as "brackish" I don't know, perhaps someone else could clear up exactly how much salt a tank needs before it is classed as brackish?? Regards Bill

Great post Batman, keep em coming Try him with a few white worms or chopped up eath worm.

Hi Benny, Read your PM (Private message) Just looked to see if Wet Pets were on the net, but it seems they are not. If you feel the fish in question are suffering you could contact the shop and explain your situation. If you are a regular in the shop then perhaps they might listen to you, or you could suggest they log on here to see the reactions they are getting by keeping fish that it seems they know nothing about. JMO of course. Bill

EVERYONE got carried away.... Now about those Chromides... Talk to us :)

Thank you finally Benny. After sixteen.... Yes 16 unrelated emails arriving in my mail to things with nothing to do with the quiz I think it was only right that someone complained. Nothing wrong with the posts, all interesting stuff in the right section, and this section need a few interesting topics.

You have done nothing to offend me so no apology is needed, and your "Opinions" as you put it are most welcome and valued to us all as long as they don't affect the livelyhood of a company like Brooklands or anyone else for that matter. Your "remarks" were of a harmful nature, and this is the reason I asked you to remove your post, and I will do the same with my posts. If you wish to continue this discussion please do so in the 2 hot to handle section as this is no place for a debate.

Welcome to the bug Terry. After running the fillet up the seams leave it for five minutes, then damp your finger and run it gently up the seams and this will give a nice finish. This also forces the silicone into the seams and into the tiny imperfections where the glass was cut. Practice makes perfect... Make another one... or two... or three... :)

Added your link to the "Useful Links" Boban. Must have overlooked it first time around. Your remarks are uncalled for Ira and upon viewing the said site, yes, there are a few spelling mistakes, but the information given is basically sound. We all make typing errors, and there are many on these boards, but remarks of this nature about companies that rely on aquarists for their living are not needed on this forum. This will probably cause another long discussion, but I feel as moderator of this section that you should either edit or remove your post, preferrably the latter. Regards Pegasus.

We are talking here about the cost of a heater against the cost of a tank full of fish. Is it really worth the risk relying on a heater that has worked for several years, or the thermostat for that matter, which can stick and practicaly boil your fish, which happened to me on one occasion. Small low wattage heaters have to work twice as hard as bigger heaters to maintain an even temperature and therefor are on longer than a large one, so fitting a small heater in the hope of saving costs is foolish. With the cold weather and sudden drops in temperature it doesn't take long for the temperature to drop in a tank if the heater fails. In England during the winter months we used to cover our tanks overnight with old blankets to keep the heat in just in case there was a power failure (which occasionally could last for several hours) or a sharp drop in temperature. On tanks where the back and sides were not showing we would attach polystyrene sheets to conserve heat and reduce power costs. In any event, it pays to have a heater and stat on hand, as procuring one in a rush could be a problem. Regards Pegasus (Bill)

Choice fish Benny. I've added your link to the "Members Fish" in the Useful Links section. Anyone else with fishy links?? Bill

Thanks Cees, there may be a few links on the old site or this that I missed and I appreciate your acknowledgement. At least someone found it useful I loved the bit where Caryl said, "11 hits on this Forum and no replies? Come on people, get your finger out and start typing!" Happy days Regards Pegasus (Bill)

Hi Caryl, Not too sure about the tech details, could have been a fungicide or a fungus retardant, but all I know is that it worked. The guy came into the shop one day and made me an offer I couldn't refuse, namely to test these new sealers they had developed for glass free of charge, and if I did they would supply me with all the sealer I needed. Many didn't have the strength, others broke down after time, and others fungused. They never told me the "secret ingredient" but it certainly worked as far as the fungus was concerned. Regards Pegasus (Bill)

Hi Warren, My project was in no way as technical as yours and in many cases it was a "Try it and see" approach, but I knew from the very start that the front and sides would bow and that any form of paint or resin would crack as the tank flexed. This was the reason for using the product I did. Luckily I got the construction right first time Just out of interest, how are you going to heat that tank of yours. Must have shares in the power company This is my biggest concern once I do start up again, as I don't want to dabble, I want a real fish house setup with perhaps a couple of dozen tanks, to start with at least . (Don't tell the missus ) I'm working on a heating system that will add nothing to my power bill or incur any additional costs apart from the initial installation, uses no fuel of any sort, requires no maintainance, will supply any amount of individual tanks without mixing water from one to the other and is not dependant on the power company if the power fails, and on paper it looks pretty good, but would not be suitable for general use. Sounds impossible, but most things can be worked out if you think hard enough, and I've done a lot of thinking Now if only I could get the lights to work for nothing I'd be on to a winner BTW. I did several tests on bits of wood covered in various resins, paints, and sealers. I dropped them into an established tank and weighted them down. Many fungused after a short while and were unsuitable, but the Pondseal didn't and this was another reason I used it. Might be a good idea to do some tests before you go the whole hog and splash out on expensive coverings. Many of the silicone sealers in the early days suffered from fungus attack, but I was fortunate enough to do the trials for Evo, the adhesive company in England who supplied me with as much sealer as I wanted FOC. None worked until they added the fungicide and from that point on it was all go. This was before Dow Corning had brought the sealers onto the market and before all glass tanks became popular. Regards Pegasus (Bill)

Hi Benny, The product I used to seal everything was called "Pondseal" and when applied it forms a firm rubbery seal to the inside of the tank. They may have a different name for it over here, as I was in the UK at the time of building my tank. It (Pondseal) was designed for outside ponds and pools, but was a great success on the wooden tank I made. Some products I tried fungused after a short while, or peeled off but this product passed all the tests and never peeled or split and stood up to the rasping of the Plecostomuses. Two foot deep might be a bit shallow for your Goramy, because you won't be able to take advantage of the full two foot depth as you have to leave an area to support the glass, and I recommend a minimum of three inch (75mm) all around supported against the wood front which would only leave the viewing area of 18" (450mm) which might be a bit small on a tank the size you are planning. Going to 5'x3'highx2'wide would be good, but 5x3x3 would be better. If you have the room the deeper size would be a better approach. Email me if you need some construction help. Regards Pegasus (Bill)

Seems there are a few species of Inanga> I'd never heard of these, so I looked them up. http://www.niwa.cri.nz/rc/freshwater/fi ... inanga.htm http://www.niwa.cri.nz/rc/freshwater/fi ... inanga.htm The final statement was, Inanga make good pets and can be trained to eat out of your hand. Try raising some in a cool-water aquarium or use them instead of goldfish in outdoor pools and ponds.

Seems there are a few species of Inanga> I'd never heard of these, so I looked them up. The final statement was, Inanga make good pets and can be trained to eat out of your hand. Try raising some in a cool-water aquarium or use them instead of goldfish in outdoor pools and ponds.

Hi Crouchie, welcome to the NZFR boards, so what fish do you breed, you may even sell a few to the members

Hi Warren, Don't know how much of an artist you are, or if you have the right paints but why not do a three dimensional background of say a rock outcrop with a darkened cave or something similar, or are you referring to the colour you will mix in your final interior coating? Seems there are many others with BIG tanks on their minds. Click on this link. http://www.desertaquaria.com/yabb/cgi-b ... 1014355950 Regards Pegasus.

After trying to find a paticular link on the site I thought it might be time to have them in one place if Cees doesn't mind as the site is growing rapidly. I've place it above as an anouncement so that I can lock the thread, but if you have a link you want to add on a topic or useful site then leave me a message in the PM box and I'll add it. Being fully accessable for viewing in one place will allow for all useful topics to be found quickly without fruitless searches (Although Cees may wish to move it elsewhere). I did not find time to place ALL the useful topics on, but did manage to reclaim a few from the old site. Hope you all find it useful.

So how did you get hooked??