mad-n-angry

1 tube unless its 4*2*2 or bigger im about to build a sump and a tank tomorrow i will take some pics and post them to show u how i do it

peas pumpkin kumera or pretty much any vege if ya really keen ya can shell the peas and most catfish will like the food as well , if your making it for catfish you can allways take a rock or 2 out of your tank and let the food set and dry onto the rock then put it back in the tank as the food floats the cats miss out on it. what i used to do was get a large flat rock and put a layer about 1.5 cm thick and let it set then place in the oven heated to about 100 deg and leave it for 15-20 mins leave it to cool and place back in the tank and watch the fish go mad over it

if you can get agar agar it is better for your Africans as it is a plant based and is a lessor protein product not an animal like gelatin agar agar should be available in most health food shops but its rather pricey but you dont need half as much compared to gelatin 75 grams $27.50 link to it here http://www.healthy.co.nz/product/6421-a ... owder.html or a nz manufacturer http://www.coastbio.co.nz/agar.htm

the easiest way i have found to make a tank it get all the glass cleaned up and ready to go have about 10 cable ties or matches handy have these items handy bottle of meths 10 or so cable ties/matches a lint free rag thats clean bottle of glass cleaner and some news paper and a roll of duct tape and some parcel tape run tape on the surface of the table/bench u intend using marking out the edges of the galss so it does not stick to the table lay the base over the taped area out wipe it down with meths then get and end and a side piece do the same again put a match stick along the base as the ends to leave a small gap place the end on and " gap it again with the match stick line up the side and then tape it together to hold it in place put match sticks top and bottom and keep adding the sides and ends repeating the match sticks and tape method until you have a "boxed tank" you have 2 options now 1 grab ya silicone caulking gun and run silicone down all the gaps removing all the match sticks as you go until its totally sealed up 2 tack method from the outside of your assembled tank squeeze a small amount of silicone into the gaps about 1 inch long but dont force it through the gap/join so its coming all the way through do this on each gap/join top and bottom near where the match sticks are, leave this to cure for a day then come back and remove all matches and tape carefully not to pull your tacks from the glass, now apply silicone into all the gaps from the inside of the tank no matter how you do this be as quick as possible as you dont want silicone to start to skin before you finished as silcone wont stick to dry silicone very well lastly what i like to do for a nice clean edge on the silicone is to grab that window/glass cleaner and spray all the silicone you have put on and then using a ruler or any thing thats square and solid run it along the beads of silicone to tidy it up wiping the excess off onto the news paper as you go but before it falls off your wiping tool if you find any smears on the glass once you have completed doing this use a razor blade to remove them once the tank has had time to cure

yeah we had a shop that sold bulk food filters heaters water quality agents de-chlor etc etc glass files diamond hole saws i used to get a ozzy made food that cost $25 per kg for spirulina flake ( had to buy in 5 kg bags for 100 + tax 10% ) had sinking algae wafers vege wafers growth foods in 0.8 1 3 5 mm vege bites in 3 and 5 mm and none of it was over $30 kg i could get alot of foods at great prices i think the cheapest lot i sold was $18 dearest was $30 it was only ever sold to club members and as a club we made $4 a kg or $2-3 on pretty much all other goods atm im looking at importing an australian made version of purigen that is alot cheaper and is recharged in salted water rather than bleach 350 ml with a resin bag to hold it, ive used it and its as good as purigen and cheaper to maintain

well after 6 1/2 years in australia ive come back home and now am in the processes of starting to build tanks and sumps again and then stocking them with our fishy obsession, not that this is pleasing the other half but when are they ever happy with what we do. i build my own tanks and sumps as i dont like what ive seen in other builders work and can customize each tank to my own needs ive breed heaps of cat fish and millions of africans in brisbane while i was there, was actively involved in showing fish and a club to the point i got roped into being on the clubs committee and i ran our clubs shop, but now its a case of sit back relax and start all over again which is going to be fun once i can source all the bits i need to get started at reasonable prices ( its just a touch more expensive in nz compared to oz for most things) nathan