henward

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/310183989931 ... 97.c0.m619 this looks quite good. seems to suit what i need. i want a constant display of PH not a controller, i dont need that - but in saying that, if i hads a PH controller and wanted to bring PH up, what chemical do you use in a doser to do that? just curious, its over kill for me so wont do it, just wondering but yeah, this unit, feedback, seems like a pro unit!

Haha ok... what is a decent brand? :dunno: on the auctions, i see ones that are 88 dollars, looks pro! power plug for mains power, no batteries, but the PH range seems to be less than the cheaper ones. you also get cheaper ones that have replaceable sensors.

i tested the water and it was around 6 (low 6) tap water is 7 to 7.2ph. so when i put tap water in there it probably swings it, i just wanted to bring up the ph too. i havent documented in detail yet though, hence why i wanna get a ph monitor, just a display so i can keep an eye on it.

preheating the drum and doing 1 to 2 a week. new set up depends on the house, if i can do the auto changer or do 1 to 2 big ones a week as well. this is i believe where the ph swings are, before it was quite constant with the auto changer as it is the same day in day out.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-pH-M ... 27cf11efc7 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-pH-M ... 3f0dad6cf1 the second one can be calibrated, its for hydroponics, is this able to be used constantly, so always on and always in the tank? the probe i mean. of course every so often i will re calibrate it. or if anyone can recommend a product on ebay/trademe, that would be great thanks

for my aro predator comm, i want the ph to be around 7, same as our tap water. of course it will go down but i dont want it to shoot down. monitoring the ph is key i think. reason is that my aro recently started to get chipped scales. this is a sympton of ph dropping and increasing as i do wc... unstable water conditions, didnt get it before cos the tank volume was 1200litres, not its half. so more prone to swings. anyways, i am thinkin of getting one of these. ph monitor started another topic on the technical question

oyster shells, aragonite and Baking soda. what do you prefer to buffer the water to keep it more stable? i am thinking oyster shells or aragonite in the sump added slowly to stablise the ph from fish waste affecting the ph of the water... feedback would be good:D

Yes makes sense! How about another in middle for maximum movement.. Encouraging them to hit each other is important I think

intersting diagram so the media will kinda go in a circular motion? yeah david, i have read many good things about it, to be honest its probably over kill, but i really really like it:D i probably do it more for me than the requirements of my fish stocks lol

they dont float, they kinda mill around the water... dont know the word for it:D but they kinda just partially sink, with bubbles (intended use for them) they move around quickly. the sicks dont have much current, its extremely gentle as the sucks literally break the force of the water. also, every article and stuff online say boiling them is key, manufacturer too. yeah, its a funny one, i didnt buy it on holiday lol i got it on ebay, free shipping, otherwise, shipping is 50% of the actual media but found a guy in pensylvania that ships free. i have seen research on them that they work well but cycling time is longer apparently, also they use them for sewage treatment plants and suppsedly very efficient. maybe they work well with the air bubbles, vast quantities of it, in fact, there shouldnt be much different with bio balls floating with air bubbles i suposed, but they are harder to move though as they are bigger. i got them anyways, largely cos they look awesome, maybe i got them more so cos i thought they look cool and i like watching them in action :spop: yeah 50 litres is a lot but i wanna fill a whole chamber. decided, i wont replace my sump, no need, my current sump actually can handle my new tank i just need to re distribute the media to increase flow!

no need for sw, just feed mroe mealworms:d besides, in a colony of mealies, you get a handfull of HUGE mealworms, i reckon these can be selectively bred, i will try when i buy a house and have room! success by the way, heating aliminium bbq trays under neath wtih heat matts - in 3 weeks, my colony is 2mm to 10mm of mealworms! i left with only a few beetles laying, arrived 3 weeks later and the mealworms have hatched and well and truly established! heating it works well

Just got myself 50litres of K1 kaldness media. these need to be 'boiling' constantly. not too violently but a constant boil to circumate air, water and the media itself int he chamber. anyways, putting these in the compartment by under the socks to get the brunt of the dirty water. i am wondering what sort of air pump i need for boiling these? i mean, 200 lph seems exccesive - i used to use the little hailea pumps, aweosme pumps, cheap and good output. just wondering, how much bubbles do i need and what sort of output, i cant envisage it

i too am considering something like this! in fact, i would like it more if there was a constant display

dont use polishing pads this is my configuration for a more 'mechanical filtration orientated set up' top tray, coars sponge middle tray, 3 layers of filter wood (not the polish pads by fluval but standard polyester wool, 3rd tray i have bio media IF you want more bio, heavy stocked tank i do top tray wool, middle and bottom bio media. shouldnt have issues with this configuration. any filter, flow will slightly decrease when its run in i found, BUT the cheaper the quality, the more it slows down when run in

Agreed, to be honest, for your tank, i would not bother, the stock in a 60 litre tank will be minimal, an ehaim aqua ball or pick up or the fluval u series internal filters should suffice. canisters are good, but for that size tank, it will be overkill but also take up too much room and aesthetically wont look good. another thought, maybe get a bigger tank. :cr8:

yeah you can go to the chinese supermarket and get freshwater vietnamese/asian prawns.

one of mine started to 'twitch' and just died, like a seizure type thing. dont know what it was. weird.

I found eels to be a funny one. I have not had good luck with them except for my last 70plus cm TT eel. i got him when he was already big, and grew it more but i find that from small, survival rate seems to be quite bad.

Thats a pretty good diet, i would stay on it.

depends on the fish you want it for? but for my clown loaches, bichirs and discus, i made the following. 500g beef heart 300g shrimp (no shell, though sh ell is ok if you have a good blender) fresh garlic, 1 to 2 bulbs 50g massivore (high quality pellet will do) 50 grams of spirulina powder 1 to 2 blended courgette using a food proc, you get a better finer mince and the prawns actually bind the ingredients together in this method. i freeze ito rolls in glad wrap. sticks together well. but any beef or liver mix will dirty the water quicker.

I would remove all plants, do a good gravel siphon. Then i would put in a bristle nose or 2. they will destroy all the algae with in days. as for black beard algae, scrap them off the walls, brush of fthe rocks, and start again wtih plants. i owuld take your light bulb in that unit and spray paint it black partially to reduce light, those tanks are notorious for too much light, look sgood though, nice and bright. royal plecos, small panaques i found each young black beard algae. so if you scrap the old ones, the new ones will be eaten by them.

looks like feeders

lol yeah, maybe - No offence though to anyone, but i find that HFF 'lobbies' to get species in , they take requests and they have the biggest buying power when it comes to fish, sometimes they even get fish that no one else can get such as the banded knives a while back. i personally would suppor them, largely cos its in my best interest also due to the species they could potentially get in:D

actually, right now i dont go through it much at all anymore. cut down, eventually sure, but not right now. i go through very very little lol i have 6 fish in total:D from 80ish fish! so i dont use much now. they wont do it. i source it another way and i get it cheaper anyways, half price roughly when i used heaps, it is only worth parallel importing IF you use heaps, if you dont, then its actually ok to buy from the lfs here, I would support HFF being in auckland with fish food and products when i can.

Haha, i wish! i wish i could get some sponsorship for my set up! but no, unfortunately not lol i just love hikari. i have tried many foods, and hikari growth and the fin growth on fish is absolutely spectacular, i havent tried omega one actually. But i dont see the point of trying something else for now. Hikari - ICHIBAN!