Jo1

Scratches on acrylic tanks can be polished out with alot of elbow grease and brasso (or polishing compound). Someone suggested that we try toothpaste as it would have the same effect as brasso and someone else told me they get their tanks reheated and the scratches comeout that way. I think it would depend on how wide the faces were and the wider you go the thicker the acrylic would have to be and therefore more expensive. I would go with glass for breeding tanks.

Those ceramic noodles seem to pick up the larger debris first rather than clog the sponge up quickly. All media is washed in fish water and only carbon and wool replaced. We use some other stuff when the sponge is had it which looks like a big mesh like pot mitt (I think they call them filter pads).I picked up a bargain recently. Got a 2215 for $55. The lady had the sponge sitting directly on the bottom of the cannister. My guess is she thought she had a dud, but what a great buy! Any way I was taught to assemble filters that way and never had any problems.

The sponge should not be at the bottom. Set up as follows from bottom to top: 1) The round hollow ceramic tubes ( always forget if it is call Efimech or Efisubstrate) 2) Sponge 3) The stone like stuff (Efisubstrate?) 4) Bag of carbon if you use it 5) Filter Wool Sometimes in the older models the rubber sealer comes off from the lid just use vaseline to get it back into place. Connect bottom hose and plug in. Bleed filter to get air out and connect top hose.

Ira, I an amazed you have a problem with the 2213. We operate around 40 of this model on 100 litre tanks, which we clean routinely every 3 months taking 10 mins. They are still flowing well even when dirty. Do you operate with the baskets? We found that the water was not moving outside of these baskets and the water would stagnate down the sides causing plant collapse, hence going back to using the grills top and bottom with filter media inbetween. You are most welcome to give Steve a call (he is the expert) sometime and perhaps he can help you sort the problem out.

And another thing. I can't understand why the Eheims are so much more expensive retail when Fluval & Eheim have very similar wholesale prices.

I can't recommend Eheims enough either but I would go for the cannisters rather than the Professional series. The 2213 operates better without the baskets, you can still buy the bottom & top grills and the 2215 and larger do not have the baskets. We dropped off a small Aquaone to a lady today who had a Shark going and was having problems with cloudy water. The AquaOne was the smallest internal but operated much better. The old Tournados really moved the water around well. The Fluval internals & externals are good - didn't like Eheim internal (new model) much.

Happy to buy several pairs off you if possible.

Don't buy Cosmo

We have around 40 Nutrafins operating and can recommend them. The barrell would hold around 3-4 weeks of food which we crush so it doesn't get stuck. Also have several Eheim which have a larger barrel. They are more expensive but OK.

We have several jobs in rest homes where they get someone in to spray to protect for several months. We advise them to cover the tank prior to spraying and have never had any deaths.

I should also have said in my experience white spot has occurred either from bad fish that have been introduced or our own fault as maintance schedules were not kept up such as filter cleaning, gravel vac, water changes or clients putting too much food into tank causing water to go bad. I would also like to say that it doesn't happen too often thank goodness.

I would not have removed them from the tank as I think it would cause further stress on the fish and besides the ich is in the water anyway and it is quite possible that other fish in the tank will get it too. Raise the temp, frequent water changes and gravel vac and try 1/2 dose of cure. Would also look at the cause of the ich in the first place. Did you introduce any new fish which maybe had it in early stages? Dare I say it, maybe look at water quality and maintanance issues.

You could try acorus (japanese rush). Lasts for around 2-3 months then replant in garden to recuperate.

Hey it sounds like how you treat bloat in cows! I always wondered if that would be a viable treatment, as it looked similar to me.

Hey Caryl, We go to a goldfish farm quite regularly and the owners remove the fry (or the parents could be moved). Otherwise all the fry will be eaten. Witness this feast regularly in our pond.

Jude, that looks really great, you did a wonderful job and it can only get better with time. Caryl, the lights are sourced from Petware and can be purchased either in single or double units. They go up to a 6ft model although the bulbs are only 4ft. Bulbs included but not sure how good they are. If you want a price PM me.

Save your receipt. We purchased several Cosmo pumps and most of them are broken. You get what you pay for and I would be surprised if they last a year. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.