john1

Hi When I bought my clowns, they had grey stripes. After a while in my tank, the stripes became pitch black. Usually happy and contented. But this is not conclusive. Only an observation. John

Hi Yes, any vertical piece of MDF can be called solid wood. Incredible strong. But make absolutely sure the ends are also sealed. Water is a killer on MDF. Swells to twice the size if unsealed. Otherwise it is ok to use. John

Hi According to the pics, it should withstand a couple of tons. Cannot beat a solid wooden stand. Also doors, shelves etc. are easier added. The outside painted to suit the room and bingo, a beautiful piece of furniture. John

Hi Mathew If the Co2 of 20mg/l is correct, then it is almost perfect for fish AND your plants. Good luck John

Hi Mathew Now that we know it is 300mg/l then we can talk a bit more. If you had any fish in there, they would be dead by now. 30mg/l is the maximum fish can tolerate. Not plant, fish. John

Hi peety I am not sure what you are trying to tell me/us about the link. Are you affraid to catch that virus? If so, then 100 different buckets and hoses would NOT help you. John If I misunderstood the link, then I will stand corrected

Hi peety. Marinetanks set aside. What would you do if you had 20 tanks? Have 20 pails & 20 hoses? Just a thought. After all, TB could be anywhere. John

Hi Mathew Ok, let us assume no plants. No danger then. But what does '300' mean? Thanks John

Hi all OOOOOOPPPPSSSSS. Now it is working. :oops: John

Hi Mathew I don't know what you mean by "300". Fish can only tolerate a level of 30mg/l. 15 to 20mg/l is ideal. If you want to know what Co2 level you have in your tank, then download the Co2 calculator from my site. But, you have to know EXACTLY the correct dKH and pH. Input these values into the calculator and the reading will be the Co2 content. John

HI Aqua If it works underwater, then the pump-problem is solved. Your problem is the "PRIMER" . If there is NOT enough water in the chamber, it cannot pump. When I bought mine, the primer, looks like a suctioncup, was bent out of shape. But it workes. Needs a few more strokes than with a good, straight one. There is one more thing you can try. Don't laugh now. Get the outlethose ans suck until the water flows. That is ONE way of priming. Let me know how it works. BTW, if there is air in the pump-chamber, it will NOT work, the pump that is. John

Hi Aqua Take the top off, immerse it upside down in a big bucket or bathtub. Switch it on, then you can see what happens. Is the impeller turning or not etc. John

Hi Aqua I also have a 304. The white "thing" is the ceramic shaft. Not repairable. I made a comment about that in my article. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Fichtl_Filter.html. Not very expensive though. It's the inconvenience. John

HI Ira Don't be ashamed of not knowing what organ is what. According to Melbourne Bill, a pathologist, even medical students have difficulty what the difference between liver and kydney etc. is. But you should get yourself a microscope. I tried it with one of my dead guppies. The microscope was damaged by my 6 year old son. Put glue onto the lenses. The scalpel I had was blunt. The outcome, a horrible mess of blood and guts. So I gave up. The other fish, much bigger was easier to disect, but without a good working microscope you are back at square one. But it was quite interesting. By the way, I did not appologize to my fish :oops: John

Hi macka You can try a needle valve from a model petrol motor. Like I have. Cost A$15. It is from an "OS" motor. Sometimes referred to as "remote needle valve". Works straight from the box with good clamps. Or you modify it with barbs to suit your hoses. John

Hi Joshie I personally find it very useful. But to be on the safe side, goto Hagen's site, and read their comments regarding a reversible powerhead. But here is my humble opinion. A normal u/g filter, powerhead or airdriven, collects the dirt in the gravel. The very fine one eventually goes below the plate. If you do have other filters, loike a cannister etc. it will also clean the water of suspended dirt. BUT, if you reverse the flow of the u/g powerhead, then dirty water will enter the riserstem, go down under the plate and pushes the CLEAN water up through the gravel. Any dirt in/on the gravel will be suspended in the tank and subsequently be collected by the cannister or other filter. You can change back to normal flow later on. You can also do that on a periodic cycle. Forward flow for a couple of weeks, then reverseflow for a couple of days. Simple. But still, don't forget to get Hagen's opinion also. Lots of people don't believe what I say. John

Hi Joshy Yes, they still exist. I have one. Hagen have 2 models. The Flugal 402 and the 802 I think. And they WORK. At the flick of a switch from normal flow to reverse flow. John

Hi Dr Felix How do you attach ANY regulator to a sodastream bottle????? John

Hi Yes, you'll have a nitrite peak, nitrite peak, nitrite peak.... If you add 10 fish every week and have a $2.50 boxfilter. John

Hi I originally bought this powerhead to pump a 25l container on the floor into my tank. I have a backproblem. As I said before I tried it in the bathtub first. The pump is rated at 900l/h. AT ZERO height. According to the chart it should still pump 200l/h at 1 meter height. At 1 meter NOTHING comes out. It might if the inlet is 1 meter high and the outlet is 1 meter high. But straight from the floor it is hopeless. If it would take 1/2 hour to pump the 25l into my tank, I would not mind. I have a smoke and a coffee. But it just does not work. One needs a much more powerful pump. Like a bilge pump. So, the cheapest way of doing it, I let my missus do the lifting. Good exercise. John

Hi cat I could not see "mixing heaps of chemicals" . It was their analysis. The hatchrate depends mainly of the egg quality. I bought a "loose" quantity from a LFS, then a blisterpacked version. The hatchrate difference was enormous. The loose ones were much better. Almost 90%. Correct amount of salt, 27°. No airation, just a small hatch-box. But it still comes down to the quality of the eggs. John

Hi I am not an engeneer. So, I can only talk of "experience" I had. I put a powerhead in the bathtub and tried out the flow. Makes no difference where the pump is. If you submerse it 3 feet under water, wait for the water to equalize, the switch the pump on. It still has to overcome the WEIGHT of the water. So in a nutshell, 2 feet height is 2 feet height. Wherever the pump is. John

Hi Goldie There is also a Nitrate filter which apparently filter the water to 0 ppm. It costs £69 John

Hi aqua I think it is also in english. It is called JBL Limfalle (snail trap) You'll find it. http://www.jbl.de/ John

Hi aqua Jesterday I saw a "snail trap" on a German site. I think it was JBL. Try that. Apparently you bait the trap and next morning it is full of them... John