john1

Hi Di The straws are put in"higglety pigglety". The reason is to make as great as possible the area where the bacteria can grow. Hi Shilo Nice job, well done. Even though I am not a friend of tricklefilters. But, if you are happy with it, then this is the mainthing. You built it, you use it, and you are happy with it. What else could you wish for. John

Hi Shilo Your HO is not too wrong. I personally would not buy or make one. There are people who swear by their Fluval, Eheims, Marinelands. Every equipment in your tank is usually choice. There are some good filter, not so good one and some outright useless ones. Be it an inside, outside, u/g or whatever. It still comes down to choice. And Shilo, the pitfalls you pointed out are a valid reason not to use a fluidized bedfilter. There are better ways for the good bacteria to grow. John

Hi Andrew This is the truest remark I have seen for many years. Well said... John

Hi macka I hear so much about the fluidized bed filter. But very little or none at all her in OZ. It is a big thing in America. There are also DIY sections on how to make one. I already made somthing like that but instead of sand I used gravel. Only for a trial. It works. All it costs you is a cannister, very save. A pump or a powerhead and a few leghts of hoses. Qite simple to make. John

Hi Dianna Yes , you can post a photo here. But it has to be on a website. Either a public one or your own. If you have any problems then you can send me the photo and I put it on my website. Then anyone can see it. Just a thought. John

Hi macka I live in OZ. My Fluval was $100 cheaper than some shops. And their price is even less than what I paid. As Caryl said, the only problem you have is with warranty. But chances are, it usually goes wrong once the warranty runs out. I only looked a bit around. But you can find out the postage from Australia by just asking the place of purchase. I once bought an item from the states. The price including shipping was half the price it would have cost here. So sometimes you can be lucky. John

Hi Almost all plants I bought here, had a leadwrapping around their roots. To hold them together. I might be wrong, but I don't like lead in my fishtank. The lead, ordinary solder ones, were getting a greyish deposit on the outside. I saw a report on TV, where the english were thinking of coating Gunpellets with a plastic coating. Because all the duckshooters left "tons" of them in their lakes. And lead does seem to have some effect on fish. I am not an expert, but why do they worry about it? John

Hi Ira I am talking here in Australia now. New houses can be installed with plastic or copper pipes. It depends on the builder. Now the new pipes are called Popy Butylene. The colours can be grey, yellow, purple, black.. and that depends on the manufacturer. And, according to a mate look similar to Pegasus's pneumatic hoses. John

Hi Shilo Congratulation. Glad it worked out. all you need is the guts to do it. Lots of people are affraid of 240V. So they should be. But if you use common sense even the amateur can do it. Now the 72 Watt you say you have, that is what should be in the tank. For plantgrowth. Happy growing.... John

Hi Di Apparently, the pipes installed in new homes are plastic. And the color.... probably has to be black for identification. Grey is for electrical stuff outside or inside, orange goes underground. And maybe black now for the new watersystem. Copper does lose a lot of heat. That is the reason for copper in a car radiator. Copper gets rid of the heat quickly. You don't want that in a hotwater system. Therefore they have to be insulated. But now with the new plastic pipes, which I heard are already insulated, you don't have that problem. So there you go, I learned something new. John

Hi Ira The two el-cheapo ($100) units were tested at the Dick Smith Store by two different salespeople and two different units. The test was done in the test-buffer-solution on the counter. And none could be calibrated. The readings went from the ridululous to the sublime. So what can I say.... John

Hi Here in Melbourne, you can buy tankdividers. They are taylor-made to suit your tank. But, not cheap. What they are, a size almost the size if your tank, made of material like milkcrates, and coverd with stiff netting. Similar to flyscreens, only stiffer. (nylon, not steel or aluminium). Because of the price, I made my own, to keep the young fry away from hungry mummie. Another way is, get 2 or 3 panes of glass, the same size of the width of the tank, insert it and use suctioncups to stop it moving. This is for temporary measurments. John PS. Sorry Midas, did not read your post. Actually that is almost what I meant.

Hi Ira I don't know what you have. Mine has a resolution of 0.1. The one I am talking about had a resolution of 0.01. both from Dick Smith. But I don't mean the bouncing of the least significant digit, which is the 0.01. The most significant digit bounced. That means, it went from 5.03 to 12.77. Totally useless. I design and work with electronics, one of my hobbies. An instrument with a display you mention, would bounce the 1/100 of a unit. I would not worry about it. Usually one just puts a black tape over the least significant digit so that only the important ones are visible. I might have expressed myself not clear enough to you. John

Hi Bought the DSE thermometer too. Easy to read and accurate. Also bought a $100 pH meter. Absolute rubbish. Returned it. They could not get it going. The guy at the shop tried another new one at my request. Same. Reading went up and down like a Yo-Yo. So I decided to get the swimming pool one. More expensive. But better. Selfcalibrating and replacable electrode. And it floats too. meaning it is waterproof. Now I am happy with both. John

Hi Warren Of course you are right, my answer was very simplified. Hi Di Most real aquarists, purists, call them whatever you like, will try to imitate the fishes original water. So for instance, Lake Malawi cichlids are in water with a conductivity of 200 - 260 uS, Lake Tanganyika's is 550 - 600uS and Lake Victoria has 96uS. So, as Warren said, pure water has a conductivity of zero. But most aquarists don't care. I personally have no idea of the significents of the waters conductivity. By the way, have you noticed the start of the thread; sari/filter, then combing of hair, then battery acid and now, conductivity. Amazing. John

Hi Di Yes, Conductivity has a lot to do with aquariums. You can actually by a conductivity meter. It measures in uS. (microSiemens). The higher the conductivity the more iron and heavy metal is in the water. But most people don't care about it. you can read about it in the Baensch Atlas. John

Hi Wayne I posted that article here in OZ. About the same number of hits. 2 replies. Both positive. So, to each his own. John

Hi Warren I never said you need waterproof fittings!!!!! I said none of the normal aquarium lightfittings are water proof. NONE John

Hi Shilo This is an update We might be a bit too paranoid about waterproofing it. Think about it. None, does not matter how expensive the normal flouro lightfittings for aquariums, are waterproof. John

Hi Shilo I am happy for you. If you are unsure about the wiring, the net has plenty of examples. But, if necessary, I always do that, take the original, any, flouro lightfitting apart. Then make a drawing where the 240v , starter and ballast go. Then just copy it. Once you've done one, you'll never forget. John

Hi flipper ......with the woman still attached? John

Hi Pegasus Good idea. There is something similar to heatshrink material, which I always use. But this shrinks much more. For instance the size of the tube down to the connecting wires. The clips, albeit metal, can be easily purchased from any good hardwarestore. John

Hi kriber Solvent-based paint comes of easier with solvents(turps etc). Water-based paint comes off better with water. Amazing, is it not. And I have no uni degree. Yesterday I got some paint on my hand, not much but I was extremely worried if it was negatively or positively charged..... John

Hi all Back to the comb theory. Which is actually a fact, not a theory. Ever tried to comb your hair and it sparks? Try that with wet hair. If you want to, you can use the water from a car battery John

HI Shilo Can only get complete units here in Australia. But they are available in the states. Here is how they look like; http://home.iprimus.com.au/john1/triton.htm If you like them, you can order them from the U.S. John