WEKA

I am in the process of cycling my 300L cold saltwater tank. Total system volume approx 550L. I raised the temp to 25 deg to speed up the cycle and hung on a cycled cannister to the system. I have added pure ammonia daily starting with 50ml and reduced to 30ml after nitrites appeared in 10 days. Ammonia 0.0 ppm each day after 24hrs. Nitrites 5+ off the test chart. Nitrates 10.0ppm all now for the last 9 days. My question is, how long should it take for the nitrite levels to start dropping. I thought it would have happened before now.

Are you saying you have the co2 up the filter intake then that is your problem

Can you still buy Laguna pumps?

Have a look at the irrigation type fittings in Mitre 10. They are about the right size to fit the normal filter hoses.

Are they tropical ?????????

Where did you get the black sand

I had a 14 metre length of very dirty hose that had dried on. I stuffed a piece of that green pot scrub stuff in the end and put it on the hose tap and blew it thru a few times. Looks just like new.

Try taking off the locking ring and wrap the hose with PVC tape. If you wrap it tightly by stretching each wrap around you will achieve a lot of pressure and the hose should mould to the shape of the pipe.

Cleaners warehouse in Ferry Rd sometimes has them. Some of the contents have been quite safe if rinsed thoroughly.

Any saltys out there wanting nsw. Have about 300L left from test run to Scarborough. I may have to dump it if I help shift kd123

I have just completed my saltwater pickup trailer. Has two 200L drums on board. Let me know where and where to and when and we maybe able to sort out something. I have a few spare pumps as well. Probably not able to help with carrying anything due to a dodgy knee.

Hey VinsonMassif I guess you are not coming over the hill until the snow and frost clears.

I made my background from two 100mm sheets of poly and carved out the front with a hot wire. I separated the two sheets during this process to help with the cutting out of the caves. I then gave the front several coats of Cemix Patch mixed with a black oxide colour. When this was fully hardened I then cut out as much of the back as I could to reduce the buoyancy. This was then also coated with the Cemix Patch. I then drilled about 15 holes thru the "shell" mainly into the back of the caves. The holes are covered with a nylon mesh to stop critters getting into the rear of the wall. The perimeter of the background was a snug fit to the glass all around. I applies a fat bead of silicon (about 10mm + dia) all around the area of contact with the glass and covered the silicon with strips of glad wrap and pressed the background into place. This gave me a gasket to seal the rear of the background from the rest of the tank. The glad wrap just peeled off when the silicon cured. I installed two squids in the back which are feed off the sump return line and penetrate the wall in discrete positions. The "cork" was replaced with a restrictor which allows a controlled flow to enter the space at the rear and then thru the others holes in the wall mainly in the rear of the caves to stop any water stagnation in those areas. I have run the system for a while with fresh water to check out the hydraulics thru my outdoor plant room. I had to mothball the set up while out of NZ last year but am about to recommission as a cold saltwater. I am planning to give the background a few coats of epoxy with a sand finish before I fill the tank again. I hope you can understand all of this and maybe it will help others with their projects. I have had a lot of fun with this.

Get a sump and run your heater in there.

There is a special polystyrene glue. I think it is Ados and should be available at Mitre10. No more nails does work.

Hi si_sphinx I used a black oxide with my Cemix Patch to get a charcoal coloured finish. The background is for a cold water marine and is 1500mm x 600mm. I had only reached the stage of doing some FW hydraulics testing in 2007 when I got a job offer overseas so had not got to the stage of doing any water quality testing. I am back again now and have decided to coat the whole thing with epoxy resin and use sand to finish the final coat. The epoxy supplier said the resin would be fish safe but to give it a wash with baking soda when finished to remove any smell. I am currently trying to find a supply of black sand but I am not having much luck. Can anyone help with this.

I coated mine with a product called Cemix patch. It is like concrete but very fine texture. I made a really runny mix and poured it all over and into the caves. Gave it several coats and then cut out the back to reduce the bouyancy. I saw the Cemix Patch in Bunnings the other day.

Thanks very much for that carznkats. When the weather gets a bit better I may check it out.

carznkats Is that the area where the Avon river enters the estuary.

Polystyrene will always feel warm to your touch as it is stopping the heat loss from your hand. Unlikely to be heat loss from he tank.

I am growing on some brine shrimp as a little project in a 50L tank and have installed a canister filter. It has been running for a few weeks without much change in ammonia or nitrite levels. I have been turning the filter off for periods of an hour or two once a day for feeding. How long can the filter be turned off before it starts having an effect on the bacteria. Will this delay the "cycle" starting. Appreciate any comments on this.

Thanks Pegasus It appears that Bemax is no longer available on the market. Is there anything else you can recommend instead.

Thanks for the comments and links. I made a hatchery as per the "Pegasus" link but found I could not keep the eggs in suspension in the square tank regardless of what airation I tried. Went back to the tried and tested inverted drink bottle. My shrimp are only a little over a week old and about 5-6mm long. I have noticed today that there are a number of very small shrimp in the tank. Surely they are not breeding already!!! I am only feeding Liquidfry #1 at the moment and have done one 50% water change. I wait for the water to clear between feeds which is happening quite quickly now they are bigger.

Nobody?

Hi Does anyone here grow on brine shrimp. What do you feed the adults on?