Joe Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 I want to move to Australia now !drool: :happy1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 8, 2012 Report Share Posted September 8, 2012 one thing, when you collect fish there you need at least 2 spotters to watch out for crocs and you quickly learn to keep an eye on the ground (I still stop for suspicious looking twigs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted September 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Tank was backing into my garage, any bigger and I couldn't have opened the car door!!!!!!!!! I can sense a 6 - 8 footer in my future though :sage: Actually oneday I hope to design a house with centrally located fishroom separating a lounge and perhaps study or bedroom with 2 or more tanks in the wall backing into the room.... no more exposed piping, lights heaters etc... airconditioned insulated room to maintain the temp. One planted, one coral and one mbuna or hardscape tank...... aahhh dreams Anyway, just did my first water change on the rescaped tank... so far so good in terms of getting rid of the algea. - Metal halide lighting time reduced to 5 hrs - Looking at some LED low wattage lighting for the remaining 5hrs - Really good wash of filter material and flush of pipes - New layout has better water flow and easier to vacuum around plants - Stem plants have more light so hopefully will grow quicker/thicker and pull out more nutrients - Will need to watch the anubias and glosso.. theyre are real dirt traps - Reduced to 1 50% waterchange per week - Reduced fish food, mainly live brine, tiger worms, white worms and well washed blood worms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted October 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 AAGGGGGGHHHH I'm hopless at keeping discus...I am about to lose my second discus in 6 months.... I dont know whether its the temp. I've been keeping the tank at 27 C or diet, water condition.... but this one has gone from really outgoing hungry fish to totally stopping eating and retiring to back of tank - soooo skinny now I cant even look at him. Today he is breathing heavily and resting on his side amoungst the plants. My mate gave me these two discus and he wasnt doing anything special and they seemed absolutely fine for years... 12 months with me has put an end to their happiness....... Perhaps he has a parasite... no skin problems like hole in the head or white spot and he has retained good colour, just really skinny and bony.... If anyone in TGA thinks they can bring him back from the brink feel free to pm me.. IGNORE THE ABOVE, I've had to euthanase him. I've done a bit more of an investigation and I was wrong, there definately appears to be a pussy hole on the side of his head and then it appears like a worm type animal has bored a long hole up his head, it looks like a dark leach type thing in the image below A bit of research seems to confirm hexamita (Hole in the head) which the previous one also died of.... turns out water quality, food etc can help to maintain a fish but without medication it will never get rid of the parasite, hence quite likely the parasite was being carried for years...Oh well, you live and learn...next time I'll be doing a whole lot more study up about a fish before I get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 I overheard advice being given to someone who was buying a discus today, he was told he should worm them every 3 months. Don't know what people think about that, but it could be useful if you haven't done it and they could be susceptible to worms. :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted January 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2013 After a nightmare of algae problems I finally decided to head to the best for advice.... I paid for an annual Tom Barr - Barr Report subscription and got some expert advice from both Tom and some of his admin gurus. Basically the advice was: 1.) More filtration and flow (have a powerhead running for 15mins every hour and I manually change the direction a couple of times a week to keep the flow). I am part way through building a sump (as per image) which will have a wet/dry filter + house the heaters and CO2 diffuser. The system utilises a Marine Sources HOB overflow meant for a reef but Tom and many others are now using this on their FW tanks. Flow out of the sump is via pump to 2x outlets at each end of the tank with adjustable direction to enable flow to be spread around the tank. 2.) Less light but maintain 8hrs photo period (At present I have achieved this by raising the MH lights). Long term I will look at purchasing some T5 lights. I also replaced my old 4000K bulbs with 6500K bulbs as the old ones were more than 5 years old. 3.) Increase fertilisation. At their reccomendation I am using double the normal EI dose... contrary to popular belief the algae is diminishing. I have stopped testing for PO4 and NO3. 4.) Increase CO2 - I am building a new CO2 reactor out of a coke bottle and powerhead as per the following link. I hope to get a lot more CO2 difusion + will be near the intake of the sump pump (2500 L/hr) so will be pushed all around the tank compared to the miserable flow I get out of my aquaone CF1200 at the moment. 5.) I am trying to get my stem plants growing like mad again and then I will worry about plant layout and species once algae issues are sorted. Already the presence of green spot, BGA and orange snot has diminished considerably. Will update again once the setup is completed over the next couple of weeks. 600 l x 500 h x 450 wide sump to go under cabinet. Baffles to be put in tomorrow night and then source some DIY filter media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted April 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 Tank Update: Well you will see from the pics that things are really going well. I consistently get a pH of 6.3 by dosing by CO2 directly into the housing of my return pump. I cant hear it shattering the bubbles when the door is closed and although I get heaps of micro bubbles in the tank now I dont find them distracting or ugly. And today I got my t5 HO light fitting. It has 3 sets of double bulbs which can me turned off so that I only have 4 bulbs running at the moment. Unfortunately it came with 10,000K bulbs which I will need to replace with 6500K ones over the next couple of weeks. The water remains crystal clear all week going through my overflow sump filter and my columbian tetras have produced a nice batch of fry which the angels have amazingly left alone. I am dosing Excel every second day at a rate of 5ml per 200 litres, also dosing API algaefix at the same rate every second day. BGA and BBA are almost gone and am slowly removing affected older leaves. New leaves seem to be clear of it and I am hoping to get some ottos and SAE to deal to any new stuff before it grows. Glossostigma is taking off and background plants are filling out. I am really starting to enjoy the tank again. Thanks to Tom Barr and Dutchy at the Barr Report for their excellent advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 That is a great looking planted tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reuben.a Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 stunning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insectile Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 That is an awesome planted tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 Solid growth Peet :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikerbabe Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 OMG... I am insanely jealous right now..... :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Posted April 17, 2013 Report Share Posted April 17, 2013 That is one awesome looking planted tank! Gotta be pleased with that Peet? I'd like to ask some questions about your sump given I am considering that option in the future with my planted tank. I think I can't see any lids on the sump is that correct? And if so, do you have any issues with CO2 gassing off? And what kind of overflow did you go for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtiskaw Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Wow, very nice Since you've been getting help from Tom and co, you might be able to answer this question. With EI, they say that plants outcompete algae for resources, but what resources are they referring to? Since we're supplying nitrate, phosphate, carbon and traces in excess, what's left for plants to use before the algae get to it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Beautiful aquascaping and awesome plant growth !drool: One of the best planted tanks in NZ I reckon :thup: When you go to replace your light tubes, I've heard a 50/50 combo of Arcadia Freshwater Pro and Plant Pro looks really good. Just a thought to keep in mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted April 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Hi Angus - I did a bit of research and there was mixed opinion as to whether the overflow causes significant CO2 loss if there wasnt much splashing. I had my CO2 bottle for a year at $150 rent, took it in to see how much gas I had used and it came out at 1kg (7kg bottle) for the entire year!!! I figured I can double or triple my CO2 rate to compensate for the loss through the filter and still achieve required ppm. The cost of the gas itself is cheap. I managed to buy an almost new Marine Sources 2500 L/hr overflow. Its perfect for my 350 L tank, but would probably go bigger for a bigger tank. It has a bean animal overflow and is pretty quiet. Hi amtiskaw... you may to ask Tom that on the Barr Report forum (some parts of the forum are free). My guess is that the plants are more efficient than the algae at converting the nutrients so when you provide everything at excess (but still balanced) the plant will outcompete the algae. The algae supposedly grows when there is unbalance. But if you look at that forum you will see that even the pros suffer from unknown algae issues. Ive always been of the opinion that it takes time for a tank to settle down... mind you as soon as I started following the advice from these guys my algae rapidly went away (with regular doses of chemicals mind you!!!). Cheers - peet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Posted April 27, 2013 Report Share Posted April 27, 2013 Thanks Peet. I calculate your sump capacity to be about 135 litres(?), so some lesser amount of water once you factor in baffle design etc. So with your 350L tank, you have about a 3:1 ratio of DT to sump. By the looks of your amazing growth, your tank's filtration is awesome. I'm thinking of what size sump to go for with my 275L DT. I have issues with the dimensions in my cabinet underneath. The maximum length of sump I can fit in will be 50cm. Looking at off-the-shelf options, this will reduce the capacity of the sump perhaps down to 55L size. This will give me a ratio of 5:1, much less than your 3:1. Do you think this will give me enough filtration? BTW - I have 5 discus, a dozen rummy's, a dozen cardinals, 8 pandas and a BN, that my 2073 Eheim manages. I like the look of the wet-dry style. The sump (and return pump)/overflow combo i'm looking at will have a 1500/2300LPH flowrate so i think the turnover will be fine as this exceeds the Eheim. But i'd feel better with some expert re-assurance :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted May 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hi Angus... I'm no expert, I'd be searching the Barr Report site for info and if you can't find it join up for a year and ask all the tricky sump questions. The guys on the Barr Report are big on overflows and sumps so I am sure they will be able to help. Cheers - peet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted June 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Tank update pics. Angels are breeding every couple of days, havent seen columbian babies again but the last brood are probably making short work of anything smaller than a neon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 :thup: I bet it looks even better in person and it looks great in a pic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikerbabe Posted June 10, 2013 Report Share Posted June 10, 2013 Soooo.... when can I expect you to arrive in Nelson to make MY tank look like that then hmmmm...?? :love: !drool: :bggrn: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted June 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Very short and noisey videos I will update with better ones. My angels just had a hatch and I want to get the fry before they get eaten by the Columbian tetra army Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted June 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 Unfortunately the angels decided that it was easier to eat their babies than defend them. I rescued some and put them in the sump but suspect the kuli loach that lives in there will make short work of them! Heres another video but in HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danval Posted June 23, 2013 Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 Awesome looking tank. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aer0 Posted June 23, 2013 Report Share Posted June 23, 2013 get a small fry keeper/net from your LFS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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