Search results

The Hardware

I use an eclipse 6 for my betta and the filter is no problem - Just remove the bio wheel and pack the well where the outflow is (Under the bio wheel) with a course sponge to disperse the water a bit - Keep the tank topped right up so that the water isn't falling into the tank and you'll pretty...

Just despicable, it makes my blood boil to see that poor little guy about the get his tail chopped off. One of the things I love about my LFS guy is he is vocal about dyed fish, refuses to sell goldfish bowls and after 'Finding Nemo' came out he refused to sell clownfish to anyone he didn't...

Damn right, I live near the beach and we always go for a bit of a surf. I love just casually saying "I wonder how many sharks there are around here?" Despite the fact that we all grew up at the brach and no one will actually say they are frightened - Within 5 minutes everyone will be out of...

Tell me about it. When I told her not to do it she said "But the guy said it pretty easy" I pointed out that he stood to make a profit from you buying the fish but I don't think she really got the point.

My cousin (by marriage) wants to buy her dad a clown fish and a seahorse so he can set his tank up as marine. She asked me about it and I told her not to but wanted to check with everyone about this. I am into planted tanks and have never done s/w so am not totally sure. The LFS guy told her...

I have an aquaball that I used to use for QT tank. They are pretty good, as with all eheim the pump will run forever but doesn't have a lot of grunt. My only real complaint is the venturi works really poorly.

First off some good news, Your plants won't be affected, They can use ammonia as a source of nitrogen. The only thing you can do is keep water changing to keep you ammonia at a low rate. Unfortunately keeping the ammonia low enough to save the rest of you fish will also slow you cycle down...

Tetras should be kept in schools of the same type. They will only school together if they are the same type and 1 tetra by himself is fairly vulnerable. You could give it a go but I don't think they'll be very happy. The catfish sounds like a Pleco, but I have also seen bristlenoses with those...

Your impeller can get clogged up and you should give it a clean whenever you clean the filter. I just rinse it and rub any gunk of it with my finger. The shaft probably has some sort of bushing or bearing it sits in so be careful not to lose them. I would strongly advise against using a...

Looks Great!!! I am about to redo my tank and was plannning on using macaranda, I'm purposefully choosing plants I've never grown before and am looking forward to the challenge. Thanks for the inspiration!! Let us know how you go with the colour!

I am a huge fan of soil substrate mixed with Vermiculite, topped with sand. It's cheap and very effective, The roots on all my plants go absolutely nuts. and I love the look of the sand on top (It can be a bugger to get glosso going though!!!) The downside of it is that constant replanting...

Damn right!! I wanted to give this ago in my QT tank just to see what all the fuss was about until I priced it!!! My home made substrate costs $12 for a 75g and works brilliantly. Would love to try Eco, but not for the $$$

You might also want to try putting some pipe on the outlet of powerhead, sit it vertically with the outlet pushing close to the top of the pipe. The water flow will push the bubbles down, but they will naturally try to rise. You can get almost 100% of the co2 dissolved this way and it's easy...

Hi all, As some of you would know I have moved house and was supposed to have moved my tank about a month ago - I haven't had time yet (Have a three month old, makes it tricky!) which has turned out to be a really good thing, I have done a lot of redesign for my tank and have learnt HEAPS from...

I used to have a few unsavoury habits in my younger days which taught me everything I need to now about getting hose sealed into plastic bottles. Cut the hose on an angle so it forms a point. Hold the cap level and remove the interior seal(You don't need it). Hold a lighter with the flame...

Congrats on getting your tank running!! I've got some spare time so I'll just write a bit about my fish and why I love them, might help with your choices. IMHO Gouramis make a great first fish, they are hardy, eat anything and can breath oxygen from the water surface so even if you make the...

You might also want to test your tap water, In older houses copper can leach into the water from the pipes in small amounts. My house has copper piping and I always run my tap for a minute or two before water changes to clear the water that has been sitting in the pipes.

I have just bought this book my self because I have heard it's excellent, am still awaiting delivery though. Would love to hear about how this goes for you. I have just bought a 6 gallon for my daughter to keep a betta and would love a nice low tech plant tank. Keep posting : >

It won't cause delays. It will reduce the amount of ammonia in the tank (Plants use Ammonia before other forms of nitrogen) so your levels won't be as high. Depending on how well your plants a going and how fast growing they are you may not even see the tank cycle at all. I always plant ASAP...

I always add my plants as soon as the tank is filled - Hygophilia Difformis and Blue stricta are my usual choices to start with.I never knew this until recently but plants will acually uptake ammonia before nitrit or nitrate so makes sense to plant them before you start cycling.

Correct - but generally low light. Which Is why I always thought that people advised CO2 injection with more than 2wpg. Anything over that and plants would start chewing KH to photosynthesise?? Yes/ No?

I have done this is my tank (I use long curves as opposed to walls) and it looks great - Make sure you don;t just use heaps of substrate though, otherwise you'll end up with big anaerobic pockets. I use a UGF which trickles in reverse and I have built it up to follow the curves in my tank so...

It's intersting how much in this hobby we used to believe is now being proved wrong. This is a really interesting thread, I had no idea and had always been a little worried about PH swings (I use DIY). It's great to know that as long as KH remains stable I shouldn't have a problem. Correct...