Cap'n

1 cube / day at the most. I try to leave at least one day per week where I skip the frozen food and feed nori and a bit of flake. Few comments about stock if you don't mind. Sand sifting stars are counter-productive to live sand as they eat all the beneficial organisms that allow a sandbed to function as a filter. Eventually you will have dead sand and dead stars. Threadfin is a good butterfly but will probably eat any polyp type corals in the tank. If not now, eventually. Unicorn tang should not be in anything but the largest of systems and the naso will also eventually outgrow your tank. Don't get discouraged by negative feedback, I learned all the above from experience. Tank sounds good, looking forward to more pics.

Water should pass through media on a largest to smallest gradient, ie., the most coarse media first and the finest last. This way the largest particles are trapped by the largest filter before it reaches the floss, which will trap just about any suspended particles. If all the water goes through the floss first it will get clogged and render your unit useless. My eheim canister is a good example. Ceramic cylinders at the bottom, medium gravel next, followed by large-pore plastic floss then the micro-floss in question to top it all off as a final scrub for the water.

OK, now it's getting interesting. I like Albert's idea, or at least something like it. One benefit of this would be a collection of great reference material for the site to catalogue and store for others to use. A possible problem may arise if all the articles, or even all the winning articles, are about the most popular type of fish. The moderators may have to limit each month's entries to a certain topic or topics.

Yep, she's there. Mostly works upstairs doing the seamstress thing. She made a really cool overcoat for one of the guy's "Hellboy" Halloween costume.

Care to drop some names?

OK, the company is actually called Back to Nature, site is called on the rocks. It's one of the links I provided earlier and is the basis of the background I plan to build. I want to do something like the Tanganyikan display but with a bit more seperation in the shale to match more closely the rocks in my tank. I agree, all the backgrounds they offer are top quality. I really appreciate all the research they have done prior to building any of the sets.

Okay, I'm officially creeped out, and I mean that as the best compliment possible. :rofl: We did a quick video as well where me and the manequin were looking at each other and then turned to face the camera at the same time (couple guys out of sight moved the manequin). We had to try a few times to get it just right but when we did it even gave me the chills. Christian (its Tim, BTW) yeah, I'm doin' the fast and dirty, try to keep my respirator on as much as possible. Did a long stint of carving 2-part foam for the Disney floats when I first started that wasn't a whole lot of fun. Sounds like you're familiar with the place?

What?

I think it was me, after all, I did get that 20% warning a while back...

Yep, I'm jumping on that bandwagon. Don't pass off that responsibility to the users.

What's on-the-rock?

Really! That's how my old boss started out. Since I gave the links to fishmanty I might as well do the same for the board. This is where I used to work. I'm the guy "painting" the manequin of myself. It was used for a civil war display in Tennessee, after application of mustouche, hair and uniform of course. http://www.studioycreations.com/index_flash.php?screenRes=hi and this is where I work now, http://www.fdscenechanges.net/ Cpt Carver

http://www.catfishheaven.net/day1.html http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_background.php http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_..._background.php http://www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/janne.html http://www.thecichlidgallery.com/article_frigomodul.htm http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_other_netmax_styro.htm http://www.tropheus.info/riftlakes/cichlids/plastbak_e.html http://www.tropheus.info/riftlakes/cichlid...alawiakv_e.html http://www.on-the-rocks.se/english/index.html Some more reference material. I really like the natural looking displays Back to Nature (the last link) tries to build. I am going to be doing a similar version of their Tanganyikan back ground for my tank.

Right on Albert! How are you keeping the GSP's from taking over such a small area? I'm impressed you've been able to keep it stable for so long. How long has the livestock been in there? It's times like this that I consider getting a part-time job at a fish store! But that may feed the addiction a bit too much.

I have done a bunch of research on the variety of backgrounds people have made for their tanks. Lots of great ideas out there. I found most of them by doing a Google search "tank background" or something ike that. Rahim, caves would be easy. Saw one design where the guy started with PVC pipe with a bunch of holes and dividers added, then built the background around and over that. fishmanty, don't let the size of the tank stop you. Just start with a single, thinner sheet of styro, make smaller rocks. Saw lots for small tanks in my surfing. I actually think the guy profiled could have done a much better job. I can't do it right now but I will see if I can find some more of the links to other backgrounds and post them here. Also, I'm a scenic artist. I make floats, displays and backdrops for stage and screen, and my main medium is, you guessed it, styrofoam. I have sculpted quite a few rocks in the past couple years and wouldn't mind doing a few more. I want to make backgrounds for my tanks as well. If you guys get the materials and a place we can mess up I wouldn't mind helping put a few of these things together. Let me know what you think as I am too tired to do any more thinking tonight.

That is looking real good, nice job with the structure. How hard is to work in the tank with it that low? You said you have some powerheads hidden in the rockwork, aren't you concerned with vibrations ?

Kent. Salt of choice for many modern reefers.

OK, kinda what I thought. I'll stick with the bristlenose then. Thanks

I believe that any filter is only as good as the media inside it and the person who cleans it. I have an eheim 2215 with multiple sized substrate for mechanical filtration. I love the thing. It is quiet, has a good turnover rate, never fails me and definately adds to the quality of the tank. However, it is a PITA to clean. Therefore it does not happen often and I will not use anything but rock, gravel, cylinders and such inside. I use aquaclears to get rid of the visible waste. I don't think they are effecient enough to force water through all the media to get a real good mechanical filter going. I use them with various grades of foam and floss to get rid of all the bigger crud. They are easy to clean and change the media. They are so visible that you can tell at a glance if they need servicing or not. Don't think it is a matter of one or the other. They compliment each other so well that they make a great team when used to the most of their potential.

It wasn't worth it. But I don't mind being a guinea pig. Wouldn't want to own one... but that's a different story.

All's well. Hope there were no young children reading this saucy thread.

I was checking out some gold nugget plecos at the LFS tonight. They were in with a bunch of mollies that wouldn't quit picking at the plecos spots. Just wondering if this would be a concern if I was to put them in with my tanganyikan cichlids. Any experience? How are yours doing Rahim?

Question from a Malawi virgin: what are OB peacocks?

You know what? Whenever I try to add a post now I get a message saying that my post will be previewed by a moderator before being added to the thread!!! OK, that was a fun experiment. Now moderators, get rid of my 20% warning or you will have a deluge of crap emails to approve. Thanks, Cpt Content

I'm going to be building a light hood in the near future and will have many questions, I'm sure. Appreciate the offer and will definately use your expertise.