BooUrns!

They are one and the same And you would know! :smokey: One of the ones I got at the last auction died after a few days but the other three are doing ok. One seems to have a white eye, I'm assuming it was an injury as it is only the one eye and none of the others have that problem.

IT's actually NOT a really good idea. I could see this as a course of action if the store had a history of this sort of behaviour or was defrauding customers. I'm assuming no money has been exchanged at this point so there is no actual obligation on part of Aquagiant (if a deposit was put down, launch a complaint if it is not refunded). The other point being that the glass was considerably cheaper than other vendors. You can't exactly indict a company for not being able to deliver when the competition charges so much more. I'm sure it would have been nice if they could have undersold the competition but they weren't able to do so. It's time to move on to another store, not attempt to sabotage their business. Looking forward to seeing the completed tank.

My initial concern was not with the bolt and if ti could bear the load, it was the material through which the bolt had been threaded. You indicate that you've welded nuts into the HSS tubing, those welds will be your weakest point in the structure. Hope it works out. As for the concrete, residential concrete is rarely if ever tested. The only do cylinder tests in commercial applications where they need to be able to verify that the conc meets the structural design parameters. Older concrete will be stronger due to having dcads to continue curing but it will still eventually settle and crack if there is no footing or pad under that part of the slab. It will be a slow process and I doubt you will ever notice the damage. Good luck with the tank. Looking forward to seeing it up and running.

I think what people are trying to convey to you is that the bolts won't fail, but there is a possibility that there will be adequate shear forces present to tear out the small plates in which the bolts have been threaded. I beleive it's referred to as perpendicular shear.

I'm getting a little impatient with all the ice. It's taking too long to go. I keep eyeing the outdoor tubs and wonder when I can start refilling them. The goldfish in the basement tubs are still ok but I worry about them as the temp down there starts to rise. I'd love to put them outside right now but I imagine the ammonia release when the pond bottom thaws would do them in. I would love some cattail plants. I've managed to keep one umbrella plant and a few others alive but they aren't exactly thriving.

Also try CanadianAquatics out of Vancouver (also on BCA). I ordered 10 last spring and my plecs have been using them.

The tanks have drain plugs on the bottom edge. Every fall I pull the plug and keep the dozy fish away from the outlet while the water level drops. That's the only easy way to catch them. Some of the larger fish (1 koi, 2 12" goldfish) go to a large tank in my gf's classroom and the smaller fish go into two 120G poly troughs that are kept in the basement. It's pitch black and only around 5-10c down there so it's just like them being under ice in the winter. I run an aerator and give them WCs but I don't feed them much.

These are two of my three outdoor 'ponds' as they were first set up three years ago. The blue one is a 500G stock tank and the white one is a salvaged 600G water storage tank cut open. The filters are rubbermaid storage totes plumbed in with bulkeads from princess auto and powered by Pentair Rainbow Lifeguard Quiet One 1200 pumps and they have 2"dia. foot valves as intake guards.. The filters had lava rock, filter sponge and live plants in them. I set up the oulet to splash on the intake so as to increase the oxygen exchange at the surface. It also makes for a pleasant sound in the garden. Even my neighbours enjoyed hearing it.

Depends on the size of the koi and turtle. I would also wonder how you would plan on keeping the turtle contained at your pond and fed. I don't imagine he could compete all that well with some hungry koi. I believe red eare sliders aren't legal around here but everyone seems to have one despite this. Probably your lowest cost and easiest to keep. Have you considered hw you will be wintering your turtle?

Sounds like either pH or temperateure shock. I'm not sure why you were 'cleaning' the tank in such a way that you had to move the fish. Water changes and siphoning out sludge on the bottom of the tank should be sufficient. If you're doing that radical a clean on yor 40G tank, you're probably eliminating the beneficial bacteria in the process.

That depends on what you want out of them. Are you interested in koi solely for patterns on them or just for a large and friendly pond fish? When I say large, i do mean 2' and up. And ponds, not tanks. There are Japanese koi and american koi. Each have distinguishable body shapes. You need to figure out what you want and then go find a koi keepers forum for specific advice on breeding lines etc.

I think they're snail eggs too. Even if they were tetra eggs, neon's eggs are sensitive to light so they wouldn't be viable anyway.

I thought you needed to be located in a port of entry in order to function as a transhipper? Perhaps if they ever go ahead with making Edmonton a Port of Entry it would work out.

I've found that certain types of canisters will leak more easily than others. The Fluval x04/x05 series (the x03 series were more reliable) seem prone to leakage after being cleaned the 2nd or 3rd time. Small amounts of debris can buildup inside the filter can settle on the o-ring causing the filter to have a slow leak. I've had quite a few Fluvals that had/have this problem. I've heard from other sources how the motor heads can heat up and become warped leading to the o-ring not being able to seat properly. The other major issue with the fluvals is gas buildup in the canisters. I've lost entire tanks of fish when not one but two fluvals failed due to air locks building up in the filter at inopportune times. I've begun replacing all of my fluvals (except the FX-5s) with various models of eheim canister filters. They're more expensive but much better quality. They may slow down due to debris buildup but I've never had one stop. They seem to be effective at releasing built-up air despite the motor head being on top of the canister. I believe the aquastop you mention is a feature of the Fluval x0/x05 canister filters. It's just a control valve that can limit or even stop water flow. This won't help you if the o-ring begins to leak.

Maybe add a bubble stone on the bottom of the tank or a power head. A lot of my cories seem to like to play in the bubbles/ jet flow. They'll continually swim in and out of it. Perhaps it's their version of surfing.

Good idea wrapping mesh around the intake. I've lost one or two fish to shock when they accidentally got their heads stuck during siphoning.

Is it me or are prices up this year? Low canadian dollar at work?

Nice tank. Is that substrate from SIL industries? Other source? I'm assuming it's not too abrasive for loaches?

It's mostly a matter of cost difference. 2x4 & 2x6 are cheaper to use than posts in the quantities that new home contruction requires. The majority of saws have been designed for cutting 2x material aswell. Saws that can cut a 4x4 in one pass are rare and expensive. There are also thermal properties to lumber that make 2x material the better choice for construction. Narrow material allows more room for insulation while still providing structural support. The warping and splitting of the 4x4 material you had was probably due to improper storage. When the wood begins to dry on the surface, it shrinks at a faster rate than the core of the material. This applies torsional forces on the material and it twists and turns and pulls itself apart. Other environmental conditions would lead to mold growth. 2x material should be fine for building DIY stands. I don't see a reason to add material between the plys to make it an even square. It's a structural element, symetry shouldn't be important inside the stand.

Probably not an issue. I've kept a 60G in a second floor bedroom along with some 37s and 15s. I did notice the floor had sunken a bit but this was a poorly done second floor addition so I doubt the joists were properly laid out.

Any house of 25-30 yrs age would have been built using 2x10s or 2x12s for joists (engineered joists were not typically used or available back then). Engineered flooring products deform much more easily under compressive forces so I would not place large tanks on the floor of a newer home unless the floor has been designed for the weight. If your house is over 25' wide, then chances are the joists are spaced on 12" or 16" centres giving you a live load (the weight of the occupants, furniture, and objects not physically attached to the house) of 30-50. You can roughly (very roughly) estimate the safe loading of a room by calculating the square footage and multiplying it by 50lbs or 30lbs for bedrooms (average live load lb/sq.ft). Now I'm sure your structure can hold much more than that weight as engineers typically over engineer their designs to cover their asses but why would you want to push the limits and risk a failure? Now let's get into how many tanks are appropriate. People have fishrooms usually in their basements because the concrete floor can hold a lot of weight and the basement zone is less susceptible to moisture buildup than a small room as it is usually a less confined space. Moisture can buildup in drywall and cause dampness issues in wall insulation which can lead to frost buildup in the winter. If you're using open top tanks, you might want to consider limiting the numbers of tanks in a finished room. Tank covers will reduce but not eliminate evaporation. Loading a floor might not cause a failure but over time the weight will cause the floor joists to compress, leaving you with a low spot on the floor and possibly leading to drywall cracks and door jambs gettiing tight. Also keep in mind that if you load up a second floor, the main floor and basement are also accepting that weight. eg. A room 10'x16' = 160 sq.ft. x 30 = 4800 lbs tank weight per gallon plus substrate (roughly) 8.8lbs + 3.2lbs x 90 gallons = 1080 lbs 2-90G= 2160lbs. 3-90G= 3240lbs. You'd be pushing your luck by going anywhere over 50% of a room's estimated live load bearing capacity. Remember there is furniture and people to add into this calculation. Don't interpret this as an exact calculation but rather a rough guide line for estimating safe practices.

April's in Vancouver ~find the address from the BCAquaria vendor list. low priced stock and rare finds

If I have more than 4 of a particular pleco species I'll give them their own tank. I always include some dither fish to fill up the upper levels of the tank and to give the plecs a reassurance that they are not alone. They still prefer to have hidey holes/caves anyway. I've got three dedicated plec tanks that have some angels in the mid-levels. I'll throw in endlers or guppies in plec breeding tanks. I guess I'm trying to give them a hint...

I guess I'll just have to keep checking your section on the BCA website to see when you have some available! :smokey:

The L134 is all mine... I am going to try to breed them... When are you going to bring some more L134s in? :smokey: