Doc_Polit

Hey vince0,

You have been given quite a variety of silicone choices. However, these are purely silicone and will not greatly enhance the strength of your seals.

For the best corner seals, you want an adhesive silicone. Grainger or Fatsenal carry Momentive RTV 108 & 103 (clear & black). Another superior choice, if you can locate it, is GE SCS1200 Construction silicone. I believe Edmonton Fasteners can get it.

These are the choices that tank builders use. Spend a little more money to avoid gallons on your floor.

I am re-sealing a 120-gallon as we speak and will not use anything but RTV or SCS.

Cool shots, Ryan!

Your plan looks sound but does appear to be lacking a little in it's ability to cycle.

A couple of suggestions for you.....

DO use the filter from your other tank.

DON'T use the water from your other tank. Water does nothing as far as beneficial bacteria and has little to no value for cycling.

DO add more beneficial bacteria. I accomplished this by adding nylon bags of substrate from an established tank. This will make a huge difference and should certainly shorten your cycle.

Please be sure to monitor your water parameters with the appropriate test kits.

Good luck!

You can probably get away with 1/4" acrylic. For your acrylic and Weld On, there are a couple of good options in Calgary. Try Laird Plastics and/or Industrial Plastics & Paints.

As far as bulkheads, you can make your own out of PVC parts. Google DIY Bulkhead.

If you have no luck, PM me and I will help you out.

All the best to you and your family, Jonah!

You have always been a valued member and a top-notch guy.

Cool.

Thanks for the photos and details. :thumbs:

Hey J,

How was the "chip out" on the back side of the holes?

Hey Ryan,

Did you use the "pin method" or just run the solvent with the sides in place?

They are round white cylindrical pieces (about 2") that stick out inside the fixture.

Actually, that is the starter.

If you are looking for Zavlar locally, try Home Hardware.

Apparently they do not keep it on their shelves but they can order it from their warehouse.

Cool idea Ryan. :thumbs:

I like it.

Definitely go for Cyps.

Paracyps tend to like rockwork as well and may have conflict with your Julies.

Good luck!

Nice work, Ryan. :thumbs:

That tank looks great!

Hey Kim,

I understand your concern about culling......never a pleasant task.

If you are looking for a humane way to do it, you can simply put the babies in a container of water, add a drop or two of clove oil, cover and put in the freezer.

This way the clove oil and temperature drop slow the metabolism to the point that the fish are "asleep" before they freeze.

This is what I do for all of my Africans.

Wow.

Incredible shots again, Patrick!

I wish I had your talent behind the lens.

Check out Monga Bay.com

Terrific shots, as usual, Patrick. :thumbs:

Just some food for thought. Another of my peers contacted API on my behalf after I lost an entire Tropheus colony to this crap. See below:

First off I am so sorry to here of your loss ! I hope you will still keep Tropheus and gain lots of insight to what happened regarding your situation . O have never used the Melafix so I don't know that much about this product. I found the following information when I did a search for info regarding Melafix. I hope this article might give some kind of benefits:

I asked why there was inconsistent results between users and indeed, even in my own applications of these products. These chemicals are 'natural' organic compounds derived from plants.

I was told that it was quite simple. . .These products (Melafix and Pimafix) only kill some kinds of bacteria. I asked if he meant gram negative or positive and the answer was, "No." What he meant was that, irrespective of gram stain results, the bacteria that is thwarted by these products is a finite group (which is mostly unknown).

They know, for instance, that Melafix wipes out mycobacterium and a few others. What about the other bacteria?

They don't know. One aquarist's fish could have a type of bacteria that Melafix will kill, and another aquarist will have bacteria it won't touch. So one aquarist may say, "It works!" and the other says "It doesn't work." Both can be right.

There is a small downside to their use, which shouldn't be cause for general concern, but nonetheless the aquarist should be on the lookout for this situation:

Both Melafix and Pimafix are organic compounds. The bacteria in the tank water (not necessarily the ones on the fish) these products don't kill, sometimes use the Melafix and Pimafix as food! This means that when you add these medications to a tank (especially a tank that has not been maintained well or one that hasn't had regular water changes) there is a small chance that a bacterial bloom will ensue and take up dissolved oxygen. This could mean that you could see, under such circumstances, your fish significantly increase their respiratory rate.

I was told an interesting tidbit. . .The above affect seems to be happening quite often in Italy and API hasn't been able to figure out why, yet.

The fish may seem to be desperately trying to get oxygen and, in effect, they are. This will of course be adding a significant stress factor to an already stressed, sick fish. If the aquarist has any doubt or concern about this, perform an oxygen test before and during the treatment for monitoring purposes.

API has not done much work at trying to figure out all the bacteria that these two compounds are effective against. They don't seem to want to go much further with it. Since aquarists don't know the exact bacteria that is infecting their fish, it might be a moot point whether it was of value knowing what bacteria it was good for, anyway. It IS selling to aquarists!

However, in the professional arena (public and private aquariums, for instance) where scrapings and identification of infections are performed, not knowing whether Melafix and/or Pimafix will treat the bacteria isn't worth the risk. You'll find they don't use these medications.

The concern with an aquarist using these products is that it might not work. When that happens, the bacteria causing the problem can continue to multiply and adversely affect the fish. Most fish should be able to survive a 'mis-treatment' if they are well fed with the proper nutrition.

In such a case where Melafix and/or Pimafix can't kill that particular bacteria, the fish suffers longer by not having been given a successful treatment. Usually, the fish should not expire by this lost time IF the fish is given the correct antibiotic treatment immediately after a failed Melafix/Pimafix treatment.

But if the infection has progressed significantly and/or it has become systemic and/or the fish has stopped eating, I'd still suggest a known likely effects of an antibiotic over the chance that Melafix or Pimafix might work. Under these circumstances, the wrong choice of medication could mean the fish will expire because it couldn't hold out any longer for the effective medication.

My bottle now rests in the circular file. I am done with Melafix.

Good news, Mike. :thumbs:

I am a tropheus keeper too and from what I understand, it is a crap shoot with Trophs.

They can never truly be trusted with tankmates. What one colony may ignore, another will torment to death.

Could be a costly experiment. :bang1:

Can they be kept individually?

I tend to agree with Valisneria.

Cyaneorhabdos (also known as Maingano).

Great shots, Greg.

You captured the gold nicely.

If you search the DIY forum at Reef Central, they have some really nice stands too.

Hey Jay,

We need a little more information:

1) What Lake do you prefer? Tanganyika, Victoria, Malawi?

2) Do you want a species tank or community tank?

3) In regard to Malawis, do you prefer Mbuna, Haps or Peacocks?