Ruadh

Have you tried using a flashlight at night with the lights turned out? Unfortunately, it might require that you get up in the middle of the night, but I have done it. I really, really wanted to get that fish out.

Sounds like you have your tank set up pretty well. The CO2 and O2 are independant. Raising the CO2 does not lower the O2. Have you got a drop checker for your CO2 levels? Good little unit to get. You can also do a differential pH test to find your level. To do that, take a water sample from your tank in a clean glass and let it sit over night. Next day take another sample in a new clean glass. Do a pH test of each sample and compare the two. A pH difference between the two of 1 full point gives you a CO2 level of approx. 30 ppm which is right on target. Another thing you might want to do is rotate your bottles. After the first week, re-charge your #1 bottle. After the second week, do the second bottle and after the third, the third bottle. There after re-charge 1 bottle each week in numerical order and you'll always have at least 2 bottles active at any given time and it's easier to do 1 than 3.

Have you called the welding supply stores? I'm not sure if they will do privately owned bottles or not, but I should think so since they do sell as well as rent. You won't be able to get it done while you wait in any case as they send the bottles out to their respective plnts to get filled. It will probably be a week or more turn around. You don't know anyone with a restaurant where you can swap bottles huh?

One of those wooden air "stones" works very well. Rick

Is there a way you mods can make the default position to save the e-mauils? Or is not saving them what most folks do?

If the bottom is tempered, not very likely, then you can't drill it or it will be little pieces on the floor. I don't know of any way you could drill the tank with fish or anything else in it. You'll need to turn the tank over to do it. Is there a way you can set up the tank at your new place and cycle it before you have to put the fish in? As liong as you keep the filters active you should have a minimum of trouble. Not---no trouble--- there's always some problem to deal with. Just be as prepared as possible.

Boy, I wonder when they took those pics?

Wouldn't an other alternative be to keep the lighting and ferts at a low level till the co2 is in? My thinking being that if the lights are low, the plants won't need a great deal of gas. Rick

From this web site: http://www.planetrena.com/Rena-Filters.html I get this pic: There's also an explanation of how they work. I don't have an answer to you question. I take it you have two filters on this 55? Maybe shut down the other filter for a month just to see if that makes a differance. Is it possible that the second filter is less restrictive than the Rena? This would make it do more filtering. I use floss on the top of my final secion too and it gets dirty. I use two XP3's on my 175 but I only clean the media every couple of months. Rick

If I'm not mistaken, the Rena canister filters are already no bypass. The feed water goes down the outside of the media to the bottom and up threw the centre to the pump. The pump is sealed off from the feed water by an "O" ring. The amount of water that would be drawn into the filter media between the baskets would be negligible, I'm thinking. I understand what you want to do and I applaud your effort, but I'm not so sure about the execution with this filter. Rick

I have a 175 gal tank that I wanted a new cannister filter for and when I was looking, I settled on two Rena XP3's. I don't remember the exact wording on the box but IIRC the XP3 was rated for up to 180 gal or so. Now the thing most people don't know is that the rating most of these companies publish is for the filter cannister with no media in it and no 'head' pressure. The 'head' pressure is the distance that the pump has to raise the fluid above the level of the pump. That is to say that if you filter is on the floor and the outlet in your tank is 3 feet off the floor, there is a 3 foot 'head'. By the time you put filter media in the cannister the flow is cut by 25% or so. After the unit runs for a few days and gets clogged with crap, the flow can be cut as much as 40% or more. this is one of the reasons I would advise the use of two cannisters rated at or above the size of your tank. As well as having lots of capacity, there is the redundancy factor to consider also. The same reasoning goes for having two heaters. The filter media can be bought at Natures Corner, one of our supporting vendors here. They're also on line, but I don't have the URL handy. I'm sure Henry will be on here and post it for you. For the final filter media, the top layer inside, I use the multi-coloured sponges bought from the grocery store. The ones that come 8 to a package for a couple of bucks. I cut two of them down to fit and put polyester batting on top when I want to "polish" to water. The batting can be purchased at a sewing and notions store, or in smaller quantities from the LFS. Enjoy your big tank, they're great. Rick

You won't find a better deal than that, for sure.

Aquariumillusions makes custom tanks, so you may be able to buy the glass from them. Chrystal Glass, or for that matter any glass company, should be able to supply. Just make sure they know it's for an aquarium. The edges might need to be polished, I don't know.

By all means, contact the builder, but six hundred pounds is really not all that much. Would you hesitate to put in a loaded fridge. A water bed? throw a party where three big men stand in one spot BSing? I don't think there would be a problem, my self. Now the land lord, that's another question. Don't forget the insurance, always a good idea. Rick

Have you taken the valve end apart to see if there's any plant crud stuck in there? I know mine gets plugged up with plant pieces and slows down. Even though, the draw isn't all that powerful at the best of times. It depends on the drop between the side of your tank and the outlet, I.E. that is, if the tank side is 3 feet off the floor and the bath tub side is 1.5 feet, you only have 1.5 feet of head, which is not a great deal. The further the drop the more flow there is.

You can also get a replacement head at Big Als. They're behind the counter by the freezer. Rick

Hi guy Those look like dry ferts measurements to me. I know some folks just dump the dry chemicals into the water, but I caution strongly against it. Fish don't know it's ferts and will eat it readily with not so good results. I put my ferts in a 1 lt bottle and add water, shake the crap out of it and dribble it into the tank. Here's the link to Tom Barre's site. He's the one who developed EI and has all the info you might need. http://www.barrreport.com/ Rick

I think my Ozelots are trying to leave me. Maybe they don't like the company

No, I don't think you're over stocked at all. Your tank parameters are stable so I don't think there's any concern. Rick

I'm not sure aboout a non-fertilized tank, but I know you want n'ite's for plant growth when ferts are used. I have a planted tank with co2 and I dose ferts to keep the n'ites at 50 ppm. I don't think you can get them very low with all the critters you have in there. All that fish poo adds a lot which is probably why your plants are doing so well. I really don't think you have any thing to worry about, that tank looks really good and healthy. Rick

Another thing I've seen done is to drill a 1/8 inch hole in the suction line about an inch or so below the water level. Should the water siphon out of the tank it will go till this hole is uncovered and the vacuum will be broken. Of course with this setup, you have to keep the water level in the tank constant. Just a little more diligence.

You're going to have trouble keeping the cork down, it floats real well. I might suggest using the plastic screen and make it a bit smaller than the back wall and stand it out from the wall to allow the fry free range behind it, then when they get bigger, you can move it back.

Prime is the only treatment I, myself, would trust to do this, but I add tap water straight into the tank too. I do a 50% change every Sunday and, like DarkAngel said, add an amount equal to that needed for the tank capacity and add the water straight in. I use a hose attached to the shower head and set my water temp before sending it to the tank. Never had a problem. Using double the Prime is over kill, but I don't measure it out real close either, it's just making sure in case there's extra ammonia in the aquarium.

Henry at Natures corner gets the true SAE's in every so often. He got stung a while ago so he's pretty careful about them now. Talk to him about the rest, he might know someone locally, ya never know, he's been around a long time.

With N'Ates at 10ppm I think you've hit the nail on the head. Tough way to learn but a good lesson to us all.