Drydock

Anyone used Teflon tape with bulkheads? White or pink or doesn't matter?

I just built my own stand for a 210. 3/4" x2 Screwed and glued together for the sides and back that gives me 3" of support. I have 2 laminated 2x4 across the front supporting the 3/4 inch plywood top and then supported by posts between my cabinet doors. The majority of the weight is carried by the edges, not necessarily the top sheet of plywood. I don't know if I would use 2x2 for the sides. I would be more inclined to go with structural 2x4 or 2x6

Welcome.

Zebra Loach works the best for me... they stay small and are VERY efficient in cleaning up the snails.

haven't used that one, but once you buy a particular filter, you might want to have some flexibility on what media you put in it. Kinda like when you get a printer and ink cartridges. Shuure, the new printer is 'Free' but then you have to buy their cartridges for life at whatever they say. I would personally buy something simpler and have more flexibility... I'm going with a sump with lots of bio media and java moss for my 210. Not sure what it will look like in a year, but that's OK 'cause as I learn, I can change it.

My new tank is 72" x 30" wide and 24" high. It was built as a salt water reef tank, but I am hoping that the same benefits that were expected out of it's design for SW will still apply to a FW planted tank. I don't know what the 'ideal' height would be. I think that would probably depend on the types of plants that you want to have. Keep in mind that the deeper your tank, the more powerful your lighting system needs to be in order to make it to the very bottom of the tank for any of the shorter plants that may be there. As long as you consider your lighting requirements when you are thinking of how deep to go (T-5, halides...) you should be fine. I personally also like a larger footprint because it gives you more room to aquascape the tank and give a real sense of depth. (shorter, but larger front to back) My hands are in my planted tank a lot. Pruning, re-planting when fish move stuff... you would need some sort of attachment if you go over 36" deep.

I don't know the book you are referring to, but I think it is a rather shallow defense to essentially say 'It's written down, so it must be OK." I am assuming you are an adult and can judge for yourself whether or not an idea presented to you is right or wrong. (ethical or unethical) Literally anything can get published, especially these days, so without the reputation of an author or publisher behind the book, it really means nothing to me. In short, I think that there is a better way to get that enjoyment out of your fish that you are looking for. If your intent is to get the best coloration out of your fish, why not research their dietary needs and work at providing the best diet you can for them. Find out what their natural habitat would be like and try to replicate that in your tank. Provide suitable mates for them. With the aggressive fish you mentioned, I admit that the task gets much more difficult, and it probably means that you end up with a tank with 2 or 3 fish in it and you take a lot of trips to the Fish Store and walk out wishing you could have bought some fish you saw that looks really nice. Ethical aquarium keeping limits the impulsiveness that each of us are allowed to exercise, unless it comes to buying more tanks! When you do have conflict in a tank, I rarely find that both are equally matched and can 'hold their own'. Ultimately, you are going to have one that will end up being the dominant, 'King of the Tank'. I have many species in my tank, and I admit, at times, there is fin nipping and establishment of territories. You are correct in stating that this is part of their natural behavior. However, I have previously selected inhabitants that should be suitable tank mates and not intentionally selected fish that will not get along. I have (tried my best to make) a suitable environment for the fish I have selected, I try and feed them well and the result is that there are several groupings that will spawn on a regular basis. The result is that they are interesting to watch and on a regular cycle, I have great color in the specimens that I have. The people on this forum and the information in the articles have been a great resource for me to add to that experience. This is a place to exchange opinions and knowledge. Perhaps in your case, not knowing (or being known) by the community, you were caught a bit off guard by our responses. I don't think it is anyones intent to say that you can't belong, but you also need to recognize that any community will set their own standards and expectations. I don't think you will get booted for your opinions (check with the moderators) but expect to be challenged as well if you say something that others don't agree with. So I think that's all I'm gonna say on this thread. I'm not out to pick on 'the new guy' and if we ever meet up at an auction or something, I'm happy to shake your hand and get to know you. Obviously, we have differing opinions when it comes to keeping fish and I was bringing the other side of the issue up. The last thing I want is for you to never come back because you felt I was a jerk. I just happen to see it differently, that's all. Good luck with your move out to Edmonton. I hope all goes well and that you and all your livestock make the transition well.

Would some of the larger tetras be OK? I'm thinking of Congos, Black skirts, or maybe some rainbows... I am guessing Cardinals, rasboras and the like would just be dinner.

I may be reading into this too much, but your choice of words "Anyone ever set this up before?" Implies that you are looking for someone who has intentionally put two incompatible species together for the purpose of conflict. IMO, anyone who intentionally puts two incompatible species together for the purpose of observing their conflict should not be a pet owner. I don't think it is ethical. Most (if not all) of the people I have interacted with on this site really do care for the animals in their care and try to provide the best living conditions possible. This is the first post I have read where someone may have suggested doing otherwise. I'll wait for you to tell me that I totally misread that and clarify what you really meant. There is a really great edit feature you can use to fix up your post.

I still clean my Fluval 403 every 6 weeks. Not sure if it is because it needs it, or if it is out of habit. Decreased flow does not mean no flow. How many of us can eyeball the flow coming out of a hose and know that our tank is being properly filtered or not. (calculate the bio load, carry the 2...) If you are running only biomedia and foam, you might be able to get away with longer intervals of time in between cleanings, however, if you are relying on carbon or zeolite for ammonia and other toxin removal, you are setting your tank on a roller coaster ride. Once the carbon reaches its capacity, it will stop absorbing toxins and your tank may not be ready to compensate. I would advocate for a regular, but not complete cleaning of the filter. Clean 1 or two sections every month or 6 weeks to keep a consistent level of flow and buggies in your filter. Just my 2 cents. (Going up to 3 next month due to inflation...)

Like Jvision said, your filter should be cycled for the number of fish (bioload) that you have right now. You should probably resist the urge to go out and by a whole bunch of new fish for a bit to allow the new gravel, larger filter or whatever to get colonized with bacteria and then begin adding new fish.

Agreed with all of the responses above. Leave a couple inches of water, and leave the fish in, unless they are a 'tall' fish like an angel. I would be tempted to bag those separately so they can sit upright... When you get to your new home, just add dechlorinated water and you will have a very productive weekend. :thumbs: You moved your home and did 90% water changes on all your tanks! That deserves a sit down with a cold, frosty beverage! :beer:

Welcome. The Aquarium Addicts self help group meet regularly. help yourself to the free advice, cheap equipment and livestock...

Turbo, Nice effect with the sand. Did you glue some to PVC or something for caves?

I think it can be as complicated or simple as you want... try not to be intimidated by it all. If you are looking at a recipe, you have to gauge if the accuracy is really that critical or is the writer just trying to communicate some guidelines for you to follow. The hardest part (In my opinion) was getting rid of a lot of the tougher tissues in the heart. (Valves, vein, muscle linings) I would go nuts with a good sharp knife and cut out the good meaty parts. the rest got turfed. When I was doing this a good size heart would last me 6 months or so, and I wasn't really all that picky of efficient with all of it. After you have the meat prepared, add what you want, blend and freeze. I really can't remember measuring anything when I would mix in flakes or veggies or anything else like that. The more I would prepare my own beef heart, the more complicated it grew, because I was comfortable with the process and starting to get a bit more creative. If you want to try it, just start out with some beef heart and grind it up. Next time, try adding some of this or that... We do this hobby for fun right?

Ya, if you let the processor go too long, you get mush. It makes a mess in your tank, but it is small enough that even my neons and dainos were eating it. For the sake of keeping your tank a bit cleaner, I would try not to make it too fine.

I have had success with crumbled flake, frozen mysis shrimp and even hard boiled egg yolk. You have to be really careful with the egg yolk as it will give you an ammonia spike faster than you can believe. If you have a tank with live plants, there is often lots in there for them to forage as well. I have most of my fry hiding in a couple of balls of java moss. I found you also have to do almost daily water changes to encourage their growth so they get full size...

How big of a sponge filter? How do you want to power it? Water lift using an air pump? Powerhead? This is in no ways meant to criticize the merit of your idea, but for the price of a sponge filter, is it really worth it? $10 or less should get you an average sponge filter. You might be able to trade or get one cheap from another member if you ask or look in the FS/Trade section. Of course, the journey can often be as rewarding as the destination...

I used beef heart in the past. I would grind it all up in a food processor and add some veggies as well - zucchini, shelled peas, spinach... Spread it out thin on some wax paper or cling wrap on a cookie tray, then break it up and store it in ziplocks. One heart would last me 6 months-ish... I would break off a chunk and melt it straight into the tank. I don't see why you couldn't do the same with chicken hearts, but there might be an issue with freezing-thawing-refreezing. Hope that helps.

The water level at an angle means that your tank and stand are likely not level. How much of an difference is it? If is is only a small difference, you are probably OK. I might have an eighth of an inch difference over the length of my 72 Gallon (4 feet) and I have not tried to fix it. If you are concerned about it, you really should work at leveling the stand, not just the tank. Carpet can make this challenging, but if you shim it and then cut off any excess, you can make it look neat. I would recommend you buy some wood shims that you can buy at a hardware store and are reasonably inexpensive. If you shim just the tank, you actually lift the glass off part of the stand and you lose support in that area. Not recommended as most tanks probably aren't designed for that. 25 gallons isn't that big of a tank (relatively) where this may be a super critical issue, but it is big enough to make a mess, so I would take care of it. IMHO

I have a planted community tank and my favorites tend to be the Congo tetras and I have a group of Blue Rainbows. They are fast and colorful, and I find that they don't seem skittish. When people approach the tank, they will continue to swim out in the open to be viewed as opposed to hiding in the plants or caves. I have a couple of Emperor Tetras (not the keri tetras that look the same) that also look very nice, but tend to be a bit more shy to humans but aggressive with some of the other bigger fish I have in the tank. I also have rasboras, platys, cardinals, black neons, black skirts, rummy noses, lemon tetras and yellow tetras in my tank. On the bottom, I have a group of cory's and a trio of Butterfly Plecos (L025) When you are looking to fill a community tank, you need to keep in mind which layer of your tank the different types will fill (Bottom, Middle, Top). My Congos, Rainbows and platys tend to be closer to the surface and a lot of the other smaller tetras tend to be the mid to lower-mid levels. IMHO, to have a nice looking community tank, you need to have a good balance of different fish that will live in different areas of your tank. I often will look at a tank I am stocking and look for a fish to 'fill a hole' then go to a LFS to find a good mid range or top level fish.

Welcome, What kinds of fish do you keep?

I have never had a good experience with a Betta in a community tank and it has always turned out bad for the Betta. I also have 4 Congos in my 72 Gallon community. They are probably the most active fish in the tank, where I would probably say the Betta will be on the other end of the scale. I would also put down money on the Black Skirt to give the Betta a 'trim'. Bettas are a pretty slow moving fish and will be at the mercy of everything in the tank that is faster than it when it makes its way from his hiding spot to the surface to breathe... It will also be at a disadvantage for food as well. Unfortunately, I pretty much have to agree with what everyone else is saying. I don't think what you are suggesting is a good idea.

I was told the juvies gain 7 kilograms an hour. I think it would be a short stay. That's a lot of squid...

Some photos from my recent trip to Newfoundland. We spend an afternoon on a whale and bird watching trip south of St. John's. Here is a humpback diving into a terminal dive. We were in the area where he dived for at least 30 minutes and I don't think I ever did see this one again. Here is a pod of 5 that all dove down after coming up to our boat. There was a juvenile that was playing around on the surface for 5 minutes or so, rolling over onto his back and splashing around... then the all dove. We only caught the last 3, but I thought it was a great photo. We also saw some Puffins and a couple of Bald Eagles.