Boom

Despite loosing (a LOT) on the sale of my Tropheus, I had a good time. Talked to some old friends and scored a few good deals. Picked up two bags of yellow Calvus (4 fish total), 3 julidichromas transcriptus, and a pair of sunshine peacocks. I'd like to especially thank Rudy, who tried to help me out by offering to re-sell my trophs (he bought them the first time but only cause bidding stalled out). I played on the cautious side and didn't get on the risk, but they did resell for more, so money in Rudy's pocket. Oh well, thanks anyway Rudy! Boom :boom:

If I show up with my tropheus, can I still sign up and sell them there?? Boom :boom:

Thanks very much everyone. I really appreciate the comments. I love showing my work to you guys as your are always so kind with the comments. Blake, a matching canopy is still to come! Boom :boom:

I may have mentioned in the past that one of my other hobbies is custom woodworking. You can see some more of my work by clicking the link in my signature. For fish keeping, I specifically keep two species of African cichlids.Cyphotilapia Gibberosa (Frontosa) from the Mpimbwe region of lake Tanganyika in a 180 gallon tank, and in this new 75 gallon tank I keep Tropheus Moorii red from the Kachese region of the same lake. I build this stand and designed it with several key features. First and foremost, it has to be strong. A 75 gallon tank filled with sand and water weighs almost 800 pounds. The substructure is made of 2x6 fir vertical posts and 3 layers of 1/2" baltic birch plywood to make the cross beams. I used 5/8" dark cherry melamine to face the structure, and then solid Peruvian walnut to edge the melamine, add trim, and make solid frame doors. I decided to try some power carving on this project as previously suggested to me by Canadian Woodworking magazine editor, Rob Brown. (I have now had my work published in the magazine on two occasions). I wanted a simple design that reflects the waves of water as well as the shapes of fish, depending on your interpretation. The power carving was easily done with 60 grit paper on my random orbit sander. The Peruvian walnut is quite soft, so it went quickly. The trim is not thick so I didn't have to remove much material. I ensured that the lines carried over from the doors to the trim of the stand. You will notice the 3D background that I previously posted that I had some trouble installing. After figuring out the silicone issue, it went in fine and looks great. I have a half dozen Synodontis petricola in this tank as well as some Java Fern and Anubias. Thanks for looking and as always, I look forward to your comments, critique, and questions!

Thanks J. Put the last sealant in yesterday (Friday) morning. Going to wait until Thursday to add water again. I saved the background and it should still look a-ok!

Thanks guys. I will use the GE I. I bought two tubes already. How long do you wait for it to cure before it's safe for the fishies?

Thanks J. So it IS safe for the aquarium, but they just won't say so to avoid potential liability?

So I bought the silicone listed as #1 on this thread. It says right on the tube not for submerged use, not for aquarium use. What gives!!?? is it safe for my aquarium or not?? Boom :boom:

Thanks. The background is now removed and still in one piece. A razor blade has taken almost all of the silicone off from inside the tank. I've started to take the silicone off the background as well with the razor blade and it's getting the bulk of it. How much of this silicone is hazardous to the fish? If there are some small bits of it left hardened on the background that I can't remove without damage, will it still be harmful? What if it's covered with the new silicone that is fish safe? Boom :boom:

Well I'm not sure about bread, but I used my bandsaw to cut the background to size in the first place, and I can slice wood veneer on my bandsaw 1/32" thick easily. But some of the silicone on the background is almost 1/2" in. If I cut 1/2" off each side off the background, then it's gonna be an 1" too short, and that will look funny! Other suggestions? I'm assuming anything like acetone that will dissolve the silicone will also dissolve the styrofoam and thats no good. I would, but I don't want those 25 fish living in a rubbermaid tote for weeks, and then "hope" it works. Rather undo what I did wrong and do it right. I may end up needing a new background, but lesson learned I guess. If anyone has a tank shorter than 48" that they want a background for, I can part with this one for cheap even tho it's still new. I'll even cut it to size for you and give some tips on the right silicone to use! Boom :boom:

No just the background. The tank was bought (assembled) from Big Al's on a boxing day special. I have a zero set (thin kerf, flush cut trim saw) but want to be very careful not to scratch the glass. But once the background is out, how do I get all the silicone off the bottom and edges of the styrofoam?

Thanks everyone. Thats what I was afraid of. I have a feeling that in order to remove all the silicone, I will ruin the background. Damn that pisses me off, but I have some work to do and at least I know now. I used pretty much the whole tube and threw it out, so I don't have it to look any more, but I'm pretty sure the stuff that ckmullin linked to is it. Boom :boom:

Ok guys and gals, I feel like a total newbie posting this, but I'm really stumped and need some input from you. I set up a new 75 gallon tank and started to add fish to it tonight. But as soon as I started to add water from the tank into the fish buckets to start to acclimatize them, the fish started having heavy gill movement (heavy breathing) and going up to the top of the bucket and "gasping". I did not see any flashing or rubbing as is sometimes noticed if the water is not dechlorinated. I unfortunately left after adding some of the tank water in with my new Black calvus, and they all perished. I was able to save the rest of the fish (some syno. petricola and 18 tropheus.) All the regular parameters of the tank check out fine. Ammonia 0, Nitrite as close to 0 as can be measured, Nitrate 5 -10 ppm. Ph 7, general hardness 180mg/L, carbonate hardness 120 mg/L. All as measured with my API test kit. The temperature is right where it should be at about 78* and about 25% of the water is from my well established 180 gallon. The rest of the water was fresh tap water, will dechlorinated with Seachem Prime. The tank is new and I installed one of the Aquaterra 3D backgrounds from Patrick. I used GE Silicone II (black) to install it. I waited 48+ hrs for the silicone to cure before adding water for the first time about a week ago. The substrate is also new, Filter Sil 1.6 from Sil Industries. The sand was well rinsed. The rest of the decor is just some rocks that used to be in my 180 but have been out for months. The filter is a Marineland C-360 and I have a Hydor 300Watt inline heater plumbed in. There was no cycle time as the filter is full of well established media from my sump on the 180, as well as some further bio media behind the background tha is also from the 180. I have two theories and want to run them by you guys and please get your input. First, maybe I didn't wait long enough for the silicone to cure, and it is offgassing in the water, poisoning it? The silicone was quite thick in some places. But wouldn't I get an ammonia reading then? GE Silicone II IS aquarium safe, right? Second, either the sand or the background is leaching something harmful into the water? I kind of doubt it's the background as I know Patrick sells lots of them as well as uses them himself and I've never heard of a problem, but I have with home made backgrounds, so who knows? As for the sand, other than the fact that it is quite fine (like really nice beech sand) I don't think it's any different than other sand. It was well rinsed and appears clean. But again, a possibility? For now, I have the tropheus, synos, and my 1 remaining calvus in a 70 liter rubbermade tote with a filter, heater, and some bubbles for good measure. But thats not a great fix for very long, and I need to get this tank fish safe! Please help ASAP! I know it's easter weekend and you are all very busy, but if you have a few minutes to offer your suggestions on what the issue is, please do! Thanks Boom :boom:

GE Silicone II comes in black and is sold at Home Depot for about $6 a tube. Boom :boom:

So Jason, are you saying that this filter might actually work as claimed?

Yes go to Sil Industries, just off Yellowhead and 17 St. but Sil 8 or 9 is NOT what you want. That is very coarse sand. Sil 1 is the finest, but it is not white, it is brown / beige. Ask them for the Filter sand. They have it as fine as 1.0. I bought 2.0 yesterday, it's very white, very fine, and very clean. They also have Filter 2.4 and 3.0 which is slightly coarser. For 100 lb bag of Filter 2.0, I paid $17.85 tax in. Can't beat it. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. I'll hopefully have pics of my tank with this sand in very soon. Boom :boom:

Kind of what I suspected. Other than the fact that this filter has a vent at the top to release the gasses that this guy says are given off by the breaking down of nitrates by the plethora of micro organisms in his filer, how is the filter any different from a regular cannister filter? If my cannister filter is big enough, and as you say, stacked full with enough bio media, than am I not achieving the same thing? Or does his proprietary media that contains these micro organisms contain stuff that won't grow in my filter without adding it? And then why not just buy his bottle of micro organisms? Boom :boom:

I suggest you get a 300 gallon tank with two FX5 filters and a stand. Then, you shoudl stock it with mpimbwe fronts. Start with about 30 juvies and go from there. :D Boom :boom:

The Aquaripure filters claim to eliminate nitrates down to zero with no water changes. I'm curious if this is a marketing gimick or a really great product. I have watched the videos on their website and read their customer testimonials. I was hoping to have some first hand input from somebody on here to see if they really work the way claimed. Anybody have one? Does it really do what it claims? Let me know. Thanks! Boom :boom:

Harold, I can wait, but do you have an idea of what they will cost me? Ryan I won't know the cost until I get the current stock list and I will get that a few weeks before I order to make sure they actually have the fish I want in stock. For the ilengi I would ballpark wild caught adults at around $20-$25 but that is just a guess. That sounds fair. I can order F1 ilangi juvies for $17 ea plus shipping, but WC adults would be sweet! I will wait and check back with you on these for sure. Boom :boom:

Harold, I can wait, but do you have an idea of what they will cost me?

HEy Harold, long time no chat. I'm going to be looking to stock my new 75 with a colony of Tropheus moorii. REALLY like the Ilangi varient, but would be willing to go with any of the more colorful rainbow varients. Can you please see about getting these for me from your suppliers? I'm looking to stock with about 25 fish. Thanks! Feel free to PM me. Boom :boom:

And last one for now, just a few more cutting boards I recently finished as well. All made of maple, cherry and purpleheart, and two of them also have walnut in them. Boom :boom:

I completed these two step stools very recently. They were custom made for a coworkers daughters. Solid maple and purpleheart, with heart inlays in the sides, and the girls' names inlayed in the tops. This next project was custom designed and built to be put in a local art gallery that specialized in custom solid wood furniture. Unfortunately, the gallery closed it's doors at the beginning of April, with this table never making it there. It is a small occasional table made with a solid slab of crotch walnut as the top, and figured antique birch for the base. It is 30" long, 16 1/2" wide, and 16" tall. While it appears to be a fairly simple design, the angles and perfect joinery of the base make it very difficult to build. Combined with the ultra rare piece of wood for the top, this table truly is a one of a kind piece of art. This occasional table is currently for sale. Please see my post in the classifieds section of this forum for more details. FOR SALE Thanks for looking! Boom :boom:

Alrighty guys and gals, for anyone who still looks at this thread, here are a few of my most recent projects. Thanks for looking and commenting! First up is a small box I made, mostly to practice my veneering skills. I recently found a really good deal on a large quantity of quilted makore veneer. This box is made of mahogany, with the quilted makore veneer as the panel in the lid. An inlay of curly maple and walnut surround the panel, and the lift is also walnut. This box is currently for sale, please PM me for a price, but please be aware that although very slight, there are 2 imperfections in the veneered lid top. Next up is a small wine rack I was asked to build for my wife. It is made of solid curly and birds eye maple. Solid ebony is used for the pull on the custom fit wooden sliding drawer made of cherry. Boom :boom: