Boom

That's hilarious. Good find on your part. Serves those idiots right for never knowing what they're talking about. I almost never buy fish from a big box petstore, but if I do I always ask to catch and bag them myself. They just don't know what they're doing and over stress the fish too often.

As long as it is level, side to side, and especially front to back, then no. Cinder blocks and 2x4's could hold a car. Make sure you place the 2x4 vertically, i.e, the "4inch" way up and down.

That should be fine. Just make sure the plywood is thick enough, I would use no thinner than 3/4 inch. That stuff is very expensive, so nice straight 2x4's is definitely the cheaper option. Any water proof paint such as Tremclad, will seal them just fine.

Wow, just realized my sig. isn't on there... DUH! Maybe now?

I have the black "sand" in my tank. I was a bit disappointed that it's not really sand. It is more coarse and looks like very small shards of glass. I almost think it's black onyx. I cleaned it well and added it to my tank when I first set it up. I like the look of it in the tank. My fish dig and pick it up no problems. No injury to their mouths that I have noticed in about 4 months, despite it's apparent "sharpness". It's hard to tell what it really looks like through the bag, so maybe ask if you can see it and feel it in your hand first. Otherwise you may be dissapointed that its not really sand. Hope that helps. I can send you pics of it inmy tank if you want. PM me.

I would imagine you could do the same with driftwood. But I havn't tryed it. I boil driftwood because it gets more tannins out.

Excellent. thanks guys. Its a well established tank and no direct sunlight, so hopefully it works out. I'll post some pics after I've switched over to bricks. (Still have to find some more.)

All right. What kind of dwarf S/A cichlids? I would like bright color, something contrasting the Cardinals. Any idea where to get them in edmonton?

I would opt for your original shelf from Rona. The gorilla shelf is 48" wide, and your tanks are only 36, meaning that (if centered) you would have 6" open space beside each tank. That means that all that weight (roughly 500 lbs for a 50 gallon tank) is sitting in the middle of the shelf, with no support for 6" on either side. The shelves do look sturdy, but I would be worried about flex and the eventual stress this is putting on the shelf parts. The Rona shelf is 36" wide, so the support would be right under the tank ends, which would be ideal IMO. I agree with being concerned about the particleboard shelves as well. A couple of options: do like Qattarra said and put some plastic over them (maybe not very attractive looking?), paint the shelves with waterproof paint, or swap the particleboard out with some 3/4" marine grade plywood (MUCH more sturdy). If particleboard gets wet, it quickly loses its structural stability. MDF is even worse.

I'm setting up a 20 gallon tank and was wondering what your thoughts on having 2 yellow labs in there would be? The other fish would be a group of cardinal tetras and probably a leopard frog pleco. I'm aware of the different water requirement, but let's be honest, I'm just gonna use tap water and not mess around with buffering it up or down. I'm also aware that yellow labs are a mbuna, but the least aggresive of them. They would start out as juvies and have pretty small mouths compared to other Malawi cichlid, and their not typically piscivorous. I could always move them out if they get too big. So should they be o.k with cardinal tetras? Has anyone ever put them in this kinda tank? Thanks.

Hey guys, I actually build cabinets and furniture in my spare time, so I have some knowledge of the structural capacity of such things. Although I doubt that shelf unit would actually hold anywhere near 1500 lbs per shelf, it does look very strong. Without having a look at it in person, I would say you would be o.k with the setup you are looking at doing. To make sure it doesn't topple over, secure it to 2 studs in the wall near the top. Should be a-o.k then! Or to be extra safe, maybe put the 50 gallon on the center shelf and the 30 above it.

Never mind, Thats a common 10 gallon isn't it? I'm an idiot.

Is there a commonly avail tank that is 18"x 12" and 12" high? Where to get it? I need some info ASAP. Thanks.

I add some sea salt sometimes to my main tank. But the little tank I had the pleco in was not buffered / nothing added. I get about 7.8 pH out of the tap. I probably should have had some driftwood in there for him to hide. As it was, he was stressed and hid out by the heater all the time. it eventually just cooked him. Now I have heater guards.

If I just leave the lights on for long periods, is the result always the "green beard" algae. I really don't want brown algae or that long hairy stuff. I know my africans will probably eat it, but that's o.k, will save me some NLS.

Sorry guys, but "leave him in there till he comes out on his own"??? "cut the log apart"??? I think the point of the OP's original question (Murminator correct me if I'm wrong) was to look for alternate solutions to get the fish out right away. And to save the log so he could boil it to remove algae. Leaving him in there till he comes out on his own is all fine and nice, but as soon as you stick your hand in there to take out the log (the OP's goal), he'll go right back in the log! And cutting the log apart and destroying it is simply pointless if his goal is to just boil the log. I'm not saying that my suggestions were the best, and I certainly don't advocate hurting any fish, but I don't think the 2 options I gave were any worse than poking him in the nose with a stick or blasting him with compressed air either. So I say try the salty water method, it works for leaches, it might work for your sucker. The other thing I can think of is to get another log in there, maybe he'll go check that one out and while he's in there, you can remove the original log?

I tend to trust the info I usually find on the 3 sites I gave you. Of coarse a lot of info out there is based on peoples personal experience, and that is always subjective, so take it with a grain of salt.

Thanks guys. It will definitely be torn all apart to move it, all silicone removed, etc. My dad lives about an hour from Edmonton so I'll have to move the glass in my truck (carefully of coarse!). It will be a while before I even get started on it I'm sure. (Probably a next winter project). I was also thinking of doing a S/A Biotope setup in that tank. I'd like to keep some big fish (12" to 16" range) but still be able to have a nice variety. I guess I have lots of time for research. And I will definitely post pics.

I know next to nothing about aquatic plants. But I was wondering if there is a low growing type plant like a moss on a rock, that I can have grow on the rocks / brick in my african cichlid tank? I will be adding some old style bricks and thought it might be really nice to have some green moss growing on them. I looked up java moss but that looks like it gets too bushy. I want the growth to be tight to the brick kinda like algae, but not algae. (or maybe thats the best bet?) Anyone have any suggestions?

Here is a great video on feeding fry. Feeding Cichlid Fry Hope that helps ya!

My old man has had an almost complete 400 gallon tank sitting in his basement for about 15 yrs - empty! When he built it, he only used 1/4" glass for the bottom, and it cracked on him. Instead of pulling the whole tank apart to replace it, he just put two halfs of 1/2" glass over top and siliconed to seal it. Well he was never able to get it to seal properly , it always leaked so he just gave up on it. Now that I have my own house and room in the basement for it, he's giving me the glass to build it myself!!! I'm getting the 3/4" plate glass front (8'x3'), and will try to salvage the sides and back, although they are adhered to walls so I'm not sure if I'll be successful on that. I'm also getting the glass he built in for the 2 corner overflows, the huge (55 gallon?) acrylic sump, which is full of bio-balls, and the hydroponic lights he has over it. I do finish carpentry and furniture building as a hobby so I'll build the stand and all the finish trim. I will likely have a local company actually assemble the tank though, so I avoid the problems he had. I know he paid $600 just for the front piece of glass! I'M GETTING IT ALL FOR FREE!!! Any suggestions on how to get the side and back glass off the walls? Any thoughts on what I should stock it with?, I know a tank that size the possibilities are almost endless! I have lots of time, My wife isn't in favor of any kind of tank bigger than what I already have. But give me time, I'll convince her! Hmmm. maybe Jaguars?

Did you try just doing a google search. Here is some I found. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1482 http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquai...is_tricoti.html http://www.fishbase.gr/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=8148 No personal experience with them but they sure look nice!

see my sig.

I suppose if you are not doing anything to buffer up your Tang tank water and just using tap water, the pleco's might be o.k. But if it's buffered up to 8.4 pH I would guess that they may have a problem or just a shorter life. On the other hand, I think many people (that I've talked to anyway) try to lower pH in SA/CA tanks by using driftwood, which of coarse it great for plecos. Hopefully it works out for you. I had no luck with a $50 King Tiger pleco in my tank. He was very stressed out and died. Not saying that was only cause of the water though, but it may have contributed.

I am also planning on using some old reclaimed brick in my tank. I have read in several places that they are safe for an aquarium. They are essentially just clay that has been kiln cooked, so not much different then using clay pots in the aquarium (many people use those with no adverse affects). Like adding any rocks to your tank, just clean 'em real good. My favorite method for cleaning rocks ( and I'll do the same with the bricks when I get them) is to throw them in the dishwasher with no soap, on a high heat / steam dry setting. Will get rid of anything on them. If your concerned about using the dishwasher after for dishes, just run it again on the same cycle with soap, empty.