RDFISHGUY

Here's a link. He might be the guy to talk to about gars.

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/freshwater-livestock-25/lf-gars-7370/index2.html

what is the appeal of acrylic tanks? they seem to be way more money, and doesnt acrylic turn yellow over time?

It doesn't turn yellow. I have a glass tank in the same room and the difference in clarity is quite astonishing. Acrylic is also light weight so its good for taller and larger tanks. Cost wise you are better off with a glass tank if its smaller than 230 gallons.

Nice aquascape for the size of tank you have to work with. Cardinals or other small tetras would be my choice.

Nice gar.

Great to see more monster collectors.

Nobody wants to fork out the $$ for these guys all at once so why not start a fish club. Like those dress clubs that women have. Each month everybody throws $30 in the pot and each month a new winner is drawn. Winner hosts the following meeting and shows off there new fish or other aquatic purchase. Guys do it with tools as well. Easier on the monthly budget.

I'm sure we can arrange something. I want to make some more mods on mine as well. Some one-way valves and tee off the pump for my moving bed filter. Which I'm cuurently running off an old powerhead. There's always something. If there isn't anything you'll create something. Otherwise you're a fishkeeper not a hobbyist.

Maybe with that pump it'll be fine.

You will want to modify it again. Trust me. Especially after you see one work with the proper flow.

Bret and Neil are bang on. Color of substrate is huge. Lighting also makes a huge difference. My aro really started to pop using the 6700K colormax bulbs and dark substarte and black background. The XB on the other hand looks way better with T5 lifeglow single tube strips and light colored substrate. Fish will naturally try to blend into their substrate. If they didn't do that in the wild they would be eaten by birds of prey. Something to keep in mind when choosing substrate for your fish.

If you don't want to wait you can try this.

http://www.arowanaclub.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=2839

There is a show on TV for people like you, its called " Hoarders ". Nice addition. They were for sale for quite awhile I can't believe they weren't picked up sooner. Good score!

Well it's been awhile... This SR is about 20 months old now. Not as nice as some SR's out there, RDFISHGUY! Not sure if the red will come out any stronger or if I should use that "nan light". This guy eats well, lots of tilapia, MP stuffed with NLS. New tank mate as well!

Patience Wayne. You'll have the bling in no time. Maybe you should've left him on pellets? JK. He's an awesome beast. Some just take longer than others. My fish was tagged Feb 08 and its 17-18". Maybe mine puts all his energy into coloring himself up who knows. Maybe yours is like a red balloon. The more you pump it up the duller the color.LOL. Nice addition BTW.

oh SR...

Need to take some photo classes too!

Man you could starve him for a year and he wouldn't eat pellets! Colossal!

Ikea makes these bins in a variety of sizes. Perfect for this type of application.

I was going to build an acrylic bio tower but I had these 2 Ikea boxes , 1 short and 1 tall, that fit together perfectly so you have a floss tray and a bio-ball section. Only work was drilling the holes for the plumbing and cutting the lip off the lid of the bottom box and drilling holes in it. Use this to keep the bio balls from going out the 2 " bulkhead at the bottom.

Minimum size 6X2X2 for asian aros. Silvers could use a little wider but the bigger the better.

Even if 2/3 are above the water and the rest submerged its better imo. The way you have it is OK. I was just trying to think of ways to make it more efficient.

Thats where i have it now, 5 or 6 pads at the top then the bio balls right under with a bubbler in the bottom of the bio balls

What mean is you put a tray above bio balls for filter floss. Next is your bio-ball chamber(above water). Then your kaldnes or jap mat or sponge or whatever media you want submerged. Your bio balls should fit where all your sponges are. You may have to put them together like lego to get them all to fit but it should work.

The second section will depend on what you use in the bottom of the first section. If you use foam or jap mat then leave this section empty. If you choose to go with the Kaldnes then this is where some foam should go. The 3rd section is where your wall of ceramic media/lava rock which should extend above the water line to avoid blow by. That's it.

Im trying to think of a way to get the bio balls out of water but really there isnt any room, Ill try making walls of the ceramic rings that makes sense, Also i have the return line from the pump blowing above them so there is tonnes of current and areration there as well.

Thanks for the help guys

Sounds good.

Wow, Thats really cool.

Ill have to take a look at this again, I didnt want to put the bio balls first due to dirt and crap not being filtered before them. and there is alot more bio balls then room in any other compartment. Rd i may be interested for sure

Put your filter pad/wool, whatever you want to call it, on top of the bio-balls. That is where mine goes. You just have to change it every 3-4 days to keep it flowing properly. Its highly effective at getting out the big stuff but it clogs up in a matter of days. You can rinse and re-use or just chuck it out like I do and add a new piece. I buy the roll from Big Al's but perhaps you can get it from a sponsor on the forum.

I ordered 65 litres of the kaldnes bio media. Should be here in a week or so.

I just ordered some K1 media and will have some left over if you are interested.

I agree with what Evo is saying. The bio balls would be more effective if you put them in the top section. What you could do with the space underneath is a moving bed filter section.

http://www.canadiankoiandpond.ca/EA/K1.html

Also it would be more effective to put your ceramic media and lava rock into a taller narrower section to prevent blow by. This is what I am going to do with mine.

Your set-up does work but it could be improved. Mine isn't the best either. Good luck.

If your Oscar eats pellets, leave it at that. All the other crap will just help your water turn into a toxic soup.

Salt should only be used to heal wounds. Epsom salts can help with digestion and swim bladder issues but other than that leave it out.

Even in my tanks with automatic water change systems the water gets pretty dirty when I feed shrimp or fish,worms etc.

I have my rays in my 180 gallon eating earthworms and the tank is a disaster. Water changes every other day to keep up with the mess they leave behind. As soon as they are pellet trained its into the 360 gallon.

Pellets are your best bet. All the nutrition they need in one easy to digest package that won't foul your water as long as you feed responsibly.

If you choose to feed all the extra stuff be prepared to do more water changes. IMO that's all you get out of feeding unprepared foods.

Thanks Brad. You should come and check it out.

Some pics of the top and sump

Basically I built it & got everything except for the stand for the same price as the tank alone from a supplier. I was quoted $2700 for the tank alone.