AndyL

Well I decided today I should really get some slates for my angels... Too much caviar of late... I'm not a fan of the normal products used, The ceramic spawning cones/slates absorb meds (ie meth blue), are porous and never come completely clean... And I didn't really want to fudge around with unknowns. I had some 3mm acrylic lying around (a 4' long x 8" wide strip), cut that into 8"x18" strips. Cleaned up the edges a bit. (They ain't perfect - but they don't have to be) Then I layed them all out on my desk, with roughly 5-6" of overhang, and slapped some 2x4's down so they wouldn't move (much). Got out the propane torch, warmed up the underside of the acrylic, then the top, took a couple minutes but in time each piece just 'dropped' to 90 degrees. I pushed it a wee bit further, and held with my finger for 5 minutes while the acrylic cooled. At this point I decided it would be fun to flame polish the edges (I get so few instances to play with the torch, gotta make the most out of each). Then, deciding I didn't like clear, I took them outside and gave them a splash of Krylon Epoxy Enamel (I've found it to be fish/reef safe - YMMV) And le voila! We have spawning slates that can be sterilized as needed! Andy

Actually, I'm a newbie with marine pretty much... While I was up in the fort, every tank I had was planted in some way shape or form... Breeding tanks were full of duckweed acting as a nutrient sponge, some of the smaller tanks were low tech/low light planted (originally with Diana Walstad's approach, then moved more into a moderate light + DIY co2 system on them). The 55 started low tech, then we went high tech as I started propagating more... After playing with the high tech planted systems, saltwater stopped looking so difficult - and made for an easy transition. I'm sure I'll be getting back into planted soon enough, saltwater is fun, but I oddly miss pruning Andy

And now I have run out... Gotta learn to make backups... Andy

Bad shot of the 55 - but it would appear to be the only shot of the more recent aquascaping I was using. This was right before I switched to onyx if I recall (note the patchwork gravel)

2nd Desktop tank... Lost all the grown in shots (this is the tank that became the current 2.75g nanoreef) This was literally right after setup

My first desktop tank

Side shot from that same period... Going for a hybrid planted setup... Grew in nicely, but became a headache with all the BH and not quite enough flow. Andy

Well, lost a lot of pictures when I lost the computer twice (hdd once, water spray the second time) in a week recently. But what the hell here's some old planted tank pics... Start with the 55g when I first got my discus (they were cute when they were this small!)

If you want any more - i've got tons of brown, and some white if you wanted more color (or lack thereof) Andy

If you poke around in this forum, I've posted more than a few pictures over the last year or so. Andy

LOL, I'm good at growing plants, and making other peoples tanks look great... Somehow I'm my own worst enemy (That could change if gary gets off his butt with this AA planted tank contest though). I never stick with one design long enough for it to grow in - and I've always been too anxious to grow out some more to trade/sell - thus tanks end up looking very jungle like. Andy

I've been biting my tongue on this one... It is a great aquascape, but I definitely see some room for improvement... Firstly, gotta deal with the collectoritis going on - too many kinds of plants, it would look much better using 3-4 plants than the current (8-9?). I don't see where you're going with the background plants... Maybe I just need to see it grown in more. For showing off your abilities, I'd definitely move away from the current aquascaping, It's almost "off the shelf" planted tank, driftwood run lengthwise - foreground ahead, background plants behind... While it is a standard for a reason - it's really only original in the driftwood used (and any driftwood is going to be a bit different than the next peice). I'd love to see you try doing something a bit more original - something that really makes people take notice. But thats just my .02$ Andy

If you're not parent raising... Hydrogen Peroxide will also work as an anti-fungal agent. I used to use 1 drop / 2gallons. Definitely not something you want to add if there are fish around though. Andy

LOL Yep, they'll do that... In the wild they will consume a variety of tetra species as snacks. 10 in a night wouldn't be unthinkable. Andy

The jobes sticks for ferns aren't horribly bad - just make sure they're way down in the substrate and stay there... Greenwater mess if they get exposed by pulling up a plant etc. You'd be much farther ahead to read up on PMDD then visit your friendly neighbourhood pharmacy / hydroponics shop. Andy

Flourite is supposed to be rinsed before putting in tank... Easiest way is with a 5g bucket in the bathtub, just keep stirring filling and draining until the runoff is basically clear. Andy

In my tanks it seems to be the females more than the males doing the eating - probably depends on the individual fish. I'd agree most people have no clue who agressive these fish get - put some guppy fry in the tank and you'll have no doubts Of my 2 current producing pairs, I've got one that wants nothing to do with anything but the sponge filter uplift tube (pvc) the other pair likes the silicone in the corner :bang1: In the pairing tank, my lesbo orgies (5 females at the moment) have chosen the uplift tubes also - and wont let a male anywhere near! Andy

I like tweezers personally, just have to make sure not to pop them - or you end up with a real mess (results in thousands of bubbles replacing the popped one). I've heard there's a crab (emerald?) that eats it. Andy

I'm really surprised... I used to get some real odd looks when I mentioned I liked angelfish - when did it become all the rage? I figure we need a thread - since my inbox is getting full from people asking questions about breeding angels. (there are 5 of you - you know who you are). Anywho, most common questions, yes I only use city tap water. Hatchout is fine, these aren't discus - no major issues with hatchouts in calgary "hard" water. In a "community" type setting, yes, in fact you will probably have caviar - not fry. There are too many opportunistic fish (including favorites like plecos, and corys) if you want to raise some, really you are going to need a bare bottom, 20g (or so - some use 10-33s), The angels take a bit of time to adapt - especially coming from planted tanks - but they will adjust. And this is what I came home to tonight This pair is driving me nuts - they eat the fry at the drop of a hat, fish in a neighbouring tank looks in... They eat the fish (note the boxes/bags stuffed between) I do a W/C - they eat the fry... I look at the tank funny - they eat the fry. Pondering pulling these eggs to artificially hatch them - this is getting crazy Andy

You guys and yer muppets... :chair:

Couldn't resist snapping a few shots at dinner time. Of course of 16 shots - 1 was in focus and on subject Andy

Mmm... Glass anemone... Probably an unwanted freebie. Bubble algae too... Time for some cleaning

Well lets see 1 red head goby 1 Scarlet hermit 1 Nassarius snail 1 Anemone shrimp (One commited hari kari last night) (Asterina and brittle stars) Corals wise we have: 2 Green Monti Digitata 4 zoanthids Clove polyps White Star Polyps Ricordea (not sure which flavor) Orange Montipora Digitata Brown Montipora Digitata Candy Cane Green Star Polyps The mushroom I started with - went missing back when the rockwork was very pile like - hasn't been seen since. Which isn't such a bad thing, he was starting to grow at a rate he could have taken over the tank Andy

dunl: go see my 2.5 thread in the sw section - think i broke it down dollar for dollar pretty early on. Andy

www.nano-reef.com lots of good info there n the articles section Andy