Yanagi

Tie it up with fishing line and attach a sinker to the other end? I know they do that with java moss balls...

I really like Gouramis myself. There's also Angelfish, Discus (very fussy), Paradise fish, Ghost Knife fish, Blue/Electric Blue/Gold Rams (Super duper awesome), etc.. Choose your 'feature' fish first then build the community/tank around them. You could also do something completely different and do a biotope tank!

Looks great! I love the driftwood too. Are you sure that's a Common Bristlenose and not a Gold Spotted Pleco? I'm pretty tired and might just be seeing things though.

Hi Vanessa. The Aqua one tanks aren't the best for plants as the lighting is mostly inadequite for anything but lowlight plants. I heard somewhere that trickle filters were bad for plants, don't remember where I heard it but probably something to look into before investing any more cash in plants. Hope you enjoy the AG 120, it's pretty sweet. Oscars are cool fish. Find one that's grown up/been raised from quite young with other fish so it's not just going to attack and kill/eat his tankmates. Off the top of my head I believe the AG 120 is close to 300lt. About 280lt? 4ft but tall and wide... Correct me if I'm wrong, had a tiresome day!

Thanks Neffy!! That's super cheap (compared to the places around here..)! Might just have to buy some and mail them to myself. *lol*

I thought I commented already. Apparently not. Oops. Aweomse fish! I love the Giant's colour. I'm going to be in Melbourne on the weekend and hoping to sneak away to a few Aquariums, hehe. Would you mind saying how Coburg prices their Fighters? HM, Giant, PK, etc.. PM if you like. :P

The reason no Betta in a big community tank is because of strong filter current, fin nippers.. you generally have bigger fish in a bigger tank. Bigger fish are usually the more aggressive ones which don't mix with the smaller, less aggressive Betta. Now if you're gonna go for a Giant, that might change some things but I still wouldn't recommend a long fin because his fins would just be shredded in the current. A divided 2ft tank is just that. It's divided, the current isn't ripping through the dividers there, it has to be slowed down and controlled to get it to reach all the sections, via something like a spray bar. You don't have a canister filter on a 2ft (well you CAN.. doesn't mean you need it) where as I would (and do) have a canister on a tank similarly sized to yours. The thing about cycling a tank that size with a Betta is, it means you're going to have to introduce fish 1 by 1 if you only cycle with a Betta (I wouldn't risk a Betta by using it to cycle a tank anyway). A betta does not produce that much waste (aka ammonia) and you would need 20 of them just to build up a decent amount of good ammonia-eating bacteria in your filter. You need larger numbers of hardier fish.. like guppies and platys. Anything that is CHEAP and hardy. Unless you're going to sell/cull it once the tank cycle is done, also get something that's still 'pretty'. Frozen foods you can buy from your LFS/ some pet stores. 13-14 hours is gonna be an algae festival. 8 is fine, 10 you're likely going to see algae growth. Definitely do not place it near a window. If you're going to have delicate finned critters in your tank, run a pantyhose (that you no longer want!!) over ornaments, plastic plants and if it rips the panty hose, it will rip your delicate finned critter.. Another reason why Plakats are better than long fins, they just don't seem to get caught up in stuff. Go to google and type in Aquarium Calculator to get the approx litres, keeping in mind it's going to be far less once the gravel, ornaments, whatever else goes in. You need length, height and depth in CM or inches. Filter for a community tank.. well you could individually filter them using sponge or small internal filters. You could build a false back onto the tank and build a huge filter in the back compartment. You could have an internal filter in one end with a spray bar (or hose) that reaches into all other divisions, and the same in the opposite end for maximum effect. You could run it off an undergravel filter if you don't plan on plants. Oh boy, didn't realize how long I spent typing that, gotta go to work!

I haven't read the other replies as I'm short on time so sorry if I repeat anything. I believe reading somewhere that this was a larger tank? 30 inch or so? If that's the case, you're gonna need a powerful filter, which does not mix well with a long finned Betta. I would never, ever, ever use a long finned Betta in a community tank (again). They get their fins nipped, their fins get torn up from the current/filter. I wouldn't use a Betta to cycle a tank. It wouldn't even be close to enough to cycle a tank of this size anyway. You need something like Platys or Guppies to cycle a tank. No need to clean it if it's been sitting out dry for a few days/week+. Gravel I would most likely toss or wash very thoroughly. Do your research before buying plants, many places will sell non-aquatic plants and outright lie to you about whether or not they are truely aquatic. Goods plants are your Anubias, Java fern, Java moss (only when tied to rock/driftwood I hate it otherwise as it gets caught in everything), some Crypts, Bacopa, Ambulia, Water sprite, Hornwort, Wisteria and Hygro. Anything red is going to be harder to grow as it requires high lighting. The majority of the plants I listed are low light and some are slow growing. You're better off with your fast growing stem plants to start out with. Hygro (most varieties) is good for this. Ambulia, Wisteria and Bacopa too. No doubt someone has answered the IAL question already. Going along with the first thing I said, if you're talking about a long fin Betta.. Nothing except maybe Cories, Bristlenose, Platys and Swordtails, etc. If it's a short fin, basically anything that's non-aggressive. Diet, varied. Look at the ingredients and avoid anything with 'filler' as the first ingredient. You want fish meal, shrimp meal, krill meal, etc aka MEAT as the first ingredient. High in protein as well. That said, mine pick at just about everything. Cichlid pellets, algae pellets, etc. I also feed frozen bloodworm, live blackworm and grindal worms.

Congrats.. Don't worry too much about the Blue Rams, they take care of the breeding themselves. ;P At least my two pairs do.

Wow, crazy fish. I've had white clouds and never had them do anything like this. They did like to swim against the current but certainly not JUMP into what's creating the current. Mind you I only had internal filters so that would of been near impossible.

I love the Lavender pair! They look better in pics than in the video, haha. The colouration on the PK is pretty sweet too!

I wouldn't worry too much about the size difference. My HMPK could barely wrap my Delta combtail when she was full of eggs but she released them anyway. Maybe you could up his feed to try and beef him up. Well in that case, I wish you extra extra super duper luck and highly encourage a Mr Portokalos x Chrissy spawn! LOL I didn't know orange was recessive to yellow. Are you sure that's correct? I might have to change a few plans if it is.. Hmm. Heavy metal x Punk? Sounds like Apocalyptica to me. New tanks?? What new tanks? I have no room left! I have to get rid of some fish or try to convince my parents to let me take over the storage shed. *lol*

Looks great! You've done a nice job fixing it up. In a tank that size, I'd stick to a canister. Internal is the kind of filter you were talking about.

Ohhh I LOVE pUNK! Chrissy is nice too! I want one just like her! Can't give any spawning advice really, but wish you luck which ever male you choose. :)

You need to close the taps first. The taps are either on the canister themselves or somewhere in the hoses. Your rubber seal is called an O-ring and may need replacing if leaking.

Video was taken literally just before my Blyxia got here. Just showing off some of the fish and plants. Camera is not focused properly because, well, it's garbage. It was this or taking a billion photos and trying to focus the camera each time though. Might want to mute the video before it starts... I figured out how to swap the audio out to something, uh, more appropriate (youtube is still working on that) but I don't know how to mute it completely.

Blyxia arrived, WOOHOO! She threw in a couple bigger ones too and some corkscrew val as well. All planted now. I'll tell you what, the Otos LOVE it when I bring in new plants. They spend the rest of the day all over the new plants grazing on whatever is on the leaves. My Ember tetra are also bravely schooling in the open space.. and my Pgymies are schooling with them!! COOLEST CORY EVER! :P

These pieces wouldn't come close to fitting in the slow cooker we have. I actually like tannins anyway. :P

I haven't actually seen them eat any plants, but they pick at stuff off of them. They're only dwarves anyway so I don't think they'd eat very much. They are starting to come out a lot more at feeding time which is definitely a good sign. I've been thinking about getting a coral blue dwarf gourami pair or neon blue dwarf pair as well. Not sure if it will bring the other Gouramis out more often or make them hide as the pairs I'm looking at are bigger than the pair I already have. Hmmm. I'm also in the process of tying some moss onto the bit of driftwood that refused to sink (now sinks lol) and my Blyxia should arrive today.. Should have arrived earlier than this, but keeping my fingers crossed. Hopefully it's not lost in the mail somewhere.

Plant is Bacopa. Lookin' good. Hope you don't find that white gravel too hard to keep clean.

Well, well, well! Busy tank it is. It just got 10 new residents! 6 x Ember tetra... I'm very glad I chose them. It was between them or Dwarf Rasbora (might end up getting some of these later anyway LOL). The Tetra are all hanging out together in a close bunch, schooling around which is exactly what I wanted. I just need them to colour back up now. They didn't enjoy the ride home and looked almost like ghost fish by the time they went in the tank. 4 x Pygmy Cories! I LOVE THEM. So do my Otos. They're hanging out together grazing and zipping around. They look remarkably similar, especially when they just quickly zoom on past. They were hiding in the plants until the Otos zoomed through and came out into the open and the Cories followed. Adorable! Can't wait to get my Habrosus as well. I also have a bucket load (almost ) of plants coming in. Ricca, Peacock moss, 2 larger crypts to try and fill some midground space in and lots of small Blyxia. Still haven't decided on my background plants to replace the pink ambulia.. but I'm working on it. I'm desperately missing my camera. :(

Edit - huh.. sorry. My post in another thread ended up here. LOL Welcome. :P