Sarah

Wait until you hear some LFS staff trying to sell you both marine and freshwater fish to live together - just to get sales. So glad there are some great staff out there (Yanny for one!), but the others...

Hambriento, my wildtype little 'lotl died today. He was very skinny and had fungus - not sure what happened really... he was eating less, but still eating. Poor guy. Hambriento. :(

Heh. He should get it - he's told everyone he has crabs already. Nice crabs Milkcrate.

Thanks again. :)

I thought it would be without the second HOB filter, just the one on the left.

That makes perfect sense! Thankyou very much, Paul! Will mean that one betta would have the intake in his bit... can always either not put a guy there, or stick a bit of stocking over it just to make sure his pretty fins don't get caught. Would the flow be too strong for a betta?

Le VERY POOR 2sec diagram. At the last section... it just stops, sealed off. I would assume there SHOULD be a gap.

AGA Competition photos? Aw let's not get her hopes up now! Mum wants the tank to look like THIS. She says she doesn't like "blank space, blank water... just lots and lots of plants". Yep... good luck with me scaping that mum..

Aah interesting! Should look into that. Psh mum just came up to me, said she changed her mind (before saying anything bout the co2). She's all like... I think I like a bunch of plants all bunched together... think there is too much open space in this iwagumi method. In other words she doesn't want the iwagumi anymore.. Said she would like it like my other tank, filled with plants. There we go then... new plan.

Ahh.... yes it's completely sealed off on one side.... seems like a poor design to me... I think I'll see if dad can pull it apart and raise it a bit.. I was going to put a bit of Java Moss in each section for the guys to hide in.

Ooh OK, I have a bag of it - found it in the cupboard (shown in piccies). Ah, thanks again - you've been a great help as always! Ahh, as the diagram... I just realised that the water flows through each section, but once it gets to the last one - there isn't a gap back into the filter/long section! Poor design maybe? Is there another way to do it - or should I ask dad and see if he can chop it up and make a hole?

Thanks Matt! As for co2, do I need to? I am quite fond of the NPT method. No idea if the rocks are "square" or not, haven't looked at them for a while (like last year ). want to come to Syndey and help scape it for me? Bring Wolfy too!

Interesting - thanks again. So bundle of wool is better than filter floss.. I do have about 2-3 garbage bags worth of wool under my bed aha. Or do you mean a bit of the floss/wool, rather than knitting wool? Brought Lava Rock from a landscaping supplier - Matt & Nicola said it would be best as it has a lot of surface area.

Thanks guys. Shall take out those rocks tomorrow, get a pic of how many there actually are. Oh mum says I can only do it if dad buys me a light for the tank... fine by me, she said she'll ask him later. Adam - Chilli Rasboras look awesome! Will look into those! Thanks. :)

Ember tetras are another I had in mind. I did mention to mum that cardinals are a lot like neons - just less fragile. Currently in the tank are roughly 7-10 Rummies, so could always get a few more if I decide to go with them, or toss them into another tank. Thanks!

Ahhh - I think that should work, Wayne! JUST fits - thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!

So we have a 4ft tank in the lounge room, has been there 17yrs. Don't like the set up much at all - pretty much the general setup: really fake looking plants, fake ship. I'm the one who maintains it, but haven't been allowed to change the setup. WELL, after mum was looking at my tanks recently, she decided she liked my planted tank so much - I was given permission to scape it. After blabbering on about ideas, and showing mum a few piccies, she's decided she likes the iwagumi idea, with a large school of a single species of fish (not sure what... blue eyes come to mind, maybe rosy tetras or something? Just not neons, they never last long). So this probably won't happen for some time - just ideas going around. Next project is my cichlid tank, then this 4ft. Then work on the wilds again. I have these rocks out in the shed, not the best pic of them - have since been cleaned and all that - nice and black. What do we think of these (not the wood... that's in the axie tank)? Looking at the photo, there doesn't seem to be enough for a 4ft I don't think? I have like a 100L container out the back filled with riverrocks and these - positive there are more. Suggestions, ideas and comments will be much appreciated!

Arrg I'm going to have to read these through again later... not sinking in... think I just woke up, don't remember falling asleep but.. Thanks for the help so far everyone. :)

Ahh.. this is all tricky for me, the equipment part of fish-keeping really confuses me. So put the HOB on the far end, away from the gap into the sections, yes? Makes sense. With the HOB though, it has both of those.... so will it not work properly?

Interesting. The HOB filter came with it. I also thought that with only one gap on oneside, the far end wouldn't be as clean as the other... it's 4.5ft long, so is quite long... Thanks for the comment, Kertaz. :)

Having one of those times where the simplest of questions have you confused. Hoping this will make sense... OK, so I have the barracks, and am stuffing the back section where the filter/heater goes with lavarocks & filter floss. It seems there is only one opening on one end for the water to go through to the sections (I thought there would be one on each end). Question is: do I put the filter on the far end (away from opening), and then put the rest of the media infront of that... or reverse it? Which would be more effective? Hoping these pics will make more sense ... this would be the reverse way, not set up probably, just chucked in there to try and give the photo a better idea. See the gap.. filter should go here or on the other end?

Aww, so sorry Jarrod! Such a shame. Happens to us all at times - I remember when I lost all my rutilans.

Ooh, I meant to comment last night - believe I typed out how much I liked it yet didn't press "Post" Anyway, it looks great - a very well done job! Can't wait to see it all filled. :)

LOVE it - can't wait to see it once it's all stocked. :)

Aw, so sorry to hear hear Jarrod. :(