melbournebetta

I love that little orange "dragon" (she lived up to that name) she's actually an extremely lovely fish - I hope you can have lots of babies with her! Tell your daughter she needs special care, and EXTRA care, cos she's a princess, and wants everything. (: glad to hear they're going well! -Ness

Woah - graphics extraordinaire! (thanks Paul!) Yep, I had considered this gap system, much like the one that inspired me for this design (if my phone would decide to send, I'd post it) they had a tiny little pump filtering the lot - and I would consider buying up a new pair of filters for something like this.... but the barracks I saw were very green...... so I wanted to use my monster Eheim. I am less concerned about this design element, as I know I'll be able to achieve good flow throughout the tanks, I guess I wanted to take advantage of my very expensive filter, that happens to have never failed me - even when I had a grubby old 4 foot tank, COMPLETELY over-stocked with ruykin making a proper mess..... and nitrate/ammonia was 0 (even after a good 4 months without a water change, or even a second look) Anyway - still a bit confused, why is a cannister filter (closed sump system) any different to the way it would be used in (say) a 4 foot tank?

Hey Jess, Yeah I probably haven't explained that bit clearly... I am going to have a slightly shorter bit of glass (at the top) and a black plastic section that is perforated. (image below) I'll be doing the research into how to connect everything (leave that bit to me) What I'm trying to avoid is a drip system.... so the rear area is a tidy bit that heats and filters. I can see how this would work with a single barrack shelf - but how do i do eet over 2 shelves? Below is the wall between the barrack dividers, allowing flow through... was thinking I could stick the sucky-end of the filter into each barrack to do a targeted clean so i'm pulling the new water through....

I found a thread here that had an image much like the result I'll be after - except it talks about over flow and the like... which makes my eyeballs water.

With the impending shipment, barracks are back on the cards, I'm keen to get your advice on this design. Initially I was just going to make one of these, and have the large Eheim cannister deal with the 60 litres. x 8 fish But I have more breeders than that - and my heating and current setup is failing miserably - so maybe I need 2 of these bad-boys. This is my current 90cm wide industrial shelving unit, and upon which I plan on popping all the fush: So thats the break-down (for my reference) of how much glass I'll be needing, each fish ends up with 6.25 litres of water, which I'm happy with - the commercially available barracks have less than a litre, which just dosen't sit right if I'm keeping them in there long-term. Firstly - if I have two of these, on separate shelves, can I use the eheim as the pump? have the filter outlet going into the barracks 1 and the filter inlet sucking in from the bottom? The do a sneaky switcharoo each week so it's flowing the other way around alternatively........... I can also move the Filter sucky inlet into each barracks for a little while to directly suck up muck. Also - not clear about how I engineer connection between the two shelves, just a permanent siphon?? OR is this nawty - and as Paul suggested, would this then be a closed sump system? (and if - so, how is it different to a normal external canister filtering a 120 tank?) IF SO.... how would you suggest little Nessy turns the sorority into a sump? I'm more excited about using silicone again, than I am about the engineering of this mad-scientist barracks. Thanks in advance for all yo' help. x

Les (a dose of your own medicine) YES PHOTOS PLEASE PHOTOS , I want to know what POT they're in - what they looked like when they were... whatevering.... Just being cheeky - actually i'm interested in what the seeds looked like - but might be a bit late for that! :P

never did seen a spawn log for trees. can't wait.

OH HES SO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE Nice one Neffster!

Les - we want photos of you standing on 'em ! Xandi - Cheers, was an exhausting and fantastic day, I think I bored the hell out of my travelling partner that day - but Preecha's enthusiasm was so charming! Terrified about the new shipment, here's the roll-call of what's on it's way: Preecha - Giant HM PK F Preecha - Red HM M (chewed) - damn!!! Patsayawan - Salamander Dragon HM M Patsayawan - Blue Mg HM M Patsayawan - Salamander HM F Patsayawan - Super Red HM F Nonphon - Giant HM PK M Smilebetta - Marble Copper HM M eeeeeeeee!

Hey Katy, How exciting! The simplex are beautiful - we'll love seeing photos (hint hint) Welcome to the forum, there's several dedicated wild keepers/breeders on here and lots of enthusiasts (such as myself - one day I'll get a wild!) Looking forward to hearing more about 'em -Ness

Aren't they cute? Now begins the HURRY UP AND GROW phaze of the breeder, I'm not looking forward to it myself! i always want to fast forward 3 months. (: Hope the new gals are settling in well x

While they have some pretty amazing spots - I think I'm just a fussy little tart when it comes to fish. (I'll be loosing friends after this post) but I find pelco's bristlenose and all them fishus kinda - not...... "what I want to look at" ...is that the polite way of saying it? (: Thanks for the thoughts tho!!! I think I could totally enjoy a single (or pair) of adult angels... all black and beuuuuuuuuuuudiful. x

I'm gunna needs me a diagram at some point -cluelessNess

Awesome! Can't wait to see how it all works together - having a similar dilemma with the numbers versus tanks. -Ness

I'll be brutal, I'm a fussy designer - i'm literally taking a step back wondering what will look good, then working backward from that into what's practical. IMO when it comes to BN / Gouramis they's not flashy enough. I really wanted a schooling set of lil fish - i could even settle for some emperor tetras, but really wanted shiny colourful neons that'd look good against the green and black (design darling sweetie design) But big fish + little fish = dinner I could just get 12 of Razzi's super blue ladies and teach them to swim in a group (HA!) that'd be hawt. -Ness

(as a matter of interest) what *hypothetically* would live with angels? YAN

There's a fish library?? ...and happy to 'site' the spawns I saw the other week if that helps Michael (bring papers next friday to our amazing ASV/EDAS Meet?) x

joizus..... Well I'm still interested - that's a start! Might put the call out to the ASV and see if there's any members that keep angels. I shall call it buffy - an ode to my late 1990's self Thanks for the help guys! x

Yeah i'm fine with less fush, I'm thinking even just one shiny black pony in the paddock! are we talking YEARS for mature fish or wot?

Thanks guys - that's super handy. This is all been brewing for a little while now - so obviously without a location for the tank (need to negotiate with the housemates) it's all very up in the air. I like the idea of a narrow(ish) 25cm tank x around 70 long x 50(ish) cm high ....or those sorts of proportions, long, narrow and upright. (around 80 litres) Like an angel plasma! I'm keen on keeping it heavily planted, so wouldn't mind trying some bigger tetras or other lil schooling fish, they'll have green coverage - and if they turn into live food - lesson learnt. Pretty keen on adults (bigger = better for Nessa's shiny showpony tank) Maybe if I can locate a breeder they'll have an adult breeding pair that are happy together.... So the headcount is either 2 /or/ 6-8.......... One site has suggested Special requirements: Should be kept singly, in a group of five or more, or as a pair. - http://joshday.com/angelfish.htm Maybe just one? hmm... How long do they take to reach adult size? According to this site there should be around 7-10 litres per fish http://www.angelsplus.com/faqangel3.htm -researchNess

So......................... I've been toying with building a long narrow display tank, and while I do enjoy my betta sorority... I'm thinking of branching out of the betta box. (this feverish fish keeping hobby has taken over my life - now I want it to take over the lounge room) I would love a small school of big long finned black black inky male angel fish... yet to decide on the size of the tank, I would probably be looking at an external eheim canister filter, hidden among the heavily planted swords and whatever else I can keep alive in the tank... Can anyone tell me what they're like- temperamentally? If there's an ideal gender ratio? If they prefer company or if they're more independent... will they "school"? I've heard about the risk introducing other species into the tank, so I understand the risk - is there a little tetra/schooling smaller fish that they might be able to live with? Thoughts? Is there anyone with contacts with breeders? (I'm a snob and want fancy pants show ponies in my tank) Here's what I've deciphered thusfar: Ideal temps are broad - but best kept at one temp constantly: 22-35 degrees (but kept at around 25 for my needs) "If you are someone who cannot feed more than twice a day, we would recommend keeping and raising angelfish at a temperature no warmer than 77° F./25 celcius" -http://www.angelsplus.com/faqangel4.htm "The Scalare prefers slightly acidic water. They will usually do best if you manage to keep the pH between 6.5 and 6.9. The water in their natural environment is very soft, and the water in the aquarium should therefore ideally be from 0.6 to 1.2 dH." -http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid/angelfish.php Different varieties here: http://ozfishforsale.com.au/forum/index.php?topic=927.0 i LOVE this one & Quite like the Super veil tail and Crown tail (ARGH these terms in cross-species definition!) however will probably just stick to standard Caudal tail types - but want monster anal/dorsal/ventrals (or whatever I can get) Anything else I should be thinking about while I toy with this insane idea? -Ness MelbourneAngel/Buffy/Betta

Sarah - you have out-bogan'd yourself.... that was funny. Hey Xandi, Welcome to the forum - it's exciting to have an international special guest! Looking forward to seeing shots of your rescue betta, was he from walmart? We hear horror stories about how they're kept for sale... and have a few of our own. But I figure we're all here with good intentions, so good luck with him! -Ness

Ditto, but what I wouldn't give to git up north, warm up and do some big 'ol WC's x next time gadget.

And if your free NEXT friday you could come to this: http://ausaqua.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=12155&pid=133909&st=0&#entry133909 It's a bit of a trek trom bendigo, but well worth it - some lurvly HM's for sale me be thinkin' -Ness