Slipshodman

@AndrewM We have all been there, I have two locals to me, one I wont buy fish from anymore, poor quality and conditions in the shop sometimes less than desirable, particularly with some of the larger species, they are cheaper but there is a reason for it. It took me a little while before I stopped buying there, personal education I suppose Over the years though I have certainly picked up improperly named or cross breed fish but accident (well maybe not accident, trusting the staff at the shop was the problem) The other may be dearer but the quality is there, its clean and the staff are knowledgeable , I only do the big chain stores for the odd dry goods I cant pick up somewhere else

LMFAO

Thanks for sharing @AndrewM & @MFF I did not know anyone who actually had one of these tanks As for the lighting, well I have had both, my tanks about 3 years old, one light unit died completely over time so a few of weeks ago I went to replace it, you can't get the old T5 light anymore and have to go for the LED, which I was ok with as I would prefer LED anyway, but you also need to change the covers from 3 pieces to 2 as with the LED there is only the one light, dam expensive to for basically no additional functions like a Fluval Planted or Aquasky could offer, but basically the same cost. But anyway, so installed the light and lids, the lids are way to big and flimsy with only the one light so I get why you added the string on the lid @AndrewM to stop it falling back so far, I have actually gone back to using two light units, at the back using the T5 that still works and the LED on the front and using the 3 piece top panels instead of the two larger ones with only one light, I haven't decided if I will leave it like that yet as I am considering a change up for the tank inhabitants so once I decide I will access if I use the two light fixtures or just the one LED The heaters died off for me after about 2 years or so, one started tripping out so I wasn't taking any chances as I had large Americans in there at the time that liked to smash things around so ended up with the Aquael Gold 500 W as it is well protected but in hind sight an inline heater would probably have been better. (add that to my to do list) I only run the FX6, the Nautilus moved on to a 4x2x2 I have , actually it was my excuse for the FX6, the cheap canister I had on the 4 footer died so upgrade the Nautilus, made prefect sense to me lol , I have done a custom outlet for the FX6 mainly because I wanted to try it other than I being particularly useful, I did want to get more flow on the bottom of the tank (pics in the middle of clearing out all the gravel to fit the custom outlet in). Now its all hidden behind rock so you can't see it and it helps with some dead spots in flow on the bottom of the tank The tank currently only has 3 Sevs and a Pleco, thinking it may end up with Angels and a river aquascape but time will tell I was considering going full Perspex top like MFF but the misses likes the black covering,(can you flick us a pic @MFF of the full Perspex covers ) Thanks for the ideas as I may go Perspex under the light if I go back to using the one LED only Any other tips and tricks you guys have done with the tanks ?

@AndrewM Thanks for sharing your experience I too have a Brilliance 180 (which is your tank in the pic, correct me if I am wrong) , I switched out the Nautilus for an FX6 also. But I notice you tank cover at the back sits flat. For me the FX6 pipe size is too large for the back cover panel to sit flat, it actually holds up the cover probably 7 - 10 mm, and you have both inlet and outlet through the same area (cut out as well). The Nautilus obviously has the fitting to fit the gap in the tank but would have though that would have also been pretty tight to have both fittings through the one cut out area as well So really interested in how you achieved the top cover to sit flat Cheers

i pop in here everyday, just not much going on unfortunately

Hey , sorry to the OP as i do not want to hijack the thread Does anyone know where you can get this in Australia at all ? or an local alternative ? As for you tank @pride , I personally don't mind the sparse look in a tank depending, the others are right with some greenery could break things up but I don't often have plants in a tank due to the same reason you mentioned, but there is a rule of thirds in photography that can be adapted for aquascaping https://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/blog/aquatic-layout-guide-rules-composition-the-golden-ratio-creating-perspectiv/ Have a read, it might help, so my suggestion would be bring out you drift wood from the end to one third into the tank, make the rock look like its spilling away from the wood to the right , (large to small), leave a small one to two on the left side of the wood, just a thought Cheers

hey @MattG_Sydney I am interested in the fluval planted as well , looking forward to your review (expensive but looks the goods) I am really interested in how waterproof it actually is more than anything else

Hey, I have a blind peacock in a community tank, i just try and make sure he gets fed (which isn't easy and I can tell he is skinny) , but not much else you can do really

Hi Frosty, I had similar concerns chucking 600 litres of water + tank + gravel etc (at a guess 700kg's) on the floor as i have a timber floor, I actually got a local builder out and he had a look under the house and suggested I add an extra cross beam to be sure (easy to get under the house, you can actually walk under most of it) Point being it probably depends on where the support beams are situated in comparison to the tanks, also the tank stand, does it disperse the weight evenly accross teh floor area or does it hold all the weight in the corners etc (like a table) So if your mate has any concerns I suggest getting someone out to have a look, the local builder didn't charge me either as it took him 15 mins to have a look and a chat about what i was doing, I didn't want to take the risk of damage -I do remember a comment about a building code rule of thumb is to imagine if people where standing in the same space and averaged 80 kg per person, the floor would be built to cover that weight, so 4x2x2 is about 400 kg's plus at a guess, so could you fit five people on that floor space ? probably not, so i would get a professional to come out and check Cheers

Hi All, I am local to the Penrith/Blue Mountains area. Just wondering where you get egg crate for tank dividers, or any DYI tips to make you own with other bits and pieces or other alternatives as dividers. (none of my LFS have egg crate) The tanks are up and running so I cant silicon in perspex, glass and want to be able to take them in/out reasonably easily (and need to do a custom fit on a half round tank as well) Thanks in advance Cheers

Hi @stevo1957 Just offering what i have done to save carrying buckets for the tanks in my lounge room I added a "Y" connector to the cold water line for my washing machine laundry tap, then added an extra tap on one side with garden hose fittings. On the other side connected my washing machine as normal (so the misses was still happy that she didn't have to do anything when someone uses the washing machine) From the garden hose fitting i added a short hose to a small hose reel and made a hook to sit over the edge of my tank.( a couple of pics attached) My largest tank in the lounge room is 6ft and has an FX6 on it so i have a hose connected to the outlet of the FX6 ans switch it over to dump water out, then use the hose from the laundry to fill it back up. I always dose prime before i start filling it back up for the whole tank size, then again about half way through filling as i do 50 to 75 % water changes Just to offer a thought to your plan as with a tap you can totally regulate the flow of water filling up your tank to ensure no temp shock when adding cold water, "low and slow" as they say, with a pump that could be harder to do As for pumping out water from your tank, well gravity should help you out with a long enough hose attached to one of these from a hardware store, that's what i use for my other tanks to dump water out, its just a siphon pump and after you start it gravity does the rest, its only like $5 at a hardware or cheap dollar shop. Everything i got from Bunnings in stainless so no brass fitting to chemically effect the water going into the tank and all up maybe cost me $50 or something like that so could be a lot cheaper than buying a pump and this is basically fail proof, no parts to replace over time, its just plumbing I hope that helps with your ideas Cheers

the AQ-180 has a few of Severums, a dozen small Texas, a pleco and a handful of peacock, yep , break all the rules mixing Africans and Americans lol Another 6fter with a pairk of Texas, two 4 ftrs with Texas pairs, a 3ftr with, well guess what ... a pair of Texas, another 3 ftr with a Texas male that kills everything that goes near it and a couple of 100 ltr tanks , one with Shrimp, another quarantining the last punching bag (female) from my killer Texas and lucky last a Bristlenose/Severum tank... I think thats it ..lol.. I am looking to change things up but just cant seem to get rid of fish once i have them. So the only way is more tanks 😉 I messed with higher PH a while ago but found it was a constant battle and from everything i have read stable PH is better than fluctuating PH

I stopped trusting test kits long ago Just seemed to be no reliability from any of them I had tried (and all over the forums others have had the same issue over time) So now I just stick to my schedule of water changes and watch my fish in between for any unusual behaviour just in case but currently running 8 ,, hang on... I mean nine tanks and haven't had a test kit near them ion a very long time, but that's just me, I am sure there are others that test all the time My nitrates are kept in check with the water changes and the PH is as stable as can be as it is exactly what comes out of my tap, I never try and change that either Just my point of view Cheers

Hey @MattG_Sydney https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Pet-Supplies/Western-Sydney-Aquariums-Custom-Made-Tanks-343341832491243/ Western Sydney Aquariums at Emu Plains has a good rep, well use to so assume they still do , I think the guys name is Steve Might be worth checking them out if you wanted custom. I had the same issue of fitting in with the wifes interior ideas so got a Aqua One Brilliance 180 a couple of years ago, she liked it, i got a new tank...win win..lol... I have swapped out the canister that came with it for an FX6 (by choice, use the Aqua one canister on a 4 ft) nut have had all the small globes in the lighting set up go, only real down side with the tank from my point of view

All great answers from Skippy Particularity about the Pleco, it will grow way to big for a two foot tank and put extreme load on you filter .... just don't do it, you could try just painting or blacking out the sides of the tank with contact to avoid the light getting in