Pets MEGA Cats VS Dogs - POLL!

[ohshea]

My cat baby gwyneth loves her nipnip. When im not home if I leave the bag out she will rip up w her teeth amd have her own party. Its like crack for her she runs up and down halls, races up her cat condo and gets this goofy deranged look on her face. I get her homegrown alaska thunderfuck nip.

 

[Blue_Phlame]

I'm starting a nitrogen cycle on one of my freshwater tanks again, so far the ammonia levels are stabilizing faster than I had originally expected. I hope to be introducing some fish again in a few weeks.

 

[Jabberwocky]

stabilizing or disappearing?
what.re you going to stock it with?

 

[Blue_Phlame]

Yeah, I meant disappearing faster than when they were at the start of my cycle. After I bring the ammonia levels to around 4 ppm they tend to go down to 1.5 ppm in about 2 days. I plan on stocking I with neon tetras and keep it as a decorative tank in the living room.

 

[Jabberwocky]

pics

 

[Mel22]

Fantastic photos and aquariums guys - well done. Excuse the quality (and quantity) of my photos, all from an iPhone (really need to learn how to use my DSLR, my tank looks so shit in these photos):

 

[junglejuice]

Nice tank!

Awesome to see other reefkeeping bluelighters!

:D

 

[Mel22]

Thank-you, your photos are amazing!

I'm still very much a noob, so it's a work in progress. My aquascaping sucks, just trying to find the motivation to undertake the gargantuan task of re-scaping...ugh.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Mel- great tank! any chance I can get you to to post tank-check/stats for us? real curious on some of your equip (especially wtf kind of lights you're running in 1st pic!)

re aquascaping, please consider custom-cast rockscaping! I'll try to find some pics and data, but i did this for a moray tank of mine and it was soooo cool! (took almost 1.5mo, iirc, for the custom rocks to finally become proper ph and get in that tank, but worthwhile! This was same approach used by aquariums to make their huge rock walls)

(oh and GORGEOUS eel! Chainlink moray was the first salt specimen i ever got, just wasn't ready at that point sadly (nor are most salt enthusiasts upon start..)

 

[Mel22]

I did a google to see what this custom-cast scaping is about, but couldn't find much?

I'm running 264w CREE LEDs.

 

[Jabberwocky]

i'll find some pics of pieces i'd done and get 'em on here.
and i'm not even sure i understand your lighting - 264w *led*?? maybe i'm still groggy - hella likely - but 264w led is a buttload of lumens and would have a normal sized tank GLOWING!! wtf there's something wrong in your spec or i'm retarded right now. plz elaborate tho.

will get pics of customs i've done up soon (and will try to find link to where i learned it - will writeup what i remember on curing it if not)

 

[Mel22]

88 x 3w LEDs = 264w. Four colour ratios, dimmable. Took a while to acclimate everything...slow and steady, but all doing well.

Describe the process of custom-cast scaping for me, or a link perhaps?

 

[Jabberwocky]

holy jesus! is that a DIY rig or prefabb'd? I love LED's, had them for my moonlighting in my tanks but my experience with them is in...other lighting venues ;PP

the process is basically just
- get materials that'll be non-reactive in your tank (concrete or mortar w/o additives - and yes it MUST cure before you can put it in, so this will be made, put in water to cure for a month or a lil more, then it can go in your tank. and you use plastic piping, like the kind drinking water would go through, for your "skeleton" / as "rebar" for the build)
- setup your plastic skeleton, and build your sculpture!
- get it in the tank

super cheap, fun, cool and simple. a major aquarium did this for HUGE pieces, i learned it from some article / DIY place that basically just related what they did. will get those pics (and hopefully links) within the hour

 

[Mel22]

Nope, not a DIY.

And thanks for explaining the process - I'm sure it would look great done properly. LR all the way for me though..

 

[Jabberwocky]

and i don't wanna hear shit about the cyano. tank was running aquaC skimming, HOB macro and HOB carbon/chem setups with plenty of water movement - i just tend to run tanks' bioloads wayyy too high lol


okay this one's a better shot, this is right after they went in. Keep in mind that you can sculpt it HOWEVER you want - but trust me you should play around w/ it 1st, like make a couple 'test' sculptures instead of just going all-in on your 1st tries (like I did). If you're familiar with higher-end poolscaping, "artificial boulders" can be 100% lifelike, as can these sculptures - it comes down to what you want and your skill. Remember that if you smooth out the sculpture you won't get nearly the surface area for biofiltration that mine had - but it'd look much purtier ;P and remember that the sculpture must cure in water til it's not throwing the ph outta whack. I can't remember what values for ph you need to wait for, but do its last cure-water changes with saltwater to gauge when it's ready to go in tank.

 

[sconnie420]

I've worked in pet stores for almost the last ten years now.. 'd it.. ^ that's a bad ass tank dude..

@mel~ beautiful setup..

 

[tackyspiral]

because of this thread i think it would be super awesome to get one of those peacock mantis shrimp! so cool!

 

[Jabberwocky]

mantis shrimp are BADASS. They are amazing little monsters and ridiculously strong/aggressive (mel can probably elaborate, but iirc you don't even want them in a tank w/o thicker glass. IIRC it's mantis shrimp and octopi that need special enclosure setups, although for different reasons)

youtube them, their fighting is incredible. there's "spearer" and "crusher" types (my lingo may be off)

 

[Perpetual Indulgence]

where the warm is

 

[llama112]

My love

She is so fuzzy and cute, I love her!!! I should find some better pics of her. I have a couple good pics but they include me and I don't like putting pics of myself on here. She's such a cute!!!!