Cheap Ideas

[azulfire24]

You can also make a bubbler from an old drink bottle... cut the top off where it starts to taper, then cut again 15cm up from the bottom. Throw out the middle section. Wedge the top section into the bottom section. Put filter floss around it. Cover the top with netting. Push an airstone down the neck of the bottle. I'll have to get a photo, it's hard to describe.

Craft stores sell lots of stuff you need... teddy bear or cushion stuffing is identical to filter floss and far, far cheaper and I've never had any problems with it.

Buying stuff online (like fish food and equipment) saves heaps over buying it locally... I'm Australian and I use this store: www.theaquariumshop.com.au but there are others.

Combining orders with other people if you buy stuff/fish/plants online saves on shipping, a lot of companies offer flat rate shipping so if you have three or four people combining orders the shipping is extremely cheap.

Also do things like buy big, big bags of fish food, and then split it with friends. Also, fish food lasts about three years in the freezer.

Instead of buying expensive planting substrates that cloud the water, if you only want to plant lightly use a cut off segment of pantyhose. Put some planting substrate in there, mix it with some solid fertiliser (for tanks, like dino dung) and plant into the stocking. Tie loosely around the base of the plant and bury the whole thing in the substrate. That way you only need a small bag of planting substrate, not enough to cover the whole bottom of the tank.

Apparently you can DIY water hardener using washing soda, salt, Epsom salts and a few other things... personally I've never been game to risk it.

Large food tins (like the ones that fruit juice comes in) are around a gallon in capacity; if you absolutely have nothing else they are suitable for betta growouts but you have to put silicon around the rough edge. Personally I don't use them because they are dark and dingy for the bettas.

Substrate can be gotten by scrounging building sites once they complete works, they often leave piles of sand, gravel or blue metal. It has to be washed EXTREMELY thoroughly but I have used it for years with no ill effects.

dino dung?/ what is that ? i never add otherb stuff to the sand in the bottom o my tak i just stick the plant roots in the sand??

I was worried about that too at first. I washed them really well, and only bought ones that looked like they were treated like ones you would buy from LFS. nothing with mossy like substance, wax, etc.
They've been in there over a month and not a problem at all.

Thanks - good to know. I almost always use real plants, but it's always good to have information!

how do you make tank dividers? i cant keep buying more!!

i dont think this will work for all tanks but works for dividing my 60x30x30 cm tank

i use these report covers you can get them clear, blue black red and other colours
i tank 1 cover and 2 ends and cut them to fit the tank with the cover folded open i then place them in the tank and bend some strong wire and place them between the ends and the tank.
works well ive never had any problems and they only cost a couple of dollars to make a few of them
if you want holes in them for water flow you can put holes in them with nail or pin os something like that


pm me if you want more infomation or more pictures

i use the report cover edges then use quiltin plastic, the stuff yoy cross stich with yarn to make a sturdy wall with good water flow

then little suction cups to hold it steady or a dab of silicone but u gotta let that dry first

 

[LauraFrog]

Dino dung is a mixture of things that are good for plants, you get it here: www.aquagreen.com.au sorry, didn't occur to me you probably don't get it overseas. You're supposed to bury it next to the roots of heavy root feeders.

Depends what plants you have really... some need feeding, some dn't. it's a good way of weighting down ones that like to float though, the pantyhose trick - chuck a little rock in there as well.