Ok time to finally show this tank.

Tank has been "brewing" for around 4 months (ingredients: Coral Sand, Coral Rock & Seawater) and finally this weekend I introduced the first inhabitants to the tank. 1 Triplefin, 4 Shrimp, 5 Snails and some tiny Chitons. All collected from inside "The Keyhole" at South Piha, West Auckland.

This has got to be the most fun I've had in fishkeeping for many years! :happy1:

Looks cool, what else are you intending on keeping in there?

Tank looks so clean....well brewed.

very nice.

my cat's eyes bred the other day, they have really weird eggs.

have you found any jewel anemones locally yet???

That triplefin is a cutie

Looks cool, what else are you intending on keeping in there?

Anemones, more small fish, whatever grows on the rocks, starfish perhaps..

have you found any jewel anemones locally yet???

I haven't been snorkling for stuff yet.. only picking stuff off walls inside a cave, hehe.

There are lots of other kinds of Anemones on the west coast in all sorts of colours but yes I would love to find some jewels.

Looks good!! Can't wait to see how it evolved. I love the idea of going out and collecting bits and pieces for a tank, I really must have a go at this one day. What sort of lighting are you running? Am I right in thinking natives generally don't require the same intense lighting of a tropical reef tank as most of the inhabitants don't photosynthesise?

most jewels will live on the water line in marina's from the research i've been doing. just stick your head over the side and have a peek around.

If you ever come for a snorkel up towards Leigh, give me a yell, i know a few spots with heaps of life. Spotted a few nudibranchs in less than a meter of water too.

Black triple fins would be cool too, and baby leatherjackets Heaps of fry around lately also.

If you ever come for a snorkel up towards Leigh, give me a yell, i know a few spots with heaps of life. Spotted a few nudibranchs in less than a meter of water too.

Black triple fins would be cool too, and baby leatherjackets Heaps of fry around lately also.

Cool.. I assume you mean outside the reserve

Huh? What reserve? :slfg:

Sneaked in with a flashlight last night and one of the Painted Prawns had just released a snowstorm of little babies.

I suppose they don't really stand a chance being sucked through pumps several times and in any case they won't have much food avaliable to them..

Anyone had same experience?

Damn you and your interesting SW adventures! You know what I've been thinking about all day instead of my big tank build.....

:sml1:

Damn you and your interesting SW adventures! You know what I've been thinking about all day instead of my big tank build.....

:sml1:

:slfg:

Yeah I'm having a similar problem. It shifts my interest away from my other tanks.

Damn you and your interesting SW adventures! You know what I've been thinking about all day instead of my big tank build.....

:sml1:

do the big tank as a native cold-saltwater, easy :digH:

Getting NSW 1000L at a time may be a bit of a hassle!!

You've certainly reignited my interest in doing a tank like this Thomas, I'll try treat it as motivation to get my big tank done so I can convert the smaller one rather than as a complete distraction. I'm looking forward to seeing updates on this tank.

A few more pics.

So far all inhabitants are from Piha

Painted Prawn:

Robust Triplefin: (I think)

Robust Triplefin juvenile (I think)

Glass Shrimp:

Lets see some nice macros of the painted prawn, they are so cool looking

Looks awesome!

Cool triplefin!

What is that in the background of the second pic??

They're pretty nice pics, when are we going to see some like that of your FW fish?!

What is that in the background of the second pic??

They're pretty nice pics, when are we going to see some like that of your FW fish?!

Second pic has a painted prawn and a small rock with some seaweed kinda growth on it (turfing pink paint Corallina officinalis I think) in the background.

Yeah I should really pay more attention to my FW fish... they are looking good though.. especially the G. altifrons I got are looking so nice now that they are growing up.

Ok will work on a thread with my FW fishies.

Update Time ? :cr4:

If you ever come for a snorkel up towards Leigh, give me a yell, i know a few spots with heaps of life. Spotted a few nudibranchs in less than a meter of water too.

Black triple fins would be cool too, and baby leatherjackets Heaps of fry around lately also.

not goat island by any chance? :sage: :slfg:

Black triplefins are breeding males of variable triplefins, easy to catch

BUMP

:bounce: update time ?