creative

definatly steering away from chinese algae eaters & bristlenoses with sand. Am I wrong in thinking I don't need an algae eater once I get the phos/nitrates under control? Maybe I'll get a whiptail catfish or a black line fox? Thank you all for your advice etc... not ready to post up picture - the tank isn't setup they way I would have done it from the start and it looks pretty sad. By the way - the tank was maintained by Jansens, the poor person who gave me the tank has paid a small fortune to get a nice looking tank and didn't even know how badly it was being looked after. Anyone want a golden algae eater????? I think I might give the fish shop a call and see if they will take him - he is trashing the tank. I'll buy some indian fern too me thinks, might get some bog wood too.

thanks, I'll get some indian fern, I've also been recommended java fern - I'll do my major water change tommorrow, I think you're right about making the fish happier - even after changing the substrate and cleaning the filter they became more active. The algae eater is a problem, interesting that other people have experienced them digging with sand too - I have a malawi setup which is no good for him, and due to the large amount of plants that are now floating I'm going to try to find him another home, and hope the tank doesn't overgrow in algae. I've popped in a couple plants of small val for the front - I think that val is usually hardy and grows reasonably easy. If they do okay in the tank without Mr alae eater and with the high phos&nitrates I'll carpet the front with them. I suppose it'll be a while before I can fully plant the tank though - dying plants are expensive and counterproductive. Just to note - very happy with the Daltons Aquatic Mix, even with being dug up so much, it doesn't cloud the tank.

Yep your right - I was a bit nervous to stress the fish too much with a major water change straight away - but I'll make sure this weekend I do that - and keep the water changes regular. Pretty upsetting to know the amount of fish and plants wasted because of poor maintenance. I've turned off one of the heaters - and its keeping temperature just fine with the 300watt. I have a problem with one of the fish - he is quite large and golden in colour - an algae eater, but since I changed the substrate to smaller gravel - he is digging huge holes everywhere - digging up the plants and has dug into the clay - I suspect he is the only reason the plants aren't completly covered in algae, but they are getting smothered with fine clay (not to mention root disturbance). Anyway, the main problem I have, is, what plants can I grow to get phospates down but will handle the difficult water situation I currently have - I need something fast growing and very hardy - any suggestions??

I've had the tank for 5 days now - I kept all the same tank water - the high nitrates are due to the last water change being in July 2005, the one before that in May 2005.

I've just received a 4 ft planted tank that has been going for about 3 years - My husband told them I would love to have it, as I like fish (I have a 4 ft Malawi Cichlid tank - because no plants)....... Anyway, I'm going to give plants another try. They started with 40 fish and less than half of that are left. It is a canister filter - Eheim 2224. I've taken out the old gravel (didn't like it) and put in some Daltons aquatic mix with some really fine gravel over top. Little bit worried about the aquatic mix but nothing ventured nothing gained - let you know if it causes any problems. Have replaced 3 yr old tubes (one not working) with new arcadia freshwater lamps. There was only one kind of plant that had survived - don't know what it is, but the roots were under the reinforcing glass, pushing through the silicone - that gave me a bit of a fright. Phosphates and Nitrates are off the charts - so do you know of any plants that can handle this kind of setup - until I get the water parameters a little better? Also - the tank has a 250watt jager heater and another 300watt heater - this seems like overkill, do you think I could get away with using the 250watt jager?

Good news about gluing acrylic to glass - do I use silicon? What do I use (obviously it needs to be non toxic). Thanks. I've been looking at all the threads with DIY sumps - slowing getting a clue.

Hi, my tank is 39cms deep. I'm going to leave the lighting debate for a while until I know more exactly the corals I'll be keeping (this will help me in my aquascaping of rock too), can anyone suggest a really good book on coral keeping i.e. light requirments, ease of keeping, etc.... But what is a T5? Those articles on lighting for corals were really informative, showed up just how much I need to know what I'm keeping whilst doing setup. My main concern is making the sump, overflow & plumbing correctly. Is there a club I could join in Auckland? My hope is to be able to have a really good look at current sump & overflow setup before I even attempt making one. Wet carpet is not cool. I believe that you cannot glue acrylic to glass - but I would find working with acrylic much easier, is this true? Thanks so much for all your advice guys.

Hey Kermit, I know an electrician... am thinking very hard re: MH versus PC - I looked at my LFS and a PC unit was alot cheaper than $290. I did know that PCs would limit me to polyps & mushrooms. I'll either buy a PC unit to go with my current 2tube florescent or go with the DIY MH (depending on Husband), anenomes are beautiful. As for fish - 1 or 2, maybe none. Thanks very much for the pic - pictures speak a thousand words. What sort of MH output would you suggest for my 2' ? Cheers for the link control... Hey Iduncan, I know I'm taking off a large bite to chew in the 80L but I've been keeping freshwater for about 5 years now - I know marine is different but I plan on doing my homework before any salt hits my tank. Unfortunatly the 4' just isn't an option for me... I appreciate your words of wisdom. I've been looking at a nanoreef website which has really helped - any info you could send me control would be very welcome. I'm definatly with the 80L - and will only keep hardy stuff to start with. Any pictures or diagrams of sump/overflows would be wonderful.

Interesting on your comment on MH being same cost as PC - this I did not know. My current belief is that MH is more complicated to set up (more factors to consider). Please excuse my ignorance if I'm wrong - I'm trying to catch up on knowledge. Perhaps I should be deciding between florescents I already have half of or MH and forget PCs

How wierd, I was posting while you guys did - just got your comments now. I assume ASW is artificial - and thats what I'm planning to use. I'm in West Auckland and can't be bothered going out to Bethells Beach all the time. (this is assuming I don't have to do weekly water changes - I may change my mind if too expensive) Not rude at all - it makes sense to know what budget I have. Basically I can buy equipment that I really need - it's not that I can't spend the money - just that I shouldn't (saving for home). I also love a challenge - and DIY is usually the way I go because I'm a fussy begger and like to have things done just the way I want them. I have tank & stand (DIY), have HOB filter (not planning to use this at all for aesthetic reasons, and prob useless for marine), have heater, have air pump (use this for brine shrimp), have 45cmx25cmx25cm tank (poss sump), have 2xflorescent tube lights my current understanding is that I need the following equipment: 2 powerheads refractometer or hydrometer protein skimmer (poss DIY) sump & overflow (DIY) some form of return pump for sump either another set of 2x florescents or go to power compacts. I clearly need to do lots of research into each thing. Getting quite excited about planning this tank - feels the same as when I first started fish keeping

Okay, I'm starting to realize that there are many different ways to skin a cat (or set up a tank). I'm going to slow down and do lots of research. I have decided to go with a sump because I love the idea of having the equipment out of the main display - I'm planning to make it myself which is a bit intimidating but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. I'm looking at using PowerCompact lighting because Metal Halide are too expensive for me at this stage. I'm investigating building my own hood and putting in four PCs - I'm really not sure of possibility of this but will keep researching. I will probably have a skimmer - but possibly will have a go at making a small one myself - I've found lots of DIY sites. Once I have a clearer picture of just what I'm going to do, I'll prob start a new thread plotting progress. Just one question - alot of international sites talk about live rock - do we get that in NZ? If not what do we do? Another question - Whats the proper code of conduct of this site - should I be posting on the beginners section or is saltwater where I should be? Thanks

Hi, I'm making the leap from freshwater malawi to saltwater reef - I want to play with my small 80L tank before spending huge $ on a large one. I know my basic setup will limit me on what I can keep - but my main consideration at the moment is what kind of filtration? I have a Aqua clear 150 (hang off tank) and need to change to either a sump trickle filter or perhaps Aqua oneCF500 canister - sumps kind of scare me - they look and sound a bit complicated and I find it hard to believe it will be cheaper than the canister - however - if they are that much better, I'm willing to learn what I need to to set up an overflow style trickle filter - thoughts and suggestions are very welcome. I'm patient and like to do things the right way first time. Thanks

Thanks for your suggestion Caryl, will do. Suphew, really appreciate your comments and your 100% right - a larger tank would be better, but unfortunatly I don't have a choice - It'll be prob 1-2 years before I'm in a situation to set up a large tank. Interesting to hear your comments re: nitrate & skimmers (I'm hoping to get away without one still, but realize that I may have to get one anyway) I didn't realize that the biological cycle for marine was so different to fresh (I know its different bacteria) and didn't know about waste escaping via nitrogen gas. My basic understanding was that skimmers removed nitrate. LFS didn't go into details - any suggestions as to how to get the information I need would be appreciated. I'm still left with the decision of overflow, trickle filter or canister though - any thoughts? Thanks very much.

Hi, I'm making the leap from freshwater malawi to saltwater reef - I want to play with my small 80L tank before spending huge $ on a large one. I know my basic setup will limit me on what I can keep - but my main consideration at the moment is what kind of filtration? I have a Aqua clear 150 (hang off tank) and need to go to a sump trickle filter or perhaps Aqua oneCF500 - sumps kind of scare me - they look and sound a bit complicated and I find it hard to believe it will be cheaper than the canister - however - if they are that much better, I'm willing to learn what I need to to set up an overflow style trickle filter - thoughts and suggestions are very welcome. I'm patient and like to do things the right way first time. Thanks