Pies

Hi Mathew I too have seen 6000 & 6500k bulbs at Placemakers for about $5 a pop (screw and bayonet). Not a bad option for a small tank or sump/refugium. Pie

Yeah I have cable tied on the SCWD to the union taps. Probably not nessessary but cable ties are about 10c ea, so worth it for insurance. I have had some shocking plumbing incidents. IRA - Yes that was the SCWD I offered to sell you. I think I paid $100.00 for it and would have been looking for about the same (certainly not $250). However if you want to buy it for $250.00 you are welcome to make the offer, I would probably sell it. I am using 1 on my main tank too. They are great little devices, but I think better on smaller tanks not that I have the big daddy Streams in my tank.

Nico - Are plastic golf balls hollow? If so wouldn't yu be missing out on a LOT of surface area? A single bio-ball would have 100 times the surface area that a plastic golf ball? What system are you using how long has it been running? For fresh or salt?

Aye its the customs issue thats an issue. I suggest that we get about 10 people together and order sepratly and share the risk. Some should get though...

Not without looking about but check out the ZIM or ZIMM reactor. They are supposed to be 10x better than using the 'bottles'. The ZIM does phyto and rotifer at the same time. I am VERY keen to get a culture running so ANYTHING I can do to help. It wasn't the reactor that was the problem when I was looking, it was getting the culture (phyto or whatever) to start it of. Good luck!

What photos Nick? How about posting them up. I posted in the other thred. 1. TUNZE STREAMS 2. SEA SWIRL 3. PLASTIC TURKEY BAISTER 4. FLOATING MAGANET (JetSkiSteves advice)

I too have a Sea Swirl on my tank, and its one of the best things I have purchased. The only TRUE way to get random currents. I have another one waiting to be added, but not sure if its going on this tank or the new one... Best buys for me: TUNZE Streams + Controller: EXPENSIVE but at the same time very good and they actually are cost effective if you work it out. 10/10 Sea Swirl: True Random currents and looks 10x better than the plumbing I used to have feeding the tank. 9/10 Plastic Turkey Baister: From Mitre 10. Used to feed corals, suck up cyno, apply kalk paste for killing aipstasia and CHEAP ($6). 10/10 Floating Maganet: Boyu floating maganet. Once you have a floating maganet you can never go back. 10/10 Worst buy? Hagen Test kits (any). Pies PS: I have some Hagen test kits for sale, only used once, make me an offer!

Its just good to know I am loved, even if it just strictly plutonic.

You get better flow through 'bio balls' than through the ceramic noodles but I don't think it really matters in a trickl;e filter, but is important in a cansiter filter. I agree with Ira, I use more ceremac noodles than anything else, but I do mix and match just because I can more than anything. They are just a media for bacterria to grow on, hence the strange shapes, its an attempt to increase surface area. Siporex is the 'ULTIMATE' for surface area. I was given about 5L of mixed bioballs and siporex the other week, am going to use them in a sump for my next freshwater project... I don't think there is any particular reason why they are shaped the way they are or are the colour they are (I have only ever seen blue and black). But I am sure there is a brochure somewhere explaining why they can be so expensive. Bottom line is if you have a use for them then use whatever is cheaper.

No worries on the 'trade secrets' from where I am sitting. Any information on how to buy anything for this hobby cheaper and avoid paying the OBSCENE margins that pet stores get away with is always welcome. I was talking to a guy last week who brought 500grams of 'kalkwasser' powder from a pet store for $65.00. I have been lucky that good people like JetSkiSteve and Reef on this board have given me so much 'kalkwasser' powder I have had enough to give what I had to 3 other people I belive its about $90 per 25kg sack... Nice tidy profit. Maybee we should start a 'trade secret' thread? Here is another one since you got me started... You know how expensive salt mix is? Did you know that the ocean is full of it, salt water that is Ohhh and its free and it comes 'pre mixed'. You may get into some drama from the local tribe collecting it, but unless things change (go Don Brash!) you should be all right Pieman

opps pays to read things correctly I guess...

Chris.L I didn't know had gone ahead and got a marine tank? Clown breeding is fairly easy (from what I have read) but it does require some planing. You need to have a rotifer culture on hand and feed the tank (stop skimming?), but you need to have the rotifers ready BEFORE they spawn. So if you know the pattern I would suggest it would be easy enough. It does require a lot of work though, lots of feeding every day etc, good clean tank and then some raising tanks too. Plenty of info on RC. Good luck with it! Pies

Excellent answer. And yes I would much rather buy captive bred fish or fish from a sustainable source. For example all yellow tangs come from Hawaii and they have a quota system and measure the impact of collection. If they feel its having an adverse effect they reduce the collection numbers. Good stuff. Pie

Part of every new tank installation should include a fresh water test. Check for leaks etc. So here it is. Jane is there to provide scale, and because she loves having her picture taken... You can see the overflow box, and the brace around the tank. This helps strengthen the tank as well as proving a splash gard and giving me somewhere to rest my lights on. I didn't want a centre brace and felt it was unnessessary given the tank is only just over 3ft long and made of 10mm glass. Here it is: The tank is being filled by an ehiem pump from a bucket behind the tank. I am filling it to mainly check for leaks from the plumbing of the SCWD, which can be seen here: I chose to use 2 union taps because it will make maintenance easy and I want 1 tap for each of the 2 holes to give me plumbing control. Even though these taps are expensive, I have made some grave plumbing mistakes in the past and for piece of mind alone it worth a few more bucks. And a close up here: And finally here is a shot of the corner overflow box. Its not leaking which is great! It looks awesome and should work out great. What is an SCWD you ask? Its a T joint with water being pumped into the bottom of the T. There are some form of mechenics on the tank that 'switch' the water flow from 1 side of the T to the other. Its a good cost effective way of getting random (ish) currents into the tank without electronics or major cost. I had this one as a left-over from the main tank (which is still using one), and decided that it would be a great option for this tank. Although the SCWD are less usefull in larger tanks for smaller tanks like this one they are almost perfect. I did contemplate using 2 on this tank but for reasons I won't go into here I didn't. It will be driven by an Ehiem 1062 (3500 litre hr) pump. So almost there. I hope to have water in it tommorow, but will wait and see.

Alisha you pay for your sea horses? If the answer is yes don't, call a dive club and ask someone to catch some for you or even better go diving for them yourself

Nah this tank is stricktly part of the 'grand' plan I always wanted 2 tanks, 1 'display' 1 refugium/frag tank. So this is it. Got the stand pipe built and the overflow box bent and attached into the tank. The standpipe over flow box looks AWESOME. And I mean AWESOME. Laser cut and folded perfection. This tank looks great. All I need to do now is finalise the plumbing which is easy, and get it plumbed into the sump, which is slightly tricky. Also access to salt water is a problem with this Wellington Weather. I can get it filtered or make my own from salt and RO but I would rather use 'RAW' natural saltwater if possible. Its been a real missions, thanks to EVERYONE who helped or contributed. Will post some photos of it in its final resting place. Now send me your corals to fill it up please. Pies

IRA - I agree with what you say, so why ask if you can keep something from the cool water in your tank when you just said you can't. That was the point I was making, you knew the answer.

IRA I suspect not. Not many things can survive long term in the tropical tempratures of a tank. If you want to keep things from rockpools why not ditch the heater and go for temprate tank insted?

I can't see the original post... Steve 20% more than most shops would make it about 250% more than what its actually worth... (whatever it is) Pies

Well noticed today that their is no sign of the Six Line Wrasse. This is sad, maybee my favorite fish... It could be hiding but we all know the truth is that its gone. Have looked for it and not seen anything so assume its died in the tank. Now the problems begin, what killed it? I hope its that it was weaker since jumping out, but there are other options... Did my Anemone eat it? Did one of the many starfish I have eat it? Pistol shrimp? A crab I havn't seen perhapps? Bummer.

Well the new tank is progressing well and everything is on track to have water in it this weekend. The last of the plumbing arrived and has been glued into the tank. I few joins etc still need to be finalised but I hope I have enough stuff here at home to finish it without making another trip to the plumbers! The last thing I was waiting for was the overflow box, which was made out of black 6mm perspecs and laser cut. I picked up the cut sheet tonight and the guy has done an AWESOME job, I mean AWESOME. I will get it bent tommorow and glued in tommorow night if I can find the time. The back of the tank is painted black, this will help hide the tank valve fittings and blend in with the overflow chamber. Reducing light into the overflow boxes is importand, and a mistake I made with the last take. Its not a big deal but would help if it was cleaner. Drilling the tank has some major advantages when it comes to being tidy. My next large tank will be swiss cheese The hole with the blue handled tap is the corner were the overflow chamber will be fitted, this is where water is returned to the sump. The 2 holes on the back are the inputs, a SCWD will be mounted between them and help with random current. The front of these fittings have '45 degree 15mm plumbing on them in screw fittings, this will allow me to angle and change the direction of water floe easily. I also plan to use a 3000 litre an hr power head. Depending on how things go I might plumb in my other Sea Swirl 2 as I think these devices are AWESOME. To keep the costs of the tank down I am trying to recycle as much stuff as possilbe. The only think I am NOT prepared to skimp on is plumbing, and anyone who has had major saltwater spills will know what I mean. The plumbing has so far been the most expensive part of the tank (more expensive than the new tank it and the lighting for it!!!). Pieman

This snail is so big it has an Aipstasia growing on it! If you look closely you can see where I nailed it with some kalkwasser paste! The 2 sides of my tank are covered in corline algae, and then a film of brown diatom algae about 1/3mm thick. You can see how much this snail is working over the algae! Awesome! Lets see some pics of your snails in action! Pies

They are quite expenisve but I belive they are good. Reef tank owners often use these heaters, and reef keepers tanke their equipment pretty seriously so I suspect they are close to the top of the line. I am using visitherm, and will continue to do so. Pies

Brian the mushrooms will be fine. Someone sent me some and they were in a plastic bag for 4 days without water, they survived fine! I also tried to take one out for a friend the other day, riped it into 3 pieces and left some on the rock. He now has 3 mushrooms and I still have the 1 I gave him The guy in .au has a 700 litre tank, and about 1000 litres of plumbing too! But he is struggling with Nirtate. He is just about to start using Zeovit product in the hope of reducing them. He is going to keep his mangroves, he said more than anything they are a bit different. Good luck sounds like a fun project. Pies

They are great filters, although some people question their reliability. I would use it, and revisit the fix/replace question if it ever comes to it. Good luck Pies