Pies

Welcome Jerry. I would suspect that if its not broken don't fix it. ViaAqua are an OK brand. Personally i've tried just about everything, and am very cost concious. This debate continues to rage but i've learnedmy lesson. For me its Ehiem all the way, or DIY with Ehiem pumps. FWIW I am very happy with my Fluval canister filter, and would consider buying another. YMMV. Good luck Pies

Keep your eyes pealed There are deals to be had.

Check the Auckland T&E. I havn't looked for a while, but there is often stuff there. Why not put a wanted in here "want skimmer for xx.xx litre tank, budget of no more than $xx.xx".

Hrmmm someone has been using my PC... Pies...

Ira. Buy a good skimmer. if you can't affford one, then don't start the marine tank until you can. Bellow is an example of what happens if you dont, and also some info about the prizm as well. wetwebmedia... Moving On Up! Hi Crew, I have a small hex 25g reef tank, 30kg live rock (is this too little), some soft corals - (mushrooms / leather / xenia), 2 false clowns and 1 eibli angel. This has been my first venture in to fish keeping and I am completely taken with it. Yes, I do regret already buying a tank this size and am planning to trade up to the Aquamedic Percula 120 (any comments on this set-up?) in January 03 and use this tank as a Quarantine tank, so it's not money down the drain. The main filter is a Fluval 404 and I have a mini internal Fluval which I keep some Polyfilter in and add circulation (too much current?) and a 6w UV. The lights are 1x15w Power-Glo, 1x15w Marine-Glo, 1x15w Life-Glo. I know there are lots of pro's and con's about a UV, but my rationale was that with a small tank, I didn't want to risk killing any fish due to a disease outbreak. The levels in the tank are as follows: Nitrate-0, Ammonia-0, Phos-0.3,Salinity 1.022, Temp 77.0 (fluctuates by 0.2 max), Nitrate-5, dkh-6.2,Calcium 460. During the purchase as these items, I initially purchased a Aqua-medic Mini-Flotor Skimmer, but this took up far too much room in the tank. Thereafter, I was suckered in to purchasing the Prizm deluxe skimmer by the same shop. While this worked great for the first month, it is now churning out clear wet foam. Additionally, I have now started seeing some hair algae growing on the edges of the rock. My questions are as follows: Have you any experience with the Aquamedic Biostar Wet/Dry-Skimmer? Would this be a good replacement for the Prizm (I guess anything would be a good replacement for the Prizm). I am looking for an external hang-on type. If I purchase the above, should I transfer some of the substrate from the Fluval 404 to the above to kick start it? I don't plan to increase the number of corals until the new tank is up and running next year. In the meantime do I have room for a Royal Gamma in this tank? Are the lights suitable for the health of the corals. They are all flourishing and growing. Very difficult to get hold of Power Compacts in the UK with external ballast and I don't really want to add any more heat in the hood. I am using Kent SuperdKH as my buffer, but struggle to get me dkh above 6.2, what should I use instead (in fact all my additives are Kent - Liquid Calcium, Iodine, S&M...I'm sure the fish shop is in on a deal with Kent / Hagen!) Any suggestions for alternatives that are available in the UK? Think your web-site is great. Before I spent my money on the hardware I purchased a number of books, with retrospect I should have saved the cash (used it for a better skimmer?) and just read through your FAQ's. Thanks in advance for your help. Regards, Sandeep

SCWD. Remeber if you want to keep inverts you NEED some wat to create random water current. SCWD are popular, expecially with smaller tanks for the return pump. They create swaying in 3 and 4ft tanks, and will reduce the need/number of closed loops and or powerheads in the tank. He is buying it without the pump and fitting an Ehiem. Its got good reviews, and is good quality etc. Its an in-sump skimmer, which I don't like, but each to their own. In-sump skimmers work equally as well as external ones. A skimmer is VERY important. The biggest mistake you can make is buying a poor skimmer. you will be stuck with it, and still have to buy good one. Its also hard to have a successful tank without good skimming. $280.00 is a good price, and its only been run for 6 months. I am still using 1 of these 1262s with a SCWD. You are more than welcome to come and look at the tank and setup. I would suggest you do before you start buying. Especially if you are going to use a sump, there are lessons to be learned from my mistakes. Bulkheads. This is what the Americans call them, no one in NZ will know what you mean. In NZ they are called 'tank valve fittings' or something. Mico in the hutt (by the Parrot Jigger) has them in stock, they are black, and made by a company called 'Hansen'. They have threads on each side, and they also have all of the screw or glued fitting you will need. ask for a 20% discount, you will get it. they also sell taps with unions, they are grey with blue handles and worth their weight in gold, i think they were about $25 ea and come with screw or slip/glue fittings. Plumbing is expensive, and don't do what I did and do it poorly. GLUE everything, leeks are such hard work to fix. Also, if I was doing a smaller tank with smaller fittings I would look at 'john guest' plumbing. Slip on, no glue, cheap etc. Perfect for smaller piping like the ones from ehiem pumps. Pies

Cut the lighting right back, all light is doing right now is growing algae. I use natural seawater, as do most people I know. I have heard stories about poultants, but never parasites. I would be surprised if they could survive in the warm water, and then this fish etc would eat them anyway! I have no intention of changing from natural seawater YMMV. A freshwater dip may be a good idea, personally I never bother. I just slowly acclimitise them, then net them out and put them in the tank (i don't want rockpool water in the tank. I've got glass shrimps over 6 months old. snails similar age, and hermits. Get some and put them in. Start with just a few. Add a few more every week or 2. If they die, its an excellent source of amonia for the cycle anyway. As for when to put them in, I would do it now. They may or may not survive the cycle (I suspect they will), but they are free. Its not cool to kill things, but better a rockpool snail than a $200.00 fish. Ask away, am glad to help. As for test kits, buy Salifert, they seem to be the best (most accurate) and the best value. Pies

There are a few people herer (PEETY where are you?) who have tried dead shrimp etc to speed the cycle. Forget it, will cause poultion, and seems unnessessary. Use the beach. Get hermit crabs, snails and shrimp. These will do the business. Check my web site for photos of snails, crabs and shrimp from the rock pools. Remeber to aclimitise them slowly. Don't rush into buying a fish from Jansens or wherever until the tank has cycled (test it with kits). The cycle in salt is much much much more violent than in freshwater. Just let it happen. Light the tank just a little. The more light, the more algae. Although Algae is not really a problem initially (first fish food), it is ugly. Keep the light down, will keep the algae down. Good luck. Pies www.homereef.co.nz

I know someone who is going to order the exact same skimmer from the states (the AquaC). Perhapps there is an option there to share freight if you are 100% on that skimmer. Pumps. I looked at the Via Aqua, but when I was looking they only work internal but there is a kit to purchase for external use. There pumps have a poor reputation for sump pumps, people claim they don't last and are not as powerful as claimed. I have an Ehiem 1262 just over 6mths old. You can have it for $280.00. I also have an SCWD for sale, you can have for $100.00. Aussie use the same power, different plug. Pies

Eating gold is cheaper than smoking these days... 2x 250watt Metal Halide 4x 80watt T5s 2x Ehiem 1262 (circulation with SCWDs) 3x Ehiem 1050s (2x closed loops 1x calcium reactor) 1x Ehiem 1260 (skimmer) 1x Iwaki 6000ltr/hr external pump (return from sump) 1x Peristolic pump for Kalkwasser (I don't use a 'stirer' I use a DIY 'resivour'). 2x 300watt heaters, but only 1 is ever on, and hardly if ever on when the halides are on. I am not unhappy about the running costs. I have just replaced 2 1050s and 1 1262 with 2x TUNZE STREAMS. More waterflow for less money. And less plumbing!

I think my power bill is up over $100.00 a month on average because of the tank (thats $100 more, not $100 total). Thats a guess though. I've recently taken off a few pumps and replaced them with more efficient ones, so be interesting to see how it goes. Pies

IRA. I've asked some friends in Auckland to have a look around (several people import skimmers), there may also be some second hand options. A general rule of thumb is bigger skillers are better than smaller ones. Motor driven are better than airstone driver (counter current). IRA. Tell us exactly what you hope to do? Reef? Fish? Live rock? As per my advice here with rock, get some rock first and start it cycling, or cycle it in the ocean! Thats what I am doing next time. Pies

I would start with the tank and sump and heater before even thinking of skimmers etc. The tank can survive without a skimmer for a while. Keep an eye in trade & exchange etc too. The skimmer is the heart of the filtration system. So get a good one. Even some of the 'hang on' prizim skimmers have good reputations. The ones we see in some pet stores (sea clone) are considered the worst. The MH light, was our friend JetSkiSteve on this board. I'll ask him next time we catch up. For the tank, before you start, have a look at mine. Serious, it will make you think of things you never did. Running a sump is an 'art form', and takes some tweaking. I would do things differently. Under the tank equipment is fine, expecially for smaller tanks. Its the larger tanks that it becomes a real headache. You dimentions seem fine. Lots of people just use a $20.00 K-Mart bin for their sump. Easy to drill, and no big cost should you change you mind and need another. Get some 03 Actinic tubes, 4ft tank, get 2 single 4fts + the halide/s. Be lookin stylin. I can possibly give you enough sand for a dusting along the bottom of the tank. I STRONGLY reccomend against a DSB. They are hard to setup, take ages to cycle, there is some debate as to their long term benifit (old tank sysdrome). Worst of all you can't get detrivore kits here in NZ, so its really hard to create a live sand top for the DSB. I have syphoned out a lot of sand from my tank, it just wasn't working. The return pump. For a tank your size, don't muck about. Get an Ehiem 1260/1262 and let that be the end of it I know the debate is raging about Ehiem. EVERY reefer I know uses these pumps, simply cause they NEVER stop working. Salt water is a killer. Good luck, I knew you would fold, i'm just surprised it took this long

A thin layer of sand is wise. I started with a thicker layer (2 inch) but am slowly sucking bits of it out. A think layer is like 2cm or less. As for the plenum. I thought about this. Infact I was going to build one. But in the end, there is no point. Most people, if not all, find the plenum is just a water of time. A true deep sand bed does the exact same job (possibly better). Also very few people hace nitrate issues, and the plenum needs to be quite large (larger than 1/2 tank) to be truely effective. I didn't bother in the end, 0 nitrates. Don't know anyone in NZ using one, or wishing they used one. This is a 'Julian Sprung' inovation that has just died off cause its mostly worthless. Also a lot of people on RC that had plenums in there display tanks have removed them or colapsed them. Pies

RLT or RXT? I may be interested Student discount?

Remember that the sump becomes the heart of the tank. The skimmer, chiller, heaters, chemical filtration, refugium etc are all in the sump. And the old thing connecting the sump to the tank is this pump. Check that its rated to run 24/7. Check its servicability (some cheap pumps are throw aways). Check its power consumption (compare to others). I am sure it will be fine. JetSkiSteve has a friend with a sump room and he uses a grunfos pump, its big though. Be interesting to know what specs that pump is. Do you have a link and pic? Pies

My pump does approx 6500 litres an hr, pumping 4ft head, straight up. Buy a more grunty pump than you need as you can always tap off the return to run skimmers, others sumps, calcium reactors etc etc etc. You will regret an under powered pump. If you are going for the shed, I assume you will run the pipes under the floor, then into the shed? If so, the pipes will be quite low, so you will have to have the sump on the floor. This is not really ideal. Have a think about it, hope I have made sense. As for more water volume because of the sump and plumbing. Yes, its true and a good thing. Get as big a sump as you can. Doesn't have to be flash, you may get a tank for free or ver cheap. Make it a MONSTER! Ideal it would be bigger than the tank itself! Good luck. Draw us some diagrams!

Aye we buy a bit from TP form time to time Plumbing, this is were it all gets tricky! You will have 1 return from the sump/refugium into the tank. If you want to split it off into 2 or more (I split mine into 2), do it at the tank. So thats easy. How many from the tank? Got a calculator?... It depends on the size of your plumbing and the power of your pump. Most of us use 25mm plumbing (good size, lots of taps etc avail in this size). I lost a lot of sleep over this one... I went for 2 overflows (2x 25mm piping leaving the tank (1 in each corner). I would have been in trouble with just one, wouldn't have been able to cope with the flow (but its a restriction in my combs not the pipes...). I would aim for 2, I am sure you can join them up and just have 1 pipe leading out. I will have a talk to mate who has this setup (i think). I've been killing Aipstasia tonight... B A S T A R D stuff. I personally think that Hollywoods stock and display (havn't seen nth shore) are shocking. With bleeching coral, dieing fish (i've seen a dead fish in there), waring coral and general mayhem. I only know 2 reefers with no aipstasia. 1 has a copperband, 1 has a really SMALL tank. If you want to talk plumbing, I am sure I can help you out. Also beware, plumbing is EXPENSIVE, and its gets more expensive if you have to do it twice.... Like I did in places... This is the most important thing. read www.thereefweb.com for some good setup logs. This site helped me out more than any other. Good luck!

Rock and nasties. Would not worry about this at all. Steves offer to seed some rock for you is an excellent offer, I would take him up on it. His tank is already cycled, so its the ultimate way to get it living. Rotting shrimp is un-nessessary. Just load the tank with rock, and like Ira sais you could add amonia, or just add some crabs and snails and shrimps from the rock pools. Gives you something to look at, eats algae and cycles the tank. Most people use this system. Plumbing under the tank. I think Ira is incorrect about this, most people with marines have their plumbing elsewhere. Under the tank is a real pain. + the noise and mess. I regret doing this, and would NEVER do it again. Infact I am thinking about moving it. Under the house? If you only have a metre this is also no good. The shed option sounds great though! Pumps don't care somuch about the distance as the height. There is a way to calculate it, but if its only a few metres I wouldn't worry about it. You will be greatly restricted by using an under the tank system. Tank height. My tank is 650 deep. Its a little awkward, I wish I had made it 600 or even 550 deep. Something to consider. If you use metal for you stand make sure its very well sealed. I got some advice, and it was 'don't use metal anywhere'. I stick to this, saltwater will get to it, and distroy it. http://www.rl180reef.com/ is the page for the standpipe. This is a good system, and I would do it again. Good luck. Pies

Dark. You can host as many domain names behind one IP as you want. Check my site for example. Its on a domain hosting about 20 web sites, using Layer 7 NAT & 1 IP addr. Don't forget you don't need a domain name to host the site anyway! We can all just link from you There are also some free 'dymnamic DNS' options on the net, just have a look on google. Pies

JetSkiSteve! Get some in there for me while your at it please A couple of LARGE bits would go down a treat! I got a hole to fill...

Apo. Good news on getting started in marines! If you are serious, you have looked at the costs and understand them? Here is my first advice, you will spend a LOT of money. If you don't have it, aim smaller. Smaller tank, smaller lights, smaller pumps, smaller rock, smaller stock etc etc etc. OK OK enough with the lecture. First advice is don't buy anything right now. NOTHING. Plan first, look for 2nd hand gear and good deals. e.g. lights, I know a place that does CHEAP metal halides with 10k bulbs with reflectors for about $350ea (wired up an ready to go). I also know someone who may have a 150 watt 2nd hand for sale, been run for like 2 weeks... Plan the tank, and buy around it. Start with the tank. Overflows? If so this means sumps, which means return pumps, which means weirs or stand pipes, which means drilled glass, which means you will need to talk to you tank builder prior to them making the tank. Not worth the hastle to try and drill a tank after its built, and in 10mm you just may not have too. NOTE: I made a million mistakes here, and if I could go back in time, how things would change. I would drill the back (and sides depending on how the setup will look). Drilling the tank insted of using 'hang over' pipes would be worth its weight in gold. I will do this next time for sure. Remember if you are drilling the tank (reccomended), then your cabinet will have to accomodate for it. Also if you are putting all you equipment under your cabinet, you will need to know what you are buying first. NOTE: This is another mistake I made. Having the equipment under the tank is a wrong, plumb it outside the house or into another room (the garage), the noise and mess all happens here. Rock. I have good advice on this. Get your rock now. Dead white rock from Jansens or Hollywoods or whatever. The dead white stuff. Buy nice bits, as much as you can afford. Get a old bath, drum, tank or whatever and put it in there, grab a heater and a few airstones or pumps and get it going now. TRUST ME ON THIS. Use sea water from the ocean. Chuck in sand from the beach, snails and crabs, seaweed, ANYTHING! Don't light it. Change the water every week or 2. This will liven the rock, it works, it will cycle, it will be cool! Go do this tommorow! The longer the rock is in there, the better. This will give you something to do while designing you tank. Have it made to order, its cheap (there are lots of tank makers around). Offer cash and a few beers, all will be sweet. If you can get it for $1.00 per litre, assembled thats a good deal. If you need help with the stand pipes and weir/overflows, mine are pretty good. I mean that given the chance to do it again, i would do it the same as I did it this way. I can give you the web site on how to make them, its easy and well worth it. I belive these are the best system to feed a sump, and everyone I know would do it this way again. I could go on for months, but I think thats enough. Give me an email or call me and we can chat. If you want some books to read, I strongly reccomend tullocks "Natural Reef Aquirums", this is the current 'bible' on modern reef keeping. And to answer some of your other questions: Bio balls/bio tower - NO! Rock is better, don't bother, you can use rock, it will just take a few months. And algae bed? Sure! I am, great stuff. I had a look at that skimmer, looks good! Are you sure you want an in-sump skimmer? I personally wouldn't ever have one, just from a maintenance point of view. Although its 'safter' to use insump, I think the external are better. Just something to consider. Look at TUNZE and some of the DELTECs before making your final decision. Bigger skimmers! Pumps: grunfos are good, and we know of several reefers using them. Also look at IWAKI. I personally have an IWAKI and will buy them again, no problem. They come is all shapes and sizes, and are available in NZ. Again let me know, I know where some 2nd hand ones are (BIG ONES!). You can add the rock slowly, but if you do as I said above, you will be onto a winner. I've seen a large tank (1000+ litre) that was made entirely of dead rock, brought back. His tank looks stunning, i will try and put some photos on the site tonight. My tank is also 700 litre (+ sump and skimmer and plumbing). So this should be good to compare other bits and pieces. My sump/refugium is almost perfect, be worth a look for you, if you want to run an algae bed/refugium. Good luck will stop here before I write a book. Pies

Ira, your in Wellington, why not come over an have a look bwhahahhahahahaahaa Join the darkside... You know its only a matter of time...

The web page is designed to run in 1024x768 and thats it. Any other resoultion and you may get strange effects. Its beyond my skills to make a multi resoultion website. I never use anything other than IE (6.x), so try IE if you are using something else. Photos. Patience is the key. I am very much an beginner photographer, but there are some secerets to taking good photos of fish tanks, here they are: Tripod. Use a tripod. Everything in the tank is moving, doesn't help if you are too. Its almost impossilbe to take a 'real' photo without a stable shooting platform. Camera. I use the Olympus 5050 digital. Its 5mega pixel with 1/2000 shutter speed. The better the camera the better the photos. I can't image taking photos with a normal camera, the expence would be mind bending. Light. Aim the camera upwards, thats where the light is, digital camers need light. Macro. Use macro, close ups without macro are useless. Manual Focus. Use manual focus overides whenever you can, the crispness offered is unbeatable. White Ballance. Experiment. Without the correct whiteballance, you will get green looking blue, purple looking red etc. Take lots of photos. LOTS. I'll take as many as 200 in a night. Dont use the flash unless you have too (none of my photos using the flash). Photoshop. Touch ups required on digital. Helps a lot. I know very little about photoshop, but I get good results now. And enjoy it. Also think about what photo you want before taking snaps. e.g. 'really want a pic of that crab in the coral with a fish in the foreground' or whatever. Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed the site. I am quite proud of the photos.

Kribber 18000 Kelvin would be blue, BRIGHT blue. I've seen 14000K very blue, and 20000k which is blue like a weilder. A 18000k bulb can't be red. You sure its not 1800k? Ususally the red bulbs are very low kelvin (sub 3500, hence the redness) and are popular for growing seeds into plants for hydroponics. The daylight bulbs you refur to should be in the 6000 - 6500k range, which is a daylight spectrum. Other kelvin light temratures are for artificial reasons. Also just to confuse things, the colour can be manipulated by a frosting on the tube itself. I think one of the pet shop bulbs, the LIFE GLOW or something is a 6500k bulb with a sligh green frosting to give it a 'warmer' feeling, this is for asthetic reasons only, does nothing for plant life. Pies