Pies

Yeah as long as the skimmer doesn't leak it will be fine, although they are expesnive there really is little more to them that a pipe and some way to make bubbles. I think the rockpool is going to be better than GREAT! Have you started yet?

There is a lot of interest in saltwater at the moment, EXCELLENT! 75L is very small for a fishtank, and I have no experance with small saltwater tanks, but I know of a few. There is excellent information on these 'nano reefs' at reefcentral. But from what I do know I suspect its on the small side. There are some questions only you can answer before you make a start on freshwater from my own experance: Do you want Tropical or Temprate (NZ sub 20deg)? Tropical are very pretty, very delicate and very expensive with few fish under $100ea. Trpoical requires heating. Temprate fish and other stock are cheap (free from rockpools and diver friends), not as colourfull but still very interesting and active. Both require good water quality for long term survivablility. Do you want to keep coral and inverts as well as fish? Coral requires almost perfect water quality, many addititives (iodine, calcium, magnesium etc) which requires many test kits. Corals often require lots of water circulation, which costs money in pumps and timers. Coral require lots of lighting, often in the form of metal halides to provide enough light. Do you have a large budget (over $3000.00) to spend on the tank? I would be surprised if you could setup a Tropical Marine tank for less than this amount of money. If you don't have the money you should save it up and wait, or try something else. I belive you could do a temprate for far far less. please check my web site www.aqua.net.nz/mark.html for some info and pics. pies

Ohh one other thing on the size. As always bigger is ALWAYS better. The cycle is less violent in larger tanks, as are water param changes. You have heard this already. I large tank with less life is much better than a little tank with lots of life. Remeber it costs more to heat, light and filter a big tank.

I'll take that Madarin! And would look at the coral too. We should go get some, where you get those prices from! I want to look! Anyway that is some good stuff, and the Berlin Skimmers are very good (once considered the best in the world), and would be better than the cheap airstone driven or DIY options. But the rest of the stuff is all for Trpoical Marine and if thats what you want to do, then GREAT! But its not, tropical marine is EXPENSIVE to do well, there is far more to it than just water and fish and a skimmer. I don't want to put you off, but I do want to promote sensible fish keeping. Do it if you can, but its a financial commitment, and adding corals will make it 5x worse (ask my bank manger). Quite seriously I am interested in that Maderin though, and maybee some coral depending on what it is I would also be interested in the rock, and I happend to have brought a large chilly bin with me Back to the subject. Those ehiem pumps sound cheap, depending on what they are but I ONLY use ehiem pumps, they last forever. To add waterflow they will be the answer, and remember, you can't have enough... Pies

Sure thing, I was thinking that just now as I answered your other post. I am about for the rest of the week, so if you want to meet and have a chat I am keen. I don't have transport though, but am around the top of queen street (over the road from real grovey) if can get near there. Pies

I am not sure on the price of skimmers, have a look around. I would always use a skimmer with saltwater, they are very efficient, very simple and they must work. I have seen some for $35.00 without an airpump, VERY simple airstone driven devices, but I am sure it would surfice for a tank with alight bio-load. You can pay thounds for them, but a cheapy or a DIY will be the option here. As for a filter, if you decided to use one, and I am sure you could get away without one, any canister type filter would do. Running some activated carbon for a week a month will help with water clarity and 'polish' and kill and nasties. Filter wool is not used in my tank, and the water is cristal clear with just a protien skimmer. Remeber this method will only work if you have lots of rock in the tank (which acts as the biological filter for the tank). Filter wool can go 'biological' in saltwater after just a few days, and should not really be kept in there any longer, as it will contribute to nitrates etc. If you know the sand you are taking doesn't have silicates, then use it, otherwise buy some coral sand and mix some up (25% beach sand) to 'liven' it up. Also be aware of depth. There seems to be 2 schools of thought, less than 2 inches, or more than 8 inches. Not going to go into the details of each here, but I suggest the 1inch, less likley to cause problems. Rember saltwater is a lot different to freshwater, the cycle will happen violently in saltwater, with algae blooms and bacterria common place. Load the tank initially with hermit crabs, snails and shrimp. They are all free, will eat algae and cycle the tank and work the sane bed. Try and hold off adding anything until you get the tank sorted (a month or 2). Also you will need some water cirulation. Some power heads or a few submerged water pumps will do for a start. You really can't have enough waterflow. My 700ltr has 25000ltr and hr water movement. There is no upper limit, but add a few in. Calurpa microalgae is also worth a look. It wil grow in the tank and look awesome, when it starts to die off, take it out and dump it. This algae will stop bad algae from growing, and a biologial filter. Trust me it works. Good luck, I am eager to see some more people do this, saltwater truely is awesome fun, and there are some beautiful stuff to put in for free on the rockpools. One last thing to remeber is BIO DIVERSITY. When taking sand, rocks, fish, crabs or whatever keep them wet. You will be astounded by the life that exists on a pieces of rock that is kept wet in trasit (wrapping rock in wet newpaper will work, but may kill spounges etc). Same with sand, keep it went, collect it from clean places, don't take the 'dead' sand from the top of the beach. You want all the little 'monsters'. The more life the better, things will bloom, animals will eat them, things will grow and die. AWESOME... I am so excited! Good luck.

Thats a real shame, good save though. I've been through a similar thing, and its not cool. A few questions. Does the tank sit on some ploystyrene (sp?) If not would strongly reccomend this. Also looking at what you have currently, it seems OK but would suggest making the braces out of 10mm glasss. It looks like you have 3 braces but they are quite narrow, make them 2x as wide should be ample. Be cautious in putting a large wide pieces of glass as the braces as it really can be a pain getting at things, long arms or not. Also do you know why it cracked? I know of a tank in auckland that had a similar problem, it was from too much heat from the lights sitting right on top of the glass. Good luck!

Go the DIY skimmer. Good work, and airstone driven skimmer is going to be find for somaller tanks and tanks with light bio-loads. If you are looking to make a more spphisicated model, there are some excellent designs on reefcentral.com using all sorts, if I was to DIY i would use a plastic click-clack speghetti jar. SAND. OK if you are taking small amounts, i would be surprised if there would be any drama. HOWEVER. The sand you get from the beach is not the same as the coral sand you buy from Jansens. Sand from NZ beachs is silicate in it, which other than its aesthetic value is worthless, bacterria can-not live in this sand. Coral sand will host bacterria as well as buffer than tanks PH and slowing release some calcium too. I strongly encourage anyone to try marines, tropical or temprate. For me the marine tank is the best thing I have ever done, and my only regret is not doing it years ago. Good luck

To upgrade my 700ltr reef to a 2000ltr+ reef, with plumbing over 1000ltrs. To have the plumbing miles away for the actuall tank inself (noisy).

If so, I am up here in Auckland for the next few weeks and would love to see it... Gimme a call 021455946 or email me at [email protected] Mark (Pies)

As much fun as Tropical Marine? I strongly dissagree, have you ever had a Tropical Marine tank? bwhahahaha Anyway sounds like an awesome we tank, and chance of seeing a photo? I know others would be keen too.

It had to happen, but did it have to happen here in NZ? I was in Jansens on Friday and they are selling 'Nemo' tanks. 2 clowns & anomne in those little we plastic tanks with the lights built in etc.. "COMPLETE SETUP - TAKE IT HOME TODAY!" with nemo poster on one of the tanks etc. Jansens, why? O yeah i remember, money... I have also been trying to get me a male percula clown and anomne for my tank, good luck. Nemo fever has taken over the world, not a clownfish or anomne in sight...

What equipment? Depends on budget and size etc. But I would use a heater (for stability), a protien skimmer (these vary but there are some 'budget' low strength ones that work with an airstone and an airpump for about $30), and some form of filter with some carbon in it. I would also light the tank with tubes/T5s in the 10000k spectrum if you can find some, and maybee an actinic blue tube too to add some 'sparkle' to the colours. The only otherthing that saltwater makes a headache is 'freshwater' for evaporation. If you have evaporation you need to put freshwater into the tank. But tap water has too much gunk in it and feeds algae, so you need RO/DI quality water to reduce this from happening. Give it a try! Go on! I am keen to do it now but have already to many tanks and not enough time (Well 2 tanks anway...). Pies

I am flying to Auckland and back here at least once a week at the moment, and yes, they will XRAY your fish... My Bangi Cardinals seem no worse for wear though... I am confident that stowing them is better, far less being knocked around. They will NOT (trust me) let you hold onto the Chilly bin during takeoff and landing. Pies

The more water changes the better, but if your honest with yourself, you are going to get really sick of doing water changes every weekend... But I wouldn't think its nessessary. The little critters you talk of will breed easily in the tank. You will need a power head or 2 to help with gas exchange and to keep the water oxygenated, as an air stone and salt water are bad (don't ask...). When I setup my marine tank, it was running cold for the first few days as we filled it (700 ltrs) once the water cleared it was awesome what we picked up just from water, lots of shrimp and critters, little pods and bugs etc. You can use lots of brittle star (star fish with long legs) these are GREAT cleanup crews, as are the shrimps and hermit crabs and snails. No one has talked about filters yet though? Would you use a protein skimmer? That article talks about a plenum, this will reduce nirates for sure, but still no talk of filtration. Natural saltwater yellows quickly, so some form of filteration is needed to keep things clean and reduce algae. Good luck, I am soooo close, but 1 marine tank is enough for now And if I have a 2nd it will run from my existing plumbing, so I use my existing skimmer, filter, calc reactor etc. Maybee a clownfish tank and anomne for breeding? ENDLESS OPTIONS....

Do you mean PICs of the 'rockpool' tanks? I think so, but not at anytime soon. Next time I visit one I will take the camera and snap some photos.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I am looking into colour changes, I tend to agree, but thought I would try it out on the public. May try GREY with BLACK txt. Font size will remain the same however. Linking or thumbnails for pictures. I have considered this, but have decided against it. For me personally the photos are an important part of the site, and because I have no interest in viewing low res photos I can't see myself doing it. The new design is designed to reduce the load times though, so I am aware of it. I will add a 'high res' gallery very soon, these pics will be thumbnailed, and lead to 1-2mb higher res photos. Also doing thumbnails and links for photos is quite difficult and 'messy', another reason not to do it. Loading times. This is a tuff one. The loading times are very dependant on the viewers connection to the internet and speed of their PC. The new design is aimed to reduce that, as are some of the other tools I am using to 'carve things up'. I use broadband from home and work, so load times are not a concern to be. As above, I am not going to reduce the quality of the images to increase load times for other viewers, as ultimatley the site is for me, not for the public, although I do want to share... Another thing is that when I move the site back to work it will be hosted on a VERY fast connection, this may help a lot. The rockpool tank would be great. Although I don't have one I know of several, and am tempted to do one myself. I have done some research and am glad to talk about it if you want. Try calling me 021455946 or 049732713 evenings. I was talking about this to Caryl today, FREAKY! Gotta run, thanks for everyone having a look. Pies

My website has been updated with new navigation. I am still working hard at it and appreciate any and all feedback. www.aqua.net.nz/mark.html NOTE: I update the site weekly with journal entries and am working towards updating all the photos with higher res photos with my new camera! Pies

I have tranported fish several times with both Quantas and Air NZ, as both carry on and stored. No problems what-so-ever. As stowed freight, they have been cery helpful, and covered it with LIVE FISH, FRAGILE stickers etc. I have a preference to stow my fish rather than have them in carry on. Never had a loss. Good luck and don't worry about it

There is a good thread about NEMO on reefcentral.com - Covering all of these points (the thread is over a 1000 posts though). Also reefcentral has put a NEMO FAQ on the front of there page, for people surfing the net on how to setup an aquairum after seeing the film. Most clowns are wild caught. NZ get tank raised Percula clowns, everything else comes from the wild. In the USA a lot of clowns are farmed, but not true for the most the rest of the world (cheaper to get wild caught ones). The 'Morning Show' video can be found in the above thread. Its a real disgrace, also says that the blue tangs (regals tangs) are farmed, which is not true, the are wild caught from Hawai. All in all though NEMO is a great film, so don't get to negitive on it. It may do more good than bad...

What about drilling a small hole and using John Guest fittings. I love those John Guest fittings! Great Minds think alike!

Those weird snails that have the trunks I don't think are snails. I think they are conches. Is the shell is 'very' ;) similar to the green one my hermit crab is wearing in that photo? very similar? ;) Peety I wish you would invest in a camera or borrow one Would love to see some better pics and some closeups of your 'weird' life. You said a fish ate your coral? What type of fish??? ate what type of coral???? At least you have 2 tanks! From what I understand crayfish are monsters of the deep, they also get massive! Not sure if i'd bother... Hehehehe you really need to add things slowly. OR! If you insist on poluting your water all the time, get more water! Maybee you should look at a monster resivour. Like a 44gal plastic drum just cirulating water, wold help with tank params and poultant levels. I am also keen for this as resivours like this make LARGE water changes EASY PEASY. Photos! Keep on trucking Peety

I built a 700ltr fish tank, with corner overflows, and holes drilled into the bottom plane just recently. Although its gone 'ok' and I am quite proud of it. After all the mucking around, time etc it prolly worked out more expensive than having one made. If you are in Wellington I can put you in touch with a professional tank builder, and the person I am using to build my next tank. That being said if you HAVE to build it yourself, its quite easy, just messy and awkward! Pies

Yeah I agree with Peety to an extent, and with Reef, to an extent. Too many people are put off marines because of the cost, and this is not really the case. A reef tank has inverts, corals etc and more of a ballance than a traditional marine tank. Skimmer is a must, although there are moves away from skimming too (MUD systems). Lighting is NOT a must. Its a must for some corals. But not for fish. Not even for all inverts. If you want to keep many SPS/LPS corals, sure BIG MOTHER lights are a must, but some inverts and fish will be fine under fluros. Also there are overhang and cave tanks that use subdued lighting. Take it slowly, purchase good quality equipment, avoid the gimicks, pay more attention to your routine than the technology and you can do fine. You can upgrade you tanks lighting etc overtime as you learn and can afford it. Don't let the cost put you off, other than a skimmer there is little more to it than tropicals (for a basic tank anway). Me - Well I went down the full 'tech route', but I wanted corals from the start. YMMV. Pies

Peety you are by far my favorite kiwi reefer. I am very interest in the longlevity of the kuna. And sea urchens are bad for eating corline algae, but hey 1 in a tank can't hurt? I want one! On another note. I have added quite a few 'glass shrimp' from the local rock pools. Many have done just fine, most death caused by skimming One of my shrimps has lots of little brown eggs under it! Awesome to think they can be taken out of the cold water here and still be able to breed in my warm water reef! Also about the snails. Check my web site for an awesome pic of a snal eating algae just to see how good at it they are! Go PEETY! Pies