Pies

I too have been down the lighting trail. The most important thing to remeber is the Kelvin rating. 6500K is about right, but then it doesn't hurt to mix and match them around. I use the Sylvania GRO LUX (4ft $25.00), and the Phillips 'cool white' 4500K and the 1800K AQUA GROW (4ft $30.00). This gives me excellent plant growth and good economy as well as a nice 'daylight' effect, with the light being 'white' NOT green, yellow or pink. Remeber that these tubes loose most of there power after 6-9 months and are noticably less bright after about 6 weeks. So replace the often. I have 5 tubes on my 4ft tank and replace one of them every 2-3 months. I good place to get reasonable priced equipment is The Switched On Gradner at www.sog.co.nz. It is a hydroponic gardening (growing those 5 leaved plants) outfit with excellent prices on lights, pumps & timers etc. Also a good option if you want to drop your fluros and go down the Metal Halide route. On this note, anyone out there using the Metal Halide lights for freshwater? If so drop me a line, would love to pick your brain. Pies

Good ole fashion NET technology is what you need. I saw Lion Fish in pet stores in Singapore & Malay, they were 45 ringet ea ($22 NZD). Anyway we are WAY of topic? Come and talk to me you Marine Fish Keepers (or people wanting to setup a 'natural marine reef'). I am working at Parliament at the moment and its a bummer cause I can't get out of the office to get things done & I want to get my glass cut before the weekend. Pies

I hope to dive Poor Knights next year (March). Not sure if there are Lion Fish there though... & its a Marine Reserve :< Otherwise I would be stocking my tank!

The RIO pump, is just a pump, not a filter. A canister filter is driven by a pump though, typically somewhere upto 1000ltrs an hr, the bigest RIO pump is 4200 liters an hr, this is a LOT of pump power. I need the huge volume pump to return water from my sump back to the tank (a sump is just another tank used to house all your equipment, so there is nothing in the tank). A canister filter is suitable for freshwater tanks, or fish-only marine tanks, but not in reef tanks/invert tanks. My experance with freshwater fish is that a canister filter would be a 'must have' on a 4 ft tank. My 4ft tank has 2 1500ltr an hr canister filters installed. LION FISH - Truely awesome! I saw 3 of them on a wreck i was diving in Malysia this year. A real highlight of my trip. As for them in NZ, I have been told that there are none & that they are unable to be imported because of the toxins. I can-not confirm this but the person who told me was fairly knowledgeable on the subject. There is not one at the Napier aquairum but maybee at kelly taltons? (sp?)

Yes I will certainly pass your suggestion along to him. I get the last of my plumbing fixtures next week from Mico (in Lower Hutt). The people there were really helpful (which is more than I could say for others), and have found exactly what I need and are even offering some advice on how to best connect it all up! So I will get the glass cut for my tank during next week. I have also found a very useful place for all fishkeepers. www.sog.co.nz is a comercial hydroponic gardening shop with EXCELLENT online shop. They also sell RIO and VIAAQUA water pumps. Americans use the RIOs a lot (they don't seem to use or have access to EHIEM) and seem to think they are one of the best pumps on the market. So I am buying one of the 4200ltr an hr jobbies for my return/sump pump and a smaller one for my Refugim. I may also use these pumps insted of 'propper' power heads in the tank. Check them out, AWESOME prices on lighting fixtures, Metal Halide lights etc. Pies

Hi thanks! I will contact the Mt Eden store on Monday and 'order' some. Am in Wellington which is a bit fo a pain, but hopefull I can work something out. As for the 'cold' tank. It will be heated from day one. I am aware of the nitrogen cycle and know that it will take 4-6 weeks before I can think about adding livestock. Hance the reason I am so keen to get started. I have found some base rock, and coral sand. But some live rock & some 'oolite' would be good. Do you know if you can get different types/grades of ands in NZ? I am setting up the tank hopefuly next week, but possibley the week after depending on time constraints and work. I would love to see some sumo designs and PICs of peoples tanks and setups if there are some around. I have talked Alios who runs www.aquanet.co.nz and he has been fantastic. Any other advice? I am very interested in learning about how I can get some worms,crabs etc for my sand bed & Refugum. Also if anyone else has tried the deep sand bed plenum technique in a dedicated refrigum (this is what I am going to set-up). Thanks for the response!

The owner of that tank is a guy not a girl. But he is invloved in a marine club in Auckland, which he told me has 60 members! Maybee i'll be 61! He has been VERY friendly and helpful with my new venture and is helping me out as much as someone in another city can. I just hope I can get my tank looking half as heathy as his...

No I am not a member of the one of the clubs here but I will join soon. Just not sure what one. My partner Jane is a member of the Kapati club and holds an official role in the FZNAS (not sure what but she goes to meeting every 3 months). I see the the latest news letter an article about a woman settings up a marine tank. Was good to see others getting into it. The more people who do it, the cheaper and easier it gets. I have contacted all 3 clubs and no-one here has saltwater tanks. I have been to the plumbers and got my fittings! So next stop is to ring my glass guy and get it all cut. Then I am off like a rocket!

Thanks! I have been in contact with the owner of that reef tank and he has been awesome! Full of advice and encouragement! I am meeting with a hortocultural/hydroponic supplier tommorow night and can confirm my plumbing. I will start a www site and post pics of progress for any interested. I hope to get the glass cut this week. Assemble the tank soon after. Then I will build a stand (quick and dirty 4x2 style!) and get it plumbed. As soon as its plumbed, coral sand, phlenum, and saltwater to follow. That its all on! Thanks to EVERYONE who has offered advice, help or just said hi! Keep speaking to me though! :> Its interesting that no-one here so far is a reef keeper though... Surley there are some out there?

Thanks for the advice bruce! I will go down their tommorow and nab me some! If you are a salt water fish keeper share some wisdom with me. And you are right about the prices too. Equipment is more expensive, but stock is comparable.

I am going to try and drive up to plumbing world tommorow and say 'oi'! I had a look in the toilet and see exactly what you mean. I'll let you know and set up some pics when I get started (next week I hope). I had a call from a fish guy who seems to think its easier that what i think. Still spening the money is unavoidable though! owwwww soooo excited! He also answered my sand bed/rock question. Its not what i wanted to hear but it was good news. So what I am really hoping is that some friendly fish tank owners will 'give/swap/sell/lend' me some inverts/sand from their own established tanks and into mine. It will takes months to sort (it won't happen over night, but it will happen) but eventually i will at least have life in my sandbed and on my rocks.

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/bulkhead.html has a diagram of a 'bulkhead'. possilby called a 'flange' here in NZ... I will know this week. Ira - You are right about the tank, and the expense is off-putting. Its the lighting that is the most expensive part though, you can DIY the rest (kinda, and use some recycled freshwater stuff). But they look outstanding. I am still going to do it, but I think without the 'micro inverts' it will be tuff to get the seaded sand bed. I also wounder about crabs etc. And your right, it would be easy in the USA. Even in Australia it would be easier. Can't say I haven't thought about moving, dive the barrier reef and collect my own live sand! I hope to order my tank, sump and refrigum this week. And have it plumbed with saltwater in it early January. This it will take at least 6 weeks to cycle. And before I stock the tank I am stocking and 'experimenting' with some local crabs/starfish/shrimps etc in the Refrigum first.

I rung about 3 plumbing stores / DIY places today and they didn't know what I was on about when I started talking about 'bulk heads'. And when I tried to explain it got worse! I'll get down to one this week, just a pain cause I can't get away from work right now. I did a search for "marine suppliers NZ" and others like it in the past however all I get is boat/fish/dive etc... I am starting to wounder if there are more than just 2 or 3 people keeping a reef Aquirum in NZ. I was hoping that I would be able to (eventually) swap corals etc. But I am going to persevere! Still if anyone out there knows about my 'micro inverts' problems don't be shy! Any info at all is appreciated. Live rock! Live sand! Someone?

Yeah none of my local shops here in Wellington carry Marine fish or inverts anyway so I may need some help from someone out there! Not being able to get these micro inverts is a real problem. I am woundering if I can really have a successful aquirum without the live sand bed technology. Come on! There must be some reef keepers out there somwhere with words of wisdom! :> I am also looking to plumb my tank and am looking for what Americans call a 'PVC' bulkhead fitting. Anyone know where to get these in NZ? I need to plumb PVC into my tank (overflow box). CHEERS!

Hi everyone! My names Mark and I am an experanced freshwater tropical fishkeeper. I have decided to make the plunge into saltwater tropical (reef) fishkeeping. I have so many questions, and i will leave my email at the bottom for anyone who wants to help me out! I will also post progress etc here, please share your ideas with me. 1st my tank will be 4ftx2.5ftx2ft. Average size, a little deeper than average. I have every intention of building a larger tank for the saltwater fish, but because of the costs of skimmers and lights I am going to start small... I am going to use Metal Halide lights (1000k, HQI 150 watt) x2, and 2 VHO fluro or Power Compaqs, depending on price. Unless you can suggest better. Places to get this stuff from in NZ etc would be a great use. I have rung every electrical place in Wellington! But I now know I can get the Halides, and am about to start my search for Power Compacts. I am going to setup a sump, with skimmer, heater, micron filter bag etc. I am also going to setup a 2nd tank as a refrigum. And I am going to install a Plenum in the refrigum. Can I get 'capualla' in NZ? The biggest questions I have at this stage is one of 'micro inverts'. EVERYTHING I read talks about 'live sand', 'live rock' and 'micro inverts'. But I understand that I cannot get Live Rock, Live Sand or Micro Inverts here... What can I do? Is the white dead rock OK? Will it eventually become 'Live Rock'? The same answer will apply for live sand I assume? Can I get these micro inverts? Worms, crabs etc living in my sand bed. I want the Refrigum to supply my tank with Photo plankton etc. I think the micro inverts are KEY to success in my planed tank. Can I get them? If so where? What are others using? I want to avoid using mechinacal canister filters and do everything with 'biology'. Can any of what I am intending to do be done in NZ? I am ready to start. I know its going to cost big $ (currently I estimate somewhere between $5k-$6k not including stock). I am prepared for this. I guess I would love to hear from other saltwater fish keepers in NZ. I would love some advice. And i would love to know that I can indeed get these microinverts into my sandbed and start a successful tank in NZ. Can you help? If so let me know! Thanks! Mark [email protected] PS: Any www sites about NZ tropical saltwater fishkeeping?