Pies

I am a 4 year vetran of NSW. And have used both NSW and ASW. I will continue to use NSW. Its cheap, easy and to be honest I enjoy the trips to the ocean I have had 1 issue with NSW causing some colour loss/bleeching over night. No losses and tank recovered in a few weeks. Hasn't put me off, and to be honest I am not 100% sure it was the water. Pie

Isn't Aquamedic made in Germany? There factory and head office is in Germany? Pie

20k + for me. Including tank & cabinet, sump room etc. Pieman

Hahahahahaha

Ashburton is the susicide capital of NZ. I was born and grew up in Christchurch. Lived in Richmond & Shirley. Rough as. My fathers 2 younger brothers are ex Devils Henchmen. My cousin is married to the leader of the National Front and has had 2 of his children. I remember Christchurch as a rough white city. But a different type of rough than say Stokes Vally here in Wellington or South Auckland. I get to Christchurch a few times a year. Would never consider returning. Pie

DiverJohn - Did you just buy yours 'off the rack' ? I'd be worried about it being il fitting. Any hints or tips? Pie

Kevan - In Santos we stayed in Bogunville. There are a few day trips (Millinum Cave, WW2 tours with Tim!, beach tours etc). We loved Satos, but Bruce is perhapps correct that maybee its not the best for the non-divers? We stayed at Hideaway island on 2 ocasions. Great spot, perhapps some of the best snorkeling that closed (1m) to the resort! Great for kids, great for adults, easy place to be, lots of diving around the resort, fairly cheap diving. AWESOME fun. 10/10. Also Tranquility that Bruce mentioned can be good, they have good dive sites - Hammer Head Sharks, Dugongs, Schooling Lionfish, Manta, whales, Lava Tubes etc. But the last time we went the instructors were a bit off. Also some of the good dives are for advanced and very experanced 200+ dives so you may not get to dive the sites you want depending on the crowd. Saliaway cruise diving is also a good day. 2 awesome dives + a whole day on a sail boat. Great stuff. Go Vanuatu, I loved it and can't wait to return. Pie

Hahahahahaha 7mm should be stock anywhere in NZ. He is in Christchurch, i'd be looking at 7mm x2 I would love a drysuit, shame they are so much money, other things always take preference. Pie

Splash Gordon here in Wellington 2 for $399.00 for a course. $500 is top dollar for sure. Do not buy your gear before you have dived. And even then, i'd wait until you have a good dozen or 2 dives under you belt. Lots of people I know dive a few times after there course then stop, which is a shame, but if its not for you then its a waste of money buying all that gear. The internet is your friend. There are mail order places in the USA who will freight to NZ. Often you can get stuff landed here for 1/5 the NZ retail price. This is especially true of computers. Remember a USA compass will point in the wrong direction, so get you compuss here in NZ. Diving is awesome, but its dangerous and can be expensive. Buy good quality gear and remember it needs maintenance. Every year you need to service your regs and BCD. Wetsuits wear, masks break etc. Good luck with it. Pie

Kevan. I agree with everything Cookie said, some great advice. Vanuatu - Its more expensive than Fiji, but i've been there 3 times and can't wait to go back. It has the advantage of some very cool ww2 history, some of the best snorkeling i've done in the south pacific, The President Coolidge is perhapps the 'best' single wreck dive on the planet and is the crowning jewl in my own dive adventures. Fiji - The Great Astralab Reef of Kadavu is stunning. Fiji coral coast is OK if you've not been in the wild reefs before, but if you have you will be dissapointed. We are going to do Tonga Q2 next year. We hope to dive with migratory humpback whales as well as the usual reef diving. I will get to Palau next year to dive Truck Lagoon and some of the other wrecks. I hope to do my re-breather course at some stage and buy my own re-breather before we go, but that will depend on how our spending goes. Good luck. Pie

hahahaha. You do a bit of slinging and bating youself. Piezola

Jimmy - I have, its been posted on this site somewhere. Pie

Cool! Flatworms and Nudi are basically the same thing. I have one that looks like a black car with red and orange flames on it. Truely bizzare. Pie

You agree with me that its algae but you think its cyno? Man thats crazy talk. Pie

A zillion dollars to the looser? Pics of these green sponges, let us judge for you Pie

RO will stop diatoms. Pie

Copepods if they look like slaters or big fleas. As for the Nudi, Nudi are cool. I'd happly sacrfice a few zoo's for some cool Nudi. Just don't tell MAF, they might come and confiscate them all (infact, you could call MAF they may remove them for free!). Pie

Theory vs reality. Isn't it theoretical impossible for a bumble bee to fly (was when I was at school). Faster than light travel is impossible, until someone does it. I could go on. Its results that prove a theory, the rest is just conjecture. All this pissing contest about whos qualifications are better is a joke. I have a degree in computer science, and I am telling you that computers are powered by frogs on plastic treadmil. Anyone with a lesser qualification who disagrees is wrong? Ohhh and if you go looking for them and can't find them, its not that they are not there, its just you don't know where to look, but if you had my level of qualification and education you would. You talk like you are always right, but you are often wrong, the fact that you don't admit it doesn't mean we don't see it. Like a child, if I can't see it, it can't see me. Proof? You made the statement "SPS and DSB are mutually exclusive" in that you can't have both, which is of course, complete nonsence. I especially agree with the second part of the sentence. Pie

I am using approx 1kg of Aquamedic, which I used to repaced 500ml of Salifert about 6 months ago. I don't think I need the resin, but it can't hurt. I change it every 9ish months, never because i've felt the need to, just because it 'felt' right. I also went through a 3 month period of not using it, didn't notice any difference, so maybee it makes none? I use a DSB which is a pretty effective way to control phosphate, so I could probably not bother, but I figure less phosphate the more is the key. Pie

Fay - Yes. Although its interesting, I don't get diatoms on my sand. Pie

Its green. Its got air bubbles in it. It grows in the light. I'd bet a zillion dollars on it being algae. Pie

Hrmmm. Interesting point. But then why do you post pics of bombers tank to prove your points? Surely the same logic applies. It would be nice to see some pics of your setup. You come accross as having a very strong opnion on everything, if you agree with it fine, if you don't you argue it indefinatly and often pointlessly. It would be cool to say 'hey, I apply my theorys and this is the result', as does 'wasp' and I guess as do 'i'. Regardless, it would just be cool to see some pics, for good or bad. Personally I work in an industry thats driven by results, someone wants to convince me of something I say 'show me', telling me you know what your doing and actually knowing it are different. Again I am sure other peoples life experances are similar. You seem to spend a lot of time on this site trying to 'prove' your right, or asking people to 'prove' to you they are right. Typically followed by pages of links of 'proof'. So you must have something to prove, you certainly come accross like you do. Now any change Layton and Wasp can 1. Make peace or 2. continue in private. The two of you are distroying what few worthwhile threads are in this section, and its getting tiresome. Wasp - Give up and ignore Layton, he doen't want to hear what anyone has to say and HAS to have the last word, let him and move on. You can talk to me if you want, I love Zeovit! Layton - Give up and ignore Wasp, he doesn't want to hear or belive what you say, move on. Talk to me, as a fellow Christchurchtonion, I love trams and casinos! Pies - Give up, its pointless. PieMania

Without sounding too silly, its algae. Cause = high nutrients, DOC & probably phosphates. Is you tank less than 6 months setup? If so, then write it off to cycle, and skim your heart out. Pie

I think its reasonable to expect to have problems (TN) when the environment changes. A sudden change (for better or for worse) can cause problems, be in PH, ALK, temprature, CA, MG, Nutrients (e.g. from large water changes), dosing etc. One thing not discussed (by wasp or layton) is exposure time. I belive that in the wild, there are changes in nutrient levels and temprature as a common occurance (e.g. after a storm, change in season etc). But we know the corals (mostly) survive. However in the wild, things quickly return to the 'stable normal levels'. Nutrients peak then return to normal, probably within a few days. In our tanks, nutrients are altered, but remain in this state. I believe this is where many problems occur and when a comparison to nature often doesn't fit well. e.g. water in a shallow area in low tide may reach 33degrees and corals survive, a few hours later the cooler water returns (high tide) problem sorted. In our tanks the temprature may rise to over 30 degrees but typically stays high, the same with other environment changes. Just my thoughts. Pie

There is no doubt that they can sustain short durations of warmth. But when the water comes in (at 15 degrees in the Mt in summer) the pool is flushed. This happens 2 times a day (typically). I know dozens of people who have managed to keep things going for a few months without too much issue. But most people will want to measure their success over longer periods. Remember the cold water is something these animals have been exposed too for thousands (millions?) of years, its what they are used too and what they need to survive. Pieman