Pies

14hrs for my planted tank. Pie

6-8 foot tanks are likley to have between 4-6, not 2. 2 on a 2-4 footer. Chimera has 3 on his 5 footer, Reef 4 on his 8 footer, me with 5 on my 7 footer Center braces are nessessary, even in 12mm glass, the glass bows. Take the hit and use glass if you must, I opted for my SS system, couldn't be happier. Pie

Hahahaha yeah. We have closed our Christchurch office for the day and sent everyone home! Meanwhile its lunch time here, so I am going for a walk along the waterfront since its so nice and sunny and warm Pie

Same as my pics above, boats, fishers, divers and lots of surfers. Its all good Pie

Off to a good start. Be looking out for: * test kits * refractometer * electronic heater controler * good maganet cleaner * live rock Otherwise looks good! I would consider a bigger return pump than that, but I like to get the water moving through the sump. Pie

Bubbles are a hastle. 1 they look shite, 2 they pop at the surface and cause salt spray. I've been fighting mine for over 6 months now. I use defusers on the plumbing, and baffles in the sump. The baffles are low, 1cm gap. I've also setup a 3 foot long live rock sponge filter (thats natural sponge without light, not mechnical filter wool or anything else). Am going to be interested to see how that goes. Pie

Ummmm you guys must hate me. I am guilty of mass genoside, epic scale death and distruction. Pizilla

Placemakers sell those energy saving bulbs in 6500K for 4.88ea 100watt. Bargin and just what your looking for I would think Pie

Its the RC DIY model. Its a venturi. There are guys using variants on this skimmer running 500 gallon tanks. biggest downside, its venturi. Still if you have the skills, it would be well worth the effort. Reef had a massive (person size) venturi skimmer made, they guy from this site (Desh) did a perfect job. Looked to be a great skimmer, but venturi has some issues, the big one being you need grunty pumps to drive the venturi. So power consumption and noise are up, as is cost as large pressure rated pumps are expensive. I think Reefs was run by an Iwaki 100, which is 1/3 a HP just to make bubbles... Pie

Heya PetPlanet My tank is between 2 large windows. It gets drecnhed in sunlight (from the sides/front not the top) during sunlight hours. I can't say it makes any noticeable difference for the good or bad of the tank. So I wouldn't worry about it. It would be cool to supliment the tank with natural sunlight, but not sure quite how you would do it, but I would if I could. Good luck with the new project. Pie

Spectacular! Man I wish I could have a big long tank like that Fay! Also the cube looks good, great in-fact. 10/10. Pie

IRA - Its an Alvoapora. LPS, not fragable (not really). I suspect its dieing. Had it for about 4 months now, but I don't think its going to be there in 4 months. Related to Goniopora. Difficult to keep coral, some have success with it, but from what I can find, mostly if feeding phyto every day or more. Photoshop, its actually a covered in cyno timebomb Yeah good spot, only about 10mins from home. Some say NSW is risky, bah. We are doing OK without one Infact I often think it does more good, no impluse buys! One thing Christchurch does have going for it over Wellington - its further away from Auckland Thanks everyone. Pie

Craig is Suphew from this board. He lives a few minutes around the road. We often collect our water and do our changes at the same time. Much easier with 2, and good for when one (normally me) isn't that motivated to do it. Wellington, why would you want to live anywhere else Pie

A few pics for those that may be interested: Things are growing and taking shape: Same thing from a different angle: Endless supply of clownfish eggs: Long ways down the tank: Long ways down the tank angle 2: Mega purple acro is getting big, hard to take photos because of its position: Collection point for water in Tetahi Bay, AWESOME: Here is craig loading up the back of my wagon: Just love it when the weather is good and the water looks this nice: Otherwise its all business as usual in the tank, moving along nicely. Pie

Wasp - That looks great! Pie

To remove phosphates. Excuse me? Whats wrong with my rocks? Pie

2-6inchs at a guess. Depending on the way the closed loops are working, the sand shifs a 'little'. Its not flat, kinda iregular. I am tempted to add another 25kg bag to the display. In the refugium (740 litre 5 footer) there is a 6-8 inch sand bed, growing algae and all mannor of calurpa and macro algaes etc. Pie

That is correct. I do nothing to mine, it just sits there and looks pretty Now I don't want people getting on my case about 'dirty tanks' 'DSB are evil' 'bomber says you tank is doomed' 'sps don't benifit from DSBs' etc. I'm not saying its how you should do it, i'm just saying it how I do it, and I am happy to do a coral comparison with anyone who disagrees. Reef - Completely agree about the xenia statement. I've seen Xenia on the reefs. Deep, shallow, high and low light. 1 thing for sure, it lives in the same places as all the SPS corals on the reef, so it stands to reason it wants the same conditions. I also agree with the smell of dead xeina, yuk! Pie

Sandbed? Pie

Awesome. Pies

Briananemone - Go into a plastic fabricator. there will be dozens around, people who work with plastic to make signs, stationary holders etc. Go in with your measurements, and they will cut it to size, be surprised if it costs $10.00 if the can find it in an off-cut. One of the places down here had shelfs and shelfs of offcuts, I think I did them a favor by taking some away My overflow cost $15, the plastic (blue), cut to size, cut in half, bent and 90 degrees, with 3 extra bent strips and they even threw in some glue in case I needed to glue some together. Awesome. Laser cutting cost an extra $60 I think, but had to be done at a different place. worth it I feel, as it just looks tidy compared to DIY (which I have on my other tank Pie

Over my head like an aeroplane. Pie

You mean Calcium?

Ummmm so where does the carbon come from? Should I add some? Pie

Some of the professional clown breeders use the normal mixtures including cyclopsezze and frozen/live brine. I've also read many people feeding high contents of Squid as its good to help fish grow and a low polutant so can be fed heavly. I tried not feed my tank for the 3 week period between clown spawnings. My clowns spawn 4 days after the eggs have hatched regardless of the food in the tank. good luck can wait to see how it goes. Pie