Pies

RnB - Agreed. The only reason this came up on this thread is because when costing equipment the LFS owners piped in with 'no imports, nz retail prices only', which I take exception too. Go the smart business people. Pie

Bingo.

Head pressure of 0. Pie

Thats terriable! You mean people have stoped supporting their local car dealers? *snigger* Pie

Reef is correct. I am using the POS Growtech Zeovit reactor. Works out great. Had to make a few mods to it, but all going well. Pie

Mine has that, hard to run it to a sink though as gravity only goes down. Pie

Pictures of the sump room after 2 coats: Note the 2x 250DE light fixture hanging from the ceiling. The shelf to the left will hold the skimmer and the ballast from the MH pendant. Everything else should make sense. Final plumbing will see the water from the tank going through the skimmer before hitting the 750 litre refugium then gravity into the sump (300 litre) then back into the main tank. Pie

Just done a plumbing run this week, going back in a few days for some 50mm taps, and tank inlets. 50mm OUCH! Sump tank move on the 21st... Got to get everything ready. Pie

Don't look very big? Do they do 40&50mm?

I agree with Chimera. And think mostly we are all like this with all things, not just our fish hobby. When you are looking for a cheap computer do you just go down and support 'dick smith'? Many do, some don't. Pack&Save vs. the corner dairy. Do we go to the corner starmart to buy our groceries? Nope, cheaper at pack&save. Whiteware, got a mate who works for Noel Leamings? Mates rates. Etc etc. I support my local per store (For me the Hutt Pet Center). But I rarely buy big ticket items from him, because I want to save the bucks. Those who know me know I am not the sort of person who would drive accross town to save a few dollars, but when their is hundreds of dollars on the line, better paying of my morgage than paying someone elses. LFS can be very helpful, and do serve a purpose. Although their are some rogues out their too. In the end I think its people like me (& Chimera in this case) that help get others into the hobby. I don't sell anything (the ocasional frag), and don't care if someone else goes to a pet store, just not something I do myself unless its the best deal, so insignificient its not worth worrying about or I am in a rush. Go the LFS. Pie

Mico Plumbing & Pipelines in Wakefield street Lower Hutt is the best place in Wellington. HOWEVER make sure you know what you want before you go down there, also if you don't know the correct name take a photo. They loose patience quickly with people saying 'ive got a roung thing with spinning thing on the end and I want to make it smaller by using an angle thingie'. Get the names and size right first. Chimera has a link to Hansen which has pics and part numbers. Or try Bunnings, less selection buy you can browse the parts, pick them up and put them together onsite. 25mm 'bulkhead' which they won't know what you mean, they will call them 'tank inlets' are about $12.00 ea. Pressure pipe is expensive, so don't muck up, it can be costly. Don't rush, think it all through, do it once do it right. Pie

Wherehouse has the 20L plastic ones for $16.95 and 25L for $19.95. Pie

3 kilowatts with the sump... Thanks, I hope that the Expel Air in the sump-room will be enough, if it works from steam from the shower, it must work on the fishtank, right? As for upstairs we have a Dehumidifier running 24/7 in our living area anyway. DVS, good idea. We have had them around to look at our house, but because its a little different (high ceiling for most of upstairs and 2 storied, its going to be difficult for them to do it. Still we are pondering the idea. Do you think the DVS was worth it for you? Sumproom has had 2 undercoats and is looking, AWESOME. Pie.

TIM - Visit www.reefcentral.com, follow their instructions. There stuff works, been deisnged and tested then retested for years. If you worried about efficiency, just make it bigger. Pie

Anthony - I think you have been around to my place before? Anyway, before you go ahead and build anything, pop over and check out mine. It will be a lot large than what you are planing, but all the plumbing is the same, will just be smaller diamater pipes. I can help you out with explaining and showing you the overflows into the sump, how the sump baffels work, water line, overflow combs, Dursos etc. It can seem daunting, but its easy as, just need to be patient. If I can get my clown spawn raised, and the timing right I will donate you a pair of clowns to get the ball rolling. * Regular water changes are good, however I doubt its sustainable to follow Controls advice and do small regualr water changes all the time. Initially you will, its all fun and new, but as time goes on, water changes will become a drag, then the times between them will increase. Setup your system for understanding that long term 15%+ monthly water changes will be nessessary, don't drop the skimmer (or whatever else) because you are going to do a water change every few days to counter the problems. Not saying it won't work, but I would bet against a system like it. Pieman

Robert Smith - Good question/s. As stated halogens are very inefficient lighting, not often used as there are many better options out there. In all honestly I have never used them, so only telling you what I have read, no experance myself. Kelvin/Colour spectrum - Negitive effects? Algae, poor/un-natural growth at a guess. Check something like the lighting articles on advancedaquairust online for more info on what the different spectrums provide for our tanks. All that aside, there is also the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' to throw in their too. Good luck! Pies

Thanks Steve, I was woundering how Jane found out... B U S T E D Well the room is now 'finished', in that painting will start tommorow. We started today with kickboards, scocia (sp?), skimer shelfs etc. But it took us so much longer than we planed. I hoped to start painting at about 12pm, didn't finished until about 5pm, not even close to painting! Tommorow is paint day! YAY! So the sump move will happen at some stage during May. It would be an undestatement to say I am pretty stoked with the way its worked out. 1 f$%k up today that could have been a show stopper, otherwise its gone far too smoothly. Suphew has had a good chance to use all his power tools and if he spends anymore time over here he may as well move in. Thanks for all your help. Pics tommorow. Pieman

Yeah, punk rock sex pistol Dave. Have I got the wrong guy? Pie

We have done this retail price thing to death on this forum, I suspect that if the shops knew what I looked like they would kick me out as soon as I walked in the door I propose this, just to keep the peace. How about we quote 'street price'. This should be a nice intermediate cost between NZ Retail and cheapest online price and second hand price. This will keep me at bay at least and may give the retailers some relief. I too want to support the LFS, but not at my own expense. Piezilla

Plumbing is expensive Any pics of these lifegaurd things, what they do and where to get them from. About to purchase some plumbing this week, but if someone has found something cheaper I would be very interested. Pie

I have seen Daves tank several times, it would be worth the visit just to see it, its MASSIVE, well established and looks awesome. Doesn't hurt that Dave is such a nice chap too. "God save the queen" Pies

Chimera - Its just because your anti-retail. Opps sorry, isn't Marinedepot a retail store? Still, think of all the hastle that you could have overted and all the extra value buying locally would have got you for your $600.00. Pie

Hey Bruce - I'm not anti retail, just rather see the money in my bank account than in yours. So don't think of me as anti-retail, more anti-being-ripped-off. I feel your sarcastic tone, so just to be clear, as I would hate for their to be a misunderstanding. Its not worth the hastle of importing heaters, the saving would not even pay for a pack of cigarettes. However if it was say a $300.00 dollar Ehiem filter or pump that I could have delivered to my door for less than $150.00 - what should I do, buy it from an LFS like yours, or go through the 'hastle' of sending an email and waiting for it to arrive...? Everyone is different, i'd send the email and save the $150.00, but clearly I am in a minority. Its my system to get twice as much of exactly the same thing for the same amount of money. Now I assume your being sarcastic again and not really retiring and that you havn't actually made a fortune from your business in the last 6 months, right? Thrifty Pie

Layton - I think its this one: http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_con ... sp?CartId= Has both chiller and heater functionalty, up to 2000 watts. 10/10 - Must have device. Pie

Fair call then, carry on