Pies

Then put them in the T&E section. I have over 20 corals for sale/trade, maybee we can do a deal. pie

If you have got coral for sale or trade, put it in th trade and exchange section, not that hard. If you put up a sticky whos going to maintain it? Whos going to read it? Briananemone why not put a list of corals you have for sale trade in the T&E section now, maybee others will add to the post. Pie

I feel no reason to justify to you why I said it, but if I must I would say "based on my experance with the product I wouldn't use it in the tank described". I never said it would be a waste of time, not do I belive it would be a waste of time, what I said was 'if it was me I would't use it'. I don't appreciate you twisting what I have said, especially when you get it wrong. You started the conversation by stating it would't be worth it, not me. I don't use Zeovit because its too expensive for me, even if it made my corals glow at night and grow 10x faster I still couldn't afford to use it, would it be worth it? Proably, would I use it? Nope. As for being pedantic, maybee I am. The pedantic point I am trying to pedanticly put accross is that you are offering advice based on no actual experance, which I find annoying, I recieved a lot of this advice when I started out, its worthless. I read exactly what you write and I am starting to wounder if you actually know what sarcastic means, www.dictionary.com will help you out. (note, this is a good example of sarcasim, with a hint of smart-arse thrown in) Chimera - your quick to jump in and offer advice, which is great, but I would urge you to think before you post. Respectfully Piedantic

Where is this 'scarcasim' ? I missed it, and after taking another look I don't see it. Unless your remark about it making no difference is sarastic, which means you think it would make a difference, which is on contridiction to what you just said. Zeovit will help with obtaining good water paramaters, this will be benficial to any tank inhabitants. Not sure why your on about it becomming a 'must have'. I suspect less than 5% of NZ reef keepers use it or have used it. Where is this marketing 'crap'? There are plenty of softie tanks around that don't use zeovit? Really, wow good point! (thats sarcasim in case you missed it). What does an LPS tank have to do with a softie tank? There is no way for you to know if the benifit is worth the extra money or not, its not up to you to decide what is significient or 'worth it', how do you measure such things? If it wa $5 a month would it be worth it? What about $2.50? What if it was free? The tank will most likley benifit from the use of zeovit, worth it is up to the owner of the tank. Why spend money on a protein skimmer? I can show you dozens of tanks running without them. Why spend the money on Metal Halides, I can show you doezens of tanks running on T5s. It should be pointed out again, in defense of the original question that started this thread: Chimera does't use nor has he ever used Zeovit. To answer the question directly. If it was me, I wouldn't be using Zeovit on the tank as you described it. Pie

Chimera - Have a look at the posts. Brendan wan't pushing it, just pointing out that your offering advice on a product that you never used and have no experance with. How can you say it will be a waste, overly harsh and un-nessessary and probably inaccurate. Zeovit claims there product will improve all corals including softies. If you want to argue the zeovit product doesn't work the way they say it, join Laytons 27 pages of complete noncence. The soft corals in my tank look great and a growing rapidly. Soft corals come from the same water as hard corals, thus I draw the conclusion they require the same water paramaters. Nutrients shouldn't be confused with food when describing what corals eat. Pie

Been failry busy with the tank. 200 litre water change today. Also moved a few corals, glued a stream into place (slightly lower and different angle than it was in its temporary spot). Gave the glass the razor-blade clean treatment. Wiped down the reflectors and cover glass. Plans? Well leave the tank alone is my biggest goal at the moment. Hope to get the collar for the top of the tank done next month. Other than that very little. I am still considering adding another 3 400 watters under the hood, but run them for only a few hours a day (2 years from the bulbs?) to simulate high noon and provide some white light into the tank for the corals. So far its just a thought. Pics. Here is a cute little blue legged hermit crab hiding in some clover coral: One of the many corals that didn't do well in 'status' while downstairs. I hope I can get it to grow back to its formar glory: Some corals are just looking great: Never noticed before but it looks like my zoo's have a hint of pink: My biggest news is that my clownfish are definatly a pair. I was talking to SteveA about the fact that my clownfish have never spawned into the tank, looked in and saw this: I have no plans to try and rare any of the young but it sure is neat to see. Pie

Briananemone - Thanks for the info, had a look around, they 'may' be them but I really don't think so. None of the photos i've seen look anything like the ones I have, still could be, its so hard to tell. Pie

JoeBlog - 90x is a lot of turnover. How did you achieve so much? You must need over 50,000 litres an our of water flow. Not saying you don't, just seems like a lot, i'd be curious to know what you did to get it so high as I would like a little more myself. Cheers Piemania

? The one in the photo 3 posts up, the one you said to check out. Pie

My tank is powered by 3x 6100 Streams, 3x Ehiem 1262x, 1x IWAKI 100 (x2 sea swirls). I have dead spots. Who said they had 90x turnover? Sounds dubious. Pie

Can we see a pic of the Trach from a few months ago? Pies

Mitch, whats with the caps? Anemones walk, there is little you can do about it. Let it find its own spot. Stripping the tank to move it probably isn't the best move, think of the stress and biological un-ballance you may have caused. Read up on your livestock purchases before adding them to your tank, you then would know that it walking about the tank is normal. As for feeding it, I think thats an un-truth and whoever told you thing is wrong. I've had my BTA for over 12 months, NEVER been fed! Its about doubble the size as when I brought it. I have never read another about anemones requiring this volume of feeding. Also mussles are very bad for nitrates and phosphates. The fish/coral/anemones love them but they are probably the worst food to feed the tank for the above reasons. You can also over feed anemones, and their digestive system can't cope, rancid food can settle in their stomach causeing bloating and gas pockets which may kill the anemones, so don't over feed. Many belive that feeding meating foods to an anemone will increase its 'desire' for this type of food, making them much more likley to eat fish in the tank. Not sure if its true for the BTA but certainly some truth with H.Magnifica and some of the LTAs. Pie

Have tried just about everything, come visit my garage of spare parts if you want to see the range. Everyones opnions will vary, here is mine. Ehiem make the best filters, they go forever, rarely break and don't loose power of time. Ehiem have a great and well deserved reputation. They are also very expenive NZ retail, think of these as the Mercedes of filters. Fluval are very good, and I think probably the best fit for reliability and dollar. My next filter will either be another fluval or an Ehiem if I can get a sharp deal. Think of these as the Holden/Ford/Toyota of filters. Jebo, Resun. Aqua One et al. Cheap, often 1/4 of the price or cheaper than the ehiems. There is a reason for this, they are not of the same standard IMO. Now there are some users who have had some success with them, however on average you are more likley to have problems with these low-end filters. Ultimatly you end up like me, owning the Ehimes/Fluval and have dozens of 'bargin quality' equipment sitting around. Think of these as the Dihatsu cars, cheap and good when new and shiny, very short life span. So do you buy something cheap now knowing its not going to last or buy something that will see you right for 5+ years but cost more? YMMV. Pie

I run filter wool off and on. It does get very dirty very quickly (overnight) and needs replacing. I can't say I have ever noticed it making a difference but I see so much gunk collecting in it I can't help but think its helping. I have a tray over one of my overflows and can just add/remove at will, takes seconds so its not a big task. Pie

Looking really nice. Interesting about the bulbs. Have your tried 10k? Be interested to see how they look side by side. Pie

There is a news flash. *said with heavy sarcastic tone* The pain from some fire coral stings can be so bad that before they knew that vinigar can help nutralise it there were cases of people taking aputation over leaving the pain, which can last for months. Pie

Why power a heater? Ultimatly you won't get much life from the skimmer with the heater running. Would you rather run the return pump for 4 hours without a heater or 1hr with the heater (no science behind my numbers just trying to make a point). The tank will survive for hours/days without the heater, it may not fare so well without the return pump. Pie

Wouldn't bother about the skimmer, the only thing that really matters is the return pump. Also perhapps look at investing in an UBER load alarm that detects when the power is off (inline before the UPS) so when the power cuts its SQUEELS LIKE A PIG. The only thing that can cause a flood problem for me is return pump failure, nothing else is important. I thought you had anti syphon holes for your sea swirl to stop the reverse syphon? Do you have an RCD? If so give some thought to how the RCD will effect the UPS. Esentially the UPS makes the RCD redundant. Pie

The final part of the puzzle arrived today! My nice new IWAKI 100 arrived at work, had one of the sparkys attach the lead, its all ready to go! So tonight will be attach the new pump and see some action from those sea swirls!!! W00t! Thanks very much to JetSkiSteve who not only lent me the pump I have been using but also organised and freighted me the new Iwaki 100. Thanks Steve I appreciate your help. Pie

We probably all use the same silicone, fosroc RTV. Same stuff all the tank makers use. Gut the tank, position the holes correctly, make the plumbing senseable. At the moment you are trying to retro fit some stuff which requires some pretty big comprimises. Pieman

Yes I have, 4 times. I even glued in one of my overflows when the tank was full. No drama, no big sticky mess, no special silicone, thats how its made. Not sure why you think it won't cure or will be so difficult as its not. Imagine your tank cracks, even if it cracks above the waterline, then what? ? So its twice as grunty but provides the same flow. Do the math of the power saving verses the cost of changing pumps to end up with the same flow. Whats the upside? Do as you please but its not hard to question drilling a full tank. If I said to you 'hey James I am going to half empty my tank to drill a few holes' would your advice be 'sweet man good luck' or would it be 'your mad!'. Just trying to be objectionable, i would hate to read that you lost most of your stock because of a flash flood. Pieman

It most certainly will, infact it will cure much faster under water. Chimera: Why risk drilling your tank and implimenting that nightmare of pipes to get the same flow you had prior with the 2 Iwaki 30s? Why not just leave it and keep the 2 Iwaki 30s? I don't see the 'up' to the change, other than the change itself. Finding a glazer who will drill a pre-made tank thats all ready full of water may be a challenge. What do you do if it cracks or breaks? Pie

Sounds like a great idea, what could possible go wrong. *end sarcasim* Personally I think the risk is too high. Imagine the tank cracks, unlikley but possilbe. Then what? Gut out the tank, do it properly. If you do it half assed (small holes when large ones are needed), up and over plumbing etc you will always be unhappy with it. Do it once do it properly is my motto. But in this case do it properly. It really does sound like the problem is the Dolphin pump though, it just doesn't fit your current setup. What about this. Since you are stuck with the dolphin why not use it as your return pump, easy to plumb bigger pipes for this. Then use the IWAKI as the closed loop pump with the existing hole sizes? Pie

Sounds like you have no worries then. You have changed 2 pumps for 1 pump to achive the same thing as you had with the 2 pumps but now it costs less to run. Its a win all around? Pie