Pies

I will be running 640 watts of light on the refugium for the reverse of the upstairs period, so call it 12 hrs, give or take an hr.

10 will be fine, 12 would be ideal. Its the width vs. the height thats imported, not the length. If you can find 12mm cheap use it, but I think you should be able to sleep easy with 10mm. Something the calculators don't take into account is the fact that they are calculated on the tank being fill to the very top, so if you know (in my case 5cm) how high the water line will be, calculate it at that, this will increase the safter factor and help you sleep easy. A thicker base would be a good idea (12mm will be fine). Pies

Well a big weekend, but some good progress on the tank as well as other things around the house. The overflow box is finished and glued. It looks GREAT and fits perfectly. This is a big 'hastle' out of the way, and I can't wait to see it with water in there. It looks so discreet its hard to pick it out from the back glass. Here is a picture of the finalised closed loop pump (number 2) and the 40mm tap for the return plumbing. The closed loops should work out great as they are so unobtrusive and up out of the way. I have used a dremal to shorten all the tank valves as short as is practical. This helps get the pumps up as high and out of the way as possible. Another photo showing how little space the closed loops consume. I am very happy with the way in which this has worked out. Pies

Skuzza - sounds like a good reason to not use it

None - NSW. (Kalkwasser in my freshwater, Aquamedic CA reactor media). Pie

As I suspected from the beginning, I think there is a 99% chance this coral is dead. Notice how the body is bloated but the tenticles are very short. This is 'typical' behavior as described by Eric Bourneman of the condition that is effecting these corals. As I have already stated, moving it to another tank will not do anything other than polute someone elses tank. Cross you fingers, but as soon as the skelleton is visitble through the flesh (as the infection rots it off), pull it from the tank, as it will make a mess and cause some water condition issues (partuculary in a small tank). Sorry to paint such a negitive picture of the situation. Pie

Chimera - If you really want to see some impressive corraline growth... Yes thats right, thats what the front of my reef looks like at the moment. And you think your glass needs cleaning? Sheesh I am the king of neglected glass cleaning. Pies

Here is a look at the DURSO. 50mm back to the 40mm return plumbing. Pretty big, good thing my overflow box is made to measure Here is a picture of the in construction overflow box. Marine blue PVC (matches the paintwork), laser cut, precision folded. Its a 2 piece system, with a break at 500mm up. This allows me to access the inside of the overflow box, a task only needed to be performed very rarely, but still usefull. It will also mean the for a while, if I want, I can run the tank with the overflow and have the tank only 2/3 fill. I may do this for a while when setting up the rock work, to save all the mess of the tank being full. Overall I am EXTREMLY happy with the design and the final product. A big thanks to Kingi and the guys at DayGlo Plastics, for helping so much, and being so generous and friendly. The 2 glass structs are there to help the top sit'n'clip into the bottom half and form the seal. Also as PVC does't glue very well to glass, it will provide some strength to the design as it will no doubt have rock resting on it. It will be glued into the tank in the next day or 2. Which makes the tank, dangerously close to being ready for water. Perhapps only another 2 weeks. Also had the sparky around and finished, so have dedicated 20amp circut on RCD. Something else I no longer have to worry about. Pies

Some pretty random advice there. Pies

No doubt its a good idea in principle. Dhindry - Any chance on seeing some photos of you tank? Us Wellington reef keepers need to stick together. Are you keeping corals? Pie

Iteresting - All I have heard about the coastlands guy is very unflattering. Suggesting things like UV are completely nessessary to the survival of a marine tank, Untergravel filters are the best way to filter the marines etc. Source - 5 different people who have come to me after have problems or needing advice on why its not working well. Also me a guy with a 6 week old tank, was sold a Mandarin, Cleaner Wrassee & BiColour Angel and several stone corals and an anemone. All dead. Still not a bad sale for the shop. Nothing like the shops supporting the hobby. Pie

Nope. I personally think that the stress of being in the quarantine is going to cause more stress and effect the fish. They have always been in someone elses tank for at least 3 weeks prior to me getting them anyway. If I get whitespot or whatever, whatever Pies

My fish are so hungy even my chromas eats nori.

Length or width?

IRA - Frozen mysiss can be brought from the pet shops here. I have brought it from the Hutt Pet Centre and Animates in Ngaio. It come in some pinky crap, which needs a good rince before you feed it. Next time I get some i'll get some for you if you like (about $10 a packet), if you find some, grab some for me. I also have live Mysidd growing and breeding in my refugium. Pies

I could suggest a topic for the new thread...

Does that count the ones that have been banned? Or does it exclude them?

8 or 7?

Not really wanting to continue the stupidy, but: I never asked a question, this all started from: Which then started you off along these lines: Comprendae? PieMAN

I feed flake once a week, frozen every second week (in addition to the once per week flake). Nori - 1 sheet every 3 weeks. All other food comes from the refugium. I have 4 clowns, 1 chromas, 4 tangs, 1 hawkfish, 1 mandarin, 1 scooter blenny, 1 bi colour blenny, 2 bangii and a coral beuty. Refugium is approx 500 litres. Pies PS: The ocasional moth or something may fly into the tank, and I assume is eaten.

I told you so. And at the risk of being an arse: The correct response would be "Your right, I fuxored up, sorry my bad" To continue the risk of being an arse: ? How about "Hey, thanks for making me find some facts about what I didn't understand but thought I did". You see I didn't need the link, I have already done my research. Not to say its not useful (I will read it when I get a machine with Excel on it), but all it does is prove something that I have already researched. And seriously now, do you still belive this to be true? In one paragraph you say 2 different things! Do you still think the pressue at the bottom of the funnel is any greater? Hahahaha cracks me up. What if it was a really big funnel? Hahahahahaahahahaahahaha. *stop* Sorry Chimera, while I am picking on you at least I am leaving someone else alone. Friends? *Manly nod* Now lets get this thread back on track. If your all nice, I will treat you to some pics of my Durso and overflows tommorow (which are all finished and looking AWESOME), just need to glue em in. PieARSEman

Chimera - Something else to consider, and part of my own consideration process. Once you get to 32mm and greater, you can buy PVC down pipe, as opposed to PVC pressure pipe. Its about 1/5 the price, so I hope to not only increase the flow of my pump by using the correct plumbing, but also reduce the cost. Not often the cheaper option is better Pie

Ahem. So it appears my water flow expert friends in the Hutt are right? Let me know when its safe for me to say 'I told you so'. Pies

I have 2 or 3 resin corals. I would consider giving them to you if you pay the postage. Pies

Craig 1. Quite right, no dispute from me on that. 2. No doubt that the as volume of water increases, the weight increases, but that doesn't actually effect the head pressure. Head is consistant. Doesn't matter if I have a hole in the bottom of a bath or a swimming pool, the flow rate of the pump will be consistant given the head (height) of water, the amount of water in the tank doesn't make a difference. If you fill a swimming pool to 1 M deep, and a 44 gallon drum to 1m deep, drill a 25mm hole in the bottom of both and open it, the flow rate will be the same at any given heigh (once the both empty to .5m the flow through each will be identical). Of course it will take longer for the larger volume of water to empty. 3. As the surface area increases with the larger pipe, then of course friction increases. However because the pump is more or less a consistant, the effect of friction on a larger pipe is less than on a smaller pipe as the water flow is less 'forced' accross the surface. I am going to go out today and get some math from the people I have spoken too, so they can prove to me that they know what they are talking about. If they do, i'll post the math here for you to all pick apart. Craig - Tuesday is a bad dayfor me, as its survivor night. But if I can pop over before or after survivor then i'd love to chat with him I'll bring pictures Pie