Pies

A friend down here had the Turbo Floater 1000, which is a very popular skimmer with a good reputation. From what I saw of it, I didn't really think it was too good, however once you get them 'tweaked' the seem to work fine. I wouldn't be put off buying one, but I think I would still swing towards Deltec unless the price difference is too much. Pie

Brendon - I have one, don't see getting a frag of it to you too much of a problem. Pie

Iwakis and Ehiems for my closed loops. Because I have holes through the bottom of the tank, I want to ensure that if they fail they can't leak. I would love another IWAKI or 2 for my other 2 closed loops, would consider trade of EHIEM 1262 and 1250s for IWAKIs if anyone has one or 2 for sale. Pie

The list of allowed imported fish.

One of the main reasons I want to belong to a club is to have access to better prices of equipment and stock. Its not the only reason, but its an important one to me. For marines, access to more sources of Frags and cheap corals and fish appeals. For my freshwater I have sourced much equipment and stock from members and wholesalers/breeders at much better prices than retail. When the price is lower, it gives me the option to buy more or buy better quality. I didn't see anyone complaing about the price they paid for there TUNZE STREAMS, no one was begging to pay NZ retail on those, we were greatfull to get them for such a reasonable price. Would you have even brought them at store prices? I know I wouldn't (or couldn;t). This part of the community is a very important part of it for me. I don't care where the stuff comes from, wholesaler, importer, garage breeders, broken down tanks, as long as the price is fair and the condition is acceptable (to me) then count me in. To be fair to Nick and Steve they have been helping people out long before they started this new venture (which as far as I am aware hasn't even started yet?). As I have said before Steve has helped me out a great deal, and there has been nothing in it for him, who better to be helping run a club? I havn't seen many other people sticking up there hand offering to do it, but I am sure they would be greatful for the help. They obviously feel there is a need for what they are going to offer, and they have acted on it. Anyone who has gone into a shop and seen the prices for some of the stock and equipment knows exactly what I mean. You see that yellow tang for $199 and know ther must be a better way to get it. Hopefully very soon there will be. Those with wholesale accounts know what I mean. I have been selling a few frags from my own tank latley (I have a lot of Acro frags $25ea for anyone who wants to come and pick them up). From a club perspective I think that what I am doing is helping not hurting. Access to cheaper stock and equipment will help more people try the hobby and increase demand for the stock anyway (right?). I promise that a $100 at my house will get you more than it does at any store. Go the clubs, go the importers, go the fraggers. As far as I am concerened, everyone should be welcome, and as far as the Wellington 'club' is concerned, you are. Pies

There aren't on 'the list' either.

Nor did I and I live here!

Warren Wrote: Warren: it is slanderous to discuss retail prices? Phew! Things are getting pretty heated. I still struggle to see what the problem is, why is there much oposition to the Nick/Steve venture? If you don't support there actions then simply inforce your right as a consumer and don't buy anything from them, just continue to support your existing suppliers. Those of us who have met Nick & Steve know they are pretty nice guys, but it seems that by challenging Reef they have become loathed. It seems to be the same with Brendon (ZEOVITNZ), poor Brendon can't even post in this forum without being attacked. Which is insane, because he is such a nice, friendly and helpful guy. But because he and Reef don't get along he seems to get slated. A real shame in my opnion. Fishguy - Your first post on this fourm and you start of by calling me small minded. I hope you are good for your word and it is your last post. I have been fortunate enough to meet NickS, JetSkiSteve & Reef on dozens on ocasions, infact we have met together several times when I have been up in Auckland. I have been invited into all of their homes, met there familys, stayed at there homes and enjoyed every visit i've had. Its a real shame from my perspective, as now I feel like if I talk with Steve it will put me out of favor with Reef, or vice versa. Puts people in awkward positions (how I feel anyway). So come on guys, how about putting it all rest, agree to disagree and move on (this goes for EVERYONE). After all this is all about FISH, who would have thought that FISH could cause so much animosity. We even have the fish police banning our threads. The wheels are in motion, nothing said here is going to change anything, so we may as well just kick back and see what happens. Good luck to Nick & Steve, keep up the good work Reef. Piemoderator

RnB - You used to use NSW, and are currently using ASW but are considering returning to NSW, right? Perhapps you can share what your thinking is? Pieman

Great stuff Layton! Consider me your first customer if you ever get enough to sell. How about some PICS? Alois has had quite a bit of success with breeding these fish, if you havn't already make sure you chat to him about it, I am sure he can give you some valuable advice. Pieman

Some debate is healthy and its obviously an important enough subject to generate such emotion in the people posting. Locking or removing the thread won't solve the problem, just delay it rearing its head in other forums/threads. Its unfair to have a thread removed just because you don't like the subject being discussed. Layton - A good move on your part, refuse to contine to post, removing fuel from the fire will ensure it goes out. Dissagreement and debate is important part of the attraction of places like this, remember in the end they are just opnions, its up to the reader to decide if they are going to agree with whats said. Its obvious there are 2 camps on these subjects, doesn't mean we can't agree to disagree, if you havn't noticed, we are all pretty stubborn and nothing you say is going to change anyones mind, regardless of how strongly you feel about it. But when everone is hiding behind a keyboard no-one will backdown and everyone wants the last word. We all know that we (myself included) would not act like this in real life, face to face. If people spoke to me in real life, then way they often do here, I would have no option but to kill them "Now, I want a nice clean fight, you guys know the rules, no hitting below the belt, return to your corner when you hear the bell" *ding* *ding* Pies

I pretty much concur with all that. In the wild you often see SPS (Acro) next to sacrophytons (sp?) but I have never seen them near the others (denchrinia?). As Layton said, mushrooms KILL acros fast. If I could have a ZERO mushroom tank, I would. My tank is 99% Stoney corals, the only exception is 1x sacrophyton and mushrooms I can't get rid off. I use a skimmer matched to the size of my tank (read large), run carbon etc too. Most agree that low nutrient tanks are best for stoney coral growth, hence they often use large skimmers and phosphate removing reactors etc to get the nutrient levels as low as possible. There are a few articles on REEFKEEPING ONLINE by Eric Bourneman about the relationship between stoney corals and soft corals. Could be a good place to start. Pieman

Layton, looks like you have a pretty big spoon there yourself. Its an interesting post (although it is a stir). Would Alois be advertising 'big discounts' if JetSki hadn't started his own importation facility. Personally I don't see what all the drama is about, ultimatly its going to make things cheaper for us, and buy making it cheaper its going to make this hobby more accessable to people on tighter budgets. You would have to be blind to not feel the tension on this fourm around a few members, and its a shame. I am happy to just sit back and enjoy the low prices and increased varity of stock. I will support anyone who supports this hobby, just looks like I am going to have some options that I didn't have before. How can that be bad. Pies

Personally I wouldn't worry about f-stop or any other manual settings. It takes a while to learn what it all does. I would start by using all automatic settings. Take photos and learn about the way your camera focus's etc. Then over time you will learn that to get a photo the way you want you need great depth of field, quicker shutter speeds, wider apitures etc. But its all very hard to explain, wait until you want to get a photo but don't know how, then we can talk. Also there are many good tutorials on the net on how to take good photos and use all the features of your camera, have a look around. As for film, I would reccomend using digital. Of every 10 photos I take 1 is worth keeping. Good luck Pies

Wasp - Hard to tell from the photo, but I think that its a Perc. The False Perc have much finer black lines, unless its a juv black false perc... Either way I don't think the clowns are smart enough to know the difference Pies

I wouldn't reccoment moving to Auckland, but they do have some great reef tanks, good sources of clean NSW and lots of shops and places to get equipment and stock. And hey a new Mayor too, who knows maybee Auckland will turn around If you can't get decent access to clean NSW than salt mix is your only options, just consider the costs invloved, not so much for the salt but for the filteration equipment needed to make the clean water, RODI filter systems will cost over $500 and don't last forever. You can get you rock and leave it in a bin in the garage with a heater and airstone to get things going. When rock gets freighted there is a lot of die-off which is what caused the problems, so the sooner you can take care of that the better. 3foot is a small tank, but it is doable. Try and make a sump and have it as big as you can get away with. More water in the system will help and you will never regret having a larger water volume. Good luck Pieman

I have percs and am keen to increase numbers. I am very interested. Pies

Most of my photos are taken with the flash, and I think my photos are pretty good. Don't turn of any lights, infact if your shooting with digital have as much light on the tank as possible. Patience and practice are the keys. Pies

Looks like my facts are right.

I know plenty of people who buy/have brought salt from you. Fact not fiction. Only a ton?

Well a few of us went out to visit Steve As tank tonight. Jane had cleaned the glass and it was looking excellent. Attached are some high res photos (your welcome Layton), enjoy. When the cirulation pumps are churning this corals tips are exposed to the surface. Steve had hundreds of these small snails growing in his tank, very pretty shells on them. Also looks like some planaria on there Thanks very mush to Jane for letting us in after hours and to Steve A for having such a great tank! Pies

When I said 'most of us' I ment most of US, that is the people on this board. Its not an assumption, the fact is more people here use natural water than not. Remeber, if your going to listen to Reefs advice, keep in mind that he sells saltmix. It is insane to think that artificial salt water is better than real sea water, makes no sense at all. I can afford to use salt, and if I was lazy its what I would use, but NATURAL sea water will be better for my tank, I have yet to see any evidence to suggest otherwise. As for testing the water, check this forum out for my previous posting on South Coast water and West Coast water, NO NIRATE, NO PHOSPHATE (according to salifert). Pie

The general rule for a sand bed is less than 1 inch, or greater than 8 inch (live DSB) anything inbetween only collects dirt and rubish. I would reccomend just going for the less than 1 inch sand bed. Easy and less likley to cause issues. Because of the small size of the tank, I don't know if its even worth using 'base rock', maybee just easier to buy all live rock. Thats what I have done, as have most others. Also if you are worried about 'wasting rock' look at building a reef rack, Chimera has published some pictures of his, which is exactly what I am using and have been for 18 months. A rack helps reduce the amount of rock needed and also helps with water flow as there is a cavity under the rock structure. Get the tank and plumbing sorted, keep reading and take you time, you will be fine. I'm hoping Layton will chime in and offer his thoughts on NSW in Christchurch, but most of us just pick a spot that looks clean. There is a recent thread here about collecting salt water, and most of us feel its the better way to go. Good luck Piemania

Hi Noodle. There are a few people in Christchurch on the board who I am sure will help you if they can. To answer your questions: 1. You can buy live rock, just can't always get it from the pet stores. Live rock is often available for approx $15 per KG. This will contain all the pods, worms and critters you need. It will also have coraline algae etc on it. Catch JetSkiSteve on this board as I know he has premo live rock for sale at the moment. 2. As above, you will get this in droves on good quality live rock. 3. You won't need too much sand but make sure you used 'coral sand'. You should exect to pay no more than $70 per sack (15kg or 25kg I forget which). DO NOT USE beach sand, this is high in silicates and will cause you problems. You want less than 1 inch of sand for you tank, so for 180 litres I would expect a few KG will be plenty. 4. Lots of frags for sale, I have some, I am sure others will offer more as time goes on. If you think people are reluctant to sell you coral, don't feel bad, its just people don't like selling their tank raised stock if they think it won't survive. Give people time to know you and your setup and you will find more and more offers as time rolls on. 5. Most of us use NSW for our tanks. However christchurch water is quite away from the city and I am not sure what its quality is like. Layton on this site may be able to answer this better as he is in Christchurch (he uses ASW though...). Take it nice and slowly, get you tank and plumbing right first, then get rock ASAP. Then while this is cycling get you circulation pumps, lights etc before getting stock. You will get sick of hearing it, but patience is the best thing you can get for this hobby, but you can't buy it. Good luck to you. Pies

I know people who run Quarantine for both comerical and personal use. There is very little to it, and the costs are minimal. Lots of paper work and permits from the council etc but not a biggie. I know a guy who set one up just so he didn't have to buy stuff from the shops, never sold anything just for his own use. Don't be put off if your serious and have a few grand laying about. As for brining in stuff not on the lists and how hard it is to bring stuff in, not sure I agree with that either. We all know people with Koi, Lion Fish, Starfish, Soft corals, Mushrooms etc. Its all about and not to hard to find if you really want them, you can have them. From what I understand MAF are really worried about the 'noxious pest' list, everything else is treated without to much fuss. YMMV.