Pies

Chimera - Thats why I said paint it blue, it helps make the tank look 10x nicer. IRA - I know someone here in Wellington selling a medium/large piece of rock covered with Blue Mushrooms, PM we and i'll get it sorted for you. Has maybee 10 or more mushrooms. Pies

We are going to visit this tank at 7pm on Tuesday (tommorow). All welcome, I will get hold of Steve and see if he can be there to show us all of the bits and pieces. Anyone who wants to come and have a look, PM me your details and i'll make contact. If I can, I will take my camera and get some high res photos to share with those of you who are not in Wellington. Pies

I wrote and article for the FNZAS magazine about saltwater collection but here are my tips: * Always collect water on the incoming tide, it will be cleaner and less likely to contain contaminants and suspended matter. * Never collect within 3-4 days of rainfall. Rain creates run-off, run-off contains all sorts of pollutants (fertilizer, nitrates and phosphates) from the land, all of which are bad. * Your location should be in a high flow area, away from any industrialization (pipes, boat ramps etc). * Never collect from a site that look like its contaminated (Onions floating around, dead fish or animals, diesel on the water surface etc). Most of us use NSW without problems, and we think we have good looking tanks. You shouldn't use NSW if you can't get to a decent source of it, but I believe (I know others may disagree) that is better for the tank than Artificial salt mix YMMV. Pies

For freshwater it pays to turn of the gas at night (solinoid) this will ensure that C02 levels don't cause the PH to swing. Pies

IRA - I have had approx 6 people PM me, so with you we might be able to find as many as 10.

Well my partner Jane is lucky enough to have a 1600 litre marine aquiarum at her work. I poped in to see Jane the other day and thought I'd snap a few pics to share with you all. Steve A's tank has been running for about 10 years, and through that time has had a few ups and downs. The tank is a mixed reef with some great SPS corals. It is lit with 4x 400 watt MHs + serveral VHO fluros and other halides and fluros in various parts of the system. All the technology is present, including large skimmer, CA reactor, Kalk Stirer, refugium, DIY Chiller and Steve is building his own controller/computer. Steve has recently moved onto salt mix from natural salt water and belives that it has had a significient improvement on his water quality and overall tank health. If anyone is in Wellington I can organise a visit to this tank, which is looking stunning at the moment. Sorry for the quality of the photos, used my phone. Pies

RnB there are some good articles on Linkia starfish on RC. People belive they eat 'shite' (can't spell detritus?) and perhapps some sponges. I think mine must be close to 12 months old? What about everyone else, what is the status of their Linkia starfish?

No not the same!

Nope just the heater.

Although Wellington does not have the same number of marine aquarium keepers as other centres we do have a few and our numbers are slowly growing. I propose that perhaps we get together, get organized and meet each other. This will give us an excellent opportunity to share information, livestock and equipment as well as increase our buying power. If you have a marine aquarium, would like to have a marine aquarium or are interested in marine aquariums in general, please PM me your details and I will organize a meeting in the next few weeks. Perhaps we can just meet for 1 afternoon/evening a month, but will see how we go once I get confirmed numbers. I am happy to volunteer my time and my home for the meetings for now, but perhaps we can meet at a different home each month to see what other people are up too. Regards Mark Ellis

I have a 3 foot tank for curing rock, I just dump tank water in there when doing my wate change. No light, 1 heater, no skimmer. Covered in corraline algae, no sweat.

I licence? That is the lamest thing I have ever heard. You don't need a licence to take them from the wild, kill them and eat them but you need a licence to keep them? Ummmmm I don't think I would bother with the licence. But thats just me.

Fay - It will be fine, but not great. If you can fit more light, throw more on there, but it should be ok, its not a very big tank. Piemania

I must admit I quite like Logan Brown. And it doesn't cost $200.00 to eat there either, although it is a little more expensive than most. The tank is cool and well worth a look. Pies

I have seen 10000k PCs like that at placemakers here in wellington, unsure of wattage though. There are a few articles about them on RC. The bottom line (from what I read) is that don't provide particualry good value as the inefficient way that over halve of the tube length points at other tubes if mounted virticaly and less than 40% if mounted horizontally. Also its impossilbe to make an efficient reflector for them. Pies

Then why did you say this? The interesting thing is that if children where killing Nemos, an adult sold it to them or their parent brought it for them.

I agree with Layton 100%. I am sure we all know people older than outselfs who look after their tanks in ways that would make you cringe. A child shouldn't have such an excellent hobby made unavailable just because they are young. What age is to young anyway? Pies

RnB - corals from the same colony will not sting each other, no matter how much time passes. Because each polyp is a clone of the last. Sexual reproduction is required before genetic differences are senseable by the corals.

I have 2 different types of gorgonians, both photo synthetic (brown). Infact one is big enough I could easily frag it. Pies

Hansen tank inlets are what you are after. Its what most of us use, less than $10ea.

Why would you swap? Surley if you purchased livestock you purchased it because you wanted it, and knew that a well cared for anemone will live longer than you will, so you will havei it forever?

FAY - T5s and PCs are the same thing in that T5 denotes how round the tube is. A t5 tube is the same width as any other PC light (like the ones you get at home). If it was my choice I would use T5s YMMV.

There are 2ft T5s. Ask JetSkiSteve I think he got some or is getting some 3footers for his tank. Easy soultion though, bigger tank

Wasp - The heat is far hotter on MHs. One of my 250DEs makes a lot more heat than all 4 of my 85watt T5s. Thats why the PCs are so popular on nano/small tanks, Less heat.

WASP - Bulb length for MH is approx 9 months, same for tubes (give or take). Halides have some major drawbacks though - Heat, reflectors, heat & heat $98 is a good price on a MH bulb. Is that single ended and low wattage or low kelven (6500 or less?). pies