Pies

PCs will be fine. Not sure where Briananemone has been looking but there are lots of easliy accessible PCs here, in any colour configuration and wattage you may need. PCs are cheaper than halides, but halides are better value on a per watt per luman scale. PCs will be a good option as you tank is shallow and narrow. Something else to consider would be T5s. HEaps around, reasonable priced and easily fitted. I would probably use T5s over PCs personally but PCs will be fine too. Piemania

I use: Calcium Reactor Skimmer Sump Closed Loops Kalkwasser Stirer MH Lights with remote ballists RODI Water and resivour All I see that I don't use/need is a chiller and an exaust for the heat from his lights (Which he pumps through the wall to heat anther room. Pies

Brian read the thread of RC is tells you all of his specs, and pics of every stage of the planning and design. Its a nice project with some good ideas but the last time I saw pics of the actual tank it looked pretty average, esp compared to someone like JetSkiSteves or Alois's. Pie

My own experance from frogspawn is that they like med/low light and med/low current. Be warned these things send out ultra killer tenticles and will reach 15-20cm so be carefull. No problem with the epoxy. Good luck nice coral. Pie

Who told you I had a Lion Fish?

Not really my bag either but I do own a few (I won in a FNZAS raffle). If anyone wants a couple of foux corals let me know. Piemania

Yah its online only. I look foward to the 3rd of every month to see the new featured tanks on RC. A top notch publication, for those of you who don't read it, STOP whatever ever you are doing now and headover to www.reefkeeping.com . Stop reading and go. Now. Pies PS: go, now!

Here are a couple of quick snaps of the tank to give you an idea of its size. I hope to have it in my home by the end of October. The tank just needs the bracing done but I am waiting on the cabinet to be completed, which in all likley hood is going to take a few more weeks. Which is fine for me an in no rush. Pies PS: Sorry for the bad photos, taken with my phone.

I am using Warrens glass calculator for my new tank, its not worth taking any chances. However I have a tank 1600Lx650Hx700W made of 10mm and its fine, it is well braced. My new tank is 2200Lx700Hx900W. Its made of 12mm glass and a doubble thickness base (22mm 12mm + 10mm). IT will be VERY well braced and has many holes drilled in it. I have seen much bigger tanks made of 12mm. My tank will only be filled to the 650mm mark though. Pies

Good, Pics?

I spoke to Warren about this exact same question a few months ago. He told me that the calculator assumes tha tthe tank is perfectly braced (infact I think he said that the glass is assumed that its in an angle iron frame). To brace or not to brace. Easy, brace. Pies

Shame there is no test for light, water movement, proximity to other corals, secretions from other coral in the tank, organics in the water etc. My point being there is more to it than just a few water tests. Lots of examples of people with perfect water conditions with tanks that have crashed or worse. Just food for thought. Good luck with it, why not get some photos up so we can see it change? Piemania

Some acros are just brown, its like that in the wild too... If there is no polyp extension check at night, most acros will only show polyps during the night. It may take much longer than 4 weeks to change colour, maybee 6 months, maybee longer, maybee never. Pies

Yes you could do this. I do agree with the others, only have one overflow, will look nicer if nothing else. If you want a seperate feed for the refugium (I do the exact same thing) then as suggested above, just use a T joint under the overflow. Good luck Pie

Brianemone - Just wanted you to consider that poor conditions where more likley the it being predated. There is more to a successful tank that just water params, and a lot more water params to test than those you gave. If you have NIRITE you have problems. It is likley that your tank hasn't finished cycling, or you have too little live rock in the tank and are unable to keep up with the biological needs of the tank. Are you testing Amonina? If I detected Nitrite in my tank I would do a 25% water change, and do 1 or 2 25% water changes every week for several weeks until any NITRITE traces where gone. It is a poison for the fish. I wouldn't be adding any fish for a while, make sure that tank is cycled or you will run the risk of killing more fish. Of course maybee everything is fine and you do have a piscovore in there, and it has waited all this time before springing... Pies

TM - Saddle back Clowns usually have a saddle on their back, hence the commin name of them being 'Saddle Back Clowns'. I don't belive the Pics from Reef meet that description, photo provided. http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/ ... clowns.htm What is "polymus (sp)"?? The pictures look almost identical to mine, which I belive are Black Percula or Ocellerous (sp?) clowns. Pies

What makes you think it was eaten? Isn't it more likley that it died because the enviroment was not good enough to sustain it? If you have live rock, the bristle worms would have demolished it as soon as it died, but its unlikley there is anything in your tank that would predate it without you knowing about it, its possible but unlikley. Pies

? am I missing something?

Half price? Awesome looks like i can finally get myself a Powder blue tank and school of Anthieas! Alois - Is the half on fish and coral? Awesome. Pies

I have 3 black percs. Brought from 'fast eddie' at petworld in Christchurch. $29.00ea. Pies

Probably the biggest update to add is that I need to rob some form of bank or small country to continue... This has been an expensive year, new house, new job, 5 weeks over seas, blown car engine, new home theartre room at home, sick pets etc... Right glad to get that of my chest... Updates will come in as soon as I have something to show. Currently the tank is built and finished. The cabinet has been started and should be finished in the next week. As soon as I have pictures I will post. I really want to get my website hosted so I can drown you all in pics. Anyone got some cheap/free web hosting? Piemania

I brought some T5s that Reef imported. Very nice units and a very fair price. I have had 2 bad tubes (DOA) though. I don't think the T5s where a particulary good purchase, but I would have needed to use normal tubes so the higher output makes them better than VHOs I guess. I belive there are much better tubes available now than there was 2 years ago? Pies

Its seeing tanks like this that get ne excited about my own tank. Awesome Fay 10/10. Pies

I suspect the corals have been around as long as the concept of 'summer' & 'winter'. Think about it. Not sure what bleeching has to do with anything. Corals bleech in the summer (when the water is warmer) as well as in the summer (when the water is warmer). This is no doubt that you can cause coral to bleech by raising the temrature or keeping the temprature to hight for to long. Global warming, if you indeed belive in it as a non-natural occurance, may have had an effect, but from what i've read its not 100% proven, and many belive their are other reasons (plages of COTS for example). Like it or not, the temprature in the ocean changes according to the season. They swings are not 'new', they have been around as long as the corals have. I've seen fish swim through water that is at least 3 degrees different in one place than another (say from the fore reef to the reef crest). Only a few meters apart yet 3 degrees in difference. What a surprise, water at the top is warmer than the water underneath. Water is the shallows where the rocks heat the water is warmer than in larger 'volumes' of water etc. I've also dived at one end of an island where the temprature is different than the other end of the island by a degree or 2 in the same day. I am not endorseing simulating temprature fluctuations in your tank, and there is no doubt the stability is very import, however this stability doesn't reflect what happens in nature. It would be good advice to say to keep it as stable as possible, just not particulary realistic. Corals on the GBR spawn in november, 60 days after the full moon. The winter is just ended and its the first full moon of the summer, the water is starting to warm again. The corals know all about water temprature changes. Reef - Many coral farmers in the US run their grow tanks at 29 degrees as they know this makes the coral grow faster. Perhapps its liken to metabolisiom (sp?) you know like how fish swim slower when its cooler. Here is a question. Does the temprature have an effect of SPS colour? Wouldn't be unresonable to think it does. Pies

Layton - a 4 degree swing during one day would be bad for sure. But slowing creeping up and down over 12 moths would be a more accurate simulation of real life than consistant 25 all year. I have no way of knowing if that would be good or bad for the tank though, but it would reflect what happens in nature. Pies