Pies

Yeah I have 3 different Co2 systems. The c02 bottle can be sourced from a gas company like BOC. You can rent or buy your own, people have different expeances. I own my own, costs me about $12 every 9 months fill + $30 every 5 years to have tested. The expense comes in the valve need to connect from the bottle to the defuser. Some have gagues (Dupla Alpha for example) some don't (JBL). I would DIY, there is no value in the ehiem/JBL kits other than convienance. 2nd hand gagues is the way to go, the internet is your friend. Most reef aquairums use Co2 for calcium production so there are always bits for sale if you look around. Good luck. Pies

Brooklands import activated carbon so all pet stores will be able to get it. I buy it by the 15kg sack it it costs me about $65.00. Pies

Olympus C5050 Olympus PT-015 Underwater Housing

Doc - I have porities and christmas tree worms in my own reef (pics on my site). Pies

Possible crabs, hard to know. I have 2, both still alive. One came from a guy down here who had large brittle star starfish that he throught may have attacked it, or maybee even his 8 line wrassee? Its still alive but I am not convinced its going to make it. Its not as bright as blue as it once was and its very skinny. It has healed it wound though. There is some interesting stuff by Bob Fenner and Julian Sprung about how the water tranported with starfish should also go into you aquairum as it has 'healing proerties'. A healthy starfish should recover from a wound lost limb or even lost body. Pie

Well as you may or may not know i've just retuned from a 2 week dive holiday in Vanuatu. This makes my 2nd trip to dive Vanuatu and I must be getting close to having made over 100 dives on coral reefs in various parts of the world. Also returned to Havanh Harbour where the latest series of Survivor was filmed. So what did I learn for the home reef tank? 1. Water temprature changes are more rapid than you read in books, with shifts as much as 4 degress across the reef (in one dive from as low as 24 to as high 27). This is something I have commented on inthe past. Interestingly night time never effected the temprature of the same spot. 2. It is always calmer at night early morning than during the day and late afternoon. 3. hard corals like Acropora are often mixed in with softcorals like Sacrophytons, often almost touching. However they are never very close to softies like Dentrinitus (sp?) and the more frilly types. 4. The most commong staghorn coral colour is brown, followed by blue, followed by Purple, Yellow. Some hard corals have solid colours, many have coloured tips. No green, anywhere... 5. Some parts of the reefs are teaming with fish, others are barren with only a few small fish. 6. Daylight is over 14 hrs long. but most intense for 10-11 of that time. Acropora grows close to the surface (sometimes exposed at low tide) to as low as the 45m max depth reef dive I did on this trip. Doesn't seem to worry what depth, or current for that matter, its everywhere, bright light, low light, as long as there is light. Anyway just some interesting stuff for discussion perhapps? Some photos: SS President Coolidge - Even after 60 years underwater there is stuff about this boat. Bicolour Angel. A fairly common site. Every colour under the sun. Often seen in many corals the largest colonies seem to only exist in these porities corals. More! Aquascaping ideas? I want one! These things are huge, poisonous, distructive yet so pretty... Million Dollar Point is an American created scrap heap. A great but disterbing dive and evidence about how little the americans care(cared?) for what they do to other countries. Best left on the reef, not many people have success with this cool fish. Macro shots galore. Cool crabs living in the corals. Lots o fish on the top of the bridge of the SS President Coolidge. Extreme cameraman action, willing to put his life on the line to get the shot... My Yasur volcano on Tanna - Vanuatu. Words cannot describe how much force is needed to sends tonnes of rock hundreds of feet into the air. WOW. Pievivor

Alois - How about some pictures showing what the corals looked like in your tank say 1 month ago, 3 months ago and six months ago. They are some truely awesome colours, i'd be keen to see how they have changed over time. This is as good as iv'e got, but things don't look this good since the move. (through the glass!) Top down (no glass) Piebro

I try and have 'just enough heaters'. Chimera, think about this, what will do more damage, a heater not working and the temprature dropping, or too many heaters and the temprature rising. I am using 3 300watters an my tanks (2) + sump are all in the garage at the moment (and its cold in Wellington, hailed yesterday!). I fear overheat more than a dip. Just a good reason to consider having just enough. Alois - I don't see why a titanium heater would be less likley to leak than a glass one. I mean my tank is made of glass and I so far water isn't sneaking through. Piemaina

Visiatherm glass heaters and a temprature controller JetSkiSteve sourced. Best $300 I ever spent (the controller that is). I am sure if you are serious about it Steve can sourse another.

Funny I was talking about this today. Linkia starfish are the centre of much debate online (UR,RC,WWM). The issue is that their short term survival is almost garanteed, however keeping them for more than 12 months is the challenge. Few people have. Having just come back from Vanuatu where there are thousands of Linka starfish it was cool to see how fat and blue they are in the wild compared to the ones i've seen in peoples reefs (including my own). They are quite nice, but I have noticed that when I got mine it was always racing around, but it has since slowed down and is often hidden. My tank is quite large (740 litre, with another 550 litres in sumps/refugium). The theory is that over time they slowly strip the tank of whatever it is they eat, then slowly starve and die. I know its hard advice to hear, especially comming from someone who already has one, but I would steer clear, unless you are comfortable knowing you are going to kill it anyway. As much as I like mine, I doubt I would try another untill my 1500 litre tank is built and a year or 2 old. I know a few people who have them, not that people will probable admit to it but has anyone had one die yet? Mine must be getting close to being 12 months old, but I can't remeber. Perhapps i'll check my log on my site and see how long i've kept it. YMMV. Pies

Mitch - ohhhh I see. No I'm not comming up, Jane maybee though, if she is I am sure I can get you a starter culture. I don't have much as just had a clean out but I am sure I can give you enough to start you off. IRA - Anytime you want to organise a visit and grab some Calurpa tis no problem, I can always spare enough to get you started. Pielurpa

Mitch - Ummm Napier is quite a way from Wellington, I can't see myself just poping up for the day! Its a shame because I dumped about 1/4 a bucket yesterday. Pies

I have the same effect, without the sealer, spooky. I highly recommend that anyone does'nt do this. Save the money and time. Pie

Calurpa Taxifola is on the 'noxious weed' list in NZ, all the others are in the clear. I have many different types, and if anyone wants any they are welcome to come and get some (no I'm not posting it). A lot of people in the US use Taxifola as it apparantly is less likley to go asexual and crash. Others belive the best is Calurpa Racemosa. If you are willing to assume that they are both usefull, Racemosa is easy to find. It can be found in NZ waters, and looks like little grapes on stalks. Otherwise I can hook you up. I have about 7 different types for those who really want some. 2 different types of calcerous (sp?) as well. And 2 types of red. Free to anyone who comes and gets it. Pies

Back now, spent 2 weeks diving in Vanuatu (Port Vila, Havana Harbour, Santo - Million Dollar Point & SS President Coolidge). I am not on a perminent vacation! Its just that becuase I work so hard, I get lots of time off... hehehe. I don't ever remember being wrong! Buy hey its nice to know I was missed. Who knows, maybee you will start to see pics of the new tank setup soon...

Looking awesome Alois. shame I didn;t get a chance to pop in when I was up last month. Will make an effort to come out next time I am up. Mark

Bourneman and Fenner say its un-nessessy to feed an Anemone. they will eat bit don't need to. If you have clowns hosting in it you can watch them feed the anemone from time to time anyway. I have a few including H.Magnifica which is generally considered the most difficult of Anemones to keep. Over 1 year old, fed it for the first month, then read I shouldn't bother, havn't target fed it since. I have a beaded anemone and a green bubble tip which have never been target fed by me. Both are over 6 months old. I am getting a Rose BTA soon (Steve have you send it yet?) Pienemone

Not all clowns will live in all Anemones. Check out Rober Fenners book or online at wwm to find out if the clowns you have will live in the Anemone you own. Pies

Come over to my place and have a look at mine so you know what you need. Microline in Ngaio gorge is 25% off for fishy people, tell them I sent you, This makes them cheaper than Anthony Preston on everything except for the resin itself (but only a few $ cheaper). DI filter is just a canister and you cna make one out of a clear tube or drain pipe, or buy one from Vevendi in Auckland. They work better than the purchased closed canister used for the other filters. YMMV. Pieman

Yeah if you fish get skinny when cut back the feeding then you have 2 options, take out some fish or keep feeding the way you are. Alois has lots of fish in his tank and has struggled with Nitrates on and off for a while. I think his soultion was to use some sort of Nitrate Reductor. Perhapps he will shed some more light but I think if you want to run a heavy fish load, than no amount of skimming (Alois is the king of skimmers) will drastically reduce the nitrates. So less fish, less food or some technology is the only way around it. You could also look at making a MUCH larger sump, this increasing the fish per litre rule, which should help, but you tank is quite large so you will need some serious additional water volume. Good luck and tank is looking fab, I would love to see some updated pics. Pie

This is a common problem on RC as well, but normally associated with 400watters and the inrush current issue. 1 timer per light seems to work, but serach reef central for models that are known good. The guy from UR (the guy Mark that NickS met in the UK - 7000litre) had major issues as he didn't know his timers had broken and his tank lights where never turning off. His tank was crashing and he couldn't figure it out. But that was the cause. Search on 7000litre on UR to find the thread. I am moving to 400s soon so am keen for anyones reccomendations. Piemania.

People use Iwaki pumps because they work. There are lots of cheap options out there, but the longer you look, the more Iwakis are in use. It gets to a point where you find people that brought brands x or y and where more than happy with it, until it stoped working after 2-3 years. Remeber this is the key, the pump needs to run ALWAYS. If you buy Iwaki (or Grunfos) you know its going to keep going, there are thousands of them out there on reef aquairums and no-one seems to have anything negitive to say, other than they are expensive. Whats the most important part of your reef system? For me (and Chimera, and most others) with external sumps, its the return pump. It stops and my water is no longer heated (or cooled), not skimmed or anything else happens to it. To reduce head pressure by waterflow/friction you can use wider piping, say 40mm which will drasticlly improve water flow. I am in the market for a bit Iwaki, and have been for a while. Anyone with a 70 or 100 for sale should get in touch, I am good for the money. Cheers Pies

No disrespect but this is pretty bad advice. Most (all?) of us have tried the rotainting head power heads from eden/shark etc. I was trying to sell 4 a while ago for $20 each and no-one was interested, now used to stir kalk and gave the others away. I think Alois was trying to get rid of some as was steve? Avoid like the plague, the are gutless, prone to failure and not particulary effective. 1/10. Not worth it even for free. I don't use lids, my new tank won't have lids. Not many (if any hehehe) people use them, waste of glass and light. My new tank is 950 wide, 730 high, make it as big as you can fit Pies

Thats his number. Hes not always at work, often out fixing windows and delivering tanks etc. He will sort you out.

Why not just buy water proof blue LEDs pre-wired with reflectors? Availabe all over the place.