Pies

I feed flake once a week. I feed 1 sheet of Nori once or twice a week. I feed frozen once per fortnight. I was using cyclops ezee for my corals, not sure if it made a difference but will try it again with my new tank when its setup. Watchout for frozen food (mussles in particular) as its very high in nirtate and phosphate. Doesn't mean don't feed it, just don't over do it. Would use rotifers/plankton if I could get a regular source for it or culture it regulary and easily myself. I have a 740 litre tank and about 450 litres of refugium, which I think adds lots of live food to the tank, hence the reason I don't feed as much as others (i suspect). Pies

I've painted about 10 tanks, never once had a problem of having water getting behind it and blistering it. Clean the glass, spray paint it. Works a treat. Chimera - I would paint it. It only takes a few minutes to paint it, and it looks heaps better. Corline growth will eventually cover it, but maybee (depending on the effect you want) you may want to clean it. Not practical for a 'wall of rock' but looks better if your doing a bommie effect. You don't want to not paint it, and everytime you look at the front of the tank all you see are cables and junk. Remember the room behind it may be dark, but once you throw a few hundred watts of light on the tank it will be lit up like a christmas tree. Pies

Briananomne - Think about what you are asking. I suspect that most of the people who purchase this stock are not as 'fanatical' as us when it comes to their fishtanks. Different people are different. I own a Sony T.V. and don't spend any time on Sony HT forums. I own an XBOX and don't spend anytime on XBOX forums. I drive a Toyota and don't spend any time of Toyota forums. I have a pet cat and don't spend any time on cat forums. Know what I mean? For most people its just a passive hobbie, they have no interest in finding out or even knowing if the DelTec skimming is 5% better than the $100 Queen skimmer they just brought. People will come here when the need or want something. Pies

Yeah but I am afraid if I use NSW my cyno will dissapear

The lino floor for the tank to sit on is finished, all plumbing has been delivered to the tank maker, who I spoke to last week and said he'd start this week. I still have some things to do at my end, organise a sparky etc. I am moving failry slowly. Its a pretty expensive setup and I don't have a lot of money, so am happy to go slowly. I am away for a few weeks in Vanuatu for the first 2 weeks of September so don't want the tank until I return from that. I suspect things will speed along once I return. I will take a week to get the tank plumbed in once it arrives, build the reef racks things like that. From there it will get water in it failry quickly, but i', not looking foward to filling it. 1400 litres of sea water is sevral mega trips to the ocean! I'll post photos when there is something to see. Pies

I don't have any peppermint shrimp.

Salifert made a crap product? Say its not so... Kalk works fine. As an interesting note, I had a few Aipstasia when I moved the tank, hiding in places i couldn't see etc. When I moved I could see them in my tank. I introduced 1x boxing shrimp, 1x comb mouth tang, 1x chromas. Since their introduction I have no aipstasia, none. Also a friend here in wellington has something in his tank that eats Aipstasia. The only fish/inverts we have in common are boxing shrimp and chromas and a Mandarin. I duduce its the chrmas. Ok, i'm kidding its the boxing shrimp. What else could it be? Anyone else heard of boxing shrimp eating aipstasia? It should be noted that I hardly feed my fish, 2x a week at the most, sometimes as long as 7 days between feeding so they are hungry little blighters. Pie 'aipstasia killing king' man

James that awesome mate. I am very impressed, thanks for all the info and pics, some of this stuff is helping me out a lot. Piemania

Layton - I agree about the Eco Aqualiser, but it is interesting that some people have success with it. Personally I think its a scam, but who knows. Zeovit is our friend. How about more info (in english) about these amino acids. And are they related to carbohydrates which are supposed to be very good for corals. Does adding the amino acids increase the smound of greasey crapola you get from the skimmer? Does the skimmer remove it all quickly? Or do you turn off the skimmer when you dose it? Pie

Octopus require a tight fitting lid or they will escape. The rest should be OK. Crayfish get large though!

Its interesting because most people who use the Eco aqualiser claim it increases their Redox. Infact the tank that NickS spoke about that he visited (7000litre from UR) runs one on his tank (its massive) and he claims that it had given him all the results it claims too. Its also a product that is backed up by a lot of science, published information everywhere. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it can't work (or can't work for you). Maybee if Alois starts selling them you'll buy one. Pies

I will support it from down here, I will take some coral out of one of my tanks and put it in the other. Pies

Layton - http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewto ... c&start=15 That is the thread where it was pointed out to you that you were using Zeovit incorrectly. Brendon was offering to help you. Zeovit, Sugar, vodka, draino, Acids... Whats next? (miracle mud, Eco Aqualiser) I feel quite bad for Brendon, everytime he opens his mouth he gets slamed. His tank looks stunning (or did look stunning last time I was there) and hes such a nice guy, not sure why you guys are so hard on him. Pie

I am loathe to get invloved in this debate, but I thought I would share some observations and thoughts, in no particular order: I did have 2 coral deaths when I started to use Zeovit, which I belive (but can't prove) was related to the addition of the Zeovit product. I will be using Zeovit in my new tank. My tank corals, particulary acropora responded very well to the Zeovit. I had coral grow after addition of Zeovit that never did anything in its absense. When I stopped using Zeovit, my corals returned to a dark colour and stoped growing as fast. My skimmer pulled out more gunk, my water was clearer (1 makes the other happen?). I have found Brendon to be very friendly and helpfull. He has invited me into his home, shared some of his experance and thoughts and has given me some good ideas and reading material. If you compare the coral in Brendons tank, to other tanks (Alois's or mine for example) there is no comparison. Brendons corals looked fantastic, and although Brendon told me they normally look a lot better (he had just changed tanks) I was truely impressed. Lots of people here have used Zeovit incorrectly (Layton, Alois - others?). I find it disconcerting that Zeovit doesn't tell you about the contents of its product and it is surrounded by some 'black magic'. Zeovit does work, and the results are stunning. This doesn't mean that other things work just as well (rowaphos, hormones, acids). Just some stuff. Pies

Analfin. That looks pretty good to me. one thing you should do is the second (left hand) refugium divider (the one that shares the space with the return pump) should be lower than the left hand one. But its not a biggie. Other than that very similar to Iras, looks good to me. Good luck Pies

Chimera, you may eat your words when you get micro bubbles casued from you new sump because you didn't put a baffle in! Most designs have 3 or 4. I suspect that is because any less causes problems and any more is overkill. I have 3 without problems, when I had none, I had mega problems. Pie

Evaporation should be handled by pump/timer or float valve. The smaller the final conpartment, the more accurate the dosing and measurement can be. My sump has a very small compartment for the return pump, perhapps 20L max, and its been running for over 18 months without problem. And i am setting up again soon and will do exactly the same thing, because there is no better way to do it. The pump chamber should be of a size that in the vent of the return pipe being blocked, that it doesn't over flow the tank. Bioballs. No thanks. Placement of the skimmer is up to the individual. I belive that the skimmer should be before the refugium, so as not to kill the life that lives in it. But having the skimmer skim all water before it hits the refugium can prevent food etc from fueling the life in there. I think there are a few opnions, and they all have their meirts. Alois - If the design is so bad, how would you fix it? How about offering some constructive feedback insted of just critising it. From what I have seen of your sump and feed system its far more likley to fail that the diagram pictured from Ira. Pies

Kevan If the power failed, the overflow box ensures that the tank doesn't drain (which is why you use an overflow box and not just a pipe). If you have a look at the diagram, the skimmer (and I suspect the heaters) will exist in the larger portion of the sump, ensuring that they can never be dry. Only the return pump can run dry, and as I stated its by design, its unavoidable. Pies

To answers Kevans question, yet it is, and its by design. Better to burn out a pump then have saltwater all over the house. Ira - Same advice I gave Chimera. Having a refugium is all well and good, just be wary of light near the skimmer. Light makes everything dirty and covered in Algae. I would reccomed having the light as far away from all your other equipment as possilbe (heaters, bags, skimmer, return pump). 1 way around it is to use tall baffles with holes cut into it. don't use glass use black perspecs. Pies

Well got to look at a few tanks while I was up, thanks to Steve for scooting me about. JetSkiSteve - Tank looking awesome as always, with some interesting colour in his Acros. A bit of cyno on the sand, but everything else was looking tip-top. The new lights look a lot better than the 10K BLVs he was running. Healthy looking corals abound. Excellent tank Steve, stuff is really starting to grow! Ohhh and if you are looking for some cheap Xenia frags, Steve should be able to look after you NickS - I've seen nicks tank before, perhapps about 6 months ago. This time around the tank was looking much better. Great colour in many of the acros, a very nice yellow/green polyped acro would easily be 3x bigger than it was last time I was there. Great looking monitporas. Nicks tank only had 4 fish, and personally I really liked the 'low fish' look. Nicks water was completely clear and sparkeling with no yellow stain or anything else at all, I couldn't belive how clear it was. Great tank nick can't wait to see it agaon. XXXX - JetSkiSteves in wall tank in Takapuna (sp?). I saw this tank when it was first setup, bare with rock, no fish and no coral. This time around it has more rock, large corals and a few fish and was looking great for a new tank. Good rockwork and nice stock. Steve has done a great job in maintaining this tank. Only negitive was that there are a few Aipstasias about. Thanks to you guys, always a pleasure. Pies

I'm in Auckland Sat-Wed this week. I am catching up with Steve and NickS on Sunday, and hope to see Chimera as well. Anyone else about who wants to catch up, give me a call. See some of you shortly. Pies

I would look at doing no less than 20% every week given you stocking levels. The trick at the moment is everything is alive so you think there isn't a problem, but what happens is the cycling process take a bit of time, and its expodential. So you may not have issues with your stocking level now, but in a month time you may start to pay for your earily stocking. Water changes will help smooth this out, but the key is frequency at the moment. Once the tank settles you can do fewer water changes, but its reccomended you do as many as you can as often as you can. There is never a bad time to do a water change. Good luck. Pies

Radiator would block up in about 2 days flat with the amount of life in the water. This is why radiated systems (including computer) use chemicals in the water, to ensure no biological growth. Pies

It definatly can (I own one). Pies

My tank with the laser cut overflow (5mm open, 5mm closed) driven by a single ehiem 1262 sits about 1.5cm above the bottom of the comb. The thing to think about is that if you feed some nori and it floats off, or a bit of algae floats up or a snail or startfish climbs up and partially blocks the comb, you don't want to end up with water falling over the top of the tank. Pies