briank

Mark, Your web site looks good. The photos are stunning. Maybe can you make a section to describe how you get to take such nice photos? Are you using a digital camera? I will like to hear about what settings you used and how you managed to get such clear photos. Sorry, i notice that some of the paragraphs in your web pages did not wrap aroung the pictures correctly, maybe it is my web browser. Cheers

Mark, Awesome tank! Your have sofisticated purifying method for top up water. The cost of setting up and maintaining your tank must be tremendous!! I went to Hollywood fish farm in Albany yesterday, they quoated me, for a 3 feet marine tank the cost is around $1500++ for all the equipment, rocks, filters, skimmer, etc!! I feel so down now coz I know I will never be allowed to have such a tank due to the cost!! good on you mark! post more pics lets we less fortunate ones weep in admiration!!

pies, I look forward to browsing your web site. Give us a tinker when have it online. Cheers.

Chris, pies is right. Firstly, if your water level has gone down due to evaporation DO NOT top the water up with salt water, use fresh water from the tap. This is to avoid the salinity of the water going too high, because evaporation leave the salt in the water and if you add more salt water to the tank the water would be get saltier and saltier. I have read that other people use filtered water because they are cleaner and do not have disolved phosphate, and other unwanted minerals. Get your water from a clean beach to avoid introducing bad stuff into your tank. I do my water change once every 1 - 2 weeks, it depends oh how much I am feeding the fish. So before you change water, top the water up to the original level with freshwater, leave the tank for half hour for the freshwater to mix into the saltwater, then take about 10 - 20% of the tank water out.

JackJackJack, since you enjoy DIY projects, visit this web site they have all sort of DIY project for marine aquarium: http://saltaquarium.about.com/

thanks for advice pies. yeah, i believe its a type of triplefin blenny. I think my tank is too small to sustain a large population of macro inverts but its ok.. I prefer to keep fishes that are easy feeder. I dont want to kill another even if they are free. WOW, I have seen the mandarin and scooter blenny, they are really beautiful fishes!! The mandarin fish is especially hard to keep, you must have a very good setup! How big is your tank? what is the specifications?

JackJackJack, Good on you. What is the climate in western australia?? Is it cold in winter and hot in summer? I would like to see your pictures when you have setup your tank. Remember not to over stock your tank, otherwise its going to be high maintenance. Start with sand and rocks from the beach and rockpool, and let it settle for awhile before collecting critters. change 20% sea water every week to keep it clean. Chris, that nudi is indeed nice! I did not go out looking for it, it came with the rock. I only noticed it after having the rocks for more than 6 months. It is not always visible, it hides all the time. So I am lucky when I get to see it!! :lol: DIY the skimmer is cheaper. The ones I saw at the shop is around $80++, even for a air driven one. I suggest getting a power head to move water around the tank, it would improve airation. IMO, a 1 inch sand bed and lots of rockpool rocks is a must, the rock would have bacteria for natural filtration for the tank. Change water more often, and you would not need the skimmer for the mean time. Don't over stock your tank, I know the temptation is great to catch everything you see in the rock pool!! I have been guilty of this before, hehehe!! :oops: You would have to experiment to find out what type of critters that are suitable for your aquarium. The gray blenny that I had is dead, it was not eating the food I fed it. I believe it like live food like brineshrimps and copepods. Another critter I find hard to have in the tank are big star fish, they eat everything!

chris, it was only 1 inch long. The macro setting of the camera made it look large!

Bummer!! :-? Well have to keep searching.. a great challenge lies ahead. I have read on the net about those Marine tank chillers, but they were so so expensive!!

:oops: yep, that is way too hot. sorry. BTW, today, went to a Adventure Tourism expo, I saw a protable chiller that runs on 12v DC, maybe that can be modified to put ontop of your tank? The one I say, has the chiller unit as the lid of the container and it was detachable.

Thanks Caryl. I am sure you can setup one tank, put it in the basement and use a fan to cool your tank... Rock pool fishes and invert are quite used to variable temperature. Try not to catch fishes from the deep coz they like more cooler water. BTW, I finally got a GOOD PICTURE of the nudibranch!!! visit my web site to see it for yourselves!! Pies, what type of nudibranch is it?? Its so pretty!!

thks Chris. There is lots of fun with a rock pool aquarium..

Hi, I have updated my website with some more pictures. Enjoy. Cheers!

Pies, thank you. I have not been able to update the web site lately, I was thinking of restructuring all pages soon to accommadate more pictures. Will post a note when I hv done it. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kuansl/MarineTOC.htm The nudi I saw does not look anything like the clown nudi coz is has orangy/red stubbles on its side. Too bad their life span are so short, I had the rocks for about 6months. I spent an hour yesterday looking all over the tank for it but it seem to have dissappeared.

ic. too bad. maybe you can settle for a smaller and cheaper tank. BTW, over the weekend I went down to takapuna beach when it was at low tide, I found lots of hermit crabs and green anenomies. I have also discovered a great spot at Birkenhead Wharf for getting those blue filter feeding crabs, there were hundreds of them under all the rocks. :lol: I also had a new discovery in my tank, I spotted a very beautiful nudibranch (sea slug), too bad I could not get a picture of it before it dissappeared among the rocks. It looked something like the ones in this website: http://www.medslugs.de/E/wallpapers/Cra ... egrina.htm

Hi Chris, how did it go? Did u get a new tank? over the weekend, I was strolling on Devonport Beach, I found lots of nice macro algae on the beach. Its dark green, and its attach to small shells and rocks. I find that if the algae are attached to rock and shells can survive and grow in aquarium compared to the ones that are broken and floating around. So I have picked some up and put in my aquarium.. Hope they would flourish, will post some picture of it tonight. cheers

Chris, Good luck!

Chris, I have updated the web site with picture of the whole tank and also put details on some of the pictures. I was going to identify the "gray" blenny but the book at the Glenfield Whitcouls was sold before I got there. It was a great book coz it has pictures of all New Zealand Rock Pool fishes. Have you got idea what type of blenny it is? BTW, have you got you tank yet? Cheers

ic, I know what u mean. I will post more tonight if my wife doesn't need the computer for her assignments. I have another tank that I have not posted yet.. just have to find time to put it in the web site. Chris, Careful with the "Collection Bug" it has bitten me, and now I am hooked.

Thks guys! I have updated the web site with picture of the inhabitants. I feed them flakes, pipis, etc. The anemones I feed directly with big pieces of pipis. Sorry, if I have not elaborate much about things on the web site, I am new to writing web pages.. :lol: Cheers

When i got them. they were like a 5 cent coin, now its bigger than 50 cents coin. I wonder if they would grow any larger!! They are great fun feeding.

I got them on Takapuna beach, the rocky area under the cliff face. They were abit hard to get coz they live in holes. you might need to use a small knife to pry it out.

Oops sorry. mistake in the path.. try this one http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kuansl/MarineTOC.htm

hi all, Finally I have a home page, the site is still under construction but I thought I would share some pics of my little cold water marine aquarium. http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kuansl/MarineTOC.htm Cheers.

hi all, I was in Rotoroa yesterday and drop by the PetShop on the road to Paradise Valley, they had 4 Percula Clown (abt 1 inch) for $65 each.