Maelgrim

So the Blue Chromis are for my Wife (Pretty Colour) The Nemo /s are for my daughter (will look at 2 now) and the Mandarin for me (unfortunately probably ages away) I live in Albany (10 min walk to Hollywood). Takapuna is not to far off, anyone used Browns Bay ? Do you need to "do" anything to NSW before sticking it in ? (I guess warming it up)

Maybe I get a mix of live and some stuff from the LFS. Everything seems to be coming togeather in my head now Almost time for some purchases. Any idea what T5 lighting would cost for 980w x 680h x 400 ?

Hi Guys - thanks for the input Yeah it was the Algae growth I was worried about. It doesn't sound like I will have to worry to much if the water is kept in good shape. I wonder why you don't see any Tanks setup in fron of windows for loads of free natural light. Yeah ive been getting headaches from all the reading attempting to put the Marine Jigsaw togeather (worse than studying for Cisco exams). I'll take a look at the T5's and ask my LFS (Hollywood) if they can supply the dry live rock you mention. Does anyone have a school of Chromis - what would you recomend for a minimum number ?

Yes its another Newbie help thread. But you all seem pretty accomodating so hope you don't mind. Basically I am wanting to start a Marine Tank (Family Christmas present). Now I have been reading a ton of material and have read a huge number of ways of doing things and I think I have an idea as to what I am going to do. So below I will outline the Plan (which you can pull apart) and pose a few questions I am struggling with. The TANK: Looking at a 220Litre (about 980 wide, 680 tall) basically equates to a 55 Gallon which is useful when reading all the US articles out there. I realise bigger is better but this is realistically as big as I can go. Will have a SUMP and am looking at a Skimmer like the reef Octpus (maybe a Deltec MC500 if I can get one cheap enough). It seems like the majority of People are running Berlin style Tanks (Big Skimmer & Live rock), so that is what I will try and emulate. Lighting will be cheapest I can get to support Bio load below. With a view to oneday get a Metal Hallide when I fancy Invertibrates etc Will go with a 1inch substrate (looks nice). The PLAN: Phase1 The Plan is to start with Fish & Live rock. The complete Fish load being 1 Clown 4 Blue Chromis (is this amount ok?) 1 Mandarin (realise can be tricky and must be added to well established tank) Phase2 Get a Quarantine / hospital tank in place. Ideally before Mandarin goes in. Phase3 Look to upgrade lighting and add some Corals and maybe a shrimp. QUESTIONS 1. Where do I get Live rock ? I take it that sticking in any old rock and having it pass the cycling phase does not turn it into Live rock (I would assume you need at least 1 Live rock before you create/seed more) - I'm a bit confused on this as you may have guessed. 2. Is the Fish load ok? I have read 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons. So assuming I have a 55 Gallon tank (actually a tad more) - that would means 11 inch of fish. I am a bit concerned about the Chromis as I have read they can get up to 5 inches. I assumed Clown = 3inch, Mandarin = 2 inch, Chromis = 2inch (Total = 13inch). Maybe I drop the clown. Also do I include the SUMP volume in these calculations ? 3. Lighting, realistically what lighting do I need to support the above give the Tank height (680) ? 4. Good place to collect seawater in Auckland ? 5. Sunlight might be an issue - one corner of the tank may get direct light during the afternoon. Would a UV film tint work ? (like you can get done on house windows etc). Don't want to paint the side, so might put up a mini curtain / shade cloth to shield the tank. 6. Any major bits of equipment missed ? Any answers / comment / critique would be greatly appreciated Regards Michael