tHEcONCH

Yep, but you also got good quality live sand and some plonker catching shrimp and critters for you - you had a bit of a head start, really

Bear in mind that these are very popular tanks - I had an $2000 Eheim tank fail too - one of about six in the country, so on average Aqua Ones don't seem too bad. Just inspect it, and be careful when you set it up, and you will be fine.

Perhaps someone with a mature tank could do that (I've had good success with frags too), but it isn't a good idea for a start up - tank conditions are just too erratic IMO. Best to start with healthy, hardy specimens until things settle down.

That's exactly what I do - don't worry about the worms - they will disappear in no time at all. As your tank matures you will get outbreaks of various algaes and critters - it is nothing to worry about. Just keep up the water changes and it will settle down / fall into equilibrium.

Sadly, I agree with him. I haven't had the comedy of errors he has described, but its fair to say that one of the first lessons experience brings is that you get what you pay for, and if your tank isn't right, it is wrong. There is very little margin for error with marine, and it only takes one thing to be a little out of wack and the whole system will collapse. I'd add one thing to the list of recommendations: DON'T BUY DAMAGED CORALS! - even if they are cheap.

Most of my rams live about three years, although there were some more recent imports that just failed to flourish and died after about a year. Perhaps it was one of that lot?

I use bloodworms twice a week, JBL Gala (flake with dried bloodworms) as a staple.

Yep, there is a huge difference between scraping together a highly unstable arrangement of bare minimum equipment that will only support certain very tolerant inhabitants, and doing it properly so that you can enjoy watching happy creatures doing their thing. I think $1000 / foot is probably not a bad estimate.

Feed it blood worms to clear its gut.

AKA Whitespot

Time to get your bikini on!

Just cover your tank in blankets to keep the heat from the light in - they'll be fine.

For a seven hour journey you won't need oxygen - just half fill the bags and blow them up like a balloon before sealing them with a rubber band. Pack them all together in a strong carton or better still a polystyrene box, and stuff screwed up newspaper in any gaps. Cover with a lid - you want it to be dark so that they sleep. You won't need heating packs (in fact you might have to be careful they don't get too hot in the car). Put them out of the sun (back seat foot well?). Check them when you take a break from driving.

But if you want a ball park figure, it will cost you at least $1000 to get started, plus an absolute minimum of $20 per week to run.

A Loch Ness Monster!

I've been out looking at shoes :lol:

A Blue Dempsey

Blue and Green Phantoms, by the look of it...

I don't know, but kind of cool!

Every second day, or thereabouts - if I can't be blowed doing a water change, I don't feed. Its a bit of a balancing act keeping the food intake high without polluting the water. I'm hoping RO will help, but the greatest source of pollution is definitely excess / uneaten food.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/071207/3/33lr.html

So, what happens to the coral - returned at his expense, or just destroyed?

All of them.

Yep, a baby has appeared, so it must be OK I guess.

I have no idea :roll: