tHEcONCH

There is a lot more than just the cost of the stock that the shop has to recover - their margin has to cover losses, the lease on the building, the interest on the loan they took to build the tanks - the cost of maintaining the tanks, the staff costs, the ACC levy on the staff, electricity, insurance, paying their accountant, advertising, the list is endless. You can't take one fish in isolation like that - you are ignoring the real cost of doing business.

I don't think so - and Stanmore Road and Redwood don't have much at all at the moment - unless you want aiptasia :lol:

I'm not poking the borax, I'm just keen to understand the supply chain a little better so I can scrag all the good bits

Perfect - I just wanted to know what they looked like - it's cool

I'm a perfectionist, I guess. :oops:

Yea, I get the impression that Auckland has more good stuff - bigger market, I guess.

Organism $6.99 :bounce:

This question may have been asked and answered elsewhere, but as the search function is down I'll ask it again - Why is it so hard to get hold of good Coral? Shipments seem almost random, and the quality likewise. Any tips on where to get hold of good frags?

Hell Yea, some great pieces in there - If only we could get hold of good stuff like that at regular intervals. I know I've bought some stuff that I don't really want through lack of alternative.

Do you have a pic?

So... I need a little fish that will keep the algae in check now that Thermal is gone - any advice on something that will stay small enough and not predate on pods too much?

2? That tank sounds fairly well stocked already.

Most fish will eat anything they can get in their mouths - except Oscars, who will eat things that won't fit as well.

I agree and I'm happy for any advice that will help me keep the mandarin (or the rest of the tank, for that matter) happy. I feed the sun corals an hour after 'lights out' and there are squillions of little creatures running around then

If they are the rounded green shelled snails from John's shop they tend to just lay eggs in clusters rather than squirt them around - unlike tHEcONCH's which squirt after every water change - doesn't really cloud the water though - looks like little whisps of smoke that disapate fairly quickly.

I'd go a few too... I'll even give you money

If you have any luck, PM me

You needn't worry - I regularly go 'fishing' for greeblies out of someone else's refugium to supplement whatever my tank is producing. It has actually put on weight since I got it (it had a very sunken stomach), so I'm hopeful I'm meeting its needs - if it gets thin, I'll definitely re-locate it.

They certainly seem a lot more capable than a lot of people give them credit for, and they certainly overcome the 'techno-babble' that puts a lot of people off setting up a marine tank, but they aren't without problems. Mine has had new cooling fans, a new ballast, and new timer under warranty, all of which I have had to fit myself. The skimmer doesn't seem entirely right either - it deposits waste on to the inside of the skimmer body (I've checked the intake pipe is clear), below the removable cup. Add that to the cheap cabinet, and in retrospect I wonder whether I might have been better off with something else - in fact it is only the difficulty of establishing a new tank and shifting my existing corals that stops me going to something else. To their credit, the local distributor has supplied replacement parts and offered to pay for an electrician to fit them, but it certainly has not been 'Plug and Play' like the sticker says on the box - in fact I doubt its been any less hassle than builting your own set-up from scratch. Those issues notwithstanding, it has allowed me to get into marine, and maybe allowed me to avoid other problems to do with compatibility along the way. I just wish the build and component quality had been better.

I think you'll find it'll just keep growing so long as it can get enough nutrients - algae tends to grow less if there are fewer nutrients in the water, but eradicating it is near to impossible. Just remove as much as you can and try to lower the nutrient content of the water (feed less, more water changes, more circulation).

:bounce:

Keep it a secret man!

I'd not want to disturb the fry - prepare a new tank for the parents - perhaps glass bottomed with the cycled sponge and some water from their current tank, but do lots of water changes until you are confident that the tank is stable. Once the filter is up to par, add gravel etc.

Do you have an RSM? If so, you can get a fan that fits in the back by the circulation pump - there is a port readymade for it in the back corner of the hood - ask John

About 28, I think - some real reefs are actually hotter, but of course it is near constant and everything has adapted to that heat - I think heat variation/spikes are more of a problem than the actual heat.