tHEcONCH

Awww... I feel sorry for it - give it a hug for me

Yea, the boiling water method isn't too great - its hard to really 'Cook' the stalk and they just grow back. Some sort of systemic poison is the way to go - keen to hear if the lemon juice works.

NICE

Its not set in stone - but I need to go back to the AK and WG a couple of times over the next couple of months, so there will be some flexibility but I'm guessing the next trip will be a month or so out. I generally go to one in the morning, and the other in the afternoon, so it will mean picking up at one end around 12, and dropping off at the other around 1pm.

If this isn't super urgent I can probably do it next time I visit our Auckland and Wellington branches - if someone could meet me at the airport at each end I'd be happy to carry it.

I've had a very small blob (5mm x 5mm) of that appear (always in the same place) - it seems harmless, but I just syphon it off when it does appear.

Don't forget the pics!

See wasp's advice a page or two back...

You never know... I might find another recess behind another door just out of view of the Wife... or if anyone is interested in a breeding pair of Oscars I could use that tank...

One other thing - I'd recommend that regardless of what you do, remove the foam from the intake (both the black block and the thin white layer) as soon as you've got sand, rock and water in there and you've let it run overnight - other than pulling some of the initial silt out of the water column, its more hassle than it is worth - and you can then use the chamber to hold a phosphate remover of some sort (rather than having to poke it under the circulation pumps which is difficult to access at the best of times)... Good luck, and be patient...

...or Corals and 2-3 carefully chosen (small, colourful, peaceful) fish... perhaps a couple of Bangai Cardinals and Small Clown, or 2-3 Firefish and 2-3 cleaner shrimp (they are fun too)... ...and you can add a smallish Brittlestar to any of the above too...

I think I'll have to give it a miss - I think my tank has fallen into equilibrium, and I don't really want to upset the balance by having Anemone vs. Coral battles all over the place, so I might just have to be patient and wait until I get another (bigger) Marine tank going. They look very cool though. In fact, were I to have another RSM, I'd probably just stick a single Anemone and a clown fish in it (assuming the lighting was up to the task - although I might have a cunning refit option there...)

Yep, although Damsels are hardy, they are a difficult fish because they will beat up everything else you put in there. Given that RSM's are quite small, you'll have better long term success with smaller fish that aren't too territorial - and because RSM's are small, you can have and see smaller interesting fish that would otherwise be too hard to spot in a big tank - have you looked at firefish etc?

It depends a little on what else you want to put in the tank in the way of corals etc - If you have more fish you'll have more difficulty keeping the water clean enough for some corals, but if you want to have primarily soft corals like Xenias, Mushrooms, Zooanthids, etc. you should be fine. A lot of it comes down to how well you maintain the tank and how often you do water changes etc but you'll definitely have to give he Mandarin a miss this time around if you do put those other fish in there - it will only end in tradgedy otherwise.

To be honest I probably shouldn't have two fish in that tank - and either of them are entertaining on their own. If you are looking to build a similar sized tank then do consider having just a Mandarin, and whatever you do don't get any other groundfeeding / pod-eating fish. The Flame Angel doesn't really compete directly for food, but Gobies etc. might, so if you succumb to temptation like I did then consider mid-water fish like Bangai Cardinals etc that won't be able to forage in the same areas as the Mandarin. Most importantly, get a good population of critters in your tank before you introduce the Mandarin - mine arrived quite thin and without live food to get it interested it might not look so good now.

Coolies... I'll pick some off and leave them at the local fish-mongers for you to collect next weekend...

I had the same problem, and unfortunately couldn't find anything South American / Amazonian so ended up using Botia Sidthumunki (Chain / Dwarf Loaches) - they stay small, aren't too loud / aggressive, and work well in combination with South American style tanks.

I might have a few zoos you can have... do you like purple?

Water changes, water changes, or water changes - any of those three things will fix it.

How are all your little critters going?

I've just had an outbreak myself - I did nothing, other than blast them off things with a syringe (and only for fun) - their numbers have started to drop as the tank falls into equilibrium. I suspect they are probably quite good at eating little bits of organic matter that would otherwise turn into ammonia.

I'm a recent marine convert and like yourself come from a Discus keeping and breeding background - I find that corals respond well to the same kind of care that Discus do - good food, clean water and regular water changes. The water in Christchurch is pretty good - its already very soft and very clean out of the tap - in fact the only thing that you might have to worry about is a bit of residual phosphate that can very easily be removed with a phospate removing compound. I use plain old tap water mixed with Red Sea Pro salt which is made to use with RO water. To remove the phosphate, I use Seachems product. It works pretty well, in fact given that RO water is in some ways too pure (its stripped of a lot of its trace elements) I suspect Christchurch tap water might be a better option. Check out my Red Sea Max thread if you want to see what you can grow in it.

Their suitability probably depends upon what you want to do with them - they aren't as powerful as metal halides, which might be a good thing if you want to grow certain sorts of coral or plants, and they might also be useful when used to augment metal halides. You can buy all the components in those kits from electrical suppliers if you know what you are after.

Or is he a Fairy Tale...? We'll have to ask his GiRlfrIEnd!

Here are a few more... ...give me your thoughts...