Fmxmatt

Btw conch, I bought ur sponge zoos off john

I picked up a nice looking white bubble coral from Redwood, different to what i've seen before because its like a branch with bits of bubble on each tip. Still looking for a green one tho

John was telling me only a few people seem to have success with them as alot of them seem to die off without reason after 6 months to a year. Or am I thinking of something else which is similar?

Mines untraceable out of the tap. It wasn't until I started stocking the tank that Phosphate started rising and hence I started using phos remover

Well I was thinking that myself Conch, when I was with freshwater tanks, my PH straight from the tap was 7 - 7.2 (I haven't checked it recently) If i've got some spare time tonight I might test MG, CA, and Hardness

Taken from CCC Website A typical average chemical (naturally occurring) analysis of Christchurch water pH 7.8 pH after aeration 8.2 g/m³ Acidity to pH 8.3 (as CO3) 1 g/m³ Total Alkalinity to pH 4.5 as HCO3 52 g/m³ Turbidity (NTU) Less than 1 Nitrate Nitrogen 1 g/m³ Sulphate 5.0 g/m³ Chloride 5.0 g/m³ Calcium 12.0 g/m³ Fluoride Less than 0.1 g/m³ Magnesium 1.5 g/m³ Potassium 1 g/m³ Sodium 6.1 g/m³ Reactive Silica (as SO2) 16.0 g/m³ Total Hardness (as CaCO3) 45 g/m³ Conductivity at 20ºC (mS/m) 10 Note: Grams per cubic meter (g/m³) is equivalent to milligrams per litre (mg/l). Now I'm not 100% sure about RO, but am I correct to believe that if RO was tested for all the above, it would return all 0 mg/l? And to get the beneficial values up, thats when the "quality" salt is mixed? I can see both beneficial and bad things on that list, kind of a 6 of one, half a dozen of the other scenario

I think it depends where in CHC you are. I know when we were pumping our own water when we lived kind of rural (out airport way), we had to get another pump put in. At that time we got a TDS reading and from Dads memory it was 0 or very very low Theres always going to be arguements between people who use it and people who dont use it. I've also seen tanks run on tapwater which look outstanding, but the more I research, the more I see, that if you want absolute pristine conditions, then RO/DI is the easy option. I'm not saying it isn't possible with tap water, but there would be far more work involved. At the moment, i'm happy with the Tap Water until I can afford an RO unit

I'm running tapwater aswel, but I do plan on going RODI shortly, just gotta wait for xmas to be over so I can afford a decent kit

done

Let me know if you want to make somethin urself. Got a range of PC fans here at work (60mm, 80mm, 92mm and shortly 120mm) that should work out cheaper than buying from say DSE or wherever

The highest ive seen mine is 28, never seen it higher than that since i've stocked it. I've got a feeling that hardwood floors make a bit of difference (well if not for the temp, then definatly for the saltwater spills)

Lol, but if you hadn't got the tank you have, then you wouldn't know what you want would you? Exactly like me. I thought i'd be fine with what i've got, but if I were to do it again, there would be ALOT of changes! Maybe this time next year I'll look for another tank to "upgrade" to

Depends how you look at it He would like it because he could bully them But he would not like them so he would bully them He's earning himself the name Wooly Bully, even though he's not wooly

I've got a couple of books for ID'ing fish and inverts coming shortly (500+ of each), i'll let you know if they're worth the $ I've got 3 other books which I bought when I was first setting up. Very basic stuff, nothing indepth about specific species or anything. I think they'll end up on trademe once these new ones come in. Though I still like browsing through and looking at the pictures

Thats why I dont really want to get rid of it, he's such a nice colour. The Goby doesn't seem too worried, he's not hiding so things might be coming right. I spoke to the damsel this morning though, told him if I found any nipped fins on any of my fish, he'd be in trouble. I also told him he's lucky I dont have a sump!

Hmm will definatly keep an eye on it then because the goby is the preference. Anyone in CHC want a starki damsel? (if/when I can catch it)

Hmmm ur the only one to mention that about starkis. Everywhere else i've read and other people i've spoken to have said their starki's are passive compared to most damsels, and I agree with mine. Its wierd because i've just spent 30 mins watching the tank and the goby and starki were swimming around togther hunting for food like they were best mates (much like how the clowns behave) I'll try to get a pic

Heyas My Starki Damsel seems to find pleasure in bullying my Fire Goby on the odd occasion. The only other fish he'll pick on is my Hippo Tang (But thats too stupid to realise whats going on) My tank is 350 litres with plenty of hiding spots (the goby has made himself a burrow) and the goby is often out and about so it doesn't seem stressed, but should I look at perhaps rehoming my damsel? The Goby has only been in since Saturday, is it too much to hope that the bullying may stop eventually? It only happens very rarely but I'm just a wee bit worried that the damsel may start fin nipping. Strangely enough, my clowns tend to get involved if there is ever any violence. 1 will go and get the damsels attention, and the other will swim between the goby and damsel. Has anyone ever seen this type of behaviour before? Cheers

Was he reef safe? I dont know much about em, my fish and invert "encyclopedias" haven't turned up yet

Not too sure. Whole group of them just moved to the glass closest to them and haven't moved since they went in. Gutted bout ur 6 line too, I didn't realise they didn't ship too well

Picked up some frogspawn today.... def my favourite now. Wish my rock would hurry up and cure in the garage so I can put it in the tank and finish the aquascape!

I'll look after some

LOL Holiday in the sump

Actually Reef, it was a pic of your setup that made me ponder how you do it since you had a few SPS nearly at the top of the tank. I figured that you probably did ur water changes thru ur sump, guess not

Ahh ok cool. Lights always off during water changes so should be all good Cheers