Ira

It went something like this... "Hmmm, why are the fish all still swimming at the glass like they're hungry? Oh, oops, I forgot to feed you guys!" Feed the fish... 30 seconds later... "Waitaminute...I DID feed you earlier!" Little brats outsmarted me.

Ok, here we go if anyone has any comments on these ones, the most appropriate of the ones there... Heissner Amazonas-S [email protected] head $160(My choice) Laguna Powerjet 3000 [email protected] head $150 I think they used to have something starting with a Y, but they didn't today...Was that you, Reef? Oh well. I've also emailed someplace asking for a price on an Eheim 1262 because I didn't get a chance to stop at a fish store.

For the moment I'm aiming for a FOWLR, I can upgrade it to a reef later. I suppose I'll have to get dead rock shipped from probably Auckland. With my tank size I'd be aiming for around 50 pounds of live rock so would need to start off with 50 lbs of dead rock? Base rock I guess is the correct term. I'm definitely starting to think I might just need to take a trip down to Christchurch to get the bits I'll need...Oh, and visit the relatives there of course. The prizm deluxe sounds good, about the right size and cost. I checked the prices on them in the US and surprisingly they're still fairly close to that $360. Ignoring that I'd probably have to replace the pump. I'm off to Oderings to have a look at their pond pumps again.

Where can I GET a good skimmer? I can't just go to a store here in Wellington so it seems the only option is somewhere over the internet. Can someone at least give me the name and model of a good skimmer so I can have a look for it?

It's not me that needed to fold, it's the wife that needed to fold. How much is the eheim pump? If they're like the rest of their stuff probably f*cking expensive. I can get that 3000 l/hr pump for about $100 and it's a brand someone else said they had and was doing well, but I can't remember the name. I'm pretty sure it's all plastic, except the magnet on the impeller, of course. I know I can run it without a skimmer for a while, but seeing as I'm not going to be running it at ALL for a while I'm aiming for collecting everything I'll need. Well, it is running at the moment with a handful of FW fish that I'll have to get rid of.

Basically, I can start collecting bits if they're not too expensive. The tank I'm planning on using is a 4ft, 200L tank. Under the stand(Yeah, I know you hate it Pies) I think I've got enough room for a sump about 400mmX350X300. I was thinking I can get 3500ish l/hr pond pump for fairly cheap and use that as the pump. I'm not sure about skimmers, but the only one I've actually seen for sale doesn't seem particularly good. I thought maybethis one because it seems like a fairly good price, but is from Australia. Then there's getting liverock and appropriate sand. I was thinking of using a fairly deep sand bed. Oh, and lighting! Pies, back in another thread you said you knew a guy selling a 150watt MH light? What kinda price? I might hold off on the lighting at first though. Oh, and of course, I'll have to come see your tank sometime, hehe.

I think with a marine you're better off with a deep sand bed, but if that's not practical and you've already got a good skimmer and everything and still too much nitrate. Then it might be worth it.

They can be used in freshwater, but you're better off just doing more and larger water changes or adding some plants.

I think I'd probably do the same. If it's a large tank I'd take it to someone that knows what they're doing to replace the bottom. A small tank I'd probably try fixing it myself because it wouldn't be too expensive to replace it if I totally blow it.

I'm not sure if they're technically schooling fish, but I'm pretty sure they do tend to prefer company of their own kind. Could be he's just being stressed because he's on his own now.

I don't know how much trouble it would be shipping from australia, but http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au Seems to have fairly good prices. The pump at the top of this page seems like a pretty good deal. 8000 l/hr(Not sure what that would be at the head you need) and I think minus shipping and including GST would be about $250 nz. I've looked at the cost of pond pumps(Because I get things at cost from a garden center) and even at cost I'd at best match those prices.

I think having the stuff under the house would be about the worst possible way to do it. Then you'd have to crawl under the house every time you wanted to do something with your sump. I think having everything under the tank is just fine if it's not convenient to plumb it to a closet or something. Most people have everything under the tanks. About cycling in an empty tank, I'd think you're better off just using straight ammonia like in a freshwater fishless cycle instead of using a rotting chunk of meat and filling the tank with all kinds of fungus and bad bacteria. Oh, and less chance of bad nasties with not using stuff from the ocean also means no chance of good animals.

That's what I'm planning on doing with the next batch. This is only the second time these two have spawned, so I'm giving them two tries to get it right on their own.

Batch of eggs #4, only 2 days after they finished eating the previous batch. Still no fry.

Sounds more like low oxygen in the water. I'd think the plastic water tank should be fine otherwise if it's killing the fish it certainly isn't safe for drinking water.

Ok, grabbed a second one. Hopefully it's a female. It's smaller than the definite male I've got and its forehead is a lot less red and she's a lot darker in color overall. Hopefully it's because it's a she and not just due to being younger. Guess we'll see in a year or so. The filter part was $22 and change. I walked in again just when the rep was there and I heard the owner, the rep and an employee in a room behind the register saying, "Who is this piece supposed to be for? I don't know, it doesn't have a name for it!" And a guy comes walking out holding it. Hehe.

The connectors mine has are connected together by a hexagonal cylinder bit that you push both into and then try and twist it about 90° to lock and tighten them together. I suppose mine could be the wrong pieces too, because it's also secondhand. No, wait, here we go, I found a picture.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Well, when I DO start on one I'll have to have a look.

Got another batch now after swapping one of the fish. We'll see what happens this time.

Remove fluval connectors, replace with eheim connectors. I dunno if you've seen a 403? It's got the hose attached to the top of the cannister, a couple inches of hose, a connector that splits in half with shut off valves on each side and then the rest of the hose.

The reason I say $70 is because I asked about the price of the hose connectors for an Eheim with the hoses to match a 403(To replace the crappy 403's) and it was $80. So I thought the Fluval's might be as much, though eheims are a LOT more expensive and it's better to be pleasantly surprised if it's cheaper.

Misses Angelfish has been commiting adultery!

I just want to note, Pies...I'm refusing to look at your website. I'm guessing if I do then I'll just want a marine tank more and I'm having a hard enough time resisting as it is.

I didn't actually bother to ask how much it would costs since I have to get it anyway. I'm guessing around $70. I considered putting my filter in a tray and covering the crack in superglue. The crack is on the ribbed piece the hoses slip onto which is why I thought I'd probably be ok because the crack is INSIDE the hose. But nope...It drained about an inch of water from the tank in less than an hour which would probably overflow anything I could put the filter in overnight.

Just put it near a load bearing wall and across several floor beams and you'll be fine. Helpful if you can get under the house to see where the beams are of course.