spoon

looks good as so far , you may want to move the rock away from the edge of the glass as it will make it difficult to clean dont just leave enough room for a magnet cleaner either as they wont work getting coralinne algae off

you will be gutted if it dosent

it shouldnt cost a lot more to run if its fish only, a lot of the cost of running a marine tank is the lights which you wont need to have heaps of for fish only. you will need a a decent skimmer you can get away without having a sump if you by a decent hang on back skimmer i would also reccomend having liverock , this is the marine equivalent of a biological filter your biggest running cost will probably end up being salt for doing water changes unless you have easy access to a clean beach to collect your own saltwater do a google search for FOWLR ( fish only with live rock) seel the cannister filter to help fund the skimmer and above all be patient it takes long to cycle a marine aquarium compared to freshwater

the durso part is just to silence it the overflow could be noisy otherwise just like having a straight pipe in a drilled set up if set up properley an overflow box can be great some people have used aqualifter pumps to ensure no air builds up in them the one i have set up uses a strong suction from two large eductors( underwater venturis) this also automatically starts the syphon even if it loses syphon during a power cut etc

well that would depend on wether they are toughened or not if they are just annealed float glass you can cut them and make wahtever size tank you want from them if they are tougened you cannot cut or drill them and they would make for a super large tank

a pipe may work better than a drum but you have to weigh it up the longer the pipe the bigger the pump and the more power you will use also material a glass container would be better than a plastic one due to glass not being as good of a thermal insulator as plastic but a 200l glass barrel is out of the question what im trying to say is different types of pipe or barrel may be better than others .

the landlines arent immune to quakes i spent time after feb working for downer digging up telephone cables they are still finding quake faults. on the voip topic my partners work spent thousands changing to a voip sytem for quite a big business the plan was they'd save money in the long run but it proved so unreliable and people ringing up couldnt hear them huge delays it was just impossible to use so they got rid of it

i guess that brings up another point they dont like light too much could be fun looking at a dark tank all the time

you could put the pump for the underground bit on a cheap temperature controller so it only pumped water through there if it needed too

you still need the telephone cable ( or co-ax cable or sat)and isp the telphone cable just carries a broadband signal and no dialtone

opps i was close :digH:

i would start off keeping a local marine tank for a few years then buy a large tank as they get large quickly, also be prepared fpr the maintenance they are really messy eaters and super sensitive to poor water conditions

put a bit of vaseline on the o- ring should be good as new after that

before buying parts for that filter check it works well and isnt too noisy for your liking it is quite old( may still work fine but best to check before spending much money on it. if you dont have enough tubing some old garden hose could do for testing it looks to be a similar size also check the clips and seals are in good condition and take the pump apart and check the impellor and impellor shaft because if any of these are broken chances are you wont be able to replace them

i dont think you will go back to red sea particularly when you mix it up its much easier

it depends on what ya using it for for example you can get carbon for home brew cheaper than aquarium stuff , its not always that great , if ya buy the cheapest carbon at the lfs its probably better , but carbon that low quality needs a large amount and to replaced regularly other wise it can leach the stuff its absorbed back out . if ya get expensive but high quality carbon from the lfs it will actually work and you wont need a huge amount you will probably find it will last longer than a few days also . so to answer your question IMO theres no cheaper alternative as you will end up using 10 times as much for less effect

its not the lip so much but the vertical wall from what i understand. i dont know what it is about chch that makes it able to support a specialist marine store let alone so many other lfs, but im not complaining and cayrl about the wavemakers they are a special model you cant turn down ive had to put my ato on a timer so it only comes on when im home as it would pump too much freshwater into the tank after a quake

guniea pigs only smell if ya dont clean their hutch out often enough i feel rabbits have more character though and can be toilet trained very easily

went into living reef today, Christchurch's newest aquarium shop and the only one specializing in marine only. its located at unit 1 , 38 Dakota Crescent in wigram , this is just off hayton road and a suprising place for lfs but a sensible one given all the aftershocks these days when you walk into the shop its a dark room and you are greeted by this its a 10ft , 2500l reef system then off to your left and over the stairs is the shop owner Nic stocks a wide range of marine related equipment here most notably dupla marin salt and supplements as well as geisemann lights. he is happy ask answer marine related questions for novices and experienced hobbyist alike and has a passion for the hobby which really shows. out the back is the livestock area current opening hours are 10am till 1pm on sundays and saturdays only, this will increase when the livestock area is finished and livestock is brought in Nic offers other services like custom reef design and reef servicing also most of his products can be shipped nz wide via his online shop to view his other services and online shop visit http://www.livingreef.co.nz for locals Nic has also come up with a relatively simple and very effective idea for preventing water from sloshing from your tank during an earthquake , and is keen to hear other locals ideas and help if he can

i think with the dario it will be fine as long as you only have one dario they tend to fight with each other

id say ditch the cannister filters and buy a decent hang on back skimmer and it wouldnt be too bad but that could depend on wether the tank has any nastys like bad algae or pest anemones which could make it a bit harder to maintain

if you want a pump that makes heaps of air bubbles make your own venturi (google diy epoxy venturi) and use a really grunty pump it would possibly be noisy

cant be the inlet unless they are getting it from a murky rock pool look at the salinty it should be 1.027 for nsw

high density has small beads low has large ones like in a bean bag

i have a nac 6a its great you are probably best to work out how much room you have for a sump and cabinet space etc or if your even going to have a sump before you rush out and buy a skimmer