[new to marine]

Maybe you should consider Fish only with live rock and no coral.

Wouldn't need mega lighting Just a good skimmer. If you already have a spare tank you would just need the skimmer and lights to view them.

Main problem with small marine tanks is people still seem to stick fish that will grow too big in their small tanks.

for example the Blue Tang. Small 3cm one in a Red Sea Max is OK (well to some people but not me) this grows (fast). Not really fair on the fish. Kinda like all 100+ kgs of me living in a room the size of the toilet, could be done but not pretty.

Marines are different in that you cannot have as many fish as freshwater in the same sized tank

[new to marine]

hi its $1200

Seems reasonable for a starting tank. For a guide a reef tank generally works out at approx $1000 per foot not including livestock, corals etc

so going buy your advice the redsea 130 wouldnt be big enough for tangs either?

Nope, well may be a solitary yellow tang but I wouldn't

hmm is the redsea 130 the better unit? Not sure haven't had one.

We started with an AR980 converted to marine, conversion cost heaps and didn't really do what we wanted.

Got a 3cm Blue Tang when we started, to cut a long story short we now have a 5ft tank and same blue tang is 17cms long and 3cms wide :lol: we called him Porky.

are there any other all in ones out there?

If you're serious about having a good marine tank I would seriously suggest collecting all the bit and bobs and get a tank built, 3ft is good but 4ft I think would make a better starting tank.

There is another dedicated marine keeping site where you could ask, (not sure I can mention it here).

Biggest issue with keeping marines is most beginners don't believe some of the answers as regards to costs involved and think "they can do it on the cheap". from my own experience this is not really the case, you can save money sure but you should not skimp on a quality skimmer and strong lighting particularly if you are keeping a reef. Buy good equipment you owe it to your fish and corals, and good quality equipment generally lasts years.

Hope I haven't put you off

You can see our tank and upgrade here Mikees Tank

I don't consider it to be that flash compared to other local (NZ) tanks I have visited and it not big enough!!

Bigger one in works for next year

[new to marine]

Total lighting is about 83 w from what I understand. Not really enough might be OK for fish only or some softies up high but I'm not convinced. Size would limit the type of fish you could keep, no Blue Tang (or any other tangs). Looks like an OK All n One setup but not my cup of tea. Whats the cost?? How does it compare to tank/stand/skimmer and lights separately? I would also be suspicious of the skimmers ability to cope.

So if you're after a smaller tank, All in one style, don't want to keep SPS, LPS, and only a few smaller fish then this one should do the job fine BUT if you intend to progress to the above corals and bigger fish then I would suggest getting something larger purpose built.

just my .02

[anyone live in gisborne with a marine tank???]

Our first tank was an Aquaone AR980. Changed it from freshwater. Good starter tank but definitely has its limitations.

Persevered with it for 12 months then upgraded it to a 5ft'er and turned the AR980 into a sump.

Difference was like night and day. Don't regret it at all. BUT we have gone from 3 freshwater tanks to one marine one and it's not big enough. Next one will be a cube 1.5m x 1.5m x 700 high!!!!!

[Cool tanks to look at??]

Not in Auckland but if your over the Hill, you're welcome to come and have a look at my big salty glass box filled with money

[Power Heads Available in NZ]

When the Tunze nanos first were released there were a few reliability issues with the "C" clips

One problem was the 4 little tabs that held the clip to the magnet snapped off.

Another problem was after a period of time the "C" clip plastic befame brittle and would snap on either side of the central part of the "C"

These issues according to Tunze have been resolved. I have had both these problems with my tunze nanos but have been able to obtain replacement parts from the Tunze distributor. Overall they are a good unit.

Same here, Local distributor backed them up without question, yay for them

[Cool tank]

Yep also known to empty your wallet at astonishing speed

Great tank though

[Tired of BOC gases deal on Co2? Check this -]

I understand about volume discounts to encourage regular customers to stay with the firm. My point was that it costs the firm no more to fill 99 cylinders for pubs and 1 for me than it does for 100 cylinders for a pub. There is no more cost involved so why does one company charge $10 and the other $30 and which company would you go to when all the companies have to meet the same safety requirements and the only difference is the cost?

I guess it all comes down to because they can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tired of BOC gases deal on Co2? Check this -]

They are filling heaps of CO2 bottles with food grade CO2 for the food industry every day. Why would it cost them more to fill my once a year bottle than the pub's once a week bottle?

It's called "volume discount" pub will need them more often so the business is regular and company probably discounts accordingly. I know we do much better prices for volume sales (especially where the sales are ongoing) where I work.

[Camnbrons Tank setup]

I'm tending to be going along the line of not having an excessively large display tank, but it will deninately have more depth (front to back) than my current tank.

If I had the cash and space I'd go 5ft square by 600-700 high.