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There are a number of places where you can get your stock from. Rotorua is one of the beter priced suppliers. I have a fully stocked reef tank and live in wanga's. 90% of my tank has been sent to me, the rest I brought from up north. If you want details or options give me a pm

Another way of holding wood down is to drill and tap a couple of stainless steel bolts into the wood then silicone the heads of the bolts to the glass. Works a treat.

+ another. You couldnt be more clear than that.

DITTO!

That is one nice fat powder blue!!

Did you upgrade to a bigger tank? If so, did you increase the circulation? Like Reef said, they need plenty of flow. It helps remove the "waxy skin" of waste they produce. Could it be "fouling" in its own waste? I have a couple of sarcophytons, one was getting stung by a bubble coral. The stings would make it close up for awhile, and leave a bit of a mark, but no real damage.

Doesn't sound good. Could be many of reasons. Need to know more about your tank. Lighting, skimmer, carbon, water motion etc. Do you have alot of stony corals and just a couple of softies?

2000lph is not much for a large tank. What sort/size tank is it?

How long has it been shrinking? A few days? Closing up/shrinking is normal for a few days. Its one way of "cleaning" itself.

Freshwater fish is surrounded by water which is less dense than its body fluids. Due to osmosis, water is absorbed into the body and a fish must excrete water constantly so that it does not burst. The marine fish faces the opposite problem: it is constantly losing water to its surroundings so that it must drink copious amounts of water and excrete salts through the gills. So if there is a lower S.G, there is less energy loss to drinking and excretion of salts.

Skimmers work fine at S.G 1.018 to 1.020. Alot of "fish only" tanks run at 1.018 to 1.020. At that level there is less stress on the fish, as they are purging less salt from their bodies, there for "spending" less energy.

You would be better off using a sump/pump than a filter.

I think you will find most glaziers make tanks, it is part of their trade. Wanganui Glass maybe your best bet, but shop around. You will need 10mm glass tank for a height of 600mm, so it will not be cheap.

Have you got a quote off any of the local glaziers?

There many brands of silicone, you just have to use an acid curring type. Acid curring silicone has a strong smell, and cures real quick.