Morcs

Well might scrap the idea of a shrimp to start with then, maybe a clown or two and some snails for cleanup. A question i do have though, is with the setup I have and stocking im planning, once the system is matured and balanced, is there any reason to do water changes (if i have a skimmer that works ok) other than to rectify water params? in theory if params (including nitrates) are always at 0, what are water changes doing? No worries re live rock, im sure someone has a small piece somewhere

Fish only. At the moment probably set on a cleaner shrimp and a single normal clown. I read somewhere about slowly increasing the lighting for uncured rock... from 2hrs per day increasing half hour per day until normal photoperiod is reached. Any sense in this? Got a tiny piece of LR i can steal? True that! chlorine is now my friend!

I tested the DI water. readings were: PH:6.8 Ammonia: 0.25ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: 10ppm GH: 0 KH: 0 Phosphates: 0 Now the nitrates are a worry. the drum was nearly empty, so ill fill it up on tuesday and retest. The ammonia is also a worry in that water supply, but in this case, might be beneficial for my tank and will give the cycle a kick start, so in theory i just sit and wait? Water is heating up, currently at 23, aiming for 24-25. SG currently is 1.025 so hopefully will drop into the middle of the ideal range once a bit warmer (meaning my mixing ratio was pretty good) Had a good read on nano-reef.com about water changing, so going to get another powerhead, a couple of probe thermometers and another heater to premix and preheat the new water in the containers before adding to the tank, but I wont have to worry about doing any water changes for a while eh. Also decided how to have my filter setup. in the middle media compartments, going to have two sponges, carbon (bio chem zorb better in this case?) and then floss in the first compartment, followed by my skimmer in the second compartment. To prevent nitrate build up in the mech media, weekly i will pull the sponges out and clean, leaving them to dry out (and kill any bacteria) and cycle with two other sponges doing the same thing. Good idea? Today I ordered myself an API saltwater master test kit, a Marine blue PL bulb, and an airpump to run the skimmer too. Got more dead rock too, total now of about 3kg.

Had a good yarn with Stu at HFF albany. He gave me lots of good advice too. Not going with seawater as the marina especially probably has heaps of bad stuff coming off the boats (diesel) So mixing my own water. bought two of those 20L plastic containers and some red sea salt. Stu pointed out that I have DI water at work (our fishrooms water supply) and went and filled my containers up. Got some more coral rock too. Just waiting for temp to come up so i can measure salinity. Overheating shouldnt be a problem? 1 x 11PL tube, and ill probably adjust it down to about 24 to account for heat building. So basically ill always have 40L of premade water on hand Where do i go from here? allow it to sit, circulate etc for a couple of days, then?

Yep natural sea water. and being a marina its quite easy to collect from there. id settle for just one clown and maybe a shrimp if it meant maintenance would be easier... Just drained tank and removed media from filter. If i have time today ill get a drum from mitre10 and go collect some seawater! This is all very exciting. the joys of being a complete noob again. Love it. My only concern with this tank is if the main powerhead were to blow. finding a replacement would be pretty difficult. anyone know who the distributor for Heto is? ill buy a spare. i also want to compare the powerheads that the Juwel rekords use as it looks very similar in shape and fitting... I also have an aquaclear 70 powerhead (1800lph), is it worth running this for a wee while in conjunction with the other powerheads to clear the rock out?

Thanks Guess id better replace the fresh water with salt water quite soon, and grab some live rock, and let the tank run for a while then. Would you recommend i get more rock? Might avoid corals and just go for a pair of clowns to begin with. No room for anything else such as a cleaner shrimp or fire goby? I plan on getting a 60L drum or something to fill up and store in the garage. Ill grab a sample of my local marina water and test it at work on tuesday too.

Just ordered an air powered skimmer to go in the filter. for a total of $22 SHIPPED from the US, i thought its worth a punt... http://cgi.ebay.com/Nano-Air-Wood-Protein-Skimmer-/370391802315?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563d1261cb#rpdId

So with marine filtration the key is to not have 'conventional media' ? I could fit a skimmer into the filter then, like the one i linked to in an above post? So the rock will cure and become live on its own if i were to fill with salt water? thanks guys, your input is great Just put my eheim pump in. 900LPH in 3 directions. no dead spots i think. thats some good circulation i reckon. 30x turnover

thanks for your input. its a 33L. I dont think that includes the filter tho, so near 40L. So sponges in the filter are ok though? If the bio media isnt required then that frees up some room in the filter for something else. yeah, but the tank is empty at the mo, so its there for looks (sens got picked up this morn)

Questions after my initial reseach >With the current lighting, can i (or should i) grow soft corals? >Would maintenance be easier if left BB, or put some coral sand in? >Water change schedule and %, with say a pair of clowns, and no skimmer. (i live near a marina so will collect water in bulk) >Is surface movement (aeration) in the tank a bad or good thing? >Filter media? sponges and substrate pro good or bad? should i change? (i could possibly fit a skimmer in the filter like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230354515350&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en >worth running a phoszorb in the filter? thats about it for now, thanks

Always wanted to try marine. Was in Massey pets in their closing down sale and picked up a Heto HR-330 tank - it looked to be the perfect tank for starting a nano marine. Its a well finished unit, 1 x PL11W bulb (will change for a marine PL), it has the whole filter unit built into the back, including space for a 50W Eheim Jager . The pump is 600Lph (20x turnover!) and has a multidirectional nozzle (though ill add my Eheim compact 300LPH pump also). Filter has 4 decent sized sponges and i bought 250g of substrate pro too. Got some coral rock aswell (about 2kg). cost so far, a mighty $140! Setup as a freshwater holding tank at the moment until ive done enough research to be confident in taking the plunge. Im sure its a lot simpler than is sometimes made out to be - well, a fish only marine anyway... Whatdya guys think, this tank got potential? what are my livestock options with the size, filtration and lighting? id like to keep 1 clown at least

Normal fish shop bags for most things. Polyboxes for larger fish.

I used to let my bluey swim in my big open plant tank at work for 10 seconds at a time, or just dip her in. Now i have a spray bottle (supercheap, $1.99) and spray them with a mist of water.

Get a motorcycle. No car can give the same buzz as doing 200kph with the front wheel a few feet in the air

Find a sorted one and they are alllll good I love mine to bits!

Anything with a H22 in that price range... example... sure you can find a manual too. tipronic still makes the autos fun too. could score one of these for around 5k. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 926393.htm

At that sort of size his growth is going to have slowed right down, so wont shed as often. Some beardies may only get to about 16inches maximum too.

Steps for growing val: Plant. give plenty of space between plants (like 3'' radius) leave and walk away for a month. To be honest everytime ive tried growing val, it hasnt done to well. everytime ive just thrown a load in a tank for the hell of it, its gone nuts :lol:

5th gen prelude? 200hp, not ancient. very nice cars inside and out and nice to drive.

Fluval 105, eheim 2213. Aquaclears sound quiet in a normal room, but in a bedroom at night you can hear them rattling away. for an internal id recommend one of the eheim pickups. probably a 2010 model. just dont use the venturi if you want it to be quiet.

Just some more pics... Enclosure should be fully finished next week (just waiting on some more decor to arrive) and ill post some pics up.

Cant remember from that pic, but Yoshi is second from the bottom, and i think reptar is either the very top or one at the bottom

Im going to bed! *yawns* Nothing much has changed... Ill update when theres a change eh. Well, the ambulia has hit the roof already, but thats expected. 8)

Easy My probable girl has shed recently, is thinner (at the moment) and has a more slender head. my probably boy has a fat triangle head, smells, is due a shed, is bigger and fatter

I think some simple low-ish tanks (like 30cm) high would be great (for smaller reptiles like geckos, and non climbers like BTs - with mesh tops, with mounts for lights and cabling etc.. Any ways you can make them more energy efficient at the same time too - retain heat at the warm end, but decent ventilation only at cooler end etc... Glass aquariums and even glass terrariums are OK but not ideal - even my 120x45x45 isnt great. only reptile specific thing is sliding doors, and they arent great as one of my blueys has figured out how to open it. Bracing on normal aquariums too makes it hard to mount lamps and stuff hanging from the end - i had to make a bracket spanning the tank to mount my stuff on. Too much DIY required, and it takes a lot of time and effort to make the DIY stuff make a terrarium look good - so yeah, something more purpose built would be great. The reptile one terrariums are OK - too small for beardies or blueys though (only 90 long) and although they have a mesh top - its not removable- and due to the hood, makes it difficult to mount decent lighting and heating (such as exo terra stuff) I work with them everyday and definately think that type of unit could be improved and simplified at the same time. just my input, hope it helps.