lduncan

That name rings a bell. Did he have something to do with the MAF health standards and permitted list when it was first concocted?

I think this was years ago. I believe that The Fish Tank Eddy owned was in Hereford St, not the Stanmore Road one, which is now Critter Kingdom. Also I think Eddy had a partner in crime in the early days? Not sure on that though. Layton

Just on the acro's, this thread was sort of inspired by a chat I had with Bob a couple of days ago, as well as a recent resurrected discussion on RC on the pioneers of Acro keeping in the States, when they first became available in the early 90's (Kurt Loos, Steve Tyree, Larry Jackson, Richard Harker etc) Layton

Looks good for getting some cool glimmer lines... not so much for water movement.

Good conditions, some stag species could comfortably grow from a frag to that in not much more than 12 months. The green one at the back a little longer.

Now that the dust has settled a little, I thought it might be interesting to have a discussion on the history of the reefkeeping hobby in NZ. Who the pioneering importers and shops were. Who were the hobbists in the early days? What they were keeping, and the methods they were using. What involvement did govt departments have? When and how did you get into the hobby, things like that. I guess i'll start with what I know of things down here in ChCh. First Eddy Himsel, who passed away three years ago last week (hard to believe it's been that long). He owned a few shops down here, The Goldfish Bowl, The Fish Tank, and Petworld which is still operating, run by his wife and children. I guess most people down here have heard the story of how he initially got into fish-keeping as a child living in Berlin during the War, using candles and light bulbs to heat the water in small tanks. He was a real character, I remember going into Petworld, and you'd always get a good story out of him and is ventures to overseas suppliers, the Indonesian's paranoia over other competing suppliers, tips for breeding Bangaii's, etc. I believe he first started importing in NZ in the 70's supplying his shops as well as wholesaling to other shops in NZ, he got into breeding fish, and I believe he was one of the first to get into breeding Bangaii Cardinals when they were rediscovered and introduced into the hobby in the mid 90's. Around about the same time (70's) Bob Ward also began importing to supply his shop Redwood Aquatics, as well as wholesaling to other shops around NZ. More to follow later... Anyone got any corrections or anything else to share. Maybe some of the old timers? I know are lurking here

puttputt more or less told you: You'll find that they are similar to cyano, in that they'll occupy areas which have a direct source of decaying detritus. Remove the decaying detritus, and you'll find the flatworms will disappear, just like cyano will. Just like many other problems, it comes down to keeping the tank clean. Layton

I'm pretty crap at critter id's but looks like it could be nerita sp.

yes, even dead coral.

Alk resists changes in pH. The actual pH is also a function of the partial pressure of CO2. Basically if the ambient CO2 level in the room is higher than normal (which can be common), then the pH will be lower for a given alk. Also the 7.8 you measure, may not be the actual pH. And don't be too concerned about chasing pH numbers.

It's simple really. The full siphon doesn't require a backup pipe to work. You don't have to have one. Your argument was that the full siphon has a restriction so is more susceptible to blockage. But you say yourself that the duro also must have a restriction. And if you want to get into the nitty gritty, I could argue that the reduced velocity of the water flowing in a durso system, relative to a full siphon means that the durso makes it more susceptible to blockage. But the reality of the situation is that neither overflow is safe without using standpipe covers. And, in the end, the probability of a catastrophic blockage is going to be very similar for both types of system. So you're comment that you must have a backup when using a full siphon confuses me. You don't have to have one. If you insist a full siphon does require a backup pipe, then the same must also apply for the durso. Layton

A durso restricts the flow at a point so you MUST have a second backup overflow?

You don't have to at all.

I'll post a pic of my setup later today. Basically you just have a ball valve or gate valve on the plumping from the bulkhead, and tune the water level in the overflow box using it. You end up with no air being sucked into the overflow. And therefore no noise generated from the overflow plumbing. It also auto adjusts so that when the pump output changes slightly, the overflow stays silent. It's not as sensitive as the durso to tuning. That's where the durso is flawed in terms of noise. All it does is change the pressures within the plumbing to try and control to turbulence of air in the overflow. It seems to neglect the fact that the air is the problem to begin with. The best way to silence it is not to try and control the turbulence but instead remove the air altogether. I've noticed more people moving away from durso's towards this style overflow on overseas boards too.

Yip, ditch the durso. It's a poor design if you're looking for a quiet overflow.

Most people get into this hobby by walking into a pet shop and seeing the displays of marine animals. This hobby is too small not to have that public profile. And that's what happens when the small market is divided by people who don't have a public profile, undercutting retailers, and making it less viable for shops to operate their marine sections. Which means that less people are exposed to the hobby, and you get fewer people entering it. The hobby remains small, and that keeps prices higher, because volumes remain low. It's not good for the hobby. I think the FNZAS are doing what they can to support the hobby, and this is one thing which can't hurt. People keep applying ideas which exist in mass markets, to the tiny marine market. I don't see it working that way. Layton

That's exactly what the new policy is intended to do - help the hobby. The policy is there in an attempt to preserve the public profile of the hobby. Without retailers, there is no public profile, and little chance of boosting numbers in what is already a tiny tiny market. Look a tel's thread here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/whats- ... 18625.html That's what the FNZAS don't want to see, shops shutting down their marine sections because they're not making money or braking even, because no-profile people undercut them. How is that for the good of the hobby? FNZAS are just doing their job.

Depends what you're using it for: If you want to use it to reduce nutrients, I say no, it's not a good idea. Why? Problem algae doesn't grow in low nutrient tanks right? So, how can you grow an algae like calurpa, and expect it will reduce nutrients to levels which will prevent problem algae growing, when itself requires high nutrients to grow. Plus it pumps out plenty of nasty waste into the tank itself. If on the other hand you have a fetish for critters and algae, then yeah it's probably a good idea. It will trap plenty of nutrients for critters to eat and reproduce. Personally I wouldn't put the stuff anywhere near a tank, ever.

You know what they say, wise men speak because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.

I've gone off RC a bit, the SNR has taken a dive there, I don't mind TRT (thereeftank.com).

Cash only sorry. My point is, you can do what ever theatrics you need to impress the masses in front of the curtain, but like the Great Oz, the man behind the curtain better not be resorting to bleeding out chickens. ;-) Whether it's Red Slime remover, Zeo this, Zeo that, prodibo, etc the problem is you have an immediate source nutrients (most likely P) in the tank, which once you remove it from the tank, it will eliminate the cyano problem. You do that by removing it, not by dumping something into the tank from a bottle.

Another new coral food from KZ? I've been working on a new product too; you put it on your feet, click you heels three times, and say "there's no more cyano, there's no more cyano..."

NZ doesn't have broadband yet.

Unlikely to be the ammonia causing that. DIN invokes feeding response in corals, you're more likely to see them with "amazing polyp extension" in response to increased ammonia, it's just food to them.

Here's a question: At what level does ammonia become toxic to corals? The ammonia won't kill corals at that level. Fish won't last long, but the corals will be fine (as far as the ammonia goes). ..that's not to say they won't be killed by something other than ammonia. Just give it time. There is nothing you can do, buy, or add to the tank to speed it up. Layton