lduncan

I'll have to get some pics up tomorrow, even though a lot of the corals are a grotty shade of brown at the moment.

It's an alvepora (12 "tentacles" as opposed to 24 on goni's). Alvepora are usually considered easier to keep. But then some goni species are easy as well.

So you currently run a registered quarantine facility. Your current marine shipment is from Fiji, and you are trading as a registered company, which upon search, and even a phone call, is not shown as a reserved company name. And you have sold stock to Auckland shops, who have never heard of you. Come on... Anyone with the remotest interest in this hobby knows that this is pure rubbish. It has been confirmed that you and "perky" are using the same internet connection. Coincidence, I don't think so. As Pies said, this is hilarious. Did you really expect to fool people? People on this board are pretty sharp, you can put much past us. Clearly Chimera had the same though as I did and check out the companies register soon after you posted. Layton

An apology? Explanation?

Surprise surprise. Cees was investigating, guess there's no need to now. Layton

It's not a well understood "disease" generally occurs under poor water conditions, or stress (big fish in small tank) some think it may be related to vitamin deficiencies. So diet may play a part too. Layton

Something's fishy here.

Is Tim McLough you're real name? Have you actually imported marine fish into NZ?

I noticed that too. I guess I'm not the only one with a suspicious mind.

$600+ tank and about $300 in salt poly boxes and bags plus three days of hands in saltwater, burns from halide bulbs, and a sting from a fire coral. I lost two fish (flame angel, and a green chromis) and a couple of corals started rtn'ing, but managed to save part of them. Never again!! I started by filling the 2nd tank half full of new water. Then moved the live rock along with some of the existing tank water into it. Then the corals, then the fish. The I moved the main tank, setup lights sump skimmer etc. and filled it half full with new water. Then moved the rock corals and fish from the second tank into the main tank, transferring all of the water with them. Layton

Mine eats spirilina flakes out of the water column. Nothing else though. Layton

Also it's expensive to move tanks. Cost me about $1000

Personally, I'd be more worried about the fish than the corals. Despite what people say corals are very hardy, even acros move no problems. Fish are more difficult, they tend to get white spot just after a big move. I'd be trying to keep at least 50% of the tank water. It really depends on how many corals you have, I had at least 40 - 50 pieces plus 20 or so fish. I would not have even considered moving it without a temporary tank setup and running at the new location. Layton

Buy another tank. (I'm serious). It took me 3 days to move my 6 foot tank 15 min down the road. It is not a fun experience. I bought a 4'x2' tank to use as a "holding" tank while I moved the other tank. What size tank are they moving? Layton

I thought it was important for the fry to have motile food at young ages? Most marine fish need a diet high in HUFA which they usually get from gut loaded rotifers (loaded with phytoplankton), egg won't provide this. Layton

The sharp cone shaped ones are parasitic, wrasses are good option for natural control. I don't know of any treatment which will selectively kill them unfortunately. Layton

I'd go with dual 250W if you choose to add MH.

You can if you really want one. You don't even need to import them, they can be found in NZ waters.

Maybe that is an indication of how small the market really is. Shops in ChCh would not survive if it was not for their freshwater turnover, and other interests.

That's true. The high pH of kalk means that if you add buffer, (usually some form of carbonate/bicarbonate) the locally high pH will mean you get precipitation of calcium carbonate if they mix. So you get a solid accumulating at the bottom of the sump, as it strips the calcium out of the kalk solution. Layton

I've never seen this behaviour before. But your salinity is a but low. I'd slowly raise it to at least 1.025. Inverts like cleaner shrimp can be more sensitive to absolute salinity levels than some other species.

Yes baking soda is one of the best ways to keep alk up, if Kalk addition can't keep up with demand. (I use it too for that reason). Raising your alk will also raise your pH (if it is low) in some cases. Iodine - not many people bother adding it. It's a bit like phosphate in that it has many stable forms, iodide, iodate, tri-iodide. I believe (but don't quote me on it) that unlike phosphate, many of the iodine ions are directly bioavailable. Test kits don't test for all these species, so you never really know how much iodine is in your tank. Although unlikely to occur, iodine can also be dangerous if it accumulates in your tank. You can buy Potassium Iodide from Total Lab Supplies. I think it's about $43 for 100g. Dissolve 100g in 2L of water, and that will be enough to keep a 180gal tank going for 6 years, (Based on Seachems dosing recommendations.) I just rely on water changes for iodine replacement myself. Magnesium. Pies, you probably would have found Magnesium chloride MUCH less expensive. I think less than $50 for 25Kg from APS. The magnesium chips you chuck in your calcium reactor are just magnesium carbonate.

What size tank do you have?

I've always wanted a fish only tank, so I could keep a Emperor Angel, and other semi-agressive fish. How big is he?

UPS = Uninteruptable Power Supply. It's a battery with some electronics, which outputs 240Volts when there is a power cut.