lduncan

I agree Pies, should be much easier with a larger tank. Layton

Cool, damsels eggs are quite small, relative to clowns, good luck with them. Got any foods prepared for them? Layton

They can make life a lot easier though! Of course they can't help you if you don't know what you're doing Layton

hey Steve, how was Fiji? Layton

I was just think that. If it's that far out of wack, and you have nothing in your tank yet? Then a large water change would be the best way to get your ratio's back in order. I would use calcium chloride if you were out by say 50 - 100ppm then kalk for 50-0ppm. But when you calcium is at 80ppm (i didn't even know it could get that low ) then water changes are the best way. Layton

Well, probably not the ideal source, but "damp rid" is pure (well not pure, but it doesn't have any other compounds deliberately added to it) calcium chloride, almost any supemarket stocks it, or a version of it. Alternatively any chemical supply place will have it. Redox chemicals down here in ChCh sells all sorts of useful chemical (in medium quantities) suitable for reefers. Layton

I think most people would say that the most critical time to have a skimmer running is during cycling. Depending on what is in your tank, in terms of live rock and where it came from, there could be all sorts of dieoff, which should be skimmed out of the water before it has time to produce large amounts of nitrate. Layton

Your KH is about right so it's probalby best to not add kalk to increase your calcium, until they are closer to normal ratios. Kalk is a balanced addative, it raises both alk and calcium. Probably best to add calcium chloride, to get your calcium up to 420. Then use small ammounts of kalk regularly to maintain it there.

Just lazy really, but also don't want a couple of hundred litres of saltwater leaking or splashing through my car. Layton

don't BOC gasses do CO2? Layton

I personally don't use natural sea water. Much easier to just by salt mix from the shops. I've never really been sure of a place where i would feel comfortable collecting NSW around here anyway. Lyttelton harbour is too dirty, sumner is dodgey with the estuary, so probable the safest place would be from New Brighton north. Layton

Give Redwood Aquatics a try. Layton

I've always though a neuc plant would be the perfect solution for NZ, plenty of power, with very little waste. Anyway, back on topic, I would say that running skimmerless would be asking for trouble if this is your first tank. Most reefers keep way too many fish in too small of a volume of water for this to work successfully. Some advanced hobbyists experiment with this overseas (USA mainly) but I don't think it is a particularly good theory. Skimmers are the way to go. Layton

Nope, just chuck both heaters in the sump, at the temperature you want the main tank to be at. The only way your tank may get colder than your sump is if your water turnover through your sump it EXTREMELY low ( less than 3 x per hour ) Layton

I'd stay away from the black sand. Too much iron can cause algae problems. Silica sand should be fine, but coral sand is better. Layton

My ocelarius clowns (false perc's) use to lay eggs regularly. None of them survived being in a reef tank, never really bothered trying to raise them. I also have a female Bangaii cardinal which also produces eggs regularly, but I don't have a male to hold the eggs to term. Reef has raised Bangaii's, so he knows some of the intricacies of breeding them. Never heard of bicolor blennies being bred. The following fish have never been bred in captivity (to the best of my knowledge): Tangs - Waikaki Aquarium has bred Yellow tangs, but never raised them past their larval stage. Angles - (except for some dwarf varieties like Flame angels) Anthias Wrasses Butterflys Puffers Fish Which have been breed (or show promise) include: Cardinals Damsels Dottybacks Basslets Clownfish Dragonets Gobies Psuedochromis By the way, probably better to ask these type of questions in the Saltwater forum, most of us marine guys don't bother looking in any of the other forums. Layton

what size tank? From what beach? NZ beach sand is silica sand, as opposed to that found around coral reefs, which is carbonate based. People complain about silica sand causing diatom blooms in reef tanks, but i'm not convinced. The only thing that puts me off using it, is the fact that white carbonate sand looks better than grey silica sand. Another potential problem in high flow tanks is that the sand gets blown around too much and can cause the tank to be cloudy for a long time. Layton

Most people here have at least spent double that on setting up their tanks. Someones tank probably owns him more than 12 times that!! Layton

visit www.reefcentral.com and read as much as you can. When it comes to marine tanks, reasearch is key, otherwise you will spend MUCH more than you ever budget for. To get you started here is a thread on reefcentral.com http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... adid=46719 Here is a good article with some pratical advice from Eric Borneman, the famous coral researcher. Some of this is not really intended for the beginner, but a lot of it does apply. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-02/eb/index.htm Layton

Sports Cafe?

Pies, that pic doesn't look like a sacrophyton to me! Looks more like a lobophytum. Layton

any chemical supply house, Redox chemicals in ChCh has it. Or you can pay $90 a kg from shops if you want. Layton

Oh no, not the Zeovit debate again...

Personally, I wouldn't do anything. Things like this, along with whitspot, diatom blooms, tend to work themselves out given enough time. Tanks take time to reach a stable equilibrium, you might go through a few cycles of algae blooms, but each time they should come back smaller, until they disappear altogether. At least that's what i've found with both whitespot, and diatom problems. Layton

Well, I started off about 4 years ago with a tank that size, and it was one of the biggest mistakes I made. It is just too small, making it difficult to maintain stable water parameters. This is extreemely important. Absolute minimum would be a 4 footer. You can get one for around $160 new, so it's not a lot of money (relative to what's to come ;-) ). Skimmer, you can't buy skimmers in ChCh, none of the shops stock anything useable. Queen, Berlin, and any Red Sea brand skimmers should be avoided at all costs. Auckland might be your only option to buy a real skimmer, unless you want to buy one online and pay sky high shipping. Budget around $600 + for a used skimmer. Lighting, depends on what you want to keep coral wise. Personally I wouldn't go with anything other than Metal Halide, but if your not interested in keeping coral, then flouro will do. You could comprimise and go with T5's if you only want to keep LPS and soft corals. DIY halides around $500 (dual 250Watt). "Live" rock, around $12/kg the stuff you buy in shops down here is actually dead (white coral rock). Around $720. This forms an integral part of your filtration system, so loosly speaking, the less rock, the less fish you can keep. Sand $50 Sump, you really do need a sump. If you get a 4 footer, make sure it is drilled with LARGE overflows. You could uses your 3 footer as a sump. It helps keep unwanted equipment out of the tank, and out of sight. Test kits - an important part of setting up a tank. You'll need Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Alkalinity to start with, then Magnesium and Calcium are necessary once corals are added. Use Salifert kits as these are made specifically for saltwater. Around $30 each. So thats $2200 absolute MINIMUM before you've got any salt, fish, or corals. You could double that when fully stocked. Layton