lduncan

Hey Nick, Just wondering how many people are on the mailing list now? Layton

Yeah i see now. But I always think of a kalk reactor as a kalkwasser reactor, and a calcium reactor as a calcium reactor.

Almost had to phone a friend on # 2. Don't agree with the answer to $32k question. And the $1M question is just wrong. Kalkreactors run at a high pH (>11), Calcium Reactors run at a low pH (<7). There is a BIG diference, and they got it wrong. Layton

Yes, along with half of the fresh water systems, which had some expensive fish, like flowerhorn cichlids. Layton

I seem to be luck. I've never had a cyano problem ever, only diatoms. Layton

Caryl, I was aware of that, unfortunately they have had a string of misfortune since then as well, all within a short space of time. It has obviously, and understandably taken it's toll on the family, so I am not surprised that they have taken a break, as importing is very time consuming, especially marines. Layton

I second that, when I added my streams, it no longer sheds (or hasn't for months) The polys should withdraw soon after lights go out. Layton

Pies, both shops / importers in chch also wholesale. The difference being that they only wholesale to shops which are not in chch. This way they can offer slightly cheaper prices in chch through their shop, and yet still shift all their stock quickly by wholesaleing out of town. From a chch perspective, Petworld was dodgey, but brought in some different stuff (clams etc). Redwood usually has good fish, but in my opinion is not up with the play in current reef keeping methodologies (neither is Petworld for that matter), usually only see soft corals, and more recently LPS, but i don't think they have any plans to bring in SPS. I've asked, but after 6 months, they still haven't got any. Petworld appears to no longer be bringing in regular shipments. Organism, is very small, but in general has the most well maintained tanks out of all of them. Just a not on the clownfish, I got my pair maybe 3 years ago from petworld for $25 each, up until a year ago they were still around this price, then they jumped up to around $70 now (even down here), but they look to be captive bred, as they are very small. So maybe that's the difference captive bred vs. wild caught. Layton

I knew you would say that Steve! I'll get some new pics of my tank, and fish up tomorrow (My camera has arrived back from holiday now) Layton

well... a lot of what I have said is the truth, the fact is, is that if the importer can not keep it alive for the 3 week quarantine period, then it is not avaliable, whether or not they can obtain it from their wholesalers, or whether or not it is allowed into the country is not in question. It is common knowledge that both importers down here have been stung for (whether knowingly or not) importing soft corals which are not on the allowed list. As far as fish go, those fish allowed in, are generally avaliable without too much trouble. When it comes to corals, you find that (in CHCH) no one imports SPS, only soft corals, and LPS. On many occasions I have requested of both importers down here to import different SPS, but none of them ever had (or have not had them survive quarantine). I only commented on the skimmer. Depending on your intentions, it may be fine for a fishonly, or maybe even a sofies tank, but will not be adequate for keeping SPS in optimal condition. The lighting seems good, 250w de are powerful, but the tank is deep. Again, most here would agree that 6 times tank turnover is a little low, even for softies, are you going to have any powerheads? The reason I bring up these points is not to shoot you down, it is simply because of past mistakes, or observations that I have made with my own tank. As soon as my waterflow was increase, I noticed much increased polyp extension and growth. As soon as I upgraded to Halides, my coral growth rates increased dramatically, and coloured up even soft corals changed colour. The aim was not to flame, but rather say it how it is. What do you mean by the skimmer as an "interim measure"? are you going to run skimmerless? Layton

Well, judging by the size of the skimmer in the photo's, I don't think you could really show off the hobby to the max, unfortunately. I would think that many reefers would say that a mixed sps reef would be the ultimate in the hobby... well to me anyway, and it is generally accepted that this requires ultra clean water (read big skimmer), plenty of water flow, and top quality lighting. (and Zeovit ;-) sorry I couldn't resist) Unfortunately, none of the importers in CHCH bring in these corals... mainly because they are not evenly remotely setup for keeping them, poor lighting (although that has improved recently) and inadequate skimmers seem to be the problems. It's probably the most frustrating things about the shops down here. Redwood bring in a wide variety of interesting fish, which is good, but on the coral side of things, we are pretty much restricted to softies, and lps. And, although Eddy (and friends and family) did a lot for the hobby, it's a shame to say that, in my experience (and others), his fish were often generally not in the best of health. He did however always bring in top quality clams, at very reasonable prices, these seem to be very hard to find now. Anyway that's enough of the rant. Where is the tank? Is it in Petworld new Northlands shop? Here are some suggestions for stocking: Anthias (Bicolour / Dispar / or Lyretail) - no reef is complete without these! Purple Tang - Red Sea fish, so harder (more expensive) to get hold of but look good. Yellow Tang - alternative to purple, maybe a small group of 5 or so. Large 6 line wrasse - very nice fish. Assorted bleeny's - add a lot of character to a tank, even the humble algae blenny, although there are some other very nice ones around. Inverts Due to MAF restrictions, there are only some importers who can (legally) get different soft coral in (none in CHCH), otherwise you're pretty much stuck with lobophytum's, and sacrophyton's. Capnella nice fast growing. Litophyton again very fast growing. Branching Montipora Staghorn Acroporas Table Acroporas Pocillopora Seriatopora Trachyphyllia and Euphyllias

Ctenochaetus flavicauda - Red Spotted Tang. Never seen it for sale, but it aparently loves hair algae! Layton

Fish only? or full reef?

600mL ... my skimmer cup probably holds more than that!

Pies, if you want diy'ish rather than pre-wired, probably the cheapest place to get magnetic ballasts is "Lamp Specialists" or Ideal Electrical. ATCO make a range of them, along with ignitors. If I recall correctly, ignitors are around $25 each, and ballasts $80-$90 (that was for 400W, so 250W may be cheaper). You will also want a PF correction cap (this will help minimise your power bill) these run about $10. I assume that these places also stock the ceramic bulb sockets as well. I have no idea how much these are, but i don't think they are particularly cheap, maybe $20? Wiring diagrams can be found on the actual ballast (usually printed on the metal laminates. But if you can find one, I can send you one. It is pretty straight foward, You don't have to worry about polarity when it comes to the bulbs 'cause it's all AC. Layton

Pies, all those problems in that article, are either cuased by low alk, or result in a low alk. There is even a problem entitled "Low pH due to Low Alkalinity". The artical accually points out that alk will "crash" in another case (but is silent on others) My reasoning comes from standard stage 1 chemistry. I'll post some equations and a graph or two to show you how alk an pH are related. And why alk will pull pH towards 8.3. Maybe something for the next newsletter. Layton

Think about this, if Alk represents stability of pH, then if your alk is always high, how can pH decrease slowly over time? It's not true. The only calcium additive I use is Kalk (no 2 part or anything). Alkalinity (as measured by test kits) gives the concentration of Calcium Carbonate/hydrogencarbonate. Calcium HydrogenCarbonate has an inherent pH of around 8.29, which is fixed by standard chemistry, it can't change. Calcium HydorgenCarbonate is one of the results of adding Kalk. So if your alkalinity test kit is measuring calcium hydrogencarbonate, then your tank is likely to be within correct pH range of around 8.3. When alk is low however the resistance to changes in pH is less responsive, so larger pH drifts may be seen with lighting cycles. When alk is high, changes in pH can be countered more quickly, so you will see less of a swing with lighting cycles etc. The way alk is measured, it guarantees that if the pH drifts away from 8.29, the alkalinity will pull it back up, or down, to this value. How quickly it does it depends on how high the alk is. I'm not saying don't test pH, just saying that it's one less test to do, assuming your alk is within normal range. Layton

A stale pH does not necessarily mean good alkalinity, but good alkalinity guarantees a stable pH. The pH may not change because nothing is causing it to change (or any changes are cancelling each other out), your alkalinity could be anything in this case. If your pH is changing rapidly or over a large range, your alkalinity is definately low. So I see alkalinity as a more important parameter to test, you get two for the price of one, (which is not too common in this hobby) you know the value of your alkalinity, and, if this is within normal values, then you know your pH will be right. Layton

At the risk of being flamed... I haven't tested pH for about 8 months. Alkalinity is my guide on how pH related things are going in the tank, and I think it is more important. Alkalinity gives effectively the buffering capacity of the water (how resistant it is to changes in pH). Layton

Titanium seems to be the standard metal when it comes to marine organisms. I tried to track down some info on Aluminium in the aquarium, but couldn't find anything useful, so I would stay away from it. Try posting something on reefcentral.com in the reef chemistry forum, Randy seems to know his stuff, maybe he can give you an answer. Using glass would be asking for trouble, what happens if it breaks? Plus it has a high thermal resistance, so will not transfer heat anywhere near as well as metals will. Layton

Yeah, they are expensive. But they are the best "water mover" out there by far. These would have to be one of my most worth while purchases. Probably not as criticle if you do not have (and don't want) SPS. But even softcorals will appreciate the added flow, just place LPS carefully, cause they can take a battering. Layton

That aquascaping looks famillar. But with the added width, you should get a much better depth effect. Glass notching? I would probably stay away from that, the fingers will become brittle with age, and even with 10 - 12mm glass could break without too much trouble. I think a acrylic overflow would be safer. Pack in the closed loops too, helps reduce the dependance on powerheads for flow, I recon. Keeps more hardware out of view as well. This looks very exciting. Layton

just on the hippy tree hugging side of things, I just remembered a lot of people on the big reefing boards in the US were into garlic as a potential medication for whitespot. Slightly more believable than tea tree oil... but it's messy, kills your skimmer, and it stinks! Layton

Melafix is crap. It's based on some sort of (hippy tree hugging) tea tree extract, which does absolutely nothing for fish. I speak from personal experience a few years ago. If your water is up to it, your fish should generally be fine (not always, but usually). Disease is a result of stress. So fresh water dips, usually cause more problems than they solve, as they can stress fish even more, making them more susceptable to picking up diseases. I hear that copper can be very effective if you can isolate the fish into a hospital tank. Of course you have to monitor copper levels closely. Personally, I would not do anything. Make sure that your water is up to scratch, if not, a few small water changes may help. Some people have luck with UV sterilisers. During my initial setup I had small bouts of white spot which would reoccur every month and a half or so. With each cycle the outbreak became smaller and smaller, until now I haven't seen a sign of whitespot for months. During that time I did absolutely nothing, and never lost a fish to it. Layton

After seeing some of the colouration gradients across my acros, I would have to say that I think many lower wattage bulbs, rather than a few high wattage bulbs is the way to go. I think you get a more even distribution of light, and therefore more even distribution of colour. Although not from experience, I hear that the 250W DE are quite powerfull. What bulb colours are you looking at? I would go for maybe 3 10k's and 2 20k's. I'm looking at bumping my 10k's up to 15k or maybe even 20k, cause they need to be replaced. Maybe it will affect coral colouration? (Even though even Eric Borneman is not convinced of the effect of colour temperature on coral colouration, people seem to have more success with higher temp bulbs.) I don't use any flouro's just the two 400watters. Layton