lduncan

Dallas 1-wire Temp Sensor. Is it running through a PC serial port? Layton

Simple. The dirtier your tank, the longer you need the lights running to keep colours. The cleaner the tank, the shorter you can run the halides and maintain colour. Running lights too long in a clean tank results in sustained bleaching. Layton

They don't seem to be too interested in the urchin. The Sohal is more interested in it, and tries to bite it's spines of quite regularly. The male is venturing out of the rock more often now, so might be able to get a photo up of him this week. Layton

The Sohal is not exactly a small fish either, and it's dwarfed by them!

Yip they are huge, 9 or 10"

antiphos is zeolite based, so it's aluminium. Either way there is potential for problems using both. I'd say the cause of the problem is mainly the KH though. Layton

That would be my first pick. Fix that and more than likely things will perk up in a couple of weeks. KH is the tanks main source of carbon, and is generally limiting already, so when it gets down that low, it can cause real problems. Layton

No, I'm doing renovations before I move in. The moment everyone's been waiting for, the pics. I've only been able to get pics of the female, the male colours are even more impressive. The males is now eating though, he's eaten two large cocktail shrimp which is a relief! He's still shy and hides in the rockwork, so haven't been able to get any sort of photo. Layton

Going around soon to mow lawns, and to feed them, so will get one then. Expect to see a photo up later tonight. Layton

Catching two clownfish in a 10 gallon is a bit different to catching a couple of tangs in a reef tank. Layton

pH and KH are two different things, although closely related. Putting baking soda in the tank actually has the potential to temporarily lower pH. Layton

Reef. No shop in their right mind is gonna buy these fish and try and sell them! Layton

Well, she has eaten a little green chromis in a couple of bites. She must have been hungry, I definitely wouldn't trust them around shrimp. They seem to leave snails alone, and don't go near corals. This genus are generally considered reef safe (it includes the blue throats, and sargassum triggers too) Layton

It's once in a lifetime opportunity to get fish like this! They are awesome! The female is out and swimming like she owns the tank. She ate a couple of cocktail shrimp this morning. Had a nibble on my finger too when I was trying to place some coral. The male is a bit shy at the moment, locking himself in the rockwork with his trigger. He hasn't eaten anything yet, so hopefully over the next few days he comes out a bit more, and starts eating like the female. Layton

Dunno until the bill comes Layton

I use ASW. Mainly because NSW is unpredictable, you never really know what your getting. Being in Christchurch most just use tap water, as it is not chlorinate, flouridated, or treated in any way, it's low in phosphate, nitrate, and hasn't caused me any problems. Being in Auckland, i would not recommend using tap water. You need RO/DI, otherwise you are likely to have a multitude of algae problems. Layton

I'll try and sort that out tomorrow. Didn't have the camera around there today. Layton

Well you'll get different opinions on this. But here is mine. I don't use either. I've never used phosphate remover, mainly because i've never had a problem with phosphate, that i've needed to resort to putting iron in my tank. You should be careful putting iron in your tank, It causes a lot of interesting things to happen. I use to use carbon occasionally, but have stopped completely now. I use UV instead, it's much more effective in my opinion ( http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/uv-why ... 10335.html ). Carbon is a source of phosphate, even the ones which specify they are low phosphate, still contain phosphate, they just weren't washed in phosphoric acid like it usually is. BUT if you are going to use phosphate remover, then I recommend running carbon straight after it. It helps to reduce some of the not so desirable effects of iron based P removers. If you keep your tank clean, and have a decent skimmer, there is no reason why you need to run either carbon or phosphate remover. Layton

My crosshatches arrived today. Absolutely amazing fish, by far the most impressive fish I've seen, bar none. They are HUGE though, so lucky the lager tank is in the planning. Hopefully they take to the tank all right and start feeding again quickly. They will be getting extra special attention. That's for sure! Layton

Also probes need to be calibrated more often than every couple of months, and stored properly otherwise they can lose their accuracy faster than they otherwise do. Layton

Reef buffer is just a fancy version of baking soda. Has a few other elements which contribute to total alkalinity mainly boron. Layton

First make sure the reading is accurate. If it is, then several things: Vent the room well. Ambient CO2 levels can affect pH. Out of control deep sand beds can suppress pH. Calcium reactors can drop tank pH. Low alkalinity can make the tank more susceptible to pH changes. Layton

That should be 100:15 above not 100:3, forgot about all those oxygens on the sulfate.