lduncan

That's not necessarily true in all instances. Sometimes live rock is loaded with more nutrients than dry dead rock. Which means you need to cook it for longer than you would dry rock. Either that, or take the risk with battling algae and cyano. Yeah, hitchhikers like parasitic snails, nudibranchs, flatworms, invasive sponges and anemones... The existence of a lot of the "added extras" people refer to as "life", is often an indication the the rock is loaded with nutrients. There can be many disadvantages to starting with live rock, which can end up being frustrating, time consuming and expensive to clean up after. After all, all you're wanting is rock with some bacteria to detoxify waste, not an entourage of superfluous hanger-oners. Layton

Have a quick look here, it might answer some questions: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/cookin ... 19975.html In short, higher temp = faster cooking, lower temp = slower cooking Many of the bacteria involved are relatively insensitive to salinity. So cooking will work in freshwater, but you'll have to up the salinity slowly to tank salinity over a period of time so you don't shock the bacteria. But I really think it's preferable to have parameters match tank parameters as close as possible. You can do it straight away (the rocks have a population of bacteria you need to detoxify ammonia and nitrite etc). But you still have to add fish slowly, to give the system time to adjust to the increased bioload. You can fill the tank and break in the skimmer while the rock is cooking too. Layton

Yeah, just use dry rock. Don't need to add anything else, just put it in saltwater. There will be some form of dry dead life on it which will kickstart the process, so you don't need to add anything else. But sounds like you got the basis of it. The dunking and swishing is an important part which some people overlook. The cooking process is a cycling process. It's just done in a specific way which favours bacteria over algae, which allows the rock to be purged of nutrients so that when you add it to a tank with lights, you don't get outbreaks of algae. So you take your cooked rock, put in the tank filled with new saltwater, and then you're good to start adding fish slowly. You don't have to wait for any sort of cycle after adding cooked rock to a tank of new saltwater. Layton

This is the marine forum. ( quality over quantity comes to mind ;-) ) Here's my thoughts on setting up a tank. Sell the canister filter, and get a REALLY good skimmer. A skimmer is the single most important piece of equipment. Looking around you'll probably find a whole lot of info around biological filtration, ignore it. I think there is far too much emphasis placed on biofiltration. Concentrate on mechanical filtration (skimmer) and leave the biofiltration portion to do what it does (you don't have much control over what bacteria do). Deltec will have higher resale value than generic chinese brands, which may be something to consider when choosing one. Don't be too worried about getting "live" rock. Often there is not a lot of benefit in starting a tank with it over just dry rock. Sometimes it can just be a hindrance. I prefer to start from dry rock. I would always recommend cooking rock both dry or live, as more often than not it comes loaded with P (hmm, "cooking rock", "P", could give some the wrong idea). Anyway "cooking rock" is a specific method for cycling rock. Basically you put it in containers of saltwater, in the dark, and let it sit. Bacteria in the rock grow and feed off the nutrients within it. As the grow and multiply, the push themselves out of the rock (like a cake rising out of a cake tin.) The gravity takes over and the bacteria which are squeezed out fall to the bottom of the containers as bacterial floc, taking with them the nutrients they've used. Periodically the rock is dunked and swished in containers of clean saltwater to dislodge any buildup of the bacterial detritus and to replace the fowled water with new water which keeps the process going efficiently. The keys to cooking rock are keeping the water clean, dunking and swishing, keeping it in the dark so that the bacteria dominates and uses the nutrients instead of algae. There's a long thread about it here: http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66551 When done properly and fully, you won't have the "progression of alage" which many people say is normal for setting up a tank... it doesn't have to be the case. Also, you don't need a lot of it to do the job you need it to. Most tanks you'll see loaded with rock, but most of it just ends up being bioload. Try and get light, porous rock. These are the two most important aspects to get right from the start. Layton

It doesn't.

i've personally seen it with aqua knead it. Yeah, sometimes people call it green boring algae. But it's nothing particularly special. All it needs is a phosphate pool and light, just like any other problem algae.

Most brands seem to be more or less the same stuff. Phosphorus compound are common in many polymers and plastic products, either as plasticisers or mould release agents. Cyanoacrylate based superglue is my preferred glue. Especially when glueing directly onto coral skeletons. Here are some pics of the results of this phosphorous "wicking":

Sea fans generally have an axial rod, which is a flexible skeleton running through the middle, which is covered by the tissue. Like Ben and wasp said you cut a bit off, then strip of some of the lower flesh, like stripping insulation from a wire. The axial rod is easier to glue and holds better than just gluing the flesh. I prefer super-glue instead of epoxy for mounting stuff. Especially SPS, because the epoxy often contains significant amounts of phosphorus which can leach into the skeleton and literally kill them from the inside out. Ever notice when a bit of epoxy falls off a piece of rock you find where the epoxy has been is a bright green colour? That's the phosphate literally wicking into the rock and supporting algae growth. Same thing happens into coral skeletons and can stunt their growth, and in the extreme kill them from the inside out. Also sea fans is a very broad category. Some are photosynthetic, and easy to grow, others are non-photosynthetic, and usually slowly die over time. Layton

Just another forum, unrelated to FNZAS.

I think I just won $20.

Half a litre of carbon per 300 litres seems average. Watch for bleaching from changes in light transmission. Seems to be the most obvious initial side effect of carbon. But whether that is a problem depends on flow through the carbon, and how yellow the water is to start with. If the water's really yellow, use less carbon to start and add to it gradually over a few days if you need to. It's pretty much trial and error though. A good overnight presoak in lots of water before using it in the tank is good too. It's often "washed" with various unwanted chemicals as part of the activation process, some are worse than others depending on the source and grade of carbon.

I'm not really a fan of carbon. So 0 cups ;-) Depends what you're using it for though? Yellowing, ozone neutralisation, phosphate remover desensitising...

This from boomer is more or less what I said in a post here yesterday in clarifying some of wasps comments and questions. Unfortunately it was removed because it was though that some people could lose control in discussing the realities and truth of the situation. But here it is in the words of someone other than me: Like I said in the post that was removed, karma's a bitch. But the fact remains irrespective of the personal issues underlying, the documents released under FOIA don't lie, there were some serious violations by Eric, and some substantial failings by the FKMS. If the FKMS prosecute, then they implicate themselves, and their part in this. I understand that with the investigations and FOIA requests submitted by Sara, this debacle has reached people higher up in NOAA who were previously unaware of it, which may result in further action. I am disappointed that the post was removed, because it also had information from the owner of the Reef Savers operation which brings to light the reality of what happened there, and their role in the care of the corals. Which again, seems consistent with the FOIA documents, and is again not particularly flattering for EB. Layton

This is a separate incident to Borneman's escapades.

There has been more court action regarding dubious/illegal collection practises in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctury: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls/PressRele ... 23-02.html

Plant wise, Echinodorus sp. seem to be some of the most available South American plants in NZ.

Nope. Jellyfish don't come from corals. Corals have polyps, which are where the gametes are released from during spawning. As Caryl said, most jellyfish have a polyp stage (which is where the confusion may have come from) Same name, but jellyfish polyps don't come from coral polyps. Layton

I like the swords, not so keen on the discus

Jewel Record 160 (1000 x 400 x 300) Standard Jewel lighting at the moment (2 x 3' T9 fluros) I'll upgrade to a 150 halide and t5's at some point. I like the effect of the halides over flouro's. CO2 (tunze reg and BOC bottle which i've had lying around from the marine tank) JBL Aquabase substrate, with 2-4mm brown gravel on top. That's about it.

Looks to be a male to me. I believe that the dorsal fin is an easy way to sex gouramies (at least what I remember from keeping perl gouramis years ago) If the dorsal fin comes to a point at the back end, it's a male, if it is rounded, it's female. Layton

It's not just you or the pic, it is unbalanced . I've left the left side of the rock free of plants on purpose (I like to be different ;-) ). I think it will look better once the Ludwiga fills out on the right. Hopefully it will become an open area where the tetras will school. Also I think it will make the tank look a bit bigger with an area of open water. Layton

I decided recently to setup a freshwater tank again after focusing on saltwater for the last 7 or 8 years. So after a few weeks this is what i've ended up with: Just a small 3 footer, as you can see filled with swords, about 17 cardinal tetras (so far), a couple of Siamese algae eaters, and a couple of little bristlenoses. I'm planning on adding another 10 or so cardinals, probably 27 or so rummy nose tetra's and that's it for fish. Plant wise i'll probably only add some pigmy chain sword just to the right of the rock. Layton

No, don't bother removing them. The other critter could be a flatworm or nudibranch.

It's just a bristle worm. Most are harmless.

Heating will keep bacteria multiplying quickly, which means less time cooking. But it's not a requirement.