lduncan

That's what I thought. But I was proved wrong as soon as I plugged it in. Total crap. Layton

People always worry about the cost of streams and the Deltec skimmers, but once you finally do buy them, I have yet to hear of anyone who has been disappointed.

Maybe that's why you had massive problems with ich?

More like a single malt straight up, after some of the crap on here :lol: Layton

Deltecs have been around a while, and have had time to be refined. Don't know the development history of the BK. It may not have matured like the deltec design has. There is more to skimmer design than just throwing some air and water into a acrylic tube. Dunno how they design them (trial and error, or fluid dynamics computer simulations) but I would think that the entry angle (in three dimensions) of the water would be a significant factor effecting efficiency, as well as the design of the needle wheel impeller and Venturi size on the pumps. Either way, the BK is out of my acceptable price range! But those tanks that Royal Exclusive put together are pretty impressive. Probably some of the best setups in the world! Layton

Yeah, they can be a problem when they get this big:

Agreed.

There has been a huge increase in Asian people i think it's near 20% now, but not really a big Pacific Island or Maori population, not like in the North Island anyway. The strip on Friday and Saturday nights still reminds you there is a high proportion of "trash" down here though. Very different to other cities in NZ and even Australia.

I think Ashburton holds that title. Never really seen it as a violent crime sort of city though.

Not harsh at all. It's only harsh if you look at it as him trying to deceive people. I don't. Aquariums would have to be one of the most difficult things to photograph. To get good photos which don't require a little adjusting in photoshop to give a more accurate reflection of the true colours, takes a lot of skill. Layton

Really? How long ago?

The photos probably have been photoshopped, but that's not a bad thing. The colours are realistic, acros can and do have those sorts of vibrant colours. The top photo may be a little overdone, but not deceiving at all. Layton

yip

I thought you would like that

That's a pretty deep analysis for a picture and a bit of text.

No, nothing like that. It's a lot clearer. Standard glass has a green tint to it (from the iron content) when you get up to thicker glass it can become more noticeable.

Impressive. Another exclusively T5 tank too.

I was adding up some prices for the upgrade (if it ever happens!) came to $8,000 without even trying. And that's reusing most of my current equipment! Plus I want to go low iron glass ( of course), and by the looks of things it's going to be mega $$ for that. Need to save a bit longer for that I think. But on the plus side, it will be in wall, and i'll be able to finally fix all the design flaws and annoyances in my current tank, like the overflow, and sump. Layton

I was, until the end of this year. Still managed to spend tens of thousands over the time i've been in the hobby. Layton

I think one reason is that they have some sort of duty on them, or so I heard. Or maybe the distributor wants to sell them for that price, people are obviously buying them. Layton

I'd hate to think! So many mistakes early on, buying shit equipment, poor advice, and lack of knowledge ramped up the costs, until I found RC and similar sites about 5 years ago. I've learned a hell of a lot since then, there are so many different interesting aspects to the hobby. Layton

Nice. You'll be very happy with the skimmer and streams combo. The 1003 is one big skimmer! Layton

Like Red Sea Salt? ASW has potential problems. They are chemistry related, and sometimes predictable from analysis of different brands. Salt within brands is generally quite consistent. NSW has other potential problems related to pathogens and toxic algae blooms. Which can change daily. I prefer the convenience and consistency of ASW. The argument for NSW provided needed plankton is pretty weak to me. Just checking, sometimes people overlook the obvious. Layton

Well you have the choice not to use NSW, so you do have significant control. Layton

Turbidity is turbidity. It's not a complicated way of saying discolouration. It refers to the opacity not the colour. Calibration may help, but the turbidity has the potential to be affected by the addition of the reagents used in the test. Meaning true calibration may not be possible for that error source. Layton