dogmatix

Use a very small substrate i.e 1-2mm there is a black one we call it dusk over here. make sure you mix 1/3 of the gravel with a laterite product like duplaitK or th JBL version And if you can afford it at all, i highly recomend an undergravel heater again both of these brands do a great low voltage budget version. Do a search for Takashi Amano

reefonline has now got the zinn reactors instock, sweeet http://www.reefonline.com.au/shop/product_info.php?products_id=234

Sorry about that. Yeah i want to go open top so that the hallides dont have to through any glass, i spose 50mm strip in the middle wont be too bad tho. So you think 50 mm all around the tanks enough ? Thx Ben

Aqua Medics anti red works very well on it. I agree with Pies heavy skimming/H2O changes, and gravel syphon it off the sand bed, use a hose to syphon it off the rocks. Do NOT blow it around your tank with a power head. HTH Ben

Got my tank painted, building the stand this week (sweet) But my tank was built with monster bracing, its 1200*600*600 with 2 overflows (10mm glass) but the bracing takes up one half of the tank Im going to redo it but what do you suggest as the minimum all the way around ? It would be nice if i could still gain some all be it limited acces to the overflows. Your thoughts. Ben

look for a place seal imports ltd in penrose auckland or try your LFS Is it new or secon hand 303's are very old ? If it is new it should be under warranty. Get rid of that carbon and place more BIOMAX in there you should clean it out monthly and clean the pipes impellor and taps while youre there. A good rule of thumb if ur not sure only clean sponges biomax etc out in fishtank water

Carbon should be replaced monthly or ideal use half and replace fortnightly. What i have done with sharks is actually broken the lid off the carbon filter (as clean as possible, you will need this later) emptied the carbon and placed a biological sintered glass product in there i.e. ehiem ehfi substrate pro, then put the lid back in place. Now you have turned your filter into a mechanical/biological filter. By the way you never clean biological media out except for in tank water also because the filter is so small you should regard your shark sponges as biologicaal and not use tap water on them. I never use carbon, not even after meds i prefer to do 20% moring and night for about 5 days to remove meds

Just thought id let thoose of you in Auck know that in approx 1 month Jansens Mt Eden will no longer be refilling CO2 bottles. This is due to OSH regulations and i believe a change in regulator types (via the govt). Ppl will have to get bottles refilled from BOC gass or somewhere else with CO2 cylanders.

My moneys on the saddle back clown, A. polymnus

aah, grasshopper understands now. Cheers i didnt realise they fluctated that much or that often. Now im more interrested in getting some just have to save for six months for a ts24 kit . thanks for that. B.P

Reef i couldnt agree more with you on that one, but for a 500l tank tunze recomend a ts24 kit (2 x 12000l/Hr pumps) thats 24000l/hr turn over which is 50 x turn over per hour. I plan to have 10-20x in my tank do you think the two 6100's are still fine for this? Or is it different because of them being high output low pressure pumps ? Do you recomend additional powerheads especially if i am running two large return pipes? Thx B.P

having a bit of agitation at the surface of the water will help to create glitter lines depending on your lighting. Which are allways welcome in the reef.

where are yall getting the streams from ?

Wow PC100 , what a stunner i think thats the nicest one i've seen posted here so far. Fantastic tank fish and corals

hi all From memory arcadia give there t5s a raating of 20,000 hours making them far more longer lasting than t8s they are also more powerful because they have to run on an electronic ballast not electro magnetic like standard fluro controllers. HTH Ben

The lepord fish (cold water liverbearer) are availble in N.Z, i belive these are also called mosquito fish and if correct htey originate from Mehico HTH Ben

The prizm deluxe skimmer from Red Sea is a recent arrival and the supplier sold out vey quickly they are a mid-top end skimmer (imop). It will skim a 400l tank so realisticly a 300L and a 200L without any problem they are around $360 from memory and come with a pump. The only downfall is that they are a hang on skimmer but the best value for money for a tank that size, they will be back in stock christmas/december

Aqua clears are great filters, imop the best vlaue for money. The only thing is i replace the ammo bag and carbon with biomax or a similar biological media, i think there 1,2,3 system is a bit of a marketing scame in the long run this will save you money and be much more effective.

Portable air pumps are available from LFS they run off AA batteries and a manufactured by hagen

Thats cool thx I didnt think so, its just i know U.G's can suck and trap dwarf gourami fry like honeys and chocolates. Cant wait untill the flatties move out so i can turn the garage into a fish room, i reckon the headlights of the car is causing some Filial cannibalism Ben

Good day to everyone. I need some help with my pair of rams, They spawn about once a wek and hopeforly soon theyll get it right. My question is does insuforia effect the bio load on the tank as i would like to add this a bit before the eggs hatch. Mainly in an attempt to get the parents use to it, and to encourage more micro growth inside the tank. Also i have a U.G filter as well as sponge filter, little bliters are laying on gravel not the boulders i put in there for them, turned down to a minimum do you think eggs laid on the gravel wont get pulled through ? And yours please Thx Ben

How big are they juvys or adults, quite often i find new juvys have internal worms. Causing them to balloon up after a feed and then go incredibly skinny the next day. I almost allways worm new discus especially juvys like i said

The tridacna 200 retails in england for 8500 pounds thats twenty five tousand N.Z dollars give or take a few. Jansens in Mt Eden has an aqua medic percula 90 system for sale, from what ive seen it works very nicely.

Oil on suface, remove with papper towels, it is from food what brand are u feeding them ? Axos are messy, try 2*20% h2o changes each week, you cant put any catfish in as they will get eaten so u must wipe diatoms off with algae pad, wipe with pad then do h2o change also make sure you use a gravel syphon

Does your tank have a over flow? Black ghosts can get any where they want and are very hard to spot. My flatmate has one that use to hide inside part of a Trio 2000 internal. Awesome fish one of my favs my mate has one close to 60cm lenght