Nicks

Come on Reefs make us all feel poor and tell us how much you spend on your Reef, Retail Costs please. ( might have already but I could do with another hit) It will make me feel better than if I start thinking about what I spend on mine and I hate playing retail price for anything. On the DI / RO. I used DI and have for over 10yrs. I pass wter through a quality carbon then DI. have seen a good DIY set up using a .5 micron carbon water filter then DI. But I believe RO/DI is better and will work out cheaper in the long run than replacing Resin. Usual story high initial out lay with reduced running costs. You can always use the waste water from R/O run it straight into a bath, take a cold bath. save on electricity too:D

'Gibberish and so what'!! is what this article got on Ultimate Reef. I trust guys who use both and have great reef tanks which is most of us. Nicks

I recommend everyone tunes into Reef Central Chemistry Forum. Randy Holmes Farley is the tops for me when talking REEF TANK CHEMISTRY. I am sure he has lots of letters after his name and a good reef Tank aswell. Good Reefing & Bucket Chemistry Nick

Chemistry is not quite right Reefs, I can remember having this conversation before when you dismissed dosing Kalk 24/7. have you changed your mind??? You will can get a Ph spike during the day if using Kalk, but only small amounts of Ca & KH are added so these will not spike. as you are adding Kalk with a approx Ph12 during the day when your ph should be around 8.4. this is when you have a spike. At night the production of carbolic acids (Co2 + H2O) in the water will reduce the Ph to below 8 so adding Kalk helps to keep your ph up. This is why Kalk is good to add a night especially if you use a Calcium reactor as as it will help to mop up Co2. I use a dosing pump to dose my top-off water(Kalk)as even if it sticks on or any other mishap it can only dose a very small amount of water and no more than what is in the resevior. Float switches can be bought from Accurate Instuments in penrose for about $70. the are used in water tanks ect. You have to do the wiring.

Add a couple of centimetres on everything and a thick coating of coraline on the sides of the tank. Montipora are close to the surface now and I had to sell a big Euphylia as it had out grown its welcome. I will post an update soon Thanks Nick

We need more info!!! Is it a Reef, fish only or mixed. What are the occupants What equipment come with the tank.i.e. lighting, skimmers, filters, reactors, pumps etc etc etc If you want to keep it marine and it is a fully set-up system it will not need cycling as a freshwater system does. It might take a few days to settle in but; Take as much water as possible and have plenty of NSW of premixed wter available to fill the tank. Donot let the live rock dry out. Forget any sand unless you want to clean it in salt water before reusing it. Regular water changes at 5-10 per month are good with NSWor premixes. Live rock is live rock. with light it will develop into a base foundation for your reef and given enough light wll become encrusted with algae'e worms and other life and will act as a biological filter as such in the dark it will just be plain old wet rock but will still act as a biological filter as such. I don't qite understand this part of your question :-?

Get the basics right and don't worry about techie gadgets

Reefs, thanks for the sales pitch for your reactor I thought that the ph of the effluent was indicative of what was happening inside the reactor and should be related to the Ph value required to dissolve various media. ie some of the softer media will dissolve at Ph7.3 where as harder stuff like Aragonite needs Ph6.8 or lower to dissolve. What is the KH of the effluent from the reactor, mine runs at 28DKH thanks to the Rowa Calcium Reactor media I am using. Any info on the Bi-Ionic stuff that "pommie Dave" from Albany used on his tank. He said it was a bit fiddly but the results where impressive Good Reefing Nicks

I am putting an article together on how we maintain our Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium Levels. I use a, Calcium Reactor This is a Aquamedic 400 and a DIY second Chamber (Degassing Chamber). It is filled with Reactor Media and 10% magnesium Plus. I run this 24/7. I also run, Kalk Bucket Reactor I dose 6Ltr per night of Kalkwasser. This reactor is a 20Ltr bucket fitted with a tank connector as an overflow. I put in an 802 power head that switches on for 1/2 hour per day to stir things up. 2-3 cups of kalk are added every few weeks. A IKS Peri-Pump pushes water through a de-ioniser and into the reactor and thus into the sump over a 5hr period each night. I have steady water parameters of Ca 380 -400 DKH 7-8 Mg 1300 I have not changed the above in over two years and I test water every month or so. I have in the past used a range of off the shelf stuff from Seachem reef advantage and reef builder(I liked this) Also Salifert but not long enough to form an opinion. DIY...I wish I had read more on Reef Central Chemistry Forums before I tried this. See Randy Holmes Farley's DIY stuff. So who uses what????? Good Reefing Nicks

What a load of sticky stuff Just go to any DIY place and get Selleys Window and Glass silicon sealer. If you are really stuck it is the one with the aquarium on the back. Works great never killed any fish or corals, never bothered sniffing it so I cannot give a first hand account on any head rush you may get if you want to try it

I dont think Jansens ever had a licence to fill gas bottles and Dupla use a German thread on the bottles so that sucks when trying to get it filled in NZ. probably an OSH thing I think we might be stuck with BOC or Air Liquid. I use BOC costs $9 month rent and 420 for a refill. my botttle lasts for 18months. But dont tell them that when you sign up an agreement Jetskisteve is going to be pissed as he has two dupla bottles!!!!! So the two of you out there who sold him them very recently"ANDWE KNOW WHO YOU ARE" No liverock, cheap frags or other deals ever again.

Hi Thewre, I Have PM you an article by pies on NSW, you should have no problems collecting as long as you do some research and make sure you are not collecting by sewage or farm run-off. We collect at Takapuna on Auckland North Shore, built up area but otherwise we find it OK, again no sewage or other run-off on the bay and the north shore has good treatment plants. You never collect after heavy rain!!!! Reefs thinks we are all mad But we have great tanks and 20ltr drums or buckets from payless plastic ect are good cheap and water tight. My new Company Car has a boot space of 340ltr...I must try that out

A great day, thanks for all who turned up, I will remember to bring the society forms next time :oops: Special thanks to Adam for his hospitality, great tank and food. and a very special thanks Mitch and Debbie for a very long day trip from Taranaki!!!!!! now thats keen Nick

Don't pay LFS prices for the stuff, its one of the few good, cheap and easily obtainable things in our hobby. You can score a Kilo from Steve, and a kilo of the stuff lasts a long time even if you are a heavy user :D

I use the smaller Aquamedic 400, no problems with it at all. I run mine 24/7 and use a DIY second chanber full of Aragonite to degass the effluient. I will be looking at putting a Ph probe in it soon just to increase the efficency as my tank is a bit big for the unit. But saying that with a bucket Kalc reactor I have no problem keeping my water parameters at my desired levels of Ca380 DKH6-7. You could try the Korallin reactor I believe reefs online in Aus stock them. These are reasonably priced and are good units. You might be able to secure a reactor at the NZMAS meeting on Sun But I am in the UK in July so if you want anything then we can sort it out NickS

Pies gives something 10/10. can't believe it Pies and Jetskisteve must have shares in these controllers. I have put one on my wish list , they are good. Pies, thanks for the Skimmer NickS

I hope the 88 people who have veiwed this message turn-up, or a good portion of them anyway. Keep Adam busy on the BBQ!! Nicks

Chimera Everyone welcome, need some one to clean-up!!!!! Layton Mailing list has 30 people on my main list and all of these will be members when I register the club and 25 others on a list I aquired through a friend. NickS

YOU GO DEBBIE, Give it to that Pies Guy, Straighten the slanderious B#@$%rd up. You cannot please all of the people all of the time This is the best thing about this site, you have to be thick skinned and keep you emails. I am waiting to go to Redwood as soon a I can think of a reason for work to send me to the Mainland!!! NickS

Just having a dig

Hi All. We will be having a meeting in a weeks time at Adam Heaths place on the Shore. Adam has a cracking 6ft Reef, one of the most established I have seen, packed with softies,huge LPS's and just about everything that can be fitted in a 6footer!!! aslo the best selection of colourful mushrooms I have seen ( make him an offer as he has plenty!!!!) So we will be having a Reef Happening on, Sunday 23rd May 2.00 til 5.00pm 101 Santiago Cresent Ulsworth Heights North Shore From the motor way take the following Upper Harbour Highway 1st Left...Caribbean Rod 1st Left...Meadow Wood road 1st Right Santiago Cres Adam will be lighting the BBQ so bring some food and drinks. I will also be collecting 15 names for the establishment of the NZMAS. Hope to see you all there. Let me now if you are coming Thanks Nick Sparks 09 473 9474

WOW...Cool Colour!!!! Water movement, Carbon, Skimming, water changes a litle and often when syphoning the suff out. It will go away I had it once and used AntiRed, frightened the s#@t out of me all my corals closed up for ages thought i had lost a few but they all returned to normal.I would not use it again for my sake, but the corals didn't mind!!! Cyano will disappear a quick as it arrived and fixes its own nitates so even the cleanest water can get it. You need to raise the redox potential of the tank, water flow, carbon, heavy skimming, there are a number of addatives you can use, but most are oxidising agents(reduces the organics in th e tank) or anti bacterial agents. Do a search on Reef central it will give you hours and hours of reading With regards to Steves tank, I also had that brown Cyano in my tank, I moved tanks and mine vanished as quick as it came!!!!

I know we keep having debates about how much$$$ is needed to set up a reef and who has the biggest skimmer and smallest$%^#. But check out UltimateReefs TOTM http://www.ultimatereef.net/TOTM/May04.htm This is a great example of what can be achieved on a tight budget and a minimum of gadgets. Great softies easy to keep, great colours and very interesting Cool tank NickS

I thought this was about good shops??? I vote for Massey as a good lsf as his tanks always look good although he needs to move more stock and get a few more customers...SO LETS TELL PEOPLE ABOUT HIM!!!!! Heard good things about Northland seems a good bloke with a passion for reefs. Hollywood, well I will hold judgement on them as Dave is a nice bloke but I donot think they have grasped the basics in modern reef keeping and that F#$%@# flatworm. Jensens, I like jansens they are expensive and some of the staff havent got a clue but not a bad selection of livestock although the they need some good equipment. But I am back to the UK in a couple of months, so I can look at some real reef shops, just wish I was earning UK wages to afford lots of goodies. On another point.... Why are we worried about the shops and those aweful importers If each one of use consistantly fragged our corals or set up a frag unit(whick I am later this year) we should be able to quality frags for $20+ each and at least go a little bit of the way to helping out keen reefers with home grown stock. there will always be a demand for larger specimen corals, but the best thing about this hobby is getting frags and watching the grow and in some cases watching softies take over your tank NickS