kithrup

Hi I'm thinking (90% sure) of converting my Jewel Rio 400 (450l) to a reef tank. I'm currently growing out discus so 70% water changes every two days, so I'm not averse to spending time on maintenance etc.... My tentative plan would be to house a sump in the cabinet with plumbing via the base of the main tank (is this better/quieter than having holes at the top?). A few initial questions. Should lighting be upgraded? Currently have 4 T5's. I'm reluctant to go MH but are LEDs worth it? What is the maintenance/water change regime on a reef tank? Do Christchurch reefkeepers use nsw? Good skimmers for that size tank and where best to source them? What else will I need? Liverock, powerheads, wavemakers?, ...... Any suggestions for the sump? A quick read and it seems there's heaps of options, dsb, algae growth chamber, timeout for naughty fish etc.... I'm not in a rush on this as moving house in November, but would like the equipment/plumbing/liverock on hand for the move. I'll do some sump research - never had one before and I'm a bit daunted by the design prospect so any advice greatly appreciated. Cheers, Darren

I had one very similar to that a few years ago that was sold as a reticulated syno I think. Great looking fish, but they tend to be hybrids.

My uruguayensis has peaked at about 75-80cm (hopefully!) in about 10 weeks since planting. It's just sent up it's first flower spike which is growing up out of the corner of the tank with the lid propped up. My macrophyllus is bigger than the uruguayensis and my red melon sword has hopefully grown to full size now at about 55cm which is much bigger than I was told/expected. You are dosing more CO2 than me so I'm not sure if this will make yours grow bigger. Great looking tank by the way. I think the clearing at the front really helps with aesthetics.

My new tank has been running for about 5 weeks now so I thought I'd post some pics of the plants if see if anyone has any suggestions to make them happier. The tanks is a Jewel Rio 400 (450l) with it's stock filter plus an Eheim Pro II (this was left over from a pre-quake tank so I thought I may as well use it since it was taking up room in the garage). Substrate is 45l of Dalton's Aquatic, ~1cm of playground sand and ~1cm of 2-4mm gravel. Lighting is stock = 4 x 4ft T5's which I believe equates to med-high lighting? I'm dosing with Excel every other day and Fluorish twice a week. I've just set up a DIY CO2 system as a precursor to getting a gas cylinder. pH - 7.2, NH3 and NO2 both 0 and NO3 - 10. Temp - 27C I didn't really have much of a plan with the plants to be honest, aside from at least 1 large sword and a mat of chain swords. At the moment I've a large Echinodorus uruguayensis and Echinodorus macrophyllus also a red Echinodorus - not sure of the species and some chain swords. I also tied java fern to some driftwood which is just beginning to take off and put in some Ambulia as a fast growing plant as an attempt to cut back on algae. I also got some wisteria for the same reason, this can be seen in the macrophyllus pic, but I'm not convinced it is wisteria. The swords are all doing well and most of the leaves in the pics are new - although the new leaves of the uruguayensis seem pale - is this normal or is something lacking? Algae has been OK - had a short bloom of brown but that's all gone now and just have mostly green hair algae which is 90% in the top 10 cm. Fish include 9 adult Sterbai corys and a bunch of babies, also 12 hatchett fish. The original plan was to add 6 discus and an L014 plec, but the way the tank is looking now, I think 6-8 Peru Altums (if I can find some nice ones in Christchurch) and 4-6 L002 Tiger plecs would look really nice. Any suggestions, comments, advice etc.. greatly appreciated.

Temp is fine for sunshines according to Planetcatfish. They also say plants are fine but there's conflicting reports on other sites. Organism had one in the other week for 200ish which would comfortably be the most I've paid for a fish, but I don't want to blow that much on a fish that's not going to work in the short (plants) or long-term (size) - stunning fish though. I'm beginning to warm to the idea of tigers though. I'm assuming they need plenty of small cave areas rather than one large communal one?

Thanks for the speedy reply. What's a sensible number of tigers? I'm assuming they are not inexpensive as well? Anyone breeding them locally? I'm not concerned about the pH at this point as will not be getting wild discus. Anyone out there with sunshines?

Hi. I've recently set up a 450l planted tank with a large piece of driftwood. For stocking I'm hoping to include around 10 sterbai corys, 6 discus, 12 hatchetfish, 30 odd tetra's (probably rummynosed). I'd also like a nice bottom dweller but don't have much experience with these. I fancy a sunshine pleco (L014) but am not sure if the size would be out of proportion to the other fish and whether they would nail the plants - although they are said to be mostly carnivorous. I also saw on another thread about adding a group of tiger plecos (L002?). I had one of these about 15 years ago and remember seeing it about once a month but it was a real treat when it did show itself. I'd really appreciate any advice re. stocking etc... - also should I give the tank a few months to mature before adding pleco's? Current water conditions are: pH. 7.4, NO2 and NH3 both 0, NO3 10 using an API test kit. Temp is at 28C. Water softness not tested but presumably soft given it's Christchurch tap water going in. I have 9 Sterbai already in there for 10 days or so and they are spawning like mad so may have a few more.

Thanks for the heads up on the Daltons. Picked a couple of bags up from Bunnings on the weekend.

Hi Has anyone tried cat litter as a substrate in a planted tank? I was reading an older post about DIY fluorite so did some digging and hit on using all natural clay type kitty litter - which is calcined clay which is the same as laterite - I think, and is very cheap. Might have to see what types of litter Pak n Save have and do a soaking test if any look right and don't clump. Does anyolne know of a litter that might be suitable? Cheers, Darren

Great. Thanks for the info. Now to find the best price!

Hi. Does anyone in Christchurch own a Juwel Rio 300 or 400, and if they do, how did they hold up during the shakes. I lost my last tank which was a little top heavy in the Feb shake and don't really want to have to clean that up again. Luckily the fish all survived for 2 hours on the floor!

Thanks for all of your helpful replies. I'm committed to getting an RSM250 now so looking around for the best deal. With regards to stocking, I'll slowly build up the corals and cleaning crew (snails, an urchin, hermit crab?). I've had a look on a few forums and there are mixed opinions on keeping tangs in a 250. Regals definitely too big but what are peoples feelings on yellow, brown or yellow eye (kole)? Also would a foxface go OK in this size? My feeling is that at best it's one or the other as both are biggish for this tank, or are tangs just not going to be happy in this size of tank? Aside from those I'm thinking a couple of percola or ocellaris clowns to keep my 3 year old happy, a flame hawkfish would be nice and maybe a couple of other medium-smallish fish to dart around and look pretty, e.g. fairy wrasse. Any suggestions? What species are actually available?

Thanks for all of the feedback. There's always going to be people with completely different opinions so it's good to hear both sides. I'm still on the fence regarding an "all in one" and could go either way. I've had a look on TM and there is the odd nice marine set up but the problem with 2nd hand tanks is that you are not necessarily getting exactly what you want which is the same as with the All in One (although cheaper in the short term). I'm looking around for RODI units and it looks like Ebay may be the way to go. Has anyone gone down this route and how do you source cartridge replacements? Cheers, Darren

LEDs, where and why? Does everyone with larger marine setups have RODI setups or where do you source water from? - not sure I trust ocean water from around here at the moment.

Thanks for the link. I guess my follow up would be, will the red sea components need upgrading or are they good quality as is?