yota

try www.viclite.com

If you have'nt seen already , i've got a link in the Private Trade & Exchange section to a Eheim pump on Trademe which would be the perfect pump for a sump return and at a good price too :lol:

thanks for the input guys but took the plunge today a puchased $$$$ of rigid PVC . would have been keen to try the flexi PVC but none of the suppliers around here had heard of it(go figure :roll: ).

Has anyone used anything other than rigid PVC for there closed loop and return plumbing setup's that was cheaper and as reliable. Can we get the flexible PVC pipe like they have in USA?

Hollywood fishfarm 4ft T8's (26mm) $26.75 a pair

Pies,i'd like to see sum pics of your braceing and why do you think glass is substandard,and when using flouro's i don't see how shadows can be avoided. another glass company said they would make me a tank using euro bracing bonnie which would be best

Pies,i'd like to see sum pics of your braceing and why do you think glass is substandard,and when using flouro's i don't see how shadows can be avoided. another glass company said they would make me a tank using euro bracing bonnie which would be best

Pies,i'd like to see sum pics of your braceing and why do you think glass is substandard,and when using flouro's i don't see how shadows can be avoided. another glass company said they would make me a tank using euro bracing bonnie which would be best

theres 2 reasons for not having a metal centre brace,first is it will cause shadows and secondly i should'nt have to compromise for poor workmanship :evil:

tank is still standing with no centre brace,been like that for 3 weeks now with no sign of "Tasman Glass" coming to fix the prob,if i get time this week i'll be calling them a visit and start demanding a full refund. Snails!!......go to the rock pools off rocks road,lots of life there but don't get those carnivorous ones tho. Also that rock work in your tank..is it sitting on the glass or substrate as it needs to be stable as you don't want it toppling and hitting/scratching the front pane.

Hi Bonnie Good to see you're getting plenty of advice on here. As for collecting your NSW, if you gonna collect it from Cable Bay don't bother waiting for a off-shore breeze,it don't happen there often. You best bet is to get a high tide that falls about 10-11am so you can collect b4 the sea breeze kicks in. Also take your time with the skimmer choice,your tank volume vs the size of those 2 clowns you could easily get by with water changes and running carbon occasionly for a few months. Try DB Reeftec, i believe his skimmers are the needle wheel type and also a tad cheaper than Deltecs.

yep

that price sounds a bit steep to me Duke. i think i only paid about have that for mine from the U S of A :roll:

how about this time?

tamboe2001 u have a PM

Hi and welcome to NZ, good to see you've chosen the best town to settle in....that should get a few bites on here.lol. As for finding a expert here in Nelson to set up your tank you might be p..sing in the wind there. I'm currently setting up a 4ft tank at present and thought I'd share the products I've purchased and wish to buy with you and others on here so if anyone has comments or prices please share for everybody to veiw and maybe save me a few more $$$. Tank-$500-it's a similar size to what you want but personally I'd go 5ft if starting from scratch. It has 4 holes drilled in the toughened base and 1 in back panel with all panels in 10mm glass and front panel, center brase from starphire glass also used black silicone. Refractometre-$100-purchaced online from USA or use a $10 hydrometre as I did while setting up. RO unit for evap top up -$280-this is a 3 stage unit with 300-400L per day capacity. Might add on DI later if I feel it's warranted. Water movement-$200- 2xSCWD, these are water driven ocilating units to provide some random water movement. Tunze pumps are a lot more pricey but very good for moving large amounts of water at gentle speeds. Their cheapest unit the Turbelle strem 6060 (6000L/H) is about $250. Pumps-$?-U get what U pay for here there are lots of cheap and nasty ones out there that will be nosiey, unreliable and electrical hazards to you're health. Goog brands to buy are Laguna, Ocean Runner, Iwaska, Eheim and a few others I can't think of. I'm going for a Laguna 3000(4750L/H) at $270 to run my P skimmer and 2x Eheim 1262(3400L/H) at $280 each for closed loop and sump return. Light-$?- I'm looking at getting 2x 250watt MH with 14k lamps. Lamps about $120 each and ballasts to suit these lamps for $130 each but still need lamp holders are reflectors. It anyone reading this know of cheap ballasts and reflectors please let me know!!. Flourecesent tubes are cheap to buy at electrical holesale stores like MasterTrade etc... I think I paid $40 for a twin digitil ballast but water proof end caps are a bit harder to come by, paid $27 a pair from pet store, u may also want reflectors for these. Actinics for night veiwing, can't remember what I paid for mine but I'm sure someone on here will say. Plumbing-$200-I'm only guessing here as I've bought mine over a period of time. U need PVC pipe, Bulk heads, Glue etc... and a float valve for auto water top up, Rojo float valve $23 suited for low pressure. Glass Cleaner-$40- get the best, Magfloat or Tunze, U don't wanna scratch ya glass!! Rock/Corel-$500- you'll have a hard job finding any live rock here (MAF regulations) so you'll have to make you're own by buying dead bass rock for 10kg at $13per 20kg delivery cost and cycling it as to build up it's bacteria/filtering capacitys. This is the first thing I would do as I did about 10 months ago (after my trip to GBR) with 35kg in a old 4ft tank with Canister Filter for circulation,lights and some local critters thrown in as well. I've recently added a further 15kg giving me a total of 50kg. If you want u can use this set up to cycle you're rock as it will vacent in several weeks time. Heaters-$120-Buy 2 and use both at once for back up purposes. I've got 2 250watt heaters at $60 each. Sump-$?-u can just use a cheap plastic drum/container to start with for housing heaters, skimmers etc...... and later on custom build a sump with baffles, refguim and so on. Test kits-$150- get the best... Salifert...$150 should be pleanty to get all nessary tests. Protein Skimmer-$0-from what I've read u can go with out One of these expensive wee items providing u have lots of live rock and do plenty of water changers (I have over 1200L sea water storage if that helps) but this is'nt the path I'm taking. $450-$750 without pump will buy you a skimmer more than adequate but probably not here in NZ. LFS will try and sell you something for that price and in all likley hood will be useless or mega bucks for some European thing that will work great but realisticly over priced. I'm sure there will be a few comment said about this paragraph. Well I think that"s about most of it but sure there's more, and others on here will have their 2cents worth to say. Just remember there's a million paths to follow in this hobby, and no two tanks will ever look and behave the same, so take all advice (including mine) with a grain of salt but the one thing you will here most often and I think all will agree that PATIENCE will save you money and dissapointment. Yota P.S yu might wanna consider a power inverter as they are telling upper S.Islanders there may be power cuts. Anyone would think we all lived in a banana republic sometimes eh!!!

thanks Layton no one sells it hear in nelson that i could find

so where r u geting it from then?

what do you guys use...builders lime,reactors....?

nelson

does anyone here know where i can get hold of some food grade calcium hydroxide please.