chimera

true, certainly not colour though :lol:

ok so who wants books? nows your chance to save

xenia is a really nice coral, pity it's not as colourful as many sps otherwise i wouldnt worry about it 'going wild!'

aye. it certainly appears to make life easier, but then again not every tank runs zeovit - many are simply superb without it. i dont want to add extra monthly cost just for the sake of it. if my acro's had coloured up but werent 'vibrant' then i'd be happy (and then probably invest in zeovit to go that step further). the fact that only one is colouring up (most others have blue tips but thats all) is frustrating. i'll invest some money in brendans pocket later on

yeah waricks tank is nice - a crisp zeovit tank. bit of a drive for me though might call brendan tonight and try some zeolite to try...

:lol: i got mine for $23, so it can't hurt! it's certainly a very budget skimmer, but if it skims anything it's gotta be better than nothing. i will upgrade, just not yet. so true. my tanks been 'stable' for 10 months. if it takes any longer, i'm getting out a can of pink and green dazzle.

just did another phosphate test - doubled (cant do higher without a larger vial!) = zero still brendan is right, there are plenty of things i cant test for. i believe a larger skimmer will most DEFINATELY help, cant afford though. in fact, i bought a cheap queen skimmer in addition to the deltec, just to give a little more skimming - POS i really need to rule out things one by one first, lighting being perhaps the cheapest. i have read that some nitrates can actually assist with coral colouration, that feeding fish should not be overly reduced because SPS are pigs and need to be fed! i've started adding cyclop-eeze too, just a pinch daily. what i'd like is to get someone in auckland who has good colours, to take one of my brown acro's (fist size) and put it in their tank to see if it colours up (or whether it's just a chocolate brown acro) i'll keep the other one and we'll see what happens.

agreed, the price difference on amazon is only about US$4. soft covers are a pain to keep in good condition!

no, not purposely just the same thing repeated several times. thanks. i am definately looking at raising alk too, 9.6 is supposedly ok but im aiming for a little higher to see if it makes a change. one thing at a time though, otherwise i wont know what the exact problem(s) are. no worries

thanks brendan, yeah even a double test shows zero. i'll do a triple test yes, borneman (i think) has the same theory. my kh is 9.6. he says anything between 9 to 12 gives good colouration. colorometer would help rnb, cheers. only two things i can think of is nutrient levels (bigger skimmer!!!) and lighting. i just got a loaner 150W 10K from steve, being lower wattage, I've mounted the light about 3-4" lower than the current 250W'rs. there is no doubting that it has visibly made a massive difference. the lower spectrum lighting should help too. here is the 150W crudely mounted at the back. note that i havent moved the 250's outwards, just stuck the 150W in the middle (for now). i will no doubt get a 3rd halide at some stage anyway, so the 250's will be moved outwards giving a better spread of lighting. however for this test, the 150W'r is just stuck in the middle (bye bye moonlight ) here is the tank with 2 x 250W 14K's. here is the tank with 2 x 250W 14K's and 1 x 150W 10K. As you can see a substantial difference. I have a small SPS acro that is sitting to the left of the tank, its the only one colouring up (pink with green tips). a few weeks ago i bumped it and broke a piece off so i mounted it in the centre of the tank, centre of the 2nd plate rock down from the top (just visible) this should be a good test to compare the same coral, one under 250 14K's and one under 150 10K's. i'll take pic's of both now then again every week.

More importantly, do you have proof that it does?

it also appears I am blind, on 2nd look reefdepot does have the book at SG$85ea. thats SG$255.00 plus shipping (unknown shipping cost, vb script crashes when i go to checkout) however the cost in NZ is $68 each, more than Amazon before shipping. Funny that being a US book... Will try some other sources however i feel amazon will be the cheapest.

yeah I saw that, but at that price i'll stick with the 'overview' book...

find me a book that does. all reviews i've heard give it 5/5. i have not had a response from marinedepot yet, so i've tried amazon. cost is in $US: Cost each: $34.62 (Marine Depot is $38.95ea) Items: $103.86 Shipping & Handling: $21.96 Total Before Tax: $125.82 So that's US$41.94 each or NZ$56.07+gst ($62.07) I had a look on eAquanature and Reefdepot, neither show it as available however they still maybe able to get it. Will wait for MarineDepot pricing.

Mg has absolutely nothing to do with colour, it mainly helps stabilise calcium and alkalinity tempt me, what is it

good idea suphew, i'll enquire what shipping costs will be through marinedepot. im sure for a couple of books it wont be much! will let you know shortly.

i chopped the head off a xenia and re-planted it lower in the tank just over 3 weeks ago. this shows how quickly xenia grows (in exactly 3 weeks). i'd give it another 2 months and it will need fragging again :lol: i'll take another pic in a further 3 weeks to see how quick it can grow. 21 July 2005 13 August 2005 3 September 2005

there is no doubting it works and works well, but it is not a requirement to get colouration of corals. i want to work out what my corals need now and get good colours, then perhaps later use zeovit and get great colours. take pies tank as an example, good colours and no zeovit. i have good coral growth (although this is more related to calcium levels) and excellent polyp extension on all my sps. most of my sps show some form of colouring - except two larger brown ones i got from reef... all other sps have colouration at the tips, a couple colour extends about 1/2" further down.

acro's sit about 6-9 inches below water surface. lights are about 6 inches from the water surface (although reflectors are about 4" above this) that was one of my other ideas, to put one of the brown acro's in steve's tank and see if it colours up - maybe these ones are just chocolate brown? also on WWM someone writes... i have 0 nitrates, 0 phosphates (or rather undetectable) i dont overfeed. i could potentially upgrade my skimmer (Deltec TS1060, rated for 1,000 litres - main tank is 540 litres, entire system is 1,000 litres) although it does appear to be skimming well.

Still, my acro's are brown (some slowly colouring up, but not as much nor as fast as they should) After much research, I still equate this to both lack of lighting and also not enough light in the lower spectrum (currently I have 2 x 250W's with 14K bulbs). All other areas (water chemistry, current etc) are fine. Supposedly lighting requirements for a SPS reef should be 8-12 watts/gallon. Mine only converts to about 3.5W/gallon. Here is an interesting conversation from a guy on WWM about SPS colouration: REF: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AcroFAQs.htm This is not the only article I have found, many more that discuss pretty much the same thing. Jetski is loaning me a 3rd halide to sit in the centre, hopefully with a 10K bulb too. It will be interesting to see what happens with coral colouration over the next month or so, will keep you all posted. What is everyone else opinion on this? Thoughts?

does anyone own 'aquarium corals' book by eric borneman? i hear its a brilliant book. anyone selling 2nd hand or want to loan, let me know! http://www.fishpond.co.nz/product_info.php?ref=34&products_id=132403 http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=BKACH

and cost. where exactly is the new place - how far away from the beach?

:lol: i have a cunning plan for mine... watch this space. 1.8x700x700 is a little under 900 litres. your 1250 is rated for 900 litres under normal stocking. as they say, rule of thumb is to get a skimmer rated for twice your water volume. not sure what size sump and fuge etc you're thinking, guessimate another 600 litres? so 1500 litres total? i guess you have a range of options, if I were you i'd sell the deltec 1250 and get another skimmer, if you want to stick with an insump, get a single deltec 1060S (rated for about 3,000 litres) or a 1064 (about 3,500 litres) if external skimmer, probably a deltec AP702 (about 2,500 litres) or AP902 (about 3,000 litres) - depending on stocking levels of course.

better than a pessimist im looking forward to cancelling my boc account. thought if it were in whitepages i could post a link - as thats not 'directly' posting the number

:lol: nice collage!