chimera

if i cant do it for under $150, i wont bother doing it at all! i'll let you know in due course...

Clever? More like smart (arse) Thanks Fay, however I've seen that link and already started looking around for parts. It sounds like yours is over fluidised Fay. Try throttling back the pump or reducing the flow! I will attempt to make one, I figure if I can get it cheap enough elsewhere then it will save me the time sourcing the parts. However, if i can source them cheap enough I'll make several (much like westy1 has done for his zeovit reactors) and sell them here

might wanna try posting those pic's again...!

i dont (currently) fluidise, but am using rowaphos between a folded piece of filter wool in the output of the skimmer. after several months of brown acros', they are only now starting to colour up (after about 4-5 days use) -conincidence? perhaps. even so, fluidised reactors certainly are more efficient just cant justify the cost of one right now - especially considering what they cost for how simple they are :-? if anyone is doing another marinedepot order, let me know coz there are cheap ones on there.

:lol: well next time you're up here Im sure either steve or myself will part with some stalks free to 'kick start' your xenia population again

damn dude, that sux. if you want a couple of free frags to kick start your new setup sing out.

they do that every now and then. mine do it every month or so but come back a few days later. must be something in the water they dont like.

phew, no flatworms for me so far. got a gorgonian from chris a few weeks back that may have had a few on the rock it was attached too - a freshwater dip for a few minutes was performed just incase!

yes, it is a filter from the tap. has pre-filter, carbon filter, reverse osmosis then deionising filter. very important for saltwater tank top-up. some dont use one at all, i personally wouldnt be without one. those without one should have a very good skimmer

played around with taking photo's of tank with the moonlight on tonight. heres the best shots i managed...

OMG he must be in sales and marketing :lol:

it's a mandarin fish. they (typically) only live on live food. if your system is not well established, they will die of slow starvation over 6 months or so. not a large fish in the scheme of things (3-4 inches max?)

depends on the amount of phosphates in the water, if a little, then a long time. if lots, then a shorter time from memory, it removes up to 15ppm of phosphate?

filters (eg: wool based) are different in fresh and saltwater tanks. they tend accumulate detritus which can end up causing a build up of nitrates so regular cleaning is important to flush the crap outta them. (freshwater only should be lightly rinsed and much less often) nthe "good" bacteria you are talking about exists (mostly) in your live rock. a skimmer is most important because it physically exports nutrients from your tank by foam fractionation (sp?).

hollywood fish farm, $110 for 1 litre.

reef setup rowaphos in a fluidised reactor and his phosphates dropped heaps too. im running it now and have noticed an improvement in the last few days already.

Build your own tank: http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp Build your own stand: http://www.garf.org/tank/buildstand.asp Build your own plenum: http://www.garf.org/bulletproofreef/plenum.asp

a couple more small pic's i took tonight. even after all this time still playing with the settings - sometimes the pic's just turn out too blue :-? regal angel going for a clean up... clown peek-a-boo... shrimp close-up shot at 'dawn'...

what makes you think it's so bad? been doing water tests around the tropics lately?

I hooked up my TDS meter to my RO/DI unit tonight. water in was 75ppm, water out 0ppm. cool! it cost a few more bob in buying taps in order for it to fit though. well worth the price - I think it will pay for itself in the long run.

pre-filter (or sediment filter) is a definate especially if you are running RO/DI. a typical water filtration system is pre-filter -> carbon filter -> reverse osmosis (RO) membrane -> deionized resin (DI). the pre-filter, as suphew states removes the large particles and assists stopping the RO from becoming clogged. RO typically removes 95% of bad stuff, DI resin removes 99%. RO prior to DI is not necessary but will mean the DI resin will last alot longer. if you are doing DIY on this stuff, make sure you understand how it all works prior to building one. if possible get a TDS (total disolved solids) meter to measure the ppm of crap being removed from your water. read this link - it relates to RO/DI for saltwater tank top-up water but should give you the idea on how it all fits together: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.htm to be honest, for a freshwater system just go along to Microlene and buy a couple of filters from them. They are not expensive and will take out the majority of bad stuff.

I use both rubber o-ring and silicon. I found that the o-ring dispersed the silicon quite nicely and when the silicon dried, it held the o-ring in place nicely. either way, just make sure the holes you drill are at LEAST 5mm bigger than the diameter (to the outside of the thread) of the hansen valve. that way you have at least 2-3mm on each side of the valve to fill up with silicon. too tight a fit wont give you enough room to add silicon. just go hard with adding silicon and wipe off any excess. as pies says, use lots of teflon tape but NOT too much that you dont see any visible thread. as a rough estimate, i wrapped it around about 7-8 times.

It's not a matter of will they survive or not, its how comfortable they are in that environment. It's not rocket science, the ocean does not have nitrates nor nitrites nor ammonia that high. As an analogy, consider people living on the outskirts of Chernobyl. While they can live there and survive in low levels of radiation, chances are they will not live a long healthy life. We as hobbyists should be doing our best to maintain an environment as close to the natural environment as possible.

should be very sucky-motor for US$90. http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=AF1115

who's got some red mushrooms they'd like to share?! like these: