chimera

correct layton. but anyways, can someone start their own goose/gander/gaggle thread instead of 0wning mine?!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaggle

hahaaa, so you'd be the only one who knew that i didnt really get my haircut... but,... i added rowaphos last night and damn my tank has never looked better............. :lol:

but,... then I got my hair dyed pink,... and I've never looked better... then i got it blow dried,... and I've never looked better... then i woke up this morning,... and I looked like shit again.

i got a haircut last night and quite honestly, I've never looked better....

:lol:

the browner the better, I'm dosing phosphates coz I like brown

dear oh dear

:lol: it's only 20 minutes north of jetskisteve's house send me a PM

bugger it i say, if it's here it's here. what are they gonna do? come around and rip it out of your tank? i dont even know where i live...

IMO, barebottom is UGLY - regardless of the benefit or downsides of it.

a pic of the regal angel in the main tank. he's starting to come out more now although still getting hassled a bit from the blue tang and a little gorgonian i got from chris

i ordered some rowaphos from eaquanature which arrived yesterday. rowaphos removes phosphates and silicates. it looks quite similar to DI resin. i put it in a stocking then into the skimmer outlet between a folded piece of filter wool (as required if not fluidised). i wont be able to perform a "phosphate test kit" before and after test as there are no measureable phosphates from the salifert kit (yeah i know, get a merck test kit ) however i have a bit of diatom growth and not much colouring in my acro's. so, it will have to be measured 'visibly' based on reduction of algae and acro growth/colouring. will take photo's tonight and post again in a weeks time!

hahaaa, held the mirror up and he got a bit upset. ended up going hiding under the rocks. what a wimp...

cheap! http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=RO1312 this is the one i have, yet to test though, will let you know how it goes. it shows both tap water in and permeate (high quality water) out in ppm. according to that reference site, permeate from ro should be at least 10 times better than water going in (eg: 220ppm water in should be 22ppm permeate) also says final water from DI should be 0ppm (although 1 or 2ppm is not crucial) going by the 'taste test' auckland water is crap gotta love that metallic taste...

glass milk bottle i hope you mean!

quite obviously pies, I couldnt be bothered going into the details so gave him the link instead

I suggest you all read this in full to see the importance of RO/DI units. Article by Randy Holmes-Farley written May this year, very interesting read. I bought a TDS unit not too long ago, going to hook it up this weekend and see how well my RODI unit functions. If anyone else wants to test their local water - Brian for example, bring a sample up next time you're in Auckland and we'll pump it through the TDS unit! http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rhf/index.htm

Steve - let the camera do the work, with a Canon 10D you should be able to take those clown shots and get them perfect. Thats a way cool camera - though not as good as the 20D Just manually increase the shutter speed! check this link out for some tips http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=5829

yes. but it's preferential to have inverts, such as shrimps, crabs etc as they help clean and clean up after the fish some fish such as clown fish have a symbiotic relationship with anemones, while they can live in tanks without them, they seem happier with a host anemone.

typically: - if you have coral in your tank, its called a reef tank (hence the coral reefs you see around the tropics, such as hawaii, great barrier etc) - saltwater/marine means it could be FO (fish only) or FOWLR (fish only with live rock) again, if you have coral, then you'd call it a reef tank.

i dont think the comparison can be made between towns/cities, its country vs country. US has a huge population vs a mere 4 million down here in NZ what counts is imports 'at the gate' + many other variables such as the number of those in the hobby. basic law of economics, supply and demand! coral's arent too badly priced here when you compare them to the states. i think the frag market here is definately on the increase. at least the hobbyist can get a bit of money back themselves once their own corals start to grow!

not in this case, have had the tang for couple of years and he's my fav

:lol:

i think you fail to see the difference between an argument and an open discussion. anything posted here is open for discussion. no one is saying your readings are wrong, we are saying that it is hard to believe as kH, calcium and magnesium are generally depleted/drops over time, not increased. so the only logical explanation is that they are being added back by the reef solution.

yeah, a 'few' drops of reef solution monthly - i'd gather somewhat more than that with those readings