chimera

i've yet to see a convincing coral.

They still cant seem to match the colour's right, a bit artificial for my liking but not too bad http://www.artificialcoralreef.com/ (click on 'gallery' for pic's) I think it's a great site for getting aquascaping idea's from!!! Here's a sample pic:

ok, while im waiting for the replacement capacitor, have added more plumbing bits to the setup. added "threaded adaptors with o-rings" (cant remember the name of it) last night to the outside of each 4-way outlet. this allows the plumbing to be "unscrewed" from the om unit for maintenance.

and that's where misjudgements can be made. oh, and the rock is only 40 kilo's more, not enough to bother adding that in. oh, and we wont count the sand/gravel either coz thats only about 15kg's... it all add's up and is a point that is worthwhile taking into consideration.

so true, mine's 2 foot deep and high and even at those dimensions, it's a MISSION to get into! i would stick to 24" height (how long are your arms?!) you can always build a small platform or have a stepladder handy to reach across the depth (and depending on the length, you can always access a good majority of the tank from the sides)

boo

one '0' too many pies - although i think 'you wish' it were that big! dont forget 1,433 litres = 1,433kg with freshwater, saltwater = more

so true

so you've had it since you were 11? good work!

what's left of it very cool anemone - steve, you know if you wanted to sell it, there would be 100 people on your doorstep :lol:

so we dress up in nappies too huh? always thought you fish geeks were a little odd :lol: so RnB has anyone approached you yet?

really nice bro. any chance of some midway shots? most of your shots are of the whole tank or really close up. perhaps a few that show about half a dozen corals in one shot? i saw one or two a few pages back they look wicked. also, i suggested putting in a 'photography' section to cees who agreed to it. hes putting it up at some stage soon. will be great to see all your photo's posted in their pies rather than having to scrounge through this 23+ page post!!! (i'll be doing the same in due course!!!) that way we can categorise them too (eg: "my fish" and put in all your best shots of your fishies or "inverts at night" etc - im sure you get my drift!)

nope! yeah maybe. a bit of a hike from central city or furthur south though

depends if you go fish only or reef tank I would imagine

Where in "now I've heard it all!!!!!" did you get "that is a crap idea" from Alan? I basically find it amusing, never said it wasnt a bad idea! I'm keen - but for going along, not viewing my tank as there is not much to see yet unfortunately. In 3 months time, yes!

now i've heard it all!!!

i just went out to get a 'couple of bits of plumbing' today and it ended up costing $106 (and that was trade price). dont EVER underestimate this area of cost - i've spent around $1k on plumbing alone! no wonder trade's people charge so much these days!!!

the only places i know of south of the bombay's are holiday destinations on the coromandel,... so where is wellington again?

:lol:

and, because it's always good to have a before-hand photo to show progress, here is the current temporary closed loop setup! rough as

here's a pic roughly of how the closed loop will look (taken at night with no flash so a poor picture!) The 'Y' connector after the pump outlet splits the spray bar and OM 4-way. The 'T' connector on the right also has another two 'T' connectors going into each side (so 4 inputs total)

found this on tm if anyone was looking for one... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Lifestyle/Pets-animals/Fish/Pumps-filters/auction-24289396.htm

i wouldnt mind one too!

Bugger,... the OM 4-way was shipped with a wrong size capacitor so it turns on but doesn't rotate (i suspect wrong frequency - another typical problem I wouldnt have if it werent for the yanks having to be different) They had to put 240 volt motors in them so got shipped a heap from the UK but 50 pieces were missing a specific capacitor so the US version capacitor went in instead. So, I will either source the part locally or wait for it to ship from the US. I still managed to get most of the bits hooked up and all ready for connecting. All I need to do is 'flush' the plumbing bits with water to rid of any excess glue first. What annoys me (a screw up in the planning) is that I have 25mm (1") tank valves/bulkheads in the bottom of the tank however I put hansen 25mm-20mm converters with 20mm ball valves. If only I had put 25mm ball valves on there I would be much better off (essentially it's 25mm hole down to 20mm ball valve then back to 25mm plumbing - what an idiot!!!) Oh well live and learn. Only way would be to drain entire tank and change OR somehow temporarily seal those holes inside the tank then replace the ball valves with 25mm's. I think there are many mistakes I have made so far that I hope others can at least learn off. Anyways, it wont make too much difference on the flow due to the extra holes that were drilled. Just a bit untidy is all. Photo's of the closed loop system so far will go up tomorrow night.

do you have a spare tank to move the fish into? i have a 2 (or 3?) foot tank sitting spare if you get desperate.