chimera

less, about $4 - $5k would be my guestimate... or work on $12 to $15 per litre

Finally the reef racks are complete - it wasnt too bad in the end once i got the hang of it You can see the 2nd rack is so much better made than the first once I got the practice in I cant post pic's quite yet coz isp has made their file system read only. at least thats the message when i try and ftp them. Ive attached the ball valves to the tank valves. Also hooked up a temporary closed loop for the bottom to test water flow through the bottom spray bar. It's ok but could be better. Problems not with the plumbing but with the Eheim 1060 as its not grunty enough (hence my wanted ad in private t&e section!). There is sufficient water movement under the rack at least to rid of dead spots but it could be better (sounds like everything i've done - it "could be better" = "more money") Did another small addition of plaster to a couple of spots around the tank where the plaster hadnt set properly and pulled off when the tank was pushed back. This MUST be dry and sanded tomorrow night otherwise I'm screwed! Gib sealer needs going on then as well. As mentioned previously, Friday is the day off work to do water collection etc. High tide around 4pm will mean Friday morning will be making the lighting hood. Still no real plan for that yet which sux as I know I'll be driving around all day to various hardware stores trying to figure out what on earth I'm doing... :-? Pic's will be posted in due couse!

nice! bound to be the lights

got some pic's of blue mushies? i could do with a bitta blue in mine too.

But you're way short of heaps of things Ira - some that you still need and sure, some that are luxury items. Got corals? No, coz you're FOWLR right? Got a chiller? Got a temperature controller? Got a Calcium Reactor? etc etc... you just cant compare $5 per litre versus $15 to do it properly.

a bitta blue would do wonders for ya tank steve!

That pricing per litre should be for your main tank only - ie: dont include sumps. my 540 litre (main) tank works out to cost around $8k (that's $15 per litre). Add on another $2k for my sump room downstairs and incidentals (460 litres of refug and sump) and I've got a pretty sweet 1,000 litre setup for $10k I had a 320 litre main tank prior with small 90 odd litre sump and that cost around $4,500 or so, or about $14 per litre. Completely agree re: buy it in one go, my original budget was $2k. ha haaa, blew that one WAY out of proportion! :lol: I know for sure you could do it cheaper with DIY and workarounds, but Im lazy too and want to keep maintenance to a minimum and spend more time enjoying the hobby and its beauty.

nice RnB, I agree with that pricing. Thats about what each of my setups cost

quite funny really, you rarely see aucklanders harrassing other nzl towns,.... then again, not much exists south of the bombays... and they made wellington the capital? :lol:

fish nerd :lol:

i was.

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Adobe Photoshop Jasc Paintshop Pro Both are excellent. Photoshop is complex and can do pretty much anything you need but costs more (more advanced photo editing). Paintshop Pro is less expensive and will still do more than most things you will need. Download a free trial here: http://www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/? I use and highly recommend Paint Shop Pro. Its a 56MB download but well worth trialing.

make sure you start the hole small and work up. see the durso site above and read it first! on an angle defeats the purpose. the water should sit half way along the u-bend and breath from the top pipe.

Durso standpipe http://www.dursostandpipes.com/ Got the valve off an Eheim filter. I've seen both pipes sitting above the water level and below. My current sits above the water level. My new will be below the water level although will eventually work something like this: reference: http://www.dfwmas.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?s=c2b644b766035c23a5fed813f4b1e955;act=ST;f=1;t=4808

$1200 for the basic kit at least thats what i was offered once for them 2nd hand...

so height etc is ok? re: the valve - i might replace with another on a long tube further away from the tank. cant be arsed at the moment though! re: laser cutting, found these guys on the web: http://www.northshorelaser.co.nz/ will go see them tomorrow any ideas on the design of the overflow comb?

but of course, but you cant compare $20 to $1200

well for anyone who is interested, this is what they look like. its quite biggish and chunky but it does give pretty good random flow. works well on my powerheads. i dont think i will be able to use them on the closed loops as the loops coming in at the back of the tank are too high. when the flow nozzle rotates, water will be ejected out the top of the water! im considering putting them in on an angle though,... somehow... anyways, heres the pics. unfortunately the 2nd one had the flash on and is a bit hard to see how it works. the whole black part rotates around the white part. this pic shows the unit taken apart. the left part rotates around the right part:

i reckon! and by resizing them, you will get better quality too (at least it will appear that way) also make sure before resizing, the pic's are at 16 million colours otherwise you will lose quality. increase the number of colours for the pic in your photo editing software before you do (being a digital camera shot, its likely to already be 16 mil anyway, but just something to be aware of)

cheers all.

Definately no jinxing happening here,... Im anal as hell about anything metal that goes within 5 foot of the tank! The plaster around the tanks had it's first sand back. Have taped it up again, plastered around the back of it then pushed the tank hard up against the wall. This will create a nice square finish against the glass (once plaster dries the tank gets pushed back again, tape removed, sanded, gib sealed, painted then tank pushed back into place) I've finished the durso - since its the first one I've made, can anyone see any issues with it? I've put a small air valve in the top of it so its adjustable. Was a bit of a tight fit! Hard to see pic's unfortunately but you get the idea. Also, anyone know a good place in Auckland to get perspex laser cut? Does anyone know if anyone specialises (or has done before) perspex for the overflow box? Any help appreciated. Now onto finishing the reef racks... :-?

I have exactly the same digital camera as you. Sony DSC-P72 (3 x optical zoom etc) it is very unlikely to be any settings on the camera itself, but i can guarantee its mainly these two things. 1. as everyone above has said "lighting" very important to get the right amount of light - not too much, not too little. experiment and you'll know. 2. as ira says, a tripod. or to be more specific, keep still!!! it only takes the slightest movement when you click to have your shots come out like this. Another point to note (with digital cameras) is the following: 1. Batteries. If the batteries are low or near low, it will take a photo but very poorly. Again, especially in the early evening when low-lighting is involved. Get the best shots by having your batteries fully charged!!! 2. Dont EVER use digital zoom on your camera (or any <$2000 digital camera) The processor on the camera itself is never powerful enough to sample the image on the fly. Only ever use optical zoom!

just have to re-iterate, building a reef rack SUCKS. boy its one tedious job... if someone sells custom-made ones, let me know! finished half of one rack. motivation slipping... overflow tank valve went in last night and siliconed up. made half the durso standpipe last night too (until i realised i had a wrong fitting) picked up the new piece today as well as a co2 reg for the calcium reactor. so here's this weeks plan: - tonight sand back plaster, gib seal it, finish durso - wednesday night finish reef racks and install - thursday night build and hookup the hood for the hallides (now theres a tricky one as the hood needs to be either hinged, on rollers or pulleys) - friday day is water collection (taking day off work) then heat up 600 litres of nsw! start connecting up closed loops. finish closed loops. - saturday change plumbing over then move all rocks/fish/corals in. pick up anenome. - sunday either drink lots of beer and celebrate new tank or when the tank cracks and i lose 500 litres of water throughout my house... dont jinx yourself chimera...

but of course, good old trusty steve and his hoard of gadgets to do anything you need will call you tonight. cheers.