chimera

so get black pipes then - neither brown nor green algae will grow! 19mm flexible irrigation piping from bunnings is BRILLIANT stuff and fits almost everything! they have attachments of all sorts too which i made my closed-loop with in about 1 hour. its all black piping so is very well hidden from view in the tank. you could even make your own spray bar. still beats me why eheim went green...

eheim, eheim, eheim. cost is not an issue. if you go cheap now, you'll spend it when you replace your "kamakooza brothaz filterz" brand in 6 months time water to sump = gravity fed via overflow is safest method. if you pump water out, then you gotta have something else to pump it back in and thats when u need to start ensuring the same water volume/hour. even two identical pumps wont necessarily provide exactly the same volume!

if you could ask steve to bring me back 200kg of reef rock, that would be great...

try fixing the cause of the problem rather than the outcome of the problem. generally speaking, brown algae tends to indicate lack of lighting (whereas green indicates too much lighting)

wow, evil shit. think it might just be easier paying some dude to do it, still cant find the time to start it after a month...

maybe we should create a map of NZL with good spots to collect from - obviously water needs to be tested to get accurate results.

you must be earning too much money going ASW - at $30 a pack every water change!!! I've changed to NSW with no adverse resullts. Not sure on sea water quality in Chch though.

hey, i have a very similar setup to you, 500 litres all up (320 litre main tank and a sump and refugium of about 180 litres) Am only running 1 x 300W heater in my sump at the moment (will be putting a 2nd in shortly) and as Layton says, only a problem if the water volume being circulated is too low. Its recommended at LEAST 10 times the water volume per hour so you wont (or shouldnt) have a problem with this at all. It would only be a concern if the power went off for an extended period of time - and in a 300 litre tank I would say at least a day (depending on room temperature of course) before you'd need to start worrying!

i know of guys who reckon they've invested well over $20k. if you want to budget on $3k now, go for it but its only going to cost you at least another $2k in 6 months time when you find out you lack in and/or dont have the right equipment to do the job...

what! how many people are going to Fiji????!!!! Steve, Pies, Caryl,... anyone else?

Have made a closed loop system for my tank, for the uptake pipe, I've used some silicon to hold the uptake to the pipe. Question is, is any type of silicon ok in the tank? Or will it effect the water? If only certain types of silicon, what type?! ooops, probably should have posted in technical section

i highly recommend you look at starting off with a 2nd hand tank and equipment to cut-down on costs. here's a tank i've just seen for sale on trade/exchange for $1,200 ono. probably someone who visits here regularly no doubt?!!! http://www.trade-exchange.co.nz/TEProject/viewad/ad_single.jsp?adID=5174386 I started off this way, ie: bought a 2nd hand 4ft tank w/ overflow, live rock, live stock, sump, skimmer, powerheads, etc etc for $1,400. i added up everything i bought to see what it would cost me to buy new, came out at just over $4,000. not a bad saving and it was already one third established, saved me time, money and effort. still lots to learn though

agreed, at least from what i have read/heard, its the worst thing eheim ever made! get an external cannister filter - stick with eheim if you can, a good reliable & efficient brand with plenty of spare parts and media available if you ever need them. see http://www.eheim.com/faq.html#question5 for the appropriate filter for your tank

budget around $5k minimum.

i got salifert aiptasia exit which seems to work very well

for the small cost of $30 for a new heater, dont bother with it, they're crap.

you're lucky, i had 1 piece infested with aptasia which cost me another $25 to buy some salifert "aptasia exit" to kill the buggers... a few little goodies too though!

if you can wait for 2 weeks until Steve gets back from Fiji, send him a PM (jetskisteve) He has a contact "Chris" who is breaking down his tank and has some really good (12 yrs old) live rock full of corraline algae. At $10/kg its well priced and good value for money. I bought 12kg's off him (as have many others already) Last I saw there were still some good bits left. Alternately, PM "Nicks" as I believe he knows him too.

Hmmm, you obviously changed the URL to the pic coz it worked when I posted it!!! View the pic using a URL, right click the pic and choose properties, copy and paste the link from that then set it using the "IMG" tag option.

this is what you are trying to achieve right?...

i was sending telepathic messages of moral support from up here in auckland dude... the force is strong in this one luke...

depends if you want to buy new or 2nd hand. if new, see jansens or hollywood fish farm. alternately, try sending a PM to 'reef' - he (Alois) is the best person to sort you out or at least send you in the right direction. If 2nd hand, you want to get hold of 'jetskisteve' - he's your pimp fish daddy when it comes to sourcing stuff however, he is (as of 2 hours ago) away in fiji for 2 weeks at the moment. Lastly, wait for about a day and you're highly likely to get a reply from Pies 8) (assuming he's not in the middle of moving house)

steve - count me in for a 150L or 200L (whatever fits in my boot!!!) will bring the horse and cart around when you get back from Fiji to check it fits. The containers I have now are crap - NSW and metal car panels dont mix!

Fish only or are you keeping corals too? If fish only, just fluoros are sufficient. If keeping corals, you really need metal hallides (closest to simulating sunlight) - probably 3 hallides (1 hallide per 2 foot) x 250W x 10k's (Your height is not overly deep hence why 250W is probably ok for your tank. Any deeper go 400W) Also about 4 - 6 actinic blues would be handy to get lighting across the full spectrum. Hallides can be expensive. Note: Kelvin (or colour temp) = 5500K warm white, 6500K warm white, 10K Crisp white to blue tint, 12K-20K blue tints

Ditto from me too guys, thanks Adam for the brilliant cooking and allowing me to see a really cool tank. Cheers Steve and Nick for your advice and for helping out with getting some good live rock! Cheers, James.